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Do you love fantasy without the spice?
Cathryn deVries is a multi-award-winning fantasy and sci-fi author who explores themes of restorative justice, empowerment, connection with earth and spirit, and finding the true self—all wrapped up in an epic package of immersive world-building and clean romance. She is the author of Son of Osivirius, a standalone science fantasy novella, and The Weaversong Trilogy, a romantic fantasy co-authored with her neurodiverse daughter to be published in 2027.
Bathed in literature from her earliest days, Cathryn memorised Cinderella at age three and began writing and illustrating her own stories as soon as she could hold a pencil. She continued writing all through high-school, though she pursued a maths-science stream in senior and won the 1995 Australian Student’s Prize for Excellence. She then graduated from a Bachelor of Aeronautical Engineering with first class honours and writing was shelved for a decade.
Preferring to work on only one project at a time, she retired from the Air Force upon becoming a mother, and has spent the last decade and more homeschooling her four children, two of whom are on the autism spectrum. This forced her to recover from perfectionism, but also ultimately led to her picking up the pen once more. She and her family live in the Gold Coast Hinterland of Australia, where she enjoys living in the rainforest and pretending she’s an elf.
Cathryn’s accolades include the 2023 Stuart and Hadow short story prize, the Literary Titan Gold Book Award, the Firebird Book Award, the Reader’s Choice Book Award, the Pencraft Award, the American Writing Award, and the Chanticleer International Book Award. Her short stories appear in the My Story, My Voice anthology and the Ritardando anthology. Primarily self-taught, she credits mentorship with a Story Grid certified editor for her success.
The Mission of Eclecta Perennial
Do you love fantasy and sci-fi books that take you on an emotional journey, with characters you resonate with, and that don't surprise you with steamy bedroom scenes? Is reading a journey of self-discovery for you, as well as an adventure? If so, you've come to the right place. I create stories together with my neurodiverse daughter, and our mission is to integrate timeless, universal themes with the perennial wisdom we've learnt through our own (sometimes heartbreaking) lives to bring you beautiful, thought-provoking stories. In short, we write fantasy that meets you in your messy reality and gives you all the feels without the spice, so you can face life again.
We want to support readers who love immersing themselves in big topics and challenging ideas without the ugly stuff that could easily have been left out; readers who love savouring books and finding deeper meaning in them; readers who want books to be more than a tick on their TBR list. That's why I created the Slow Readers Society. Our fast consumer culture doesn't value savouring and inner transformation, so the market is flooded with books designed to deliver a quick dopamine hit. We're different. As part of the Slow Readers Society, you'll get to explore old favourites and find new ones, confident that they'll be free of foul-mouthed and explicit content. This is the kind of fantasy we write, it's the kind we want to read, and we want to connect with other readers who feel the same.
Join the Slow Readers Society now and get Lightning Hunter, a short story set in our WIP world, and my award-winning story When A Slave Falls, for FREE.
Influences
All of these things have shaped us and influence our writing in one way or another.
A Clean Dystopian Romantic Science Fantasy Action Adventure
He wants to escape. She wants him dead. But the giant flying cats want something else entirely...
Fledgling pilot Jayden is one of the first generation to be born on the newly colonised planet of Osivirius. Now he’s determined to get his family out of ‘Wormsville’, the part of the colony where people are little more than numbers. So when...
A non-spoiler 'epilogue' for my romantic fantasy trilogy.
Either way she would be uncomfortable—but just like one kind of betrayal was worse than the other, one kind of discomfort was worse too. She had to accept the full reality of who she was now—both the things that had changed and the things that hadn’t—discomfort and all.
Ever felt like you didn’t quite fit in? Like you were caught between worlds?...
A father. A daughter. And the love that divides them.
In Astariel’s world, everything has a musical Essence, from which magic springs, and it is her dream to attain mastery. But her father will neither let her train nor inherit his title unless she swears to remain single. But a newfound soulmate, uncooperative magic demanding love, and an...
My YA loving heart loved this book! Fantasy Sci Fi! The book started and just threw you straight into the world, not a soft fluffy cushy place to land either! I believe that teens would really enjoy this book the main characters are relatable, the story moves fast, there is no cliff hanger. Very light romance throughout.
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Mummalovestoread
I had the privilege of reading Son of Osirius as an ARC, and it completely pulled me in. The world feels expansive and alive, with vivid detail that never bogs down the story. The characters are complex and emotionally grounded, which makes the stakes hit even harder. And the flying cats? Majestic is the only word for them.
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AvMan
I’ve always been a huge fan of dystopian sci-fi and movies like James Cameron’s Avatar, so when I heard that Cathryn DeVries’ Son of Osivirius fit the bill, I had to see for myself. Sure enough, the book comes packed to the brim with gorgeously imagined locales, spirited characters, and a healthy dose of evil governments in need of overthrowing.
