JE Payne

Author

I am a currently serving member of the Australian Army, husband and father to two young boys. I've always been an avid fantasy and sci fi reader, but began writing because of a hungover bet back in 2015, and discovered I had a passion for creating stories. I've written under a hootchie in the jungle on international activities, and aboard warships, continuing through meeting and marrying my wife, and the birth of our two boys. In fact, many of the characters and places in my first novel, A Bastard's Birthright (available on amazon), were inspired by the people and experiences I've had whilst travelling with the Army! For a long while, A Bastard's Birthright was my primary focus, but to maintain my motivation during the rewrites and edits, based on feedback from beta readers and a professional manuscript assessment, I started an additional project as well. Starting in 2022, this in turn quickly morphed into a short story anthology series, Valor and Violence, which I have been uploading on the website Royal Road, to gauge audience buy in and gain feedback.

I live in Townsville, Australia, with my four cats, three dogs, two kids and my wife.

If you want updates on how my writing projects are going, please join the mailing list below, or join me on Discord if you'd rather just talk smack.


Books

A Bastard's Birthright

The Inheritance Trilogy

Deep in the Marduk jungle, an ancient artefact is recovered. Unlike anything discovered before, it launches the powers of the world into a brutal contest. Fleets set sail, mages plot, and assassins strike from the shadows, all seeking to control the most powerful artefact ever created. Whoever succeeds will have the power to either control the...

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Valor and Violence

Valor and Violence is a series of short stories following different, yet all equally colourful, characters set in the same world.

Birth of a Legend, the first short, follows Captain Erskine Erwell, a newly promoted Captain in the Calandorian Royal Navy, charged with protecting his people from all who would do them harm. Great news for the...

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Contact

G'day and thanks for checking out my author website! If you want to reach out to me directly please use the contact form and I'll get back to you ASAP!