William Dwyer

William Dwyer is a New Zealand author who has wanted to write books since he was thirteen years old, though he didn’t truly begin pursuing that dream until his forties.

As a teenager, he remembers thinking he needed more life experience before he could become a writer — an odd thought for a thirteen-year-old, though by his own admission, he was an odd thirteen-year-old.

That dream slowly faded into the background as life took over, but the urge to tell stories never really disappeared. Throughout the years, there were countless moments where he found himself thinking, this will make a great story someday.

Whether trekking through the mountains of Romania at twenty-one searching for the real Castle Dracula, known as Poienari Fortress, or working a long list of very different jobs, many experiences were gathered with stories quietly in mind.

After time spent in the military, security work, bar work, corrections, trades, and many other jobs, he finally decided it was time to stop talking about writing and actually do it.

Realising that leaving school at fifteen for an apprenticeship had not exactly prepared him for a writing career, he completed a diploma in creative writing before finishing his first novel.

William is now working on his fifth book. Looking back, he sometimes thinks about that thirteen-year-old boy sitting beside the dam in Huia, trying to come up with a story and thinks:

We did it mate. Got there eventually.