Sophie E Tallis

I love talking about my work, my passions, my experiences, and most especially my writing…but I HATE talking about myself. So here goes…
Originally from a sleepy village north of Bristol, I currently live in the Cotswolds with my family and my four enormous white wolves!
I have a Post Grad in Education and a BA (Hons) Degree in Fine Art with a specialism in painting, sculptural ceramics and photography and a Post-Grad in teaching. I was a full-time teacher and have been inspiring young children for the past 16 years and am now a librarian, a dream job surrounded by books all day! However, my first passion has always been for writing stories and poetry, which I've done since I was a child – basically as soon as I could grapple with a pencil!
I'm a published author and professionally trained freelance illustrator for HarperCollins, Penguin Random House and other publishing houses - https://sophieetallisillustrations.weebly.com/ and take on private commissions, including as an Artist-In-Residence for Oxford University. I am also a painter and artist, and divide my time between writing and my artwork. I adore travelling (when I get the chance), and have a deep affinity and profound love of landscapes, particularly those of New Zealand and Dartmoor, which I find incredibly inspiring. Check out my website for other examples of my writing and artwork: http://sophieetallis.co.uk
I enjoy stargazing, playing chess, watching films (especially sci-fi & fantasy) and buying yet more bookcases for my growing library! I would describe myself as a ‘lover of wild places and the written word’ and am a bit of a self-confessed nerd! I have wildly eclectic tastes in music from opera to heavy rock, classical to Motown. I love exploring museums and art galleries and am interested in ancient history, archaeology, astronomy, anthropology, fantasy, chess, films, natural history, science fiction, etymology, geology, geography, photography etc etc etc! In fact, when asked what my interests are, I usually smile and reply, “EVERYTHING!”
I had a hugely successful Waterstones book signing tour in 2012/13 and have been a proud member of The Society of Authors and ALCS since 2013. http://www.societyofauthors.org/ I was also a regular on the HarperCollins writing site, Authonomy where in 2010, I met The Alliance of Worldbuilders: http://theallianceofworldbuilders.weebly.com/
MOST importantly, I must shout out about my brilliant BFS Award winning publishers, Grimbold Books http://www.grimboldbooks.com/ and their imprint, Kristell Ink Publishing http://www.kristell-ink.com/. They are visionary, author friendly, professional, creative and deeply passionate about quality books, everything you could dream about from a publisher! A massive THANK YOU to Sammy HK Smith and Zoe Harris and the whole Grimbold Team for taking on The Darkling Chronicles and me! :D
I am also listed on Waterstones, Foyles and Amazon websites, the UK Arts Directory: http://ukartsdirectory.com/sophie-e-tallis/ LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/sophieetallis among others where you can check out my short stories and poetry!
My little blog has now passed the 54,000 visitor mark, so check it out folks! https://www.sophieetallis.wordpress.com/
, *****
My motto for life is: First, do no harm.
The advice my Granny gave me: "If you can't say something nice, say nothing at all. Life is hard enough, there's no excuse for cruelty."
My advice for life is: Avoid 'toxic people' - psychopaths, sociopaths, copycats, lairs etc., just suck life and energy – life is too damn short to do anything else!
Unusual facts?: I’ve nearly died at least three times, once by drowning, once by near decapitation (obviously it was a close shave, so to speak, but I’m still here!), and once in a motorway crash.
I am somewhat of a walking contradiction, loud, quiet, bubbly, shy, social yet a hermit, intelligent about everything but not what’s important, complicated, simple, a perfectionist but messy, fiercely brave in protecting others but a coward when sticking up for myself, a tigress, a doormat, an optimist, a cynic…What can I say? A blend of very silly and very sensible!
Oh, and I sincerely intend to never grow up and truly believe that the only limit is your imagination!
So…that’s me! :D
Originally from a sleepy village north of Bristol, I currently live in the Cotswolds with my family and my four enormous white wolves!
I have a Post Grad in Education and a BA (Hons) Degree in Fine Art with a specialism in painting, sculptural ceramics and photography and a Post-Grad in teaching. I was a full-time teacher and have been inspiring young children for the past 16 years and am now a librarian, a dream job surrounded by books all day! However, my first passion has always been for writing stories and poetry, which I've done since I was a child – basically as soon as I could grapple with a pencil!
I'm a published author and professionally trained freelance illustrator for HarperCollins, Penguin Random House and other publishing houses - https://sophieetallisillustrations.weebly.com/ and take on private commissions, including as an Artist-In-Residence for Oxford University. I am also a painter and artist, and divide my time between writing and my artwork. I adore travelling (when I get the chance), and have a deep affinity and profound love of landscapes, particularly those of New Zealand and Dartmoor, which I find incredibly inspiring. Check out my website for other examples of my writing and artwork: http://sophieetallis.co.uk
I enjoy stargazing, playing chess, watching films (especially sci-fi & fantasy) and buying yet more bookcases for my growing library! I would describe myself as a ‘lover of wild places and the written word’ and am a bit of a self-confessed nerd! I have wildly eclectic tastes in music from opera to heavy rock, classical to Motown. I love exploring museums and art galleries and am interested in ancient history, archaeology, astronomy, anthropology, fantasy, chess, films, natural history, science fiction, etymology, geology, geography, photography etc etc etc! In fact, when asked what my interests are, I usually smile and reply, “EVERYTHING!”
I had a hugely successful Waterstones book signing tour in 2012/13 and have been a proud member of The Society of Authors and ALCS since 2013. http://www.societyofauthors.org/ I was also a regular on the HarperCollins writing site, Authonomy where in 2010, I met The Alliance of Worldbuilders: http://theallianceofworldbuilders.weebly.com/
MOST importantly, I must shout out about my brilliant BFS Award winning publishers, Grimbold Books http://www.grimboldbooks.com/ and their imprint, Kristell Ink Publishing http://www.kristell-ink.com/. They are visionary, author friendly, professional, creative and deeply passionate about quality books, everything you could dream about from a publisher! A massive THANK YOU to Sammy HK Smith and Zoe Harris and the whole Grimbold Team for taking on The Darkling Chronicles and me! :D
I am also listed on Waterstones, Foyles and Amazon websites, the UK Arts Directory: http://ukartsdirectory.com/sophie-e-tallis/ LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/sophieetallis among others where you can check out my short stories and poetry!
My little blog has now passed the 54,000 visitor mark, so check it out folks! https://www.sophieetallis.wordpress.com/
, *****
My motto for life is: First, do no harm.
The advice my Granny gave me: "If you can't say something nice, say nothing at all. Life is hard enough, there's no excuse for cruelty."
My advice for life is: Avoid 'toxic people' - psychopaths, sociopaths, copycats, lairs etc., just suck life and energy – life is too damn short to do anything else!
Unusual facts?: I’ve nearly died at least three times, once by drowning, once by near decapitation (obviously it was a close shave, so to speak, but I’m still here!), and once in a motorway crash.
I am somewhat of a walking contradiction, loud, quiet, bubbly, shy, social yet a hermit, intelligent about everything but not what’s important, complicated, simple, a perfectionist but messy, fiercely brave in protecting others but a coward when sticking up for myself, a tigress, a doormat, an optimist, a cynic…What can I say? A blend of very silly and very sensible!
Oh, and I sincerely intend to never grow up and truly believe that the only limit is your imagination!
So…that’s me! :D

When you cannot claw your way out of your reality, you can grow wings and soar instead!
Facebook page for book: http://www.facebook.com/FantasyEpic
Author blog: http://www.sophieetallis.wordpress.com/
LinkedIn page: http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/sophie-e-tallis/3a/413/870/
Illustration Website: http://sophieetallisillustrations.weebly.com/
Illustration Facebook page: http://facebook.com/SophieETallisIllustrations
My Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/sophie.e.tallis
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/SophieETallis
My Profile on The Society of Authors: http://www.societyofauthors.org/node/56641
Artwork: http://tollam.deviantart.com/
Facebook page for book: http://www.facebook.com/FantasyEpic
Author blog: http://www.sophieetallis.wordpress.com/
LinkedIn page: http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/sophie-e-tallis/3a/413/870/
Illustration Website: http://sophieetallisillustrations.weebly.com/
Illustration Facebook page: http://facebook.com/SophieETallisIllustrations
My Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/sophie.e.tallis
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/SophieETallis
My Profile on The Society of Authors: http://www.societyofauthors.org/node/56641
Artwork: http://tollam.deviantart.com/