Jeremy O'Carroll Bio

Jeremy O’Carroll can still remember the moment he decided to become a writer. He was 18, studying Italian in Perugia (Italy), lying on his back in a dingy rented room, and reading ‘The Magician’ by Raymond E. Feist.

He was homesick, lonely – and in the perfect state to enjoy Feist’s fantasy world.

With little else to do after class each day, he read first one, then another and another of Feist’s books, until all of a sudden it dawned on him. He, too, should write! Because creating fictional worlds, helping people overcome homesickness and loneliness – these were noble and exciting things.

It would take roughly nine years before Jeremy actually started to write, however. In that time, he studied literature and philosophy at the University of Melbourne, and did what he believed would prepare him for a writing career. He excelled in academia, tutored, lectured, and read as much as he could.

He did everything to fuel his long-term vision of writing, it’s just that academia – so it turned out – wasn’t the most fertile bed for creativity. What’s more, it was one thing to write about writers and critics of writers and critics of critics of writers – another to actually do some creative writing! Indeed, very little of anything Jeremy learned or did in academia helped him to create, plot and write a gripping novel. As a result, against the advice of all his family and friends, he eventually took the plunge, left uni, travelled and – gasp! – did some creative writing.

Even so, thanks to the need to earn a living and unlearn most of what he had learned in academia, Jeremy’s first novel, ‘Full Speed’ (described by John Marsden as ‘an amazing achievement’), took nine years to write.

From there, Jeremy fortunately sped up production, going on to write ‘Call of the Silver Cockatoo’ and ‘The Slob’s Guide to the Perfect Job’ in three years and six months respectively.

Along the way, he also wrote an Amazon best-selling Reiki book (‘The Perfect Reiki Course – Everything You Need to Know Before Your First Class’), and the first of an 8-book fantasy series (‘Dream Divers’) under the name J.S. O’Carroll.

While Jeremy writes in many styles and genres, all of his work (with the possible exception of his first, more philosophical novel ‘Full Speed’), is fast-paced, easy to read, yet filled with deeper themes. His prose is clear, energetic and vivid, and he writes in a ‘3D’ sensory style that brings his scenes to life as you turn the pages.

His dream is to transport his readers to enchanting new worlds – be they fantasy or everyday life – so that no matter what else is going on for them at work or school, they can always enjoy a holiday with his books.