Roxanne Werner was born in New Jersey where she haunted libraries and bookstores.

Every year, Santa left one eagerly awaited present—a book, which she devoured before New Year’s. A lifelong bookworm who learned to write in Elvish from reading Tolkien; she was not surprised when a fantasy about calligraphy crossed her mind.

One awesome critique group, a patient partner and two nagging cats helped chase the idea from her head onto the page.

Werner’s short story "The Stroke of a Pen" appears in Not As It Seems: A Gothic Anthology (2025). Follow Werner on Instagram @roxannemwerner and her author website.