Celebrating Maddox Grey
Maddox Grey writes the kinds of stories they loved growing up: action-packed adventures filled with mythology, morally grey characters, found family, and plenty of banter. A lifelong fan of fantasy, folklore, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Xena: Warrior Princess, Grey has built a growing catalog of queer-inclusive fantasy and romantasy novels that blend fast-paced storytelling with unforgettable characters.
In today’s guest post, Maddox reflects on the influences that shaped their writing journey, from childhood daydreams and beloved television heroes to discovering urban fantasy and building multiple successful indie publishing careers. Along the way, they share how following creative side quests led to new series, new pen names, and stories that prove the most personal narratives can often be the most universally relatable.
Daydreams, Writing Dreams, Living My Dream
A Guest Post by Maddox Grey
I’ve always been a bit of a daydreamer. Much to the chagrin of my math teachers, I would often zone out while they were explaining what all the numbers and symbols were supposed to mean, in favour of going on a little mental adventure.
Usually, it involved me being a knight and befriending a dragon. I might have misunderstood how the whole knights and dragons situation was supposed to work. But why would you slay a dragon when you could be friends with one?
Part of what inspired my daydreams when I was a kid was the amount of mythology and folklore I devoured. On top of that, I was an avid Xena the Warrior Princess fan, which is where I credit my obsession with badass women. I was in my teens when the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series started, and I was instantly hooked.
Morally grey characters? Banter? Vampires? Check, check, and check.
In the Beginning
Silly me didn’t even know that paranormal and fantasy romance books existed until almost a decade later when I picked up a copy of Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews from my aunt’s living room table.
It was like all of obsessions, mythology, fast-paced action, banter, heart-stopping romance, were rolled up in a perfect little package. I cannot express how hard I fell in love with urban fantasy and then paranormal and fantasy romance.
I was still a daydreamer. But now I was a daydreamer who wrote down their ideas, and A Shift in Shadows was born. The book was a bit of a genre blend between urban fantasy and fantasy romance, and told the story of Nemain, a 400-year-old feline shifter with questionable morals and a lot of baggage.
She was heavily inspired by Faith, for any Buffy fans out there. But echoes of Xena were in there too. Because while I loved my Buffy babes, I didn’t want to write about a twenty-something discovering themselves and their power. I wanted my FMC to already be powerful but also dealing with baggage from her past, very much like Xena was.
Yes, it’s been decades, and I’m still obsessed with Xena. No, I will not apologize for it.
In addition to my strong but flawed FMC, there were other elements I wanted to include that have become core to my brand. Fast-paced action scenes, found family vibes, and so much banter.
Readers often ask me which of my series is my favorite, and it’s always such a struggle to answer that question because I love them all for different reasons. But Lost Legacies will always be near and dear to my heart because it’s the love letter to my childhood of Xena, Buffy, and mythology.
The Side Quest
One of my major hobbies outside of reading is video games. I love RPGs, particularly ones that have a fantasy vibe and where I get to wield a sword. In those types of games, there is always a main quest…and a bunch of side ones.
I have a tendency to lose myself in the side quests.
While working on Lost Legacies, I discovered the “why choose” subgenre and instantly fell in love. It didn’t take long before an idea popped into my head about humans trapped in a world full of monsters, and to survive, they too had to become monsters. For a while, I was determined to wait a few years until Lost Legacies was done, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the idea and several of my friends encouraged me to pursue it.
So… I went on a side quest and started a new pen name, Alex Frost, and the Lunaria Realms series started. A why choose romantasy about humans-turned-vampires surviving in a world full of beasts far more dangerous than them. The world-building was super fun, almost as much fun as the relationship drama.
At that point, I thought I was good. I mean, I had two ongoing series. It would be crazy to start another one, right?
Oh Noes, Another Side Quest
Curse my overactive imagination! Not long after I started Lunaria Realms, I got an idea for another book. This one would be a standalone because I needed a break from long series. It would also become something very important to me in terms of representation.
I’m a queer nonbinary author, and while all my books are queer normative, meaning queer people exist in them and it’s not a big deal, I wanted to have a main character who was nonbinary.
It was a little intimidating writing Of Silver and Curses, to be honest. All of my previous main characters had been some type of queer, but I’d never had a nonbinary lead before and this felt very personal. Talon uses they/them pronouns, but their nonbinary nature isn’t core to the plot; it’s just who they are.
I wasn’t sure how my readers would react or how the book would do overall, but it was the one I wanted to write…and so I did. Almost a year later, I have zero regrets. Also, I’ve cried so much, happy tears for the record, because of the outpouring of support I’ve received from readers.
I’m an ugly crier, everyone so it’s not pretty!
I’m just over five years into my journey as an indie author, and I cannot wait to see what side quests I have in store for me in the future.
About Maddox Grey
Maddox Grey is a queer nonbinary elder millennial who still remembers vividly what it was like to be emotionally damaged by the season two finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. They write morally grey characters who fall for equally unhinged morally grey love interests in stories full of action and banter. Also expect supernatural cats to show up in basically every story. When they’re not putting their characters through hell, Maddox is playing video games, reading smut, burying their nose in comic books, or hiding behind a pillow while they watch horror movies.
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