R. Ann Humphries is a lifelong science fiction and fantasy addict. Unable to find a portal to Narnia in her closet, she started inventing her own fantasy worlds and storylines.  She graduated from Gardner-Webb University with a BA in Creative Writing.  She lives in western North Carolina with her two weenie dogs, Smith and Wesson. CURRENT WORK Humphries just published book one of her young adult fantasy trilogy Sedich: The Annals of Lusiartha. Sedich follows the story of Rilan Crendu, a sixteen-year-old slave who finds himself tossed into the middle of a revolution against Lusiartha’s militaristic dictatorship, the Regiment. Though it has always been Rilan’s desire to fight for the freedom of his people, he soon learns that the price of that freedom may be more than he is able to pay.  A war-torn coming of age story, Sedich follows one boy’s path through a war and his search to find those things in life that are most important. BACKGROUND Humphries was introduced to the world of science fiction and fantasy by her father, who made her sit down and watch every episode of the original Star Trek series at a young, impressionable age. Hopelessly hooked from that point on, she moved through dozens of sci-fi/fantasy television shows, books, movies, and video games like a true addict. While the entertaining, escapist side of such stories is obvious, Humphries believes there’s a truly valuable side to far fetched and whimsical stories, one that allows readers to examine themselves and humanity through nontraditional and unfamiliar lenses.