Hello
So, you’ve clicked on the “About Me” page. Bold move. I know you didn’t exactly ask for my life story, but hey — you’re here now, so you’re stuck… not really (you could click away, but let’s be honest, curiosity has already won). Expect embarrassing childhood anecdotes, questionable writing confessions, and just enough heartwarming moments to make you think, “Okay fine, I’ll keep reading.”
My Story
Hi, I’m Tegan Fairley — fantasy author, serial daydreamer, and eldest of three girls (which basically means I was the guinea pig for all the parenting experiments).
I was always an avid reader as a kid, lucky enough to have a mum who read to me every single night. Being the eldest had its perks — thanks to my younger sisters, I got bedtime stories well into my early teens.
One of my fondest memories is of my Great Aunty Barb and Great Uncle Jeff, who were my earliest (and loudest) cheerleaders. Every birthday and Christmas, they’d gift me new pens and notebooks with the front page inscribed: “Don’t forget us when you’re famous.” When Barb passed away, I felt like I’d lost my muse.
Between that loss and the joyless slog of being forced to dissect school books I had no interest in, my passion for reading — and writing — fizzled out. For years, I tried (and failed) to get words onto the page. Writer’s block wasn’t a wall, it was a fortress.
Until Mother’s Day 2024.
On a long train ride, my phone died (the horror), and my mum — armed with her Mary Poppins handbag — handed me a pen and paper and said: “Write something.” She has no idea what she unlocked that day. I scribbled out a hilariously cheesy rom-com outline, and three hours disappeared like magic. Writing had finally returned, and I didn’t want to stop.
Fast forward six months: I’m sitting by the pool in the January heat, doodling shapes in the water on the pavement, when — like something out of a movie — a world unfolded in my mind. Lands, magic, creatures… an entire realm waiting to be written. I wish I was lying and that this was a poetic euphemism but it's literally how it happened. That was the birth of Triarca, and the beginning of my fantasy trilogy, starting with Bloomed.
The rom-com? Sorry, it’s still waiting patiently in a drawer. Fantasy has taken over my life — and honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Now, I live and breathe stories. I’ll happily write, read, and talk about books every second of the day.
So, welcome. This is me. A girl who once thought she’d lost the magic, only to find out it had been waiting to bloom all along.
Contact
I'm always looking for new writing and reading besties.
(Also a publishing deal... I'm looking at you publishing houses and agents 😉)
Let's connect.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY
I would like to acknowledge the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation who are the traditional custodians of the land on which I live and work. First nations people were the first storytellers on this land and I would like to pay respect to the Wurundjeri Elders, past and present.