I’m Meri Greenleaf, a fantasy author and artist from the suburbs of Philadelphia, PA. While I've always been an artist at heart, art was joined by a love of the written word when I began taking as many literature courses as I could in college. With this as my focus, I graduated with a degree in English in 2005 from Penn State University.

Around that time I began experimenting with fanficion, mostly involving The Lord of the Rings with a few other book fandoms thrown in. I say fanfiction, but in reality it was usually humor and parodies, most likely influenced by my love of Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, and Mystery Science Theater 3000. When I drifted away from fanfic into the handcrafted fantasy world created for Dungeons & Dragons games ("The Acolyte's Map" and "Hidden Magic" are my stories based in this world), I kept humor at the forefront.

My current project is a lighthearted series of fantasy novels (including an assortment of short stories) set in an arts-centric culture. Artists, inventors, and circus/carnival performers fill the cast of characters and make writing this a blast! I enjoy the opportunity to design cultures, species, and magic from scratch, so a lot of my time spent writing has also been spent world-building. I moved away from the vaguely-Medieval fantasy of my Dungeons & Dragons world into something that's much more technologically and culturally advanced for this series. Unexpected Inspiration is New Adult high fantasy set in a world that's contemporary to our own; imagine if instead of steampunk or Earth history, technology had been powered by magic and then progressed to a time period equivalent to now. It's got romance, comedy, magic, and an lgbt+ cast, as well as paranormal/supernatural and sci-fi elements.

I've always enjoyed subverting tropes and mixing together genres. It's so much fun to blaze your own trail and make your own messes! Okay, maybe that's my artist side speaking-- and speaking of art, here are plushies/dolls I made of the main characters in Unexpected Inspiration. Say hi to Dray, Sol, Etri, Adair, and Blythe.


As well as writing and art, my hobbies include reading, visiting the Renaissance faire, putting together costumes, Dungeons & Dragons, studying tarot, Pokemon, geocaching, and flow/circus arts. I’ve taken up hooping (hoop dancing), juggling, baton, devil/flower sticks, leviwand, staff, and poi, which I will admit were largely influenced by the fact that I’ve spent so much time writing carnival performers. I joke that by the time I’m ready to have the series published, I’ll be adept at all of the flow arts. Research doesn't just have to come from books!

Where you can find me:

• Instagram @merigreenleaf
  (I'm currently most active on my IG accounts. This one has photos related to my writing along with some life thrown in.)
• Instagram @elflingcreations
  (This is my art account where I share pictures of what I'm creating.)
• Tumblr
  (This is where I'll post updates about my writing and reblog lots of writing-related stuff.)
• Wattpad
  (Another place I share my short stories.)
• Facebook
  (I have a Facebook author page, so go ahead and like it if you're interested!)
• Twitter
  (I tweet about writing whenever I remember that I do, in fact, have a Twitter.)
• Pinterest
  (Inspiration boards based on my characters and fantasy world.)
• Ko-fi
  (If you enjoy my writing, please consider tipping me to help support my creative endeavors.)