About Us

A.J. Demas writes about love and fictional politics in an imaginary version of the ancient Mediterranean. The world of A.J.’s romances is based on one she developed with her best friend in university, when she wrote the first, much shorter and less sexy version of Something Human.

Growing up, one of A.J.’s favourite books was Rosemary Sutcliff’s The Eagle of the Ninth. Later she discovered Mary Renault, and has a particular love for The Persian Boy. These two facts may tell you all you need to know about the inspiration behind her romances.

She studied medieval literature and wrote a dissertation about privacy and illicit love, which she titled “Get a Room” (possibly her finest moment, title-wise). She left the academic world when it started to look like getting a university teaching job was as much of a lottery-win situation as getting a book contract was always supposed to be. Coincidentally, at around the same time, self-publishing was making a writing career seem much more achievable.

A.J. enjoys sewing, knitting, and sometimes cooking; she has lots of opinions about children’s media; and she is obsessed with Nanaimo bars. She lives in the Niagara region of Ontario, Canada, with her husband and cute daughter.

Alice Degan is like A.J. Demas, with the same cute daughter and dissertation title, only she goes by her real name and writes about fairies and demons and Anglican priests. Her writing is influenced by Charles Williams and classic manga, among other things.