Philippa Ballantine

Let's kick it off and see what we can create.
Some important things you need to know.
If you ever hear my voice (see podcast info below) I'm from New Zealand, but have been living in America since 2010.
Before then I had more of an accent I feel, but I am not at all paranoid of it going away...not at all...
Anyway you probably want to know a little more about me than that.
I've been a professional writer of speculative fiction since 2005, but even before then I was an unrepentant scribbler.
Maybe you've read the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences that I co-wrote with my husband Tee Morris. Or perhaps The Books of the Order, Geist, Spectyr, Wrayth and Harbinger. Or maybe you've read some of the other things I've written over the years.
Heck, perhaps you've found me through podcasting. I've been a podcaster since 2006, where I produced four of my novels as audiobooks with guest voices, music and special effects. I've also done chatty podcasts like The Shared Desk and been interviewed on a bunch.
Or perhaps maybe you just accidentally stumbled over here and are wondering what I can offer you?
Well, right now I am working on several novels in the Ministry world, as well as punching away on new titles, but part of me wants me really wants to justify doing experimental stuff. I'm a professional writer, this is what I do for a living, and that can make that justification difficult.
So here's what I want to do.
A few years ago I did a podcast called Erotica a la Carte. I gave people a choice of story ingredients (scene, main character, etc), and let them chose which ones I was to use in a story for that month.
But after three seasons of the podcast the boundaries became a little too much. I had reached the end of road with it.
It was however a lot of fun, and I loved the connection with my audience, as well as the challenge of creating like that every month. Writing you see is a mainly solo event, and I feel like I flourished in that environment.
So the plan is, in addition to the check-ins with my patreons, peeks behind the curtain etc, once I month I will produce something you and I come up with. Well...you collectively pick the genre and what 'ingredients' I will be working with.
You supporting this Patreon means I can be more experimental with my writing, and we can see where we end up!