About John

John Leffel grew up in rural Texas, spent his twenties in Houston figuring things out the hard way, and eventually landed in Arkansas — where he writes code for a living and stories because he can't stop.

He's been building worlds in his head since he was a kid. Anime, fantasy novels, and video games taught him that the best stories aren't about power — they're about what power costs and what people do with it anyway. That instinct runs through everything he writes.

The Writing

Aurora Rift is a twelve-book LitRPG isekai about a married couple torn from Earth into a world of essences, classes, tiers, and a dying System. The empire summoned the wrong hero. The Axiom chose his wife. Now Mel is the key, Ro is the shield, and something called the Null Tide is hollowing the rules of reality. Think the survival weight of Sword of Kaigen and the cosmic stakes of Defiance of the Fall with a marriage at the center.

Hollowborne is a nine-book LitRPG fantasy series set in a world where a god's failed ascension shattered reality, ash falls from a broken sky, and the system that governs power is damaged, exploited, and hostile. It follows Cael Vantris — a disgraced soldier with a forbidden class who can consume the corruption killing everything else. Think the oppression of Mistborn, the wit of He Who Fights With Monsters, and the power growth of Primal Hunter. Clean language throughout.

Dead Man's Ledger is a nine-book dark progression LitRPG. A dead paramedic wakes in a world where death is currency, can see everyone's survival probability the moment he looks at them, and refuses to let a polite, lawful system finish counting the people he's supposed to be saving. A rigged game is still a game. Games can be rewritten. Darker than He Who Fights With Monsters; hope is real but costs.

Legends of Iathia is a dark epic fantasy series about power, sacrifice, and the sovereignty of the Maker. Thirteen books across four seasons, following champions of different races as they navigate a world where the veil between realms is tearing and magic comes at a cost. Think the grit of Nightlord, the found-family warmth of Eragon, and the political depth of Codex Alera.

The Person

John works as a software developer and lives in Arkansas with his wife, Melissa, whom he waited for until he was thirty-four and who has been the most consistent evidence of God's goodness in his life. When he's not writing or coding, he's probably outdoors, reading fantasy novels, watching anime, or working on yet another home renovation project.