Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m Frank Torn—a Brisbane-based writer with a dangerous imagination and a taste for the uncanny. For the past decade I’ve written everything from twisted memoirs to short horror fiction, usually with a dark laugh hiding somewhere between the lines. The Outlands is my debut full-length novel, though I’ve filled countless notebooks with half-feral worlds that may yet see daylight.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is The Outlands, releasing Halloween 2025. It grew out of a fascination with post-trauma landscapes—how people rebuild after everything familiar burns away. I wanted to blend the awe of dystopian survival with the intimacy of love, guilt, and madness. Australia’s vastness felt like the perfect mirror for that emotional desolation—endless, beautiful, and quietly haunted.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write late at night with every light off except one, because I like to feel the story breathing in the dark. I also keep a “scrapbook of nightmares”—a digital file of overheard lines, dreams, and strange newspaper clippings that often morph into scenes. My dogs tend to fall asleep beside me just as things start to get unsettling, which I take as a good omen.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
My compass points spin between Cormac McCarthy, Shirley Jackson, Jeff VanderMeer, and Kazuo Ishiguro. I love how they balance dread with beauty—how horror and tenderness can occupy the same breath. I’m also drawn to the world-building of Margaret Atwood and the existential chill of J.G. Ballard. Each reminds me that even in ruin, there’s poetry.
What are you working on now?
I’m drafting a loose follow-up to The Outlands—not a direct sequel, but another story set in the same fractured universe. It explores memory as both refuge and trap, with a mystery element that bends time. I’m also compiling a collection of interconnected short stories under the working title Ash and Other Inheritances.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I like combining authenticity with atmosphere—so I use Instagram and Threads to post snippets, concept art, and glimpses of the writing process. I also engage on Reedsy Discovery and Goodreads, where readers who love dystopian and horror hybrids tend to gather. For me, connection beats algorithms every time.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write the book only you could write. Don’t chase trends; chase truth. Let your obsessions lead you into strange places—they’re breadcrumbs, not distractions. And finish the draft even when it feels ugly; clarity lives in revision.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Make it hurt, then make it mean something.” Someone told me that early on, and it stuck. Good stories wound you a little—but the healing happens in the telling.
What are you reading now?
Right now I’m reading Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel for its haunting serenity, and The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig because it reminds me that horror can still feel tender. I like alternating between beauty and brutality.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Once The Outlands launches, I’ll be touring local indie bookstores and building toward the next novel. I want to expand the universe—exploring how love survives in ruined worlds—and eventually branch into screenwriting. The goal is to make readers feel awe, unease, and a strange kind of hope all at once.
What is your favorite book of all time?
The Road by Cormac McCarthy. It’s equal parts nightmare and prayer—a love story disguised as apocalypse. Every reread reminds me why I write: to find the light that still flickers in the dark.
Author Websites and Profiles
Brendon Luke Amazon Profile
Brendon Luke’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile