THE AUTHOR

A madman armed with an over-active imagination (and possibly a Gold Disc)

It’s been a strange, unbelievable journey to arrive at the point where these books are going out into the world, like rare, near-extinct animals being returned to their natural habitat — already wondering where they’re going to nick cigarettes from on the plains of Africa, the way they used to from the zookeeper’s overalls.

C.N. Rowan (“Call me C.N., Mr. Rowan was my father”) came originally from Leicester, England. Somehow escaping its terrible, terrible clutches — only joking, he’s a proud Midlander really — he has wound up living in the South-West of France for his sins. Only, not for his sins. Otherwise, he’d have ended up living somewhere really dreadful. Like Leicester. (Again — joking. He really does love Leicester. He knows Leicester can take a joke. Unlike some of those other cities. Looking at you, Slough.)

With multiple weird strings to his bow — all made of tooth-floss and liable to snap if you tried to use them to do anything as adventurous as shooting an arrow — he’s done all sorts of odd things. From running a hiphop record label (including featuring himself as rapper, which is either brave or alarming depending on your perspective) to hustling disability living aids on the mean streets of Syston.

He’s particularly proud of his work managing and recording several French hiphop acts, and is currently awaiting confirmation of wild rumours he might get a Gold Disc for a song he recorded and mixed. He has chosen to remain optimistic about this. His optimism is, at least, more reliable than Paul Bonhomme’s.

“In the two years since I joined the online indie author community, I know of no other fellow debutant who launched their career with as much aplomb as C.N. Rowan.” — Amazon Reader Review

His imPerfect Cathar series has won the PenCraft Literary Award, the Best Indie Book Award, the Audiobook Reviewer Award, and the American Legacy Book Award. It’s been called “pretty close to perfect” by Fantasy-Faction.com and “the best debut novel I’ve ever read” by bestselling author Heather G. Harris. It has also made several readers Google Maps their way through the South of France, which is the highest possible compliment.

His second series, The Broken Hotel for Magical Misfits, launched in 2025 and features strong heroines, found family, a slow-burn romance, and a hotel that is a portal to at least two other worlds. He is pleased to report it has considerably less involuntary death than the Cathar series — though “considerably less” is doing a lot of heavy lifting there.

He narrates his own audiobooks, which either says something admirable about his commitment to his art, or something concerning about his self-confidence. Reviewers consistently say it works extremely well, which he is also smug about.

And be bribed with a free novella in exchange for suffering through his regular inanities. Is it worth it? Only you can tell. It’s like a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure, but with email. Sign up and get both prequel novellas instantly via BookFunnel.