Who am I?
Surviving middle school meant acquiring a “very particular set of skills”, and for Ted Atchley, that meant picking up the pen. A geek long before it was cool, he never quite fit in with the jocks, the cool kids, the preppies, the stoners, or even the church crowd. Along the way, he discovered that misfits and the overlooked often have the most compelling stories to share. These days, he writes redemptive high adventure stories that prove that no matter how invisible you feel, you can be the hero of an epic adventure just waiting to unfold.
His stories are forged in the trenches of real life while teaching high school robotics, and losing (okay, sometimes winning) at video games with his teenage son. Between the chaos of his day job and everyday life, he focuses on heroes who are ordinary people finding their inner worth when the world tells them they don’t matter.
For a long time, his writing dream was a Hollywood high-score screen of passive income and endless free time. But when the ‘Game Over’ light flashed on that illusion, Ted nearly walked away. A shift in his spiritual life and advice from a mentor helped him reframe his desire to tell stories as a calling. Over the years, Ted had discovered an unbridled, unconditional acceptance that transformed his writing, his marriage, his parenting, and his understanding of his identity. He then trained under a NYT Best Selling author with over 70 million copies sold and now approaches his work with a greater purpose, hoping to pass that sense of belonging on to his readers.
Nowadays, Ted has found his tribe among fellow geeks appearing on the Geeky Dads Talk About Geeky Things and Author Culture podcasts.
At their core, Ted’s adventures are fueled by hope. They serve as a haven for readers exhausted by grimdark cynicism, building worlds for those who still believe the most unlikely heroes can change the world.
When he isn’t crafting fantasy worlds, you can find Ted likely quoting classic 80s movies in Charleston, SC, with his wife, his son, and two cats, Omega and Shuri while missing his adult-age daughter terribly. During the fall, he loves coaching his high school FIRST Robotics team or cheering for the (often heartbreaking) Carolina Panthers.
If you’ve ever felt undervalued, or like you’re too broken to be used for something beautiful, Ted’s stories are for you.