Leoma Retan
Fantasy, Middle Grade Fantasy
Leoma Retan is a retired systems engineer, avid writer, proud techno-freak, and pet mommy to twenty barn cats and one Norwegian Elkhound living in rural Wisconsin. Born in Wisconsin, she’s lived in seven states and two non-US countries. She enjoys traveling and has cruised down the Rhine (and others), visited the site of the first parliament in Iceland, climbed pyramids in Mexico, and SCUBA-dived in both the Caribbean and the California coast but still has a long list of countries she longs to visit (Greenland is next).
As a writer, Leoma builds worlds in her dreams. Sometimes literally, since some of her stories are inspired by her dreams. Most of the time she writes fantasy and speculative fiction in both novel and short forms but she dabbles in poetry and occasionally ventures into other genres if the mood—and a good story concept—strikes her.
When not writing, Leoma prefers to be surrounded by plants and open spaces rather than tall buildings and traffic, but her fondness for good food and creature comforts keeps her within reasonable driving distance of the city. She reads voraciously across most genres except the very gory ones, gardens sporadically, and actively supports local civic and cultural activities. She has a distinct soft spot for the virtual world of Second Life because it is where she found her writer’s voice and still plays there almost daily.
Leoma’s short stories and poems have appeared in Creative Wisconsin magazine and the Writer’s Coffeehouse anthology Dream Catchers. She is currently working on two novels, the first of which will be published in 2026.
Learn more about Leoma at: leomaretan.com
Books by Leoma Retan
Away With the Fairies
June 1, 2026
My Story
Unlike many writers, I did not write when I was small. I did not tell stories. At least, I wrote nothing on paper and I told no stories to anyone else. I wrote a thousand stories in my head that stayed there. Safe. To write them down meant someone else might see them. They might laugh at the work of my heart. For me, that would have been unbearable.
Though I wrote numerous technical documents, I never shared my fiction writing outside of what was required for classes until sixteen years ago, in 2009, when I joined the virtual community that is Second Life. To say that it changed my life is a massive understatement.
When I was invited to join a role-playing domain within Second Life, called Alinar. As part of that, I needed to write a back story for my character. I was told the person who reviewed the stories was very picky. That I should expect lots of comments but they would be for the best. With considerable trepidation, I sent my story. A few days later, the answer came back. “Post it.” No changes. No edits required. She thought it was good enough.
That one response gave me the confidence to join bardic circles in Alinar (story-telling sessions around virtual campfires with our avatars sitting together in a simulated world). I wrote stories about gods and races and worlds that only existed in my mind, hidden behind the created face of my avatar. My person always safe, always hidden and able to leave. And others liked my stories. When I ended on a cliff hanger for one of my characters, they wanted the rest of the story.
For the first time, I experienced a glimmer of belief that maybe the stories that lived in my head for so long deserved to be freed.
Freeing my words has been a long journey. I started with a concept for a book that appeared in my dreams and demanded I write it. Halfway through the first draft, I started to ask, “So. When I finish this, how do I get it published?”
That was the start of years of learning. Gaining the skills needed to craft a novel that somebody else wants to read. Trying to decipher the ever-changing landscape of publishing. Figuring out what I truly wanted to achieve at the end of the process.
In the sixteen years since my first epiphany, I drafted three full novels, many short stories, and more than a few poems. I began and temporarily abandoned at least three novels and have concepts for at least half a dozen more, including sequels to the two that are nearest to publication-ready.
At long last, I am nearly ready to publish my first book. Not the first one that came to me, back in 2009—that one will be published later—but a middle grade fantasy that is also near and dear to my heart. I anticipate that Away with the Fairies—which includes three fairly ordinary Irish school boys who get themselves in a world of trouble with fairies, leprechauns, and even the banshee—will be available for purchase before summer 2026.