W.L. Hoffman was born in the 1960's in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and grew up in nearby Margate City. As a resident of a quiet island community, he spent much of his childhood imagining adventures above and below the waves. He worked many summers as a beach lifeguard, where rainy days meant uninterupted reading and sunny days brought the occasional rescue in riptides best left to the locals.
Hoffman's interest in reading was voracious from an early age, with a keen taste for fantasy and science fiction, and his teachers encouraged him to pursue this passion. He took advanced English curricula through high school and continued this trend in college. He received his BA in English from Duke Univercity and attended English literature classes at New College at Oxford University in England.
Following his inroduction to legislative drafting while serving in the Duke University student government, Mr. Hoffman obtained his JD from Cornell Law School. While there, he edited and wrote as an associate on the Cornell Internation Law Journal and, between legal treatises, continued devouring fantasy and science fiction stories. With his creativity under dayly siege from the law professors, his dreams wandered into strange realms as he quested for life's higher meaning. Thus was born the foundation for his first fantasy novel series, The Soulstealer War. While the concept for the series lingered for years as he made his way through a legal career, the sleepless nights that come with young children proved to be an apt trigger for putting pen to paper, thereby resulting in Book One, The First Mother's Fire.
Hoggmand currely resides in central New Jersey with his wife and daughters. When not playing his day job or writing at night, he enjoys spending time with his girls, digging in their organic vegetable garden, exploring the wields of the nearby Sourland Mountains, and telling tales on the front porch to what he knows will be the next generation of dreamers and writers.
