D.W. Ellis is an indie author, world builder, and the founder of Oak & Lantern Press. He grew up in an Air Force family — his father served 15 years — which gave him a lifelong relationship with movement, change, and finding home in the middle of uncertainty. Those same themes run through everything he writes.

He spent 20 years working as an operations manager, HR business partner, and business consultant before committing fully to building the worlds that had been accumulating in his head for decades. He holds a BSBA in Marketing from Auburn and Troy Universities. He is a right leg amputee, and lives with extreme ADHD and high-functioning autism — neither of which has slowed him down, and both of which have shaped how he sees story.

His literary loves run deep and wide: C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, Alexandre Dumas, Arthur Conan Doyle, Brad Meltzer, Jonathan Swift, Robert Louis Stevenson, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, George R.R. Martin, J.K. Rowling, Christopher Paolini, a little Shakespeare, the Hardy Boys, and Goosebumps. On the comics side: Batman, Superman, and the DC Universe; Wolverine, the X-Men, and the Incredible Hulk from Marvel; Harley Quinn, She-Hulk, and the animated worlds of Darkwing Duck, DuckTales, ThunderCats, Gargoyles, and Disney at large. He writes the kinds of stories those worlds taught him to love — big, layered, morally serious, and alive with wonder.

He lives in Central Alabama with his wife, two stepchildren, and his golden retriever Aubie. When he is not writing, he is fishing, hunting, spending time with family, or doing whatever Aubie has decided is the plan for the afternoon.

His debut series, The Aurora Borealis Chronicles, is available now. His historical fiction prequel Aurelia's Origin Story is in progress. Three podcasts — Christian Junkie, The Lyricist, and My ADHD Sucks — launch August 2026.