My Lore
I write weird fiction, sword & sorcery, and dark-fantasy; prose
and poetry.
I also design ergodic literature and narrative puzzle games.
Who am I?
This site exists to help answer this question. I’m European. I’m in my mid-to-late twenties. My real name is Zoltán, derived from the Turkish ‘sultan,’ meaning ruler. But I use Zoli among friends. My family name Forrai, probably meant ‘of the spring’ or ‘of the source’ at some point in history.
In high school, I studied media and filmmaking, but I was left unsure whether to continue with it. I spent one semester in film school at a reasonably good university, but after much disappointment, I left and pivoted careers.
My other love is the English language, so naturally, I turned to language teaching as a viable path forward. So now I study English and history at a more distinguished, albeit much more demanding university.
More about me...
I enjoy heavy metal and rock-adjacent music, anything from Alkaloid to Zappa. And while outside this spectrum, I find the music of Aurora simply delightful. Anyhow, my favourite band will always be Iron Maiden. See my playlist.
Although I’m not a huge gamer, I do enjoy mystery and narrative puzzle games, like Blue Prince. I’m generally a fan of older titles such as Morrowind, Thief, Dark Souls, and World of Warcraft (vanilla). Gildrom Qeeney was the name of my first RP character. I’ve kept the name as my nom de plume online.
I have an interest in literature, but more for its poetics and semiotics and less so for its aesthetic appeal. What I find exciting about a text is what it’s doing with language and meaning. “A poem is not a puzzle to be solved.” Sure, and yet many texts can be approached as hermeneutic riddles. See my library.
Why Do I Write?
To better my English. While I’m an ardent subscriber to Krashen’s comprehensive input hypothesis, I do realise that simply relying on natural language input available through everyday life and media can only get you so far. One solution is to go after more strenuous, though rarely as compelling texts. But I have found that creating texts myself leads to better retention.
I also cannot deny that I find writing (the ideation, the tactile feeling of pressing keys, the act of creation) tremendously enjoyable. I approach writing as a game, the language as play. And my preeminent priority is ever my own entertainment.
Is there something I missed? Check my answer page, or write to me.