• Other London Official Site

Lumen Quill (formerly writing as Erynn Q) is a nonbinary author from London, Ontario who doesn't give a hoot about what pronoun you use because they are what he is even if you call them a she. Like the Norse goddess Freyja, their chariot is drawn by two monochrome coloured cats, except instead of a chariot it's a bright red sectional couch, and instead of pulling it the cats merely keep them company on it. Also there are three cats, and this metaphor fell apart somewhere.Fueled by absurd amounts of coffee, Lumen attempts to write fantasy and sci-fi stories with themes that grabbed their attention as a child. These include interdimensional travel and magic, but also dealing with mental health issues and acceptance of LGBTQ individuals.Most of their early influences can be broadly traced back to magical girl anime, Super Paper Mario for the Nintendo Wii, and the Sonic the Hedgehog comics. They are well aware these are the least credible influences a writer could possibly have.Also, they were the god of a cult in high school. That happened.

So, who are you?

I’m Lumen Quill! formerly Erynn Q. I identify as nonbinary, my pronouns are they/them and she/her, and to be honest, I’d accept he/him but no one ever defaults to that. I’m an author! I write a middle-grade book series called Other London, and I have a bunch more series and one-offs in the works. I also really like Digimon, especially virtual pets from the series.

What's "Other London?"

It’s a middle-grade book series about magic, interdimensional relations, fighting ancient evils, and other stuff that regularly happens in southern Ontario, Canada! You can find out more about it on its website.

• Other London Official Site

Are you writing anything else?

I'm working on another middle-grade series called Starcrossers, and toying with an idea for a series for older audiences called Poet's Rhyme. There are posts about characters from them on my Unvale, if you go looking.

What kind of activism do you do?

Mostly mental health awareness stuff. I've been doing it since I was a preteen, and was a part of a large campaign in Canada to draw attention to stigma against mental illness in Canada. Got an award from a senator and had my face on the side of buses and everything. I was also in several newspaper articles and at least one documentary talking about my experiences with Bipolar Disorder. All of this was under my deadname though, so I won't be linking any of it.Nowadays I speak about my experiences whenever I can, including doing regular talks at the local college for Child and Youth Care classes about working with neurodivergent kids and their potential challenges. You're welcome to contact me if you want to know more, maybe I could speak at your event about such things!

Wait, you have Bipolar Disorder?

Yeah! I was diagnosed with it when I was like, seven years old too. You know it must have been pretty bad for that one to happen. I've lived with it, ADHD, and anxiety issues my whole life. I have physical disabilities too actually, I usually have a walking stick or cane on me to help with those though.Not gonna lie you will find plenty of references to my experiences with Bipolar Disorder in my books. Especially Other London, holy heck is there a lot of metaphors there.

What’s up with Alty?

He’s my mascot here, my personal assistant, and sometimes my Digimon Partner, all of this much to his chagrin. You can find out more about him and some of my other older characters on the Who The Heck Is Denji Meno site.

• Who the heck is Denji Meno?

Can I tell you about an idea I have for your book series?

Nope, sorry. That’d be really rude and unprofessional of me if I ended up accidentally copying your ideas. I can’t read your fanfiction either, as much as I’d like to.

What kind of fan art can you look at?

Art, drawing, music, stuff like that. I’d love to see it if you make it!

Can I use your writing/art to train Generative AI or use for NFTs?

Absolutely not! End of story. None of this supposed "AI", no LLMs, no blockchain. None of that. None.

So, if you have all this concept art you did, why didn’t you illustrate or do the covers for your own books?

Well, if you haven’t noticed I’m not exactly a professional level artist… I actually got into drawing pretty late (just before I turned twenty) and learned alongside developing Other London. I don’t think I’m bad at art or character design mind you, I just don’t have the skill level needed to make things look professional.

Why do all this art then?

Because I like to. And it gives the artists who work with me some direction.

What programs do you use?

For writing? Whatever word processor I can get my hands on. Currently Apple Pages for solo work, and Ellipsus for collaborative. For drawing? Paint Tool Sai and Gimp, more recently Procreate and Clip studio.

Do you take commissions?

For art? Not usually. Friends sometimes “commission” me by buying me food, but not often. For writing? That’s complicated, but if you have a serious project you want me to write for and can pay me for, I’ll hear you out at least.

Can I see your virtual pet collection?

Sure! Head over to my side website, Ready! Count! for that. They're mostly Digimon V-Pets.
It's still a work in progress, though.

• Ready! Count!

Can I contact you?

Sure, use the contact form on this website! I'd love to hear from you.

So, I saw your gallery… Are you like, a furry?

Not…. really? Kinda? I like furry and anthro character aesthetics, growing up on Sonic the Hedgehog tends to have that effect. Tokyo Mew Mew also forever engraved the concept in me that putting cute animal ears on a character is cool as all get out. I definitely have a lot of furry friends too, and a habit of occasionally drawing myself as an anthro character.Despite this, though, I don’t really spend any time in furry communities, all my furry friends are people I met outside that interest sphere, and I kinda prefer drawing myself as a human most of the time. I tend to call myself a “casual” furry I guess? I’m not really ride or die for it, could take it or leave it.

What even is your sona/The Little Lumen?

They're based on the mythological Carbuncle as they appear in Final Fantasy and other JRPGs. I wouldn't search up the word 'Carbuncle' if I were you though, its also the name of a less than pleasant skin condition. Here, have some links to relevant articles.

• Carbuncles at Wikipedia
• Carbuncles in Final Fantasy

Can I see your other sona(s)?

Sure!