Cavan Barry was born and raised in 1991 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

After completing his initial schooling, Cavan spent a year travelling Europe by road before returning to South Africa to attend Rhodes University, where he studied Journalism and literature. During this time he interned at various publications and became a regular radio DJ for the local varsity station, RMR.

Once his degree was complete, Cavan began work as a Journalist for the Caxton group. He soon left, however, to pursue a career as a graphic designer with a Johannesburg-based advertising agency. After learning much about media, copywriting and design, Cavan began his own company in 2016 called Chalk Creation, which functioned as a full-service digital agency. The company took on partnership and remains a going concern, acting as the independent publisher for Children of the Storm.

Cavan wrote Children of the Storm from his home in Johannesburg. He loves travelling, is still attempting to remain an avid sports enthusiast and enjoys writing songs and playing his guitar.

First, a giant thank you is in order for your interest in Children of the Storm, my very first completed novel. I hope beyond hope that you’ve found a little of yourself nestled somewhere within the pages behind you.
My aspiration is to keep exploring the Southern Realms and to share more stories like Twelve’s and Callah’s. To achieve that goal, your voice is absolutely critical. Your reviews, feedback, clicks, likes and purchases are the only thing that can turn this small cog in a large machine. Please find me on Twitter or follow the links below. Here you can let me know what you thought of the story, find out where to get copies and sign up for the mailing list. Your interaction is immeasurably valuable. After all, the Realms were imagined to be shared.
Children of the Storm is the first novel I’ve seen to completion, but it’s not the first I’ve attempted. After studying as a Journalist at Rhodes University in Grahamstown I entered into the world of media, writing and designing a varied array of content from my home in Johannesburg.
As a so-called creative, I began to believe, like many others do, that I had a great novel buried somewhere inside of me, waiting to be unearthed.
So, I began to dig.
I made numerous attempts to capture the essence of the human condition. I experimented with new writing styles, wild plot devices and even rampant cynicism. Despite my computer filling up with more and more notes and documents scrumpled into my hard drive, however, each was a failure. I was too young, too inexperienced and I lacked the skill to hold up the perfect mirror onto society that I had envisioned.
So I stopped. I decided to wait until the world saw fit to reveal more of its secrets to me and, instead, I thought up a new goal.
I decided I would like to write a story. Not a highfalutin artist’s piece but, instead, a tale that could be enjoyed by young and young at heart alike. Thus, the Southern Realms were imagined, along with the journey of humble young Twelve, as a vessel to reveal the world around him. I wanted to write a fantasy, a genre I have always loved, but rather than a grand epic, I wanted to look into a fantastic universe through the eyes of a real, flawed human being. Twelve’s embarkation to discover his own responsibility is one that I believe rings true for all of us to some degree or another. Moreover, I aimed to tell the story in a digestible hundred thousand words (and only overshot that mark very slightly).
During the process of writing Children of the Storm I underwent a transformation within myself. Where before I was the scowling critic of my own language, I became a loving caretaker. I was as immersed in the world I was writing as I dream my readers might be. Now, far from biding my time before I learn enough to submit a literary first, my true desire is to share the stories that have blossomed about me.
The funny thing about it all is that inside the journey from one end of the Southern Realms to the other, I managed to feel that human essence in every plight I placed before the characters. All I can hope for now is that the same might be true for you.
Thank you so much for reading my novel, and I hope so dearly to share more of this world with you.