Lori Ravenford writes urban fantasy and liminal speculative fiction about characters searching for belonging while brushing against hidden magical worlds
Welcome to the Laboratory of Cranky Optimism.
Based in Tokyo, Lori also works in photography and illustration, exploring her fascination with nature in urban spaces.
Her preferred writing location would be at a scarred wooden table in a secret laboratory surrounded by leather bound books, herbs, specimen jars and her writing companions Cawson the Editing Raven, Ikamura the Squid and her dog Amelia.
In reality, her writing desk is a less glamorous bean bag, an IKEA trolley overflowing with notebooks and pens, and Amelia curled up nearby.
Lori is active on Instagram, where she shares glimpses of her story worlds, research rabbit holes, and the occasional stick-figure comic. She loves connecting with readers—especially mushroom, cephalopod, and corvid enthusiasts.
Subscribe to her newsletter, The Ravenford Diaries, for story updates, art, research from her story worlds, and the occasional shallow dive into whatever rabbit hole her magpie mind has discovered.
Love. Monsters. Misfits. Magic in the Margins.
If this is your vibe, you’ve found your place.