About Zoe Nauman

Zoe Nauman

YA Fantasy Author

Zoe Nauman is an award-winning YA fantasy author and a journalist, copywriter, editor, and accomplished speaker with nearly 30 years of experience collaborating with some of the world’s most recognized brands and publications on three continents. The Dawning, Book 1 of The Amaris Prophecies, won the Literary Titan Gold Book Award and a Christian Book Excellence Award.

A masterful storyteller, she has a special talent for helping organizations discover and express their authentic voice. Her journalism background has taken her behind the scenes with global celebrities, including in-depth interviews with Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, and Lionel Richie.

Zoe has worked with some of the largest and most respected publications in the world, including Daily Mail, and Mirror Group Newspapers, Channel 10 and The Sun, as well as the Daily and Sunday Telegraph in Australia.

At heart a dedicated globetrotter, Zoe left the UK in 2008 to settle in Sydney, Australia, where she lived for seven enriching years while exploring some of Asia’s most captivating destinations — with Bali remaining her absolute favorite. She now resides on the Westside Los Angeles, where she spends her time writing, caring for her three lively chihuahuas Poco, Chika, and Enzo, savoring blue cheese stuffed olives, and finding inspiration during runs along the Pacific. She is also a fully qualified Bikram yoga and Inferno Hot Pilates instructor.

What to Expect From The Amaris Prophecies

Readers can expect immersive portal fantasy adventures featuring diverse teen protagonists, magical realms, themes of friendship, identity, empathy, and overcoming adversity — told in an engaging, accessible tone that blends wonder, heart, and subtle real-world resonance to inspire courage and imagination.

From Journalist to Novelist

“My life has always felt like stepping through invisible doors into new worlds. Born with a restless curiosity and a deep love for stories that transport you somewhere else, I’ve spent years chasing horizons and discovering that the most powerful magic often lies in unexpected places.

Creation of the Amaris Prophecies

In 2008, I left the familiar shores of the UK and moved to Sydney, Australia. That single decision cracked open my world. For over seven years I lived Down Under, exploring vibrant cities, ancient landscapes, and the stunning islands of Asia — especially my beloved Bali, where the air hums with mystery and the jungles whisper secrets. Those travels became the soil from which my portal fantasy grew. I saw how different cultures, beliefs, and personal struggles mirror one another beneath surface differences. This realization planted the seed for Amaris — a magical realm that reflects the complexities of our own world through a fantastical lens.

From Mind to Page

Back in everyday life, I felt the pull to write stories that mattered. I wanted tales for readers aged 11–16 that didn’t shy away from tough realities — bullying, anxiety, identity questions, cultural clashes, the weight of expectations — but wrapped them in adventure, magic, and hope. My belief in God is also incredibly important to me, and I wanted to enable readers the chance to think about their own spiritual beliefs and how they shape their opinions and their world. The conflict was internal: Could I craft a story compelling enough to hold young readers while addressing the real-life challenges they were facing? Could I build a world rich enough to let them escape and return stronger?

Writing The Amaris Prophecies meant long nights balancing ideas, world-building, and questioning every plot turn. Teenagers from Earth — strangers from different backgrounds, each carrying private burdens, pulled through a Thura Gate into Amaris. There, an evil queen threatens destruction, a prophesied Chosen One is imprisoned, and ancient weapons hold the key to salvation. Their journeys forced them (and me) to confront differences, fears, and the power of unity.

Overcoming Doubt

There were days the words wouldn’t come. Rejections stung. Self-doubt whispered that a portal fantasy with diverse teens tackling heavy themes might not find its place. Moments of isolation hit hard — wondering if the story was too ambitious, the vocabulary too stretching, the social mirrors too sharp for young readers. That darkness mirrored the characters’ lowest point in Amaris: separated, facing immortal armies, questioning the prophecy itself. I nearly shelved the story more than once.

How to Stay in the Writing Game

Persistence, revision after revision, and belief in the story’s heart carried me through. Publishing The Reckoning (Book 3 in the series) and The Rising (Book 2) marked my entry into the realms I’d imagined.

However, after just 12 months, I decided to unpublish the books, rewrite them, and then relaunch in 2026, this time with books 1 and 4 in the series completed.

Now readers journey with the teens from Earth across hundreds of years in the life of Amaris. They are not only there at the rise of the evil Queen Sathariel, but play an intrinsic part in shaping the history of this world. They are there to seek magical weapons, solve prophecies, free the Chosen One, save dragons, win wars, and challenge Queen Sathariel’s dark forces. The series uses fantasy to explore bullying, peer pressure, racism, gender identity, war’s echoes, religious differences, anxiety management, and the healing power of storytelling and imagination.”

What I Write Now and Why It Matters

Today I write YA, coming-of-age, portal fantasy because these stories give young readers a safe mirror and a magic window. Through Amaris, teens see their struggles refracted — not preached, but experienced alongside heroes who grow through courage, friendship, and empathy. The series stretches vocabulary, sparks world-building curiosity, and shows how writing and imagination release anxiety and reframe real-world problems.

My travels taught me diversity strengthens us; my chihuahuas remind me joy lives in small, loyal moments; beach runs clear my mind for new ideas. I write to empower the next generation with tools to navigate their own portals — from childhood to adulthood — armed with wonder and resilience.”

Explore the full series and purchase options.

For Event Planners and Schools

Zoe Nauman is an award-winning speaker who brings energy, insight, and interactive elements to events for young readers, writers, educators, and families.

Popular Talk Titles:

1. Portal Fantasy World-Building: Creating Magical Realms That Mirror Real Life
2. Empowering Teens Through Story: Using Fantasy to Explore Identity, Anxiety, and Friendship
3. From Idea to Published Book: The Journey of the Amarisian Prophecies
4. Diversity and Empathy in YA Fiction
5. Overcoming Writer’s Block: Techniques Inspired by Portal Adventures
6. Interactive Workshop: Building Your Own Thura Gate (world-building exercise)

Audience Outcomes: Attendees leave with practical tools for storytelling, greater empathy for diverse perspectives, inspiration to read/write fantasy, and confidence in facing personal challenges.

Formats: 45–60 min keynote, 90 min workshop, or panel.

Intro Bio for MCs: “Zoe Nauman is the award-winning author of the Amaris Prophecies portal fantasy series and an award-winning speaker passionate about using imaginative stories to help young people navigate real-world complexities.”