Author Bio
I’m Zachary Carr, the creator of Eryndral: Shards of Eternity and the mind behind Bearded Nerd Books. Growing up in a somewhat small town, I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of worlds reborn from chaos—a fascination that inspired me to craft Eryndral’s fractured landscape. As a lifelong nerd with a beard full of stories, I spend my days dreaming up tales of survival, magic, and unity in a post-apocalyptic realm.
My writing journey began with a love for epic fantasy and sci-fi, genres that let me explore the resilience of the human spirit—or its mutated successors—in the face of cataclysm. Eryndral: Shards of Eternity was born from a vivid dream of a shattered world where glowing blue shards held the key to survival, a vision that evolved into the Katka Heart and its stones. Inspired by the idea of unity amidst chaos, I wove together the stories of races like the Ilstof and Vyrkol, drawing on my fascination with post-apocalyptic survival and the interplay of magic and technology. Each character, from Elyra Skythread to Torrn Dusktunnel, reflects a piece of my belief in the power of community to overcome even the darkest threats.
Eryndral's themes of survival and unity resonate deeply with me, as I’ve always been drawn to stories of people—or beings—coming together in the face of adversity. Growing up, I often spent a lot of time alone, which inspired me to create a world of beings coming together. I've also always been an avid gamer, starting my gamer journey on the original Atari. I grew up with an eclectic love of many different genres of video games. I played a lot, over the years, each fueling my love and passion for the fantastical. Some of my favorites are the entire Fallout series and games like Cyberpunk 2077. I love post-apocalyptic stories and games. The main inspiration for Eryndral came from a game on Steam called Timberborn. This is a cute style city-building game where humans are extinct from toxic waste, and now Beavers are the dominant species. So you gather resources and build your city. This inspired me to create something on a larger scale, which is how the world of Eryndral was born.
I wanted Eryndral to be a world where humans died out. Nuclear War seemed to be the most plausible reason for this to me. I used that nuclear fallout to design the Katka stones, as well, to give the new world an energy source. The blend of magic and technology in the Katka stones reflects my love for both the fantastical and the practical, a duality I see in my own life as I balance creativity with the nuts and bolts of storytelling. Through characters like Lira Packheart and Zylara Tidefang, I explore the hope and determination that I believe can light even the darkest paths.
Writing Eryndral: Shards of Eternity was a journey of late nights and early mornings, often fueled by strong coffee and the sounds of classic 80's music. I originally devised only 11 races. My eldest daughter, my sunflower, wanted to contribute to my book by creating a race, thus the Resho were born. I added the Resho, and altered my story by her request. Since then, she's collaborated heavily on the story with me. I also had help from Grok 3, an incredible super AI software, as well as chatGPT. Both of these softwares helped me eke out areas of my story that were lacking and I needed guidance on, as well as generating all of my images.
I’m thrilled to share Eryndral: Shards of Eternity with you, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on the world and its characters—whether it’s Elyra’s songs or Zylara’s tides that capture your imagination. Feel free to reach out on the Contact page or follow me on my social media sites for updates on Eryndral’s next chapters, behind-the-scenes content, and more nerdy adventures. Let’s explore this fractured world together!