Born on Thanksgiving Day, 1972, Brannon "Ashy" Hollingsworth was a misplaced, idealistic child thrust into the harsh realities of growing up in the real world in the heart of the Deep South. Arising from a simple, honest background, Brannon always seemed different from other children and was forever reading, writing, drawing or exploring any patch of woods he could find. To those who knew him well, it seemed that Brannon was ceaselessly trying to escape the discordant scraps of reality around him, looking for passage back to whatever fairytale realm from which he had originated.
Apparently, Brannon never found a lasting road back; his childhood thankfully passed and he entered adolescence, during which some solace was discovered. Through a close, valued companionship with a tightly knit group of friends (from which the Wandering Men eventually sprang), Brannon received an introduction to two things that altered him irrevocably: true bonds of brotherhood and role-playing. These twin concepts became the corner stones for the construction of a new life which Brannon has endlessly toiled to complete. Leaving his home town, finding peace with God, attending college, remaining close to his friends, meeting and marrying his soul mate, having his children, forming his family and beginning his career as a freelance author have all been necessary and welcome additions to this construction, which is still on going today.
Currently, Brannon has the pleasure of being surrounded daily with: his beautiful, beloved wife, fantastic five children, a hyper-intelligent border collie, a large, yellow, demonic beast named "Buttercup", and a ninja in feline form. Believe it or not, they all reside in a very small house in a very small town in northern Alabama. By day, he works in a field for which he was not trained and performs tasks for reasons he does not fully understand, but apparently is very good at; by night, however, he is allowed to explore his first love: writing. It would seem again that Brannon is looking for those passages back "home". The sole exception is that now he searches for an entirely different reason; instead of looking to escape, he desires to show others the fantastical place that lies just beyond reality's ragged and threadbare borders.
Brannon's work to date has been for several D20 publishers including Paizo Publishing, Sword & Sorcery Studios, Green Ronin Press, Bastion Press, Sovereign Press, Necromancer Games, Atlas Games, Fantasy Flight Games, Eden Studios, Skeleton Key Games, Dark Quest Games, Ambient, Inc., and Citizen Games. He has also been published in several industry periodicals such as Dragon Magazine, Gaming Frontiers, and The EN World Player's Journal. Brannon is also known on the internet as "the guy that started the Official Planescape Website, Planewalker.com", where he gained the pseudonym "Ashy", which has stuck ever since...
Skein of Shadows was his, along with his fellow Wandering Mens', first published novel. Currently, the Wandering Men are working on the sequel to Skein, a ground-breaking RPG-ish game, and many other top-secret and top-shelf projects. Brannon has also just recently completed a draft on a second novel with good friend and co-author Austin Boyd and is looking forward to several more!
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Monday, 22 December 2008 17:36
Your cousin "Jerm"
Bran visited website - extremely impressed - Saw vid casts of interviews. on your chapter of book - almost finished - been great so far - lovin it - brings back a lot of childhood memories - sorrry took so long - been busy with birth of new baby "kicket" - go to OUR365.com type in 10-30-2008 for b-day & TRA for moms last name to see baby pic - Miss ya couz - Jerm
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