About Daniel Pajkurich
Daniel Pajkurich grew up in a small suburban town in New Jersey, and during the summer months would spend time with his grandparents in Philadelphia. He got a taste of both suburban and urban life growing up. He inherited a love of reading from his mother, Susan Pajkurich, from bedtime stories to shared books when he was able to read on his own. His grandfather, Lester Witzell, would introduce him to fantastic tales on the big screen, such as Jason and the Argonauts, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, and a plethora of Godzilla movies. His father, Frank Pajkuirch, a lifelong fan of horror movies, introduced Daniel early on to the genre, ranging from Alien (yes the original) to B movies such as Razorback and Rawhead Rex, much to his mother's dismay because of the nightmares that followed! Needless to say, fantasy and horror took root very early on in various shapes.
A lifelong lover of stories, Daniel’s imagination was first sparked by bedtime tales from his mother and early encounters with mythological epics like The Twelve Labors of Hercules and The Iliad from his local library. In middle school, he would blaze through assignments just to get a chance to read whatever book was in his backpack that week, be it Stephen King, Michael Moorcock, C.S. Lewis, or Isaac Asimov. Continuing this trend in high school, he also discovered Dungeons and Dragons and the wealth of supporting novels that came with it, Ravenloft and Dark Sun being his favorites.
That passion for fantasy, science fiction, and horror followed him into adulthood and became the foundation of his writing voice, one that blends richly imagined worlds with emotionally grounded characters. Also, an avid tabletop roleplaying game enthusiast, Daniel has spent years crafting stories and guiding players through worlds of peril and wonder. Between writing short stories, creating campaigns, and work presentations, Daniel decided to pursue a lifelong goal of publishing his own novel, which has now led to the creation of the series The Eldergloom Chronicles.