Esra Drake

Esra Drake grew up in Bedford, initially aspiring to train as a doctor but unfortunately fate intervened. She instead worked through various low-paid jobs, finally joining the police and building a varied career in criminal justice. Outside of this, she founded and runs a busy archery and survival business whilst pursuing her greatest love: writing.

The darker aspects of her past have been her main motivation for creating flawed and complex characters to encapsulate the pitfalls of humanity, attempting to navigate our vulnerability with humour and compassion. Her debut fantasy novel, Acts of Cupidity, sold at auction to Bonnier (2025) and will be followed in the series by Fortune Favours the Grave (2026) and Karma Before the Storm (2027).

Seeing her debut novel come to life is her greatest achievement to date, and she is hoping to build on that success to prove to herself that fortune favours the brave, and courage comes in many forms.