Danny Willis lives in a strange netherworld that links this world with the other weird universes that whirl around in his head. As such, trolls, goblins and dragons are his constant companions, and he still, after all these years, has difficulty accepting the fact that other people can’t see them as well.

When visiting our world, Danny lives in central Victoria, surrounded by books and computers. His artwork is inspired by nature, and he spends a much of his time in the bushlands around his home taking photos of rocks, trees, birds and insects.

Apart from his initial sketches all his artwork is created digitally, simply because it’s so easy to fix mistakes in a digital file – absolutely essential, he says, for someone who makes as many mistakes as he does.

“People assume I know what I’m doing. But really I don’t. A lot of what I do is a form of visual Russian roulette. Sometimes it works; a lot of time it doesn’t.”

Danny sees himself as a jack of all trades (and master of none). Over the years he’s been a storeman, a milkman, a truck driver, had a stint at retail and worked as a designer. Successful at none of these jobs, he finally succumbed to the voices in his head – and the goblins were born.

He is currently working on the sequel to Goblins: The Outer Realm, But as trolls, dragons and giants skulk around causing mischief in crevices of his rather twisted imagination, nobody has any idea what exactly his next book will be about: “I think people are too scared to ask.”.

Danny Willis titles include:

Goblins: The Outer Realm
Goblins Deluxe Jigsaw Book
The World of Grrym: Allira's Gift

Back to Author Profiles