The Short Bio:

Marinda Kotze is a South African writer and research psychologist living in Tbilisi, Georgia. She writes speculative fiction that drifts between the psychological and the uncanny—stories about what we fear, what we dream, and what lies just beneath the surface of being human. Marinda writes in both English and Afrikaans.

Her influences include a wide range of authors such as Stephen King, Shirley Jackson, Ray Bradbury, Kurt Vonnegut, Neil Gaiman, Philip K. Dick, Aldous Huxley, and Edgar Allan Poe, as well as filmmakers Tim Burton and David Lynch.

Her Afrikaans short story “Krisjan se Meisies” was shortlisted by PEN Afrikaans and LitNet for their short story competition celebrating the centenary of the Afrikaans language. Three of her stories have also been finalists in Crystal Lake Publishing’s Shallow Waters horror flash fiction contests.

Marinda’s work has appeared in numerous literary magazines and anthologies, including Dark Moments (Black Hare Press), The Mythos Minute Podcast, 50-Word Stories, Flash of the Dead: Reloaded (Wicked Shadow Press), Dark Descent Magazine (Dark Holme Publishing), The World of Myth Magazine, Mobius Blvd. Magazine, and Schlock! Magazine.

The Long Bio (aka The Origin Story):

As an introvert, I always feel a little self-conscious introducing myself. But here it goes…

I’m Marinda Kotze. I’m from Pretoria, South Africa. I travel a lot and currently find myself in the Republic of Georgia. My first language is Afrikaans, but I’ve always enjoyed reading and writing in English.

I am a Research Psychologist with a BSocSci degree in Psychology (minoring in Criminology), an honors degree in Psychology, a Master’s degree in Research Psychology, and a PhD in Psychology.

I pursued psychology because I found human behavior—especially criminal behavior and addiction—fascinating. Initially, I wanted to become a clinical psychologist. But after working as a research assistant in my university’s psychology department and conducting my own research projects, I realized I was better suited to research than clinical practice. I was drawn to research because it involved a lot of reading and writing, was intellectually stimulating, and offered something new with every project. That seemed far more exciting than being a therapist!

After completing my PhD, life returned to “normal.” In the process of recalibrating my daily routines, I started reading a lot more fiction. While visiting my parents, my mother reminded me that I used to write when I was younger—and that, originally, I had dreamed of becoming a writer. That was true, but by my teenage years, I had given up on the idea due to discouraging feedback from teachers and depression. Still, I continued making up stories in my overactive imagination and lived vicariously through the characters I encountered in books, movies, and television shows.

As an adult, I spent a lot of time writing research reports and articles, so I assumed any skill I had for fiction writing had long since disappeared. However, with some extra free time—and encouragement from my boyfriend—I decided to give fiction writing a try.

I started writing short stories to learn the craft of storytelling. Since I’m a horror and science fiction fan, I naturally gravitated toward those genres. From the beginning, I decided to submit my stories to magazines rather than to write in my own little bubble.

My first submission was to The First Line magazine on July 27, 2023. The story, Candlesticks and Covenants, was rejected (the first of many!), but I didn’t let that stop me. I revised it, sent it elsewhere—and it was accepted! (It should be out sometime in 2026) That small victory gave me the momentum to keep going.

I continued writing and submitting short stories to magazines and participating in competitions whenever possible. So far, over twenty of my short stories have been published or are on their way to publication.

I’ve recently decided to pivot more towards writing longer fiction, so expect novellas, novels and serialised stories from me in the near future!

Whether you’re a fellow writer, reader, or just passing through—thank you for being here. I hope you find something in my stories that makes you feel seen, thrilled, or maybe just a little unsettled…