Meet Author Tiddy Smith

Author Tiddy Smith

I am a New Zealand philosopher of religion who has always been fascinated with the strange and unusual. I hail from the town of Dunedin, a Scottish settlement in the lower portion of the South Island, where I earned my PhD from the University of Otago. I presently live in Jakarta with my wife, Ingrid, and I love to explore this enormous and diverse archipelago.

In my professional life, I publish mostly on two topics: 1. Animism as a religious category, and 2. The relationship between science and religion. But when I am not writing in this professional capacity, I am more often drawn to topics that are strange and attention-grabbing. I was, after all, a child of the X-Files generation.

My journey as a writer began at the tender age of nine, when my first short book, Fluff, received a kind rejection letter from Penguin. "We recommend you wait until you are a little older before submitting your writing for publication," I was told. "How patronizing!" thought that tender nine year old boy. Alas, I am a little older now, and I can now boast the publication of three books. Perhaps Penguin was right after all.