McClellan began writing when he was fifteen, starting at
Wheel of Time role playing websites. He began working on short stories and novellas in his late teens, when he was encouraged toward writing by his parents. McClellan went on to major in English with an emphasis on creative writing at
Brigham Young University, where he met American author
Brandon Sanderson, joining his writing classes. McClellan, wanting his writing to be more than just art, was determined to become a full-time writer. In 2006 he attended
Orson Scott Card's Literary Bootcamp. In 2008 he received honorable mention in the Writers of the Future Contest. McClellan published his first book,
Promise of Blood, in 2013. The second book,
The Crimson Campaign, was released in May 2014. In February 2015, his next novel,
The Autumn Republic concluded the planned
Powder Mage trilogy. He then published a sequel trilogy that had tentatively been entitled
Goddess of the Empire before being replaced by the more thematically over-arching
Gods of Blood and Powder. In 2019
Tor Books announced that they would be working with him to publish his new series,
The Glass Immortals. ==Bibliography==