“Some stories end rather suddenly, leaving hardly a trace of having ever happened at all. Others lumber on, casting loose threads and unanswered questions even as they resolve others. Arliss soon saw that her story fell into the second group: her tale still had many threads to tie up and many questions to be answered.”

The Fiery Arrow

This quote—from the closing chapter of The Fiery Arrow—strikes a nostalgic chord when I read it now, six years after writing it. Six years. Wow. Even just to write that feels like I’ve made a mistake—like it cannot possibly be that long, considering how fresh and real the world of the Reinhold books still feels in my mind.

If you’re reading this and feel lost and confused, here’s a primer: I wrote and independently published a trilogy of YA medieval fantasy novels called The Reinhold Chronicles and released them in 2016, 2017, and 2018, respectively. The stories follow the arc of the clan of Reinhold as they form a new country and find their place in the world through the adventures of Arliss, the first princess.

So, yeah. I finished a series. I did the whole self-publishing thing (and could write in detail about the pros and cons of that choice). And then it was just…over.

Continue reading “the reinhold chronicles (bo’s version)” →

Life right now looks like a lot of strange things. Empty shelves. A messy bedroom that’s become quite the creative vacuum. Cardboard boxes full of books.

Since when did I come to own over 300 books? Not really sure how that one happened. But I suppose libraries don’t really happen; they become. One series there, a good biography over here, and that collector’s edition you found at the thrift store and just had to have for your shelf. And soon enough, it’s more than you can handle—a collection of books you fear you’ll never have time to reread.

Dark? Yes.

But the idea of library shelves just connects with too much in my life for me to pass up on the metaphor. I’ve been tossing around a pretty earth-shattering (for me) metaphorical theory that friends are like clothes and our closet can mirror our friendships. (Probably going to do a whole post on it in the future. Stay tuned.) However, it’s just occurred to me that the same parallel could be made with friends and books.

Continue reading “empty shelves + extended metaphors” →

Rayleigh Gray (of Literature Approved) just wrote an incredibly kind review for The Fiery Arrow that I thought I’d share here. You can check out her amazing blog and the full review here.

(The Fiery Arrow is available for free download on Kindle.)