Hello and well met!
If you've found your way here, I imagine you're either someone who plays a lot of Kings of War, or someone who enjoys fantasy and has delved too deeply into the depths of Goodreads looking for your next adventure.
Either way, I'm glad you're here. I, too, am a fan of fantasy and sci-fi, as indicated by my published works I would hope. I have been writing my whole life. Ever since my mother thrust a copy of Brian Jacque's Redwall into my hands in grade school, I've been obsessed with adventures and stories of heroes and villains. I remember writing stories about warriors, ninjas, and power rangers all throughout my childhood, and my bedroom was the scene of many an epic battle between the forces of good and evil.
That carried on into adulthood, where I pursued a degree in English from BYU-Idaho, and then later, when I went on to earn my MA from Southern New Hampshire University. It seemed only logical to me that I would become a teacher where I could share my love of stories with my students. So, I got my teaching certification, but that was when life decided to send me down a different road.
My wife and I were moving back to Idaho in the fall of 2012 so that she could finish her degree, and I needed to find a job quickly. None of the local schools were hiring at that point, so I applied to the Juvenile Correctional Center almost as an act of desperation. I had some experience working with adjudicated youth before this, but that hadn't been where I wanted my career trajectory to go. But we needed something to support us, so when they called and offered me the job, I took it.
I thought I would only be there for a few years, then I would move on to a regular teaching job, but those few years turned into a decade. During that time, I learned a great deal about things that I would never have had the time nor the ability to learn had life taken me in a different direction. I learned about trauma, suicidal ideation, abuse, and the psychology behind the victims and perpetrators of those awful things. This helped prepare me as a writer and a storyteller and has informed my approach to how I craft my tales.
The purpose of stories, in my opinion, is to explore topics that are out of reach of their readers in one way or another. Either the story deals with things that are too fantastical to be real (dragons, robots, zombies, epic romance, etc.), or they deal with topics that are too dangerous or undesirable for the average individual but that warrant exploration anyway (ie, suicide, abuse, affairs, trauma). A good author, in my opinion, can do both in the same story.
During all of this time, I played a lot of tabletop games. In particular, there was a game I played called Kings of War by Mantic Games. Kings of War is a tabletop strategy wargame set in a fantasy world with elves, orcs, dwarfs, and other fantasy races. Most games like this have background lore that explains why the armies that are on the table are fighting each other, but Kings was still a fairly new game and the lore hadn't been as developed. This made it ripe for my imagination to dream things up and so I began writing fanfiction and stories to link my friends' and I's games together. I posted those online and began networking with other people in the gaming community. Then came the glorious day when Mantic announced that they were going to begin producing novels through a publisher with whom they were partnering. The publisher was called Winged Hussar.
It was an exciting time. I reached out and submitted a proposal for a story, the one that would later be developed into Drowned Secrets. On my birthday in 2018, I received an email from Brandon, their head editor, saying that they would like to offer me a contract for a novel.
Best. Birthday gift. Ever!
Everything after that is a bit of a blur. I've been introduced to awesome authors and have had the opportunity to write more and more stories that have been shared with others. It really is a dream come true! I've taken my background in trauma training, therapy (both as a patient and as a facilitator), and literature and have melded it with my love of fantasy and science fiction to create literature that I would want to read.
My goal with all of my stories is that if I can help one person to see the world in a more hopeful way, then I will have considered that story worthwhile in its telling. As a result, my characters are always flawed, because I want my reader to see their own flaws reflected in the heroes. I want them to know that there is hope in their struggles and that others can relate to their suffering. This means that a lot of my stories can have a darker tone, and that is by design, but that doesn't mean that I do not want them to be hopeful.
If you or anyone you know is suffering from depression, anxiety, or anything related to it, I urge you to seek the help that is needed. Even if you think, "I'm not so bad, others have it worse," I say bullocks! You deserve that help. Your friend or family member deserves that help. If my stories help you to see that we are all broken in one way or another and that we all need help, then I've done my job. That is the hope I wish to instill.
I'm glad that you are here, you are most welcome to stay as long as you'd like.
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