Two Boys From Tennessee and Hopefully A Semester Worth of Subtext

Having spent years working in higher education (and probably listening to a bit too much public radio), I’ve always been fascinated by the depth of a good story. Professors can spend an entire semester peeling back the layers of a single narrative—or even a historical event—and still find new angles. The idea that something can be examined from so many perspectives, yet still hold together, has always amazed me.

For years now, the stories of Flynn and Zane Harper and their crew have been rattling around in my head. I waited a long time before releasing them into the wild, because I wanted to be sure the series had those same layers—something you could enjoy on the surface as a thrilling adventure, but also peel back if you wanted to dig deeper.

On the surface, of course, the books need to stand on their own as solid adventures. If the story doesn’t entertain, the subtext doesn’t matter. Beneath that, the characters have to feel real within their world. For me as the author, that means knowing far more about each character than what makes it onto the page—their psychology, their private motivations, even details that may never be revealed but shape how they act. Every character must have a reason to be there, and in theory, even a “side” character should be strong enough to carry their own story.

So does The Cousins Intrepid succeed in that regard? Only time will tell. My goal is that by the time you close the final chapter of Book Seven, you won’t just have read seven adventures—you’ll see how every thread, every arc, and every moment ties back into a single, cohesive whole. Whether I’ve succeeded…well, that’s for you to decide.

📖 Book 1: Into the Infinite Unknown is available now: Amazon link