#001: What Kind of Stories You Can Expect From Us
First and foremost, Kemosabe, welcome to Hearth & Harrow.
This is where you’ll find everything from fiction & fallacies to myths & manuals—eventually. My shelves are bare now, but I’m working hard to change that. In the meantime, here’s what you should know about my storytelling and what I have planned. We’ll start with my nonfiction and what influences it.
I have a bachelor’s in chemical biology and a master’s in health and they've been most of what have consumed my interest over the past fifteen years. I even wanted to be a disease detective at one point. The search for the origins of a disease is part of what inspired me to start Hearth & Harrow in the first place—when I realized, like many others, that the greatest threat to the world isn’t a bug.
It’s a Story.
And so, my nonfiction focuses on protecting human potential from those who would parasitize it.
Fiction-wise, you’ll find a mix—sci-fi, dystopia/utopia, adventure/satire, zombies, epic fantasy. Stories from each have left an impression on me over the past thirty years. Sometimes by kindling deeper philosophical thought, other times by stoking laughter, but always by forging my imagination. All three are experiences I want to pass on. And as you can tell, I don’t care for sticking to one genre. I’ve already outlined stories for each, and like my nonfiction, they’ll carry a strong emphasis on potential.
So, that’s what my stories will encompass. Here’s my current game plan.
Phase One: Core Works (2025)
I’ve got two shorter stories in the works this year—a two-part set that focuses on the core of what Hearth & Harrow represents. The first part is a memoir/origin story on what led me to writing, creating Hearth & Harrow, and my own journey to self-actualization. The second part is a new origin story, one that proposes a path to species-actualization—fancy talk for "a way for humanity to fulfill its potential and purpose." The only detail I’m ready to share is the title of Part I: Piñata. Part II’s title I'm keeping a secret. That said, I hope to have both written and published this year. Then it’s on to Phase Two.
Phase Two: Our First Stories (2026)
The first series I’m tackling is The Steven Truffles Saga. It’s a short series of four novellas following a pig named Steven Truffles as he struggles to prove himself worthy of the title he’s inherited: Acting President. I classify it as adventure/satire with a bit of whimsy. Each story plays with an old fairytale and different magical truffles to "comment" on a specific modern-day problem. Book One uses The Three Little Pigs to satirize different energy sources and all their clean and dirty potential. I’ll be sharing chapters in the future, so be sure to sign up for the Hearth & Harrow newsletter if I’ve caught your interest.
Phase Three: The Rest & Then Some (2026 & Beyond)
Including the stories in Phases One & Two, I have another five nonfiction works, seven fiction series & standalones, three children’s & youth books, and a dozen short stories detailed and outlined. That’s "the rest."
The "& Then Some" refers to another phase for Hearth & Harrow—a brand-new set of myths about humanity’s fight against the Stillness, a force I introduce in the Core Works that threatens to pull us into complacency and decay. I don’t know when I’ll start them. I don’t know when I’ll get to most of my stories. All I know is that even if they take me twenty years to write, so be it.
I’m in this for the long haul.
But, I suppose you might be wondering one thing: just who the hell is behind all this?
Glad you asked, Kemosabe. If you want to know more about the madman behind all this, check out this article: Who’s Behind the Hearth & Harrow? Otherwise, until next time.
From the Fireside,
D.