what is story garden?
Story Garden Publishing is a blossoming collaborative writing venture between myself (Jordan Riley Swan) and several other talented storytellers. With our combined brainpower, we hope to cultivate memorable story worlds across numerous genres, from romantic comedies to urban fantasy. I also write high fantasy under the pen name Riley Rookhouse. Quality is our top priority, and we want to ensure you close every single book with a satisfied sigh.
Check out the "My Books" page for seedling ideas on the rise, and subscribe to our newsletter for updates on all of our upcoming projects!
Also keep an eye on our Story Garden YouTube channel for exclusive author interviews and behind-the-scenes tours of the book-making process.
Our gardeners
Hero Bowen
Writer
Growing up in a mystical wilderness, where battles were won and lost on windswept hills, where dragons were real and slain by bygone warriors, and where Roman burial grounds, amphitheaters, and majestic castles were all pretty much on her doorstep, Hero Bowen had little choice but to take up that ageless tradition of storytelling that keeps ghosts, heroes, and heroines alive.
As both a writer and ghostwriter, she’s written more books than she can count, though she’s fairly sure the total would make Stephen King weep. A devourer of all things fantasy, romance, steampunk, ghost story, and mythology—seriously, give her a good monster, deity, or folklore, and she’s a happy bunny—she knows these genres keep her ticking like a well-oiled machine and are probably why she ended up falling into the peculiar realm of HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts).
She writes to make readers feel the way she does when she puts fingertips to keys and pours her imagination into every book. Above all, she hopes to breathe life into a few more ghosts who currently exist only in outline and idea so their characters and lives might endure in the minds of those who read their tale and pass it on to others, like the storytellers of old.
K. C. Norton
Writer
K. C. Norton enjoys living like a hermit, cultivating animal companionship, and drinking tea. When she’s not writing (a rare occurrence, but it happens!), she dreams of training her goats to backpack the Appalachian Trail. So far, the goats have other ideas.
Norton is drawn to fantasy, science fiction, thrillers, and spicy historical romance; she’s also worked with a number of authors to help them bring their memoirs to life. She’s never happier than when she’s thinking about people that have never lived inhabiting worlds that do not exist—and honestly, if that’s a pathology, she’s not looking for a cure. She lives on a small farm with an abundance of adorable but ill-mannered animals, and occasionally befriends even more irritable beasts at her local wildlife rescue.
Isabella Bailey (Marie McCue)
Writer
Isabella Bailey may or may not have been born holding a pencil—the jury’s still out on that one. Either way, she lives for the written word and is thrilled to be a part of the Story Garden team. Born in Colorado, she is a wanderer at heart, and her travels have taken her all over the world, inspiring her work and instilling in her a sense of adventure and exploration.
When she’s not story gardening under her pen name, Marie McCue, she works as a ghostwriter and coach for authors, screenwriters, and executives. You can usually find her skulking in a local coffee shop, practicing a new language, or spending time with her parrot. More of her writing, including her adventures in short fiction and her musings about the craft, is available on her website thebornstoryteller.com.
A lover of horror, Isabella enjoys writing about the darker things in life, from the monsters under your bed to that feeling of getting your socks wet. With a particular fondness for Lovecraftian fiction and dark fantasy, she delights in thought-provoking plots and complex characters. She firmly believes that there’s a story in everything; you just need to know where to look.
Diane Callahan
Developmental Editor & Story Architect
If you were inside Diane Callahan’s head right now, you might become lost in the labyrinth of story ideas piled as high as the books on her desk. Or perhaps you would find one of the hidden doors that leads to a fully formed universe with new lands to explore and larger-than-life characters willing to guide you on the journey. Although her feet rest on the soils of Central Ohio, she does not live there—she resides in these endless pathways, happily lost in stories.
You can find slivers of her thoughts captured in YouTube videos on her channel Quotidian Writer, where she hopes to explore the possibilities rather than the limitations of fiction. She also writes about sundry topics on Medium, from book burning to queer antiheroes. Her short stories, personal essays, and poetry are sprinkled throughout the virtual cosmos. She spends most of her time in fantasy, sci-fi, and horror realms, enjoying a varied platter of romance and mystery. Give her a finely tuned sentence that resonates, and she will cherish it always.
She has ghostplotted and edited many a lengthy fantasy series, but Wish Hunter is the first project she’s designed for Story Garden. Below are the other works she has edited for Story Garden in some capacity.
Ami Agisi
Illustrator
Born in the misty mountains of Appalachia and raised on a steady diet of comic books and encyclopedias of various peculiar subjects, Ami Agisi is an expert at making the fantastical tangible and the tangible fantastical.
Though her first forays into the world (or rather, worlds) of fiction started with superheroes and dubiously localized 90s anime, she’s become perfectly at home in the genres of fantasy, science fiction, speculative evolution, horror, and everything in between after almost two decades of artistic experience.
When not drawing, Ami can usually be found painting. And when not doing that, Ami can usually be found drawing again. In the rare occurrence that neither of those apply, she may be hiking, lifting weights, or constantly gawking at puppies that she may or may not own.
Other Bookish Professionals
We want to give a shout-out to the other editors and beta readers who have worked on multiple Story Garden projects! We highly recommend their services to other writers.
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Angela Traficante of Lambda Editing (developmental editor & copy editor)
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Laurie Cooper of Pub-Craft (book marketer)
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Crystal Shelley of Rabbit with a Red Pen (copy editor)
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Lia Fairchild (copy editor)
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Alyssa Wejebe (beta reader)
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Juno E. Baker (sensitivity reader)