Welcome to The Farrwood! This is my author page. I am upcoming historical fantasy author J.A. Farrwood. This post will give insight into my first novel, which I hope to publish within the next two years. This is a story I have been creating in my head most of my life.

A medieval coming-of-age story set during the Hundred Years War, shortly before the Plague reaches Ireland. A pagan orphan, Finn Gaelee, is told by a priest that his parents’ supernatural deaths are his fault. Raised as a friar, he grows into a town thief who belongs nowhere. After he encounters outlaw Eustace Folville in the woods, Finn joins his criminal band and travels to Dublin to partake in a fiery rebellion against the English. With the help of a magical wildman, Finn must decide who he is—and put a stop to the Folville Gang for good.

I have has gone through many versions of my manuscript before settling on a final draft I am happy with. Long ago, my book was a second world fantasy set in a land known as Daera. In the drafting process, I strongly felt the story was more powerful as a piece of historical fantasy, which is a genre I hope to bring more attention to. I decided on the Late Middle Ages, specifically the mid-fourteenth century, as an exciting time period, full of tragedy and change in European history. There are many colorful characters to explore, like King Edward III and his son, the Black Prince, and of course, there is the Black Plague.

Now that I am putting the finishing touches on my manuscript, my goal is to soon decide whether I will query this novel to an agent and go the trad publishing route, or possibly indie publish my story. I will keep fans of The Farrwood updated on my progress. I hope to eventually publish newsletters, with updates to the manuscript’s final stages and the publication process.

Thank you to every person who reads this first blog post and takes an interest in my upcoming novel. I invite you to be the first followers of my journey to publication. The Farrwood will go through many changes over time, and I hope this website can evolve into something truly wonderful one day.