Yesterday four more workers died. That made nearly fifty in the last two weeks. But it would not stop the Path’s progress, for Foreman Elias Acunto knew the bricks of the Path had always been laid with blood, and he kept this fact constantly before him to steel his resolve….
Author Archive for Nick Hayden – Page 16
The clock tower outside town has terrified Simon all his short life, but when Eliza, convinced the tower is harmless, forces him to climb it with her, he must face all his nameless terrors. This short story percolated in my brain for several years and finally made its way onto…
Last week, I dug out my ten-year-old, hand-drawn map of the world of The Unremarkable Squire. The book takes place on the Isle, which is split into 40 nations after the Splitting of Rael (see footnote). I have a decent map of those 40 nations, in pencil. The book’s plot takes…
After a month of dragging my feet, I finally have my first book signing for The Unremarkable Squire scheduled for 5-7pm this Friday the 13th. (Lucky, huh?) I’m starting close to home at Summer’s Stories/Joanna’s Dealicious Treats in my hometown of Kendallville, IN. It’s the perfect opportunity for any of you…
Josiah hunched over his table, etching out his thoughts in thick, straight, penciled lines. The dim fluorescent lent the page a sickly white that obscured rather than illuminated the words. The crank-powered radio choked static and strained gasps of music. The heavy scratch of No. 2 lead counted the seconds,…
For all the tests and needles, all the frantic whispered exchanges and phone calls, what it came down to was this: Richard was old, and he was dying of it. He protested little against all the useless activity rushing about him. He let himself be shuttled by car and wheelchair,…
After much delay and two blog posts to kill the time until I was finally ready, “The Clock Tower” is now available for download! The quick and dirty summary is this: Simon has been terrified of the clock tower outside town all his short life, but when Eliza, convinced the tower is harmless,…
I’m not a particularly artistic person and I’m not a particularly visual writer. If you asked me to draw one of my characters, I’d stare at you blankly and excuse myself, saying I needed to refold my socks. If you asked to draw one of my characters and started asking details…
I’ve been fascinated with clock towers in stories for a long time. It started with Puss ‘n Boots Travels Around The World, a cartoon no one has seen but which is the first film to leave a deep impression on me. Based loosely on Around the World in 80 Days, the…
A squire’s oath is to be of service… but to whom? In the kingdom of Basileon, an unremarkable and emotionally detached young man named Obed Kainos is about to stumble into adventure—quite against his will. When the knights of the realm gather in a quest to search for the lost…
I live by my city’s high school. This morning, I heard cars and kids making their way to their first day of the 2013-2014 school year. Most years, I’m getting ready to head back myself. I teach middle school writing at the school my church runs. I stop in a…
While on a roadtrip to North Carolina this week, I had both the time and inspiration to pound out “The Butterfly.” While writing it, I noticed that the style, particularly the way I approached descriptions, was influenced by the Bradbury I’ve been reading pretty consistently for the last months. Ray…
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Copyright © 2026 All Rights Reserved