About

R.E. Bellesmith …

Is a fantasy and science fiction author who has most recently published The Wilderlands—a lyrical fantasy novel inspired in part by epic poems like The Odyssey, Beowulf, and The Aeneid, creating a story for modern audiences that recreates the feel of oral storytelling by also taking cues from works like The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski and The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger by Stephen King.

The Wilderlands follows Knalc, a man who lives in the wild and overgrown world that exists outside the walls of the few cities smatter across the Wilderlands. In a raid, Knalc—a man raised by the Wilderlands—encounters and kills a woman. Through the sinister bend of circumstance, he finds himself stranded in the wild with three of those closest to the woman he killed and must figure out how they might all survive gods and monsters.

Prior to that, it took almost 20 years for R.E. Bellesmith to complete Light Keeper Chronicle: The Unspoken Prophecy—a book similar to Fablehaven, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Pendragon by D.J. MacHale.

Born and raised in Michigan, Bellesmith started the first draft of what would become “The Unspoken Prophecy” around 5th grade. Reworking the story over and over again across years, the book changed to the point where the only thing that was the same were the names of five central characters.

In 2013, he published the book as part of his High School senior project. While that 2013 version of the book is much closer to what is now the “The Unspoken Prophecy,” the current version of the book keeps many of the broad story points from the 2013 version but is slimmer and more accessible to the Middle-Grade and young YA readers it was initially intended for.

R.E. Bellesmith now lives in Iowa where he’s probably writing (or sleeping) at this very moment. He has never been transported to a fantastic realm or been the subject of prolific prophecy.