BOONE, N.C., Feb. 5, 2024 — A Western North Carolina couple have co-authored the first installment of a new young adult series of sports novels.
Rahn and Timberley Adams of Boone and Morganton last week released Tales of the Barf Table, Book One: From the Gridiron to the Fire, published independently by Gaillardia Press. This is the couple’s second young adult novel, coming 20 years after publication of Night Lights; or, Golf, the Blues and the Brown Mountain Light (Parkway Publishers 2004).
“We’ve been working on this book for the past year,” said Mr. Adams, “and we’re really pleased with it — the uplifting story, its diverse characters and the humorous tone in the right places, but especially its themes of being a good team member on the playing field and an even better role model for younger teens off the field.”
From the Gridiron to the Fire focuses on a group of high school athletes and their friends during fall football season at fictional Arbor High. On Friday nights, Artie “Yogi” Bauer is starting center and co-captain of the Arbor Bruins. The big farm boy leads every day at school as well by eating lunch with younger and less popular students at what the cool kids call the Barf Table.
From the novel’s back cover: “A disastrous homecoming at Arbor High and a Halloween night full of more tricks than treats teach Artie and the Barf Table gang an important lesson — that on and off the gridiron, even the best of friends are tried by fire in the crucible of teen society.”
The young adult novel is for ages 13-18 and focuses on gridiron football. However, readers of all ages and genders can enjoy the story without extensive knowledge of either the popular sport or the creative lunchtime hijinks that occur in many high schools.
The 256-page trade paperback includes cover art and chapter illustrations by Ms. Adams, who also co-wrote and illustrated Night Lights, as well as two books of her own: children’s picture book, Turtle Beach (Gaillardia Press 2019); and young reader’s chapter book, Henry Heron Finds His Home (Gaillardia Press 2021).
“We’re trying to build our imprint’s catalog,” Ms. Adams said. “This is the third book of fiction by Gaillardia Press in five years. We’re hoping to expand into poetry and nonfiction either this year or next, and we expect to release a 20th-anniversary edition of Night Lights by year’s end.”
She added that Gaillardia Press plans to release Book Two and Book Three in the Tales of the Barf Table series over the next two years. The second installment focuses on winter sports at Arbor High, while the third book is set during the school’s spring baseball and softball seasons.
The Adamses are currently employed part-time by Appalachian State University — Mr. Adams, as a professional writing consultant for the University Writing Center; Ms. Adams, as an adjunct instructor in the Career and Technical Education Program. Both retired after full-time teaching careers in Watauga and Brunswick counties.
Mr. Adams also coached high school basketball at West Brunswick High School, as well as men’s and women’s varsity tennis at West Brunswick and Watauga High School, earning four conference tennis coach-of-the-year awards. He also served as on-field statistician for West Brunswick and Watauga football teams. Ms. Adams was assistant tennis coach at both schools.
Mr. Adams is a graduate of Lenoir Hibriten High School and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Before becoming a teacher, Mr. Adams worked as staff writer and photographer for The Valdese News in Valdese and The Brunswick Beacon in Shallotte; as a columnist for Focus magazine in Hickory; and as an award-winning radio news director at WMNC in Morganton.
Ms. Adams attended Morganton Freedom High School and graduated from Appalachian State University, earning both a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree. Prior to her teaching career, she won numerous advertising awards at Belk of Morganton and The Brunswick Beacon.
A lifelong artist, Ms. Adams also was owner and operator of Kindred Spirits Gallery & Shop at Ocean Isle Beach in the mid-1990s. She has issued four limited-edition prints, including “Kindred Spirits,” “Sunflowers,” and “Gazebo at Sunset,” all of Brunswick County coastal scenes; and “Billy Joe’s Tee,” depicting a mile-high view from atop North Carolina’s scenic attraction Grandfather Mountain that was used as cover art for the couple’s Night Lights novel.
Tales of the Barf Table, Book One: From the Gridiron to the Fire is available online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and at local bookstores through IngramSpark publishing and distribution.
The Adamses’ are available for book signings, workshops and other special appearances. For more information, visit the couple’s website at gaillardiapress.com or contact them at P.O. Box 1382, Boone, NC 28607.
-30-