{"id":2833,"date":"2024-02-05T17:52:42","date_gmt":"2024-02-05T17:52:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/?p=2833"},"modified":"2024-02-05T18:01:51","modified_gmt":"2024-02-05T18:01:51","slug":"wnc-couple-release-young-adult-novel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/?p=2833","title":{"rendered":"WNC COUPLE RELEASE YOUNG ADULT NOVEL"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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BOONE, N.C., Feb. 5, 2024 \u2014 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<\/em>, published independently by Gaillardia Press. This is the couple\u2019s second young adult novel, coming 20 years after publication of Night Lights; or, Golf, the Blues and the Brown Mountain Light<\/em> (Parkway Publishers 2004).

\u201cWe\u2019ve been working on this book for the past year,\u201d said Mr. Adams, \u201cand we\u2019re really pleased with it \u2014 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.\u201d

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 \u201cYogi\u201d 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\u2019s back cover: \u201cA 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 \u2014 that on and off the gridiron, even the best of friends are tried by fire in the crucible of teen society.\u201d

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<\/em>, as well as two books of her own: children\u2019s picture book, Turtle Beach<\/em> (Gaillardia Press 2019); and young reader\u2019s chapter book, Henry Heron Finds His Home<\/em> (Gaillardia Press 2021).

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to build our imprint\u2019s catalog,\u201d Ms. Adams said. \u201cThis is the third book of fiction by Gaillardia Press in five years. We\u2019re 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\u2019s end.\u201d

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\u2019s spring baseball and softball seasons.

The Adamses are currently employed part-time by Appalachian State University \u2014 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\u2019s and women\u2019s 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\u2019s degree and master\u2019s 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\u2019s Tee,” depicting a mile-high view from atop North Carolina\u2019s scenic attraction Grandfather Mountain that was used as cover art for the couple\u2019s Night Lights novel.

Tales of the Barf Table, Book One: From the Gridiron to the Fire<\/em> is available online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and at local bookstores through IngramSpark publishing and distribution.

The Adamses\u2019 are available for book signings, workshops and other special appearances. For more information, visit the couple\u2019s website at gaillardiapress.com or contact them at P.O. Box 1382, Boone, NC 28607.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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BOONE, N.C., Feb. 5, 2024 \u2014 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 … Continue reading WNC COUPLE RELEASE YOUNG ADULT NOVEL<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2833"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2835,"href":"https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2833\/revisions\/2835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaillardiapress.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}