🔦 Coming Spring 2026 — The Apprentices: Fault Lines

FAULT LINES

Something is shifting beneath central Alabama.

From the old mining towns of Margaret and Acmar to the rail lines of Leeds and the lights of Grand River, Makaley Broward and her friends are learning that the work of the Guild is more complicated than they imagined.

Heavy rains begin to awaken a forgotten underground corridor — abandoned coal mines stretching for miles beneath the land.

And the apprentices are about to discover that the past never stays buried forever.

Fault Lines continues the world of The Handyman’s Guild, The Quarry Keeper, and The Watchers, bringing the next generation of apprentices into their most dangerous challenge yet.

Because sometimes the greatest disasters are the ones nobody notices.

Until it’s almost too late.

Be sure to check out all of my books, available in paperback or Kindle eBook

📖 Coming Spring 2026

Ashville Rising is Live on Amazon!

I’m sitting here with a cup of coffee and a heart that’s beating a little faster than usual—because today is the day.

Ashville Rising is officially available on Amazon, both in paperback and as a Kindle eBook!

This story has lived in my head and on scraps of paper for longer than I care to admit. It started with a simple “what if” while driving down Highway 411: what if the land beneath these quiet Alabama towns remembers more than we do? What if there are secrets buried under courthouses and old stage roads, and it takes a handful of regular kids—grease under their nails, doubts in their hearts—to keep everything from shifting too far?

That “what if” grew into Makaley, JD, Dezi, Sean, and the lantern-lit world of the Handyman’s Guild. It’s Southern Gothic with a touch of urban fantasy, set right here in the ridges and valleys we call home—Ashville, Leeds, the Cahaba, and places that feel like neighbors even if they’re just down the road.

I’m proud of this one. It’s about listening—to the ground, to history, to the people who held the line before us. And it’s about what happens when new hands finally take their turn.

If any of that sounds like your kind of story, I’d be honored if you’d grab a copy.

📖 Paperback and Kindle now live on Amazon: Ashville Rising by Ronald Howard

Reviews mean the world to a new author, so if you read it and it resonates, please consider leaving a quick note on Amazon. And of course, feel free to drop a comment here or message me—I’d love to hear what you think.

Thank you for coming along on this ride with me. Writing this book has been its own quiet adventure, and seeing it out in the world feels like the ridge finally exhaling.

Until the next story,

Ron Simple Contemplations