Author Update: R.M. Tembreull

R.M. Tembreull is an award-winning author, an artist, and a U.S. Air Force combat veteran whose love of writing is only matched by his respect for nature. His newest release, Long Leg from the Blighted Earth (The Blighted Earth Series, Book 2, May 2026), is a Literary Titan, 2026 Gold Book Award Winner that “invites readers to care deeply about the smallest beings and to see the natural world as a powerful, sacred community.” Look for Ray on his website TheBlightedEarth.com, on Instagram, and his Amazon author page. Read more about his work in his 2025 interview for SouthWest Writers.

What is at the heart of the story you tell in Long Leg from the Blighted Earth?
In the second installment of The Blighted Earth series, readers are immersed in a world where nature is not merely a setting, but a living force caught in an escalating conflict between the Natural Order and Chaos. Nilch’i, a powerful and corrupted wind sentient, has unleashed a devastating new incarnation of the 1930s Dust Bowl across the northern prairies. As drought and ecological destruction spread, the weakened earth elemental Okaraxta entrusts his Keeper animal, a Gifted burrowing owl named Long Leg, with a desperate mission. Long Leg must deliver a vital message to North America’s Guardian Spirit, a task that may determine whether the Natural Order survives. Joined by prairie-born companions, Khúta the Gifted prairie dog and Augee the mole, Long Leg must navigate a damaged landscape under assault by Chaos’s Force Corrupted where wind, water, animals, fungi, and the land itself are active participants in a struggle to restore the natural balance. These small animal protagonists, who must journey through a dangerous world shaped by forces larger than themselves, are at the heart of the story. Their courage matters, not just because they’re vulnerable, but because they carry the fate of our world on their tiny shoulders.

What was the most difficult challenge of continuing the story you began with book one of The Blighted Earth Series?
Believe it or not, the most difficult challenge was not the core story centered around the burrowing owl Keeper animal, Long Leg, and her journey. Her story was one I had been waiting to tell for years. I actually wrote the rough drafts for books two through four before I wrote book one, Fractured State in the Blighted Earth. The hardest part of my newest novel was maintaining the connective tissue with the through-line story arcs started in book one. Long Leg introduces a new set of characters in a new setting/location, and the timeline is running concurrently with events and character developments which continue to unfold from book one. The world of The Blighted Earth continues to evolve and grow in complexity, so maintaining those story arcs while introducing readers to a completely new one was truly challenging. I need an intern!

Who are a few of your favorite characters in the book? Did they surprise you as you wrote their story?
I put a great deal of thought into my characters and all love all of them, protagonists and antagonists alike, in a “virtual children” kind of way. So, I’ll focus on those who surprised me in the writing of the story:

Protagonists:

• Khúta, the Gifted prairie dog and one of Long Leg’s companions on her journey. Blessed with strung consciousness, the memories and experiences of all the others who served in his role before him, Khúta is to serve as Long Leg’s guide due to his extensive knowledge of the lands beyond her elemental’s protectorate. Besides annoying Long Leg, Khúta’s character was designed to bring an element of humor to the challenging journey as the know-it-all who is constantly seeking validation. The affinity I ultimately developed for Khúta and the close friendship that developed between him and Long Leg was a surprise development that wrote itself into the story.
• Mní is water as a consciousness-in-being, and water is as essential to biological life on Earth as she was to the Long Leg story. Elemental water and her contribution to the story was always part of the plan, but the depth and complexity of her character and her power as an entity evolved way beyond what I had anticipated from the initial concept.
• Black River, the Lakota shaman, required extensive research in Lakota culture, lore, and religious ceremony in the development of the character and telling the story. I learned so much in the process, and my journey not only contributed to Black River’s richness and depth as a character but instilled a deeper respect for the Lakota people’s life way. I hope at some point, I reach Lakota readers and get their feedback on my work.

Antagonists:

• Waŋží Sápa, the black buffalo spirit, was fun and intense to develop and write about. In many respects, the writing of the book began with Long Leg’s encounter with Waŋží Sápa in the Badlands, and then I wrote the beginning to that point and wrote the rest of the book from there. At initial concept, the black buffalo was little more than a mindless beast who stood between Long Leg and the delivery of her message. However, the tormented being grew into something—someone—who was far more than that. The Black One embodies America’s violent history and the suffering wrought by the conquering of the West. The writing journey this character took me on was surprisingly unsettling while also tremendously fulfilling.
• Dextra Posses, the Lone Star Nation militiamen, make an appearance in the ‘Interlogue’ chapter. I surprised myself with the intense and visceral nature of the atrocities they committed against the citizens of a small New Mexico town. Later, after reflecting on it, I believe I was processing my strong feelings regarding the rise of senseless conflict and unnecessary suffering being experienced in the world, as well as the growing incivility and violence in our own country. It was a difficult write, but I feel it added to the depth and impact of the overall narrative.

How did the book come together?
Interestingly, even though Long Leg is the second book in The Blighted Earth series, I wrote it first. The initial draft was written in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. When I conceptualized the primary story arcs which would run the course of the series, this story manifested before all the others in my creative consciousness. Apparently, Long Leg’s muse was singing the loudest. Over the course of 2020–2021, I wrote the drafts for books two through four and part of book five. In 2022, I turned my attention to getting my very first book, the Stories, Legends, and Truths from the Blighted Earth story collection, published. That manuscript was written over 2019 into 2020, and it was ultimately published in 2023. After Stories, Legends, and Truths was released, the remainder of 2023 and 2024 was devoted to writing book one of the series, Fractured State in the Blighted Earth, which was published through Atmosphere Press and released in September 2024. In winter 2024, I returned to Long Leg and started finalizing the manuscript in earnest. I chose to publish with Atmosphere Press again, because I had a good experience with them in getting Fractured State in print, and the book itself was a quality product. That was important, because the Long Leg story is very special to me. From the time I signed back on with Atmosphere in November 2024, developmental editing, line editing, cover design, interior design and illustrations, proofreading, and proof copy reviews occurred over 17 months. The novel was published with a release date of May 5th, 2026. If I add in the time spent on the draft manuscript in 2020, Long Leg was almost a two-year effort from start to finish.

What makes this novel unique in the eco-fantasy genre?
This novel is unique in the niche genre of eco-fantasy because of the storytelling perspectives. There is the perspective of a powerful alien race and how they view Earth as both a resource for survival and a rare oasis of biodiversity which should be valued and cherished. There is the perspective of the Earth’s High Sentients and how they view the decisions, actions, and behaviors of humankind as the planet’s dominant species. In some cases, you also experience the story from the perspective of human characters.

Long Leg and The Blighted Earth series is the unique fusion of multiple genres. The series occurs in our modern era and involves real locations and events, and thus, has aspects of speculative fiction. The fantasy world itself has the expansive worldbuilding attributes of high fantasy. The contributions of the alien race, the Inani, grow progressively throughout the series so the story also possesses science fiction elements. In addition, strong contributions from the supernatural and metaphysical components make for a mythic adventure story. Last, but not least, you have climate fiction as the series backbone with ecological destruction bordering on dystopian fiction, or at least, the possibility of it.

Did what-if questions help shape this work?
There are two ‘what-if’s’ that shape not just Long Leg, but the whole of The Blighted Earth series. First and foremost is what if our planet was a sentient being? My writing is informed by this unique perspective and the actions of humankind as the planet’s dominant species. It is akin to how a mother feels about her children even when their decisions and actions negatively affect her. A mother still loves their children even with they are murderers or destroying their own home, just as humankind is behind unconscionable atrocities and climate change, natural resource overconsumption, and habitat loss driving our world to ecological ruin. The second ‘what-if’ deals with how humankind would be viewed by a powerful alien race governed by a technocracy built on reason and fact-based decision making. The fate of our world depends on their judgment of our species’ ultimate potential and ability to better the universe.

Were you surprised by any aspect of the project as it unfolded? Did it meet your expectations?
There were few surprises regarding the publishing aspects of the project since this was the second book with Atmosphere Press, and I was familiar with their process. However, one pleasant surprise was the book cover. I had my own cover design, which I passed on to Atmosphere’s team, thinking it would influence their concept. To my surprise—with the exception of a couple of minor adjustments—the publisher adopted my concept. Another involved the manuscript. The final manuscript evolved quite a bit from the first draft written in 2020. This was largely a function of incorporating chapters and other sections that maintained connective tissue with throughline story arcs outside of the core Long Leg story. As the series progresses and builds momentum, it is also growing in complexity so there are a lot of things to keep track of. I had expected to publish Long Leg before the end of 2025, but professional obligations and personal challenges held me up on finalizing the novel, which primarily involved the time needed to complete the interior illustrations.

Did you create a story bible for The Blighted Earth Series? If so, how long is it and are you still adding to it?
In all honesty, I had to look up what a story bible is because I am not familiar with the term. After researching, my answer is “sort of.” I have two repositories where I keep story bible related info: (1) I have folders for every book in the series in Microsoft OneNote, and (2) I have a Microsoft Word document, entitled “Blighted Earth Administrivia” that I use to capture information when I am not at home. However, I do admit it is not as organized as I would like it to be. These documents are primarily for capturing ideas involving plotlines, characters, their back stories, timelines, etc. for the books yet-to-be-written. At some point, I do need to go back and get information together on worldbuilding rules, character origins, and other legacy information. Right now, some of that information is stored in other locations, and it needs to be consolidated in a single location and organized for easier reference to ensure I keep everything wired tight in future books.

Do you prefer the creating or editing aspect of writing? How do you feel about research?
I most definitely prefer the creating. The editing aspect of writing is too much like work, and honestly, by the time I get to the proof copy reviews, I have looked at my own story as least a dozen times. At that point, I really have to redouble my efforts to nug through it and finish the project, because every aspect of my creative being yearns to move on to the next project.

As far as research, I don’t mind it at all. I spend a lot of time doing it, because there is a lot of science baked into my books. I find interesting ways to have fun with it, and I have learned so much in the course of writing my series. In fact, I do so much research that I really don’t leave myself much time for reading other authors’ books, but I have finally started setting aside time to do that. In terms of the order of preferences for me: (1) Creating; (2) Research; (3) Editing.

What are your strengths as a writer?
I feel my strengths as a writer stem from talents as a visual artist. My vibrant descriptions of characters, scenes, and action sequences are merely the written descriptions of visual depictions in my mind. Some reviewers have described my writing as “cinematic,” which I take as a huge complement. I am hoping to see The Blighted Earth series on the big screen someday.

I would say my other strength is that I don’t seem to suffer from writer’s block…at least not yet. The time taken to finish a work is more a function of carving out the time to write and finish illustrations. I am not plagued with those writer ailments which prevent writers from finishing a work and putting out in the world, such as overthinking, paralysis by analysis, perfectionism, or writing anxiety. Thank goodness for that.

KL Wagoner loves creating worlds of fantasy and science fiction. Her current work in progress is The Last Bonekeeper fantasy trilogy and short stories in the same universe. A member of SouthWest Writers since 2006, Kat has volunteered as the organization’s secretary, newsletter editor, website manager, and author interview coordinator. Kat is also a veteran, a martial art student, and a grandmother. Visit her at klwagoner.com.