Brief Bio:
Reid Echelmeier grew up in the American Midwest, where fields and forests shaped his imagination and wonder at the created world. He studied English education and taught literature, philosophy, and mythology at the high school level, exploring meaning through stories. He lives abroad with his wife and three children.
Longer Bio:
“An author.”
As far back as I can remember, that’s what I wrote whenever someone asked what I wanted to be when I grew up.
My siblings and I spent our childhood turning the fields and forests of Missouri into worlds of adventure. Hay bale castles were defended by brave knights, and seafaring pirates terrorized the mossy pond near our house.
I still remember staying home sick from school one day, opening The Hobbit that morning, and not leaving the couch until I had followed Bilbo all the way there and back again by evening.
It wasn’t just entertainment. Whether it was Reepicheep’s courage, Ender Wiggin’s brilliance, or Count Olaf’s villainy, these stories shaped me in ways I did not yet understand.
Before long, I began trying to bring the tales of my own imagination onto the page. My mother, a writer herself, became my long-suffering editor and first reader, helping fan into flame the desire to become an author.
By college, I found myself returning once again to children’s stories—this time with older eyes. I remember weeping in awe of the One whom Lewis’s good and wild Lion so beautifully reflected. As I came to know better the Author of my own story, the literature I loved only deepened in meaning, whether through Frankenstein’s creature searching for his creator or Guy Montag discovering that fall leaves smell like cinnamon.
Teaching literature, mythology, and philosophy only deepened my conviction that stories shape the way we see the world. Through it all, I never stopped writing fiction—beginning manuscripts, outgrowing them, setting them aside, and starting again.
Stories helped me see the world differently as a child, and they continue to do so now. My hope is to write tales that awaken wonder, inspire hope, and leave readers with the sense that the world is far more charged with meaning than we often remember.