The Cardinal Rivers Tales is a cozy fantasy novelette that presents to you glimpses of the origins of Wickham Barrow, Captain Percival Moss, and Gulliver—Gully, for short.
In chapter one, we experience Wick’s first unknowing connection with Smudges, magical creatures that will eventually be an ever-present part of his life.
In chapter two, we see exactly how desperate Captain Percival Moss will become to hide himself from a dreaded desk job at the Board of Works in Oubliette.
In chapter three, we witness the lengths a boy will go to gain approval from those he thinks are his friends.
Soft Magic. Low Stakes. Found Family. Excellent Muffins.
Wick Barrow wants a life that belongs to him. Fed up with his controlling father, he takes a job on a river barge, leaving his laundryman life and his favorite boiler behind. His four sisters are scattered across Calandis, and he intends to reconnect with them.
Aboard The Moderate Success, Wick discovers he is a Hearth, a sanctuary for chaotic magical creatures who have decided, without asking, that he is home—including Ember, a flame-like Smudge who has appointed himself Wick's personal space heater. It's a lot to take in. So is the Captain, a man who flickers like a ghost mid-conversation, his soul shattered and his name stolen by a spell gone wrong.
To help the Captain, Wick must find and return the missing pieces of the man's soul. Somewhere between endless laundry, hidden soul fragments, and an emergency jar of apricot jam, Wick might just realize he's built a quiet life worth living.