Showing results by author "Rickey Ward" in All Categories

The Bonds That Shape Us. Some connections save us. Others haunt us. The Bonds That Shape Us, Rickey Ward presents five powerful and haunting short stories exploring the fragile, complicated threads that tie people together. These are not gentle bonds. They are forged in fear, grief, loyalty, and the sharp edges of memory, shaping lives long after the moments that made them. Inside these pages, you will find: The Owlmaker–A boy obsessed with owls becomes the only friend of a classmate whose quiet world hides something darker than anyone imagined.

What About the Milk? is a raw and deeply personal collection of short stories exploring abandonment, memory, and the fragile threads that bind people to the past. Each story in this haunting anthology captures a different shade of longing: whether it’s the hope that someone will return, the ache of something left unsaid, or the small, strange miracles that linger after loss. Set in familiar towns and ghosted corners of childhood, the characters are patchworks of memory and silence.

Through the Pines by Rickey Ward. Cody is no stranger to silence. A combat veteran living with ghosts, he sets out with his service dog, Copper, for one last float down an Oklahoma river. It is meant to be a quiet trip, just him, the water, and the open sky. But when the raft crashes and they are thrown into the current, everything changes. Waking up on an unfamiliar riverbank, Cody finds himself in a forest unlike any he has ever known. The woods hum with something ancient. Fog clings to the treetops. Time slips sideways.

While I Breathe, I Hope is a raw, unflinching poetry collection that speaks directly to those navigating pain, survival, identity, and growth. Written by Rickey Ward, these poems are deeply personal reflections shaped by trauma, neurodivergence, healing, and the daily battle to keep going. With clarity, grit, and vulnerability, Ward explores what it means to live with invisible wounds, to carry hope through hopelessness, and to set boundaries in a world that punishes the soft-hearted.

Richard Dawn is the Gravewalker. He deals with the supernatural when no one else can. Ghosts. Curses. Things that leave more than scars. After years of working alone, he now shares his home with two teenagers who know just enough to be dangerous. When a rural church burns under strange circumstances, Richard is asked to look into it. What he finds is worse than a haunting. The survivors are missing time. Their memories are tangled. Something old is watching from the ruins, and it has not forgotten him.

Ashes and Iron is a gritty detective novella set in a city full of shadows, silence, and locks that were never meant to be opened. Silas Bell is a private investigator and part-time locksmith with a taste for cheap soda and bad decisions. He works quiet cases. Lost keys. Missing persons. Things no one wants to talk about. When a girl walks into his office with a strange pendant and a story no one believes, Silas agrees to help. The deeper he digs, the more the city feels wrong. People vanish. Doors open on their own. A strange symbol keeps showing up where it shouldn't. An open eye. A flame.

How I Hope to Reach You is a collection of raw and reflective poetry about survival, identity, grief, and growth. These poems are not polished performances. They are personal truths written out of necessity. This collection was made for those still figuring it out, still trying, still hurting. Inside are words for when you need to feel understood, for when you need to feel less alone. If you have ever needed something to hold on to, this book offers a hand. These are poems written by someone who is still here, reaching out, hoping you will take it.

Ink Stains is a raw, heartfelt exploration of life, love, and loss, capturing the emotional journey from the innocence of youth to the complexities of adulthood. Written over many years, this collection weaves together moments of personal struggle, growth, and transformation.