About the Author

Ryan Tensmeyer (M.J. Emerson) has always had a passion for creating and writing is no exception. His journey as a writer really took off the summer before 9th grade when he became captivated by the fantasy genre. Inspired, he started crafting his own tale centered around a character named Ranoke. Ranoke was left alone after his adventurous parents failed to return from one of their expeditions. This loss set Ranoke on a path of his own epic adventure, a story that Ryan diligently worked on throughout that summer.

Ryan's dedication to his writing was so intense during those summer days that he often chose it over spending time with friends and family. He remembers going through so many pens that his parents would regularly buy him new ones to keep up with his writing pace. He had a goal to write at least ten pages every day. His brother still reminds him of the times he skipped spending time outside because he needed to work on his book. "Not yet," he teases. "I have to work on my book."

As he started his 9th-grade year, Ryan shared his love for writing with his English teacher, who was wonderful and helped encourage him. She helped him increase his excitement and proficiency, kindling his creative fire. However, towards the end of the year, he started to get discouraged with the idea of becoming a professional writer. His personal research suggested that writing might not be the most financially rewarding path. Additionally, his school conducted proficiency tests that revealed writing was not at the top of his proficiency scale. This disheartening news made Ryan reconsider his writing aspirations, and he did not return to working on his book in earnest. He eventually took the time to convert his handwritten story into a typed manuscript, but Ranoke's adventure remains unfinished to this day. By the time he was a senior in high school, the idea of becoming a writer was still in the back of his mind, but his English teacher that year was discouraging in every way, leading him to decide that it would never be.

Following high school, Ryan attended college for a year before serving as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for two years in Honduras. Upon returning home, he got married and graduated from Utah State University with a degree in Electrical Engineering. His professional journey led him to work at Icon Health and Fitness for 16 years, and then he moved to Space Dynamics Laboratory at the end of 2022. Ryan and his wife have six children - five girls and one boy.

Although he has not done much writing since Ranoke's adventure, Ryan's love of creating has never ceased. His career as an Electrical and Software Engineer has allowed him to create and invent daily. Outside of work, he has developed around 20 apps that have made it into the Apple and Google App Stores, including a choose-your-own- adventure story app that let app users contribute to the storyline. Additionally, he created a YouTube channel that has garnered over 100,000 subscribers.

Now, after his own long adventure in life, Ryan is finally taking the time to return to writing. Interestingly enough, the idea for his current book, Shattered Reflections, came from a dream he had. This dream deeply moved him emotionally, but as is common with dreams, he woke up wondering if what he had dreamed could even happen in real life. He researched the idea and found that it was indeed plausible. He started thinking through how he could make the plot work in a book, got it to the point that it made sense in his mind, and finally got back to writing. He hopes readers are as captivated emotionally as he is by this story.