Local author discovers magic in her own backyard

AREA —A simple question from her four-year-old granddaughter helped Jackie Reinig of rural Portsmouth rediscover a childhood dream and launch an unexpected second career as a fantasy author.
“‘Mimi, I love your Enchanted Forest, but do you have faeries?’” Reinig recalled her granddaughter, Seraphina, asking during a visit to a wooded area on the family farm.
“‘Of course I do. Over here is where they live,’” Reinig said.
That answer sparked a series of faerie stories that eventually grew into two fantasy novels, “Night of the Purple Moon” and “The Ravenite Ring.” While “Night of the Purple Moon” was first published in 2024, Reinig is preparing to celebrate the release of her second book with a public launch party from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30, at the Harlan Golf & Country Club.
The event is free and open to the public. Guests can meet Reinig, enjoy refreshments and purchase personally signed copies of both books.
For Reinig, the novels represent the fulfillment of a dream she first considered in sixth grade, long before she spent approximately 40 years in health care, including 38 years as a nurse.
When her teacher asked students what they wanted to be when they grew up, Reinig had recently written a 12-page story and wanted to become an author. However, when she tried to say it aloud, the word came out as “Arthur,” prompting laughter from her classmates.
“I decided never to write another word for the rest of my life,” Reinig laughed. “That stayed with me forever.”
Although she continued to enjoy reading, writing took a back seat while she raised a family and built her nursing career. She retired in 2020, on her 59th birthday, never imagining that story telling would become a major part of her next chapter.
“I never imagined I’d be doing this at this point in my life.” The journey began when Reinig and her husband, Allan, spent summers clearing dead branches and cleaning up a wooded area on their farm near Portsmouth. The work transformed the overgrown space into an approximately 300-foot walkway through the evergreens, which Reinig named the Enchanted Forest.
When Seraphina asked whether faeries lived there, Reinig assured her they did. At the time, Seraphina was just starting school and was uncertain about going. Reinig explained that faeries were not born knowing how to be faeries but had to attend school to learn.
Soon, her grandchildren wanted faerie stories whenever they visited. Reinig and Allan added to the magic by leaving little notes and surprises from the faeries for the children to discover.
The children were quick to notice when Reinig repeated a story or changed a detail, so she began writing the adventures on her laptop while sitting on the patio overlooking the forest.
“That’s why I started writing it down,” she said.
In her imagination, the farm became the land of QuillSnap, a fantasy world where people are tiny compared with the world around them. The characters, adventures and mysteries gradually developed into a full-length novel.
Reinig tries to write every day, often starting in the morning before other responsibilities take over. What began as one continuous manuscript eventually grew to approximately 130,000 words. With help from her family, she organized, edited and cut the material into a novel.
Before sharing the finished manuscript, Reinig had to overcome her nervousness about letting anyone read it, including her husband.
One evening, she finally read Allan the first three chapters, becoming so anxious that tears ran down her face. When she finished, he asked a simple question.
“He asked, ‘What happens next?’” Reinig recalled. “I cried because I realized the story had held his interest.”
For Reinig, his response reassured her that the story was worth pursuing.
Her first novel, initially published in 2024 as “Faery Academy of QuillSnap: Night of the Purple Moon,” was later republished under the shorter title “Night of the Purple Moon” with a new cover. Although Reinig originally intended to write only one book, her characters continued to develop, leaving more adventures to tell.
The newly released “The Ravenite Ring” continues the QuillSnap fantasy series, introducing additional characters, mysteries and magical discoveries.
Reinig said she wrote the first book with her granddaughter in mind, and tailored the second for her grandson. While the first novel focuses on female characters, she incorporated more elements she thought her grandson would enjoy in the second book.
The novels are intended for readers ages 10 and older, although Reinig hopes adults who enjoy fantasy will appreciate them, too.
“Like “Harry Potter”, the books are written for children but appeal to adults, too,” she said.
Beyond the magical settings and adventures, the books explore familiar experiences, including friendship, bullying, anxiety, self-doubt, courage and resilience.
Reinig sees parallels between her own journey and that of her heroine, Tansy, who faces obstacles and discovers strengths she may not have realized she possessed.
“I see parallels between my journey and hers,” Reinig said. “You think you’re making progress, and then something happens and knocks you back.”
Through her characters’ experiences, Reinig hopes readers will find encouragement to persevere through setbacks and recognize what they are capable of accomplishing.
She is already working on the third book in the series. Although she considered taking a break after completing the second novel, new ideas convinced her to continue. She also has ideas for a separate children’s series.
Turning her stories into books required Reinig to learn an entirely new side of the industry.
She initially pursued traditional publishing, submitting her manuscript to literary agents 92 times. The process required researching agents, following individual submission guidelines and waiting for responses that sometimes took months.
Eventually, she decided to explore other options. After publishing her first novel through a publishing-services company, she attended author events and book signings, including a Simon & Schuster event in New York City, the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books and Chicago’s Printers Row Lit Fest.
Those experiences helped her connect with other authors and learn about the many steps involved in producing and promoting a book, from editing and proofreading to formatting, cover design, marketing and distribution.
The experience also led her to establish QuillSnap Press, her own publishing imprint, giving her greater control over the process.
Rather than relying on one company to handle everything, Reinig works directly with professionals, including her editor, website designer, graphic designer and illustrator. The arrangement gives her more creative control, flexibility in marketing and greater influence over pricing.
Making the books more affordable was especially important to her. Under her new publishing arrangement, the hardcover edition costs nearly half as much as her original hardcover book while maintaining the quality she wanted.
She is also working to expand distribution and make the stories available to more readers, including through international audiobook availability.
The process has required her to develop technology and business skills far removed from her years in health care. She has also explored artificial intelligence tools to help her understand technology, troubleshoot problems and visualize elements of her stories.
Despite the learning curve, Reinig considers the experience rewarding.
“Publishing has been an adventure, especially after spending most of my working life in health care,” she wrote in background material about her publishing journey. “It has also been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.”
Reinig’s love of books began long before she started writing her own. Growing up in a small Iowa town, she looked forward to the bookmobile’s weekly visits to Portsmouth, when she could select a couple of books to enjoy until the following week.
That early love of reading helped nurture an imagination that remained with her even when work and family responsibilities left little time to pursue writing.
Now, the stories that began in the woods behind her home have become published novels and a growing independent publishing business.
Reinig’s experience has reinforced the value of persistence, whether in writing a story, navigating the publishing industry or learning unfamiliar skills.
“I may have retired from nursing, but I haven’t retired from learning, dreaming or finding new adventures!” she wrote in her author biography.