大象传媒

Written By: Tina Alvey Dale

Amber Quimby can draw a direct line between the student who wrote short stories at the University of Arkansas 鈥� Fort Smith and the novelist she is today.

Quimby, 鈥�12, was one of the first students to pursue the writing track through the English Department at 大象传媒. There, she found a place to nurture an instinct for storytelling.

A fiction workshop with Dr. Kelly Jennings gave her the chance to study short stories, discuss the choices writers make, and learn from the perspectives of other aspiring writers. Just as important were the people who took writing seriously, helped one another grow, and formed a community of peers for Quimby.

鈥湸笙蟠�媒 really helped me,鈥� Quimby said. 鈥淚 think I found the seeds and everything there. (It) was a nurturing environment for writers to become who they are 鈥� to find their voice.鈥�

Quimby believes those classes and that community were where her writer鈥檚 voice began to take shape. Sharing short stories and discussing the work of other writers helped her learn to look at stories critically and consider how they could be developed.

Her coursework exposed her to writers and literary traditions that helped her understand what kind of stories she wanted to tell. A course in Southern Gothic literature introduced her to writers such as Flannery O鈥機onnor and helped deepen her interests.

Quimby has always been drawn to the strange and the macabre, subjects she initially explored through poetry. Poetry offered a way to examine unusual or unsettling ideas with an intensity that could be difficult to achieve in longer forms.

Those interests eventually found their way into her fiction.

Community Is Key

After college, Quimby pursued employment and rodeo. The manuscript that would become her debut novel remained unwritten for a time, even as the desire to tell its story stayed with her.

Now, at 40, she is beginning a new chapter as a novelist.

Quimby doesn't view her timing as a failure to reach a goal sooner. But if she could return to her college years and speak to the young woman who loved those literature classes and writing workshops, she knows what she would say.

鈥淒on't stop. Keep going,鈥� she said.

She would remind that younger version of herself to follow the spark she felt when discussing great literature with professors and classmates or sharing short stories with other writers.

For today's students and aspiring writers, Quimby offers advice shaped by both her time at 大象传媒 and the years she spent learning how to navigate publishing.

鈥淔ind your people, find your community,鈥� she said.

Writing may begin with one person sitting at a computer, but a writing career rarely develops in isolation, she said. Quimby found community again through online critique groups, group chats, and other connections with writers who understand the challenges of developing a manuscript and bringing it to market.

Some of those friendships have become central to her life. The writers encourage one another, exchange ideas, and offer the kind of honest feedback that helps a story become stronger.

Quimby believes a willingness to listen is one of the qualities that separates writers who continue to grow from those who struggle to move forward. When a trusted reader identifies a weakness that the writer has already sensed, it's worth paying attention, she said.

Quimby learned that lesson when a critique partner suggested cutting the first four chapters of her manuscript because, in her view, the story didn't truly begin until Chapter 4.

Quimby was offended. She loved her opening and wasn't ready to part with it. She spent about a week thinking about the advice before deciding to make the cut.

The manuscript subsequently secured a publishing deal.

The experience reinforced what she now tells other writers: Be willing to set aside your ego, listen to people you trust and recognize that changing a story doesn't mean giving up on it.

A Story Worth Telling

Quimby鈥檚 years of work and persistence, and heeding the advice of her community, led to a publishing deal. Writing under the name A.T. Rainach, Quimby has signed with Orbit US, which acquired world rights to her debut novel, The Art of Living Forever. Orbit editor Stephanie Clark acquired the book, which is scheduled for release in November 2026. A sequel is planned for 2027.

A dark romantasy set against the backdrop of 19th-century Europe,  follows Grace, a young American heiress desperate to escape a forced marriage to an English aristocrat. Her escape takes an unexpected turn when she encounters Aris, the immortal god of war, who recognizes her as the reincarnated soul of the woman he once loved.

But Aris isn't the only god drawn to Grace. His brother Nox, the god of death, also pursues her affection, reigniting a centuries-old struggle between the brothers over love and power.

The novel brings together several of Quimby's longtime interests: The macabre, fantastical worlds, complicated relationships and the possibilities that emerge when ordinary human experiences collide with something extraordinary.

The Art of Living Forever is available for preorder ahead of its November release. The novel will be available in paperback, eBook and audiobook formats through , as well as retailers including ,  and .