Nathaniel Chaney

My name is Nathaniel Chaney, and I am an author of (primarily) fantasy and sci-fi short stories and novels. I am a member of the Atlanta Writers Club, where I chair a critique group for SFF authors. In addition to this, I participate in a writer support group. During the day, I work as a financial analyst, and when not writing, reading, or playing DnD, my wife and I foster dogs and kittens for a local rescue.

I keep a blog here with information I’ve learned along my writing journey. I love chatting about craft with authors, so please reach out.

My latest book, THE HEART OF THE VALLEY (104k words), is an adventure fantasy set in the deserts of a far-off land. The atmosphere and setting elements of Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri meet the found family themes of Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennet and the strong female protagonist and action-adventure vibes of Tomb Raider.

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Elevator Pitch:

Freya Lark is an archeologist—a damn good one, thanks to a lifelong obsession with history after growing up an orphan. She just can’t get the stuffed shirts of the Royal Society of Historians to take her findings seriously and grant her tenure. But her latest lead, a burial site of a lost ancient tribe hidden in a desert full of cutthroat smugglers and hostile nomads, promises to be the find of the century.

However, the bones Freya uncovers contain immense magical power. Freya learns that others besides her colleagues are pursuing these historical treasures, and they will stop at nothing to obtain them. Worse, there seems to be a connection between the disturbance of the burial site and the sudden expansion of a desert that threatens to overtake the entire continent.

Now, to protect the region’s history and solve the mystery of the expanding desert, Freya will have to trust a charming thief named Javed, perform a daring heist, and understand her connection to these ancient people. If she fails, those who seek the magic threaten to unleash the desert’s sands upon the whole world.

She’s spent a lifetime studying the past; now, she will write the future.

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Cute pictures of dogs

Now, what you really want, pictures of some of the cuties we’ve been lucky to foster:

Kodi was a sweet, drooly boy who found a loving home quickly.

Mister Sunshine got into the garbage once to hunt for leftovers discarded by Nathaniel Chaney. — Mister Sunshine: a ten-year-old Boston Terrier abandoned on the side of the road. He had a cleft palate deformity so severe the veterinary specialist said she’d never seen a dog his age with one so bad. Even with all of that, he was the sweetest old man who just wanted love. He found a beautiful farm (no really) in Mississippi to live out his golden years.

Freya is named after one of the characters in a Nathaniel Chaney book. Plus, Freya Stark. — After the 4th of July, a family found Freya, and we took her in. She was very timid when we first got her, but she won Nathaniel Chaney’s heart. We’ve worked with her extensively, and she excelled at formal training. Now she is a confident pup who loves cuddling on cold mornings and loves her dog friends.

Yoda loved when Nathaniel Chaney rubbed his belly. — This little hatchling is Yoda and he was a bright burst of energy, though he suffered from extreme separation anxiety. He was skeptical of belly rubs initially, but by the end of his stay, all Nathaniel Chaney had to do was look at him, and he rolled over to be pet. A few weeks before he found his permanent home, we discovered that if you howled a little, he would join in his high-pitched piccolo.