About
J. S. Torres
I’m a teacher. I have three boys. On a good weekend you’ll find us somewhere in a National Park.
I grew up in San Francisco. I live in Florida now.
The flower
There’s a single leaf on the cover of this book, falling between the branches of the Tree of Old.
Two weeks before she passed, my grandmother gave me a flower. She was joking when she asked me to keep it as long as I could.
I still have it. Twenty-eight years later.
That’s where this story started.
How this book got published
Money almost stopped me. Not the writing, not doubt — money.
Then, for my birthday, the people who love me got together and pooled what they had so I could publish it.
I’ll never forget that. This book exists because they decided it should.
The classroom
I wrote this for the kids who say they hate reading.
Every year I meet students who’ve already decided books aren’t for them — because most of what gets handed to them is dry, dense, and slow.
So I wrote the kind of book I wanted to put in their hands. Fast. Clear. Always moving. I cut the long descriptions that lose them and left the story.
They finished it. They asked what happens next.
For anyone carrying something heavy
If you’re struggling with anxiety or depression right now — I know it doesn’t feel like it will get better.
It will.
If you need to talk to someone now, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is free, confidential, and available 24/7 in the US — call or text 988.
Next
Read the opening, or come along for Book Two.
The first chapter of The Bloodstone is on the book page. If you’d rather just be told when the next one is ready, the list is the quietest way to do it.
Schools & libraries
Jack visits classrooms, libraries, and reading assemblies — in person in Florida, or by video anywhere. He answers these himself.