About the Author

Ryan Tensmeyer writes under the pen name M.J. Emerson. He has always had a passion for creating, and writing has been a central part of that drive since his early teens. His journey as a writer began in earnest the summer before ninth grade, when he became captivated by the fantasy genre and started crafting an epic story centered around a young hero named Ranoke. Orphaned when his adventurous parents failed to return from an expedition, Ranoke was set on a path toward a larger destiny—a story that would spark Ryan’s lifelong love of worldbuilding.

During that summer, Ryan devoted himself completely to writing, often choosing it over time with friends or family. He set a goal to write ten pages a day and went through so many pens that his parents regularly had to buy him more. His brother still jokes about those days, reminding him of the times he refused to go outside because he “had to work on his book.”

As Ryan entered high school, encouragement from an English teacher helped strengthen his skills and excitement for writing. However, discouragement followed later—from concerns about the practicality of a writing career and from academic feedback that suggested writing was not his strongest aptitude. Over time, he stepped away from the manuscript, eventually typing up the handwritten pages but leaving Ranoke’s story unfinished.

After high school, Ryan attended college before serving a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Honduras. He later married, graduated from Utah State University with a degree in Electrical Engineering, and built a long career in engineering and software development. He worked at Icon Health and Fitness for sixteen years before moving to Space Dynamics Laboratory in 2022. Ryan and his wife have six children—five girls and one boy.

Although fiction writing took a back seat for many years, Ryan’s love of creating never faded. His professional career allowed him to build and invent daily, and outside of work he has developed around twenty mobile apps published on the Apple and Google App Stores, including a collaborative choose-your-own-adventure story app. He also created a YouTube channel that has grown to more than 115,000 subscribers.

In recent years, Ryan has returned fully to writing. He is the author of Shattered Reflections, a novel inspired by a vivid and emotionally powerful dream that led him back to storytelling. In addition, he is actively working on The Falling of Forever, a planned five-book epic fantasy series that expands and reimagines the world and characters he first created as a teenager—finally continuing Ranoke’s story with the depth, clarity, and vision shaped by life experience.

Ryan hopes his stories invite readers into worlds that feel emotionally honest, imaginative, and meaningful—stories that linger long after the final page.

For more details about the dream that inspired Shattered Reflections, visit The Dream page. However, it's recommended to complete the book before exploring this content.