Tiernay’s books

Some years ago, I signed a couple books to a girl named Tiernay. I’d never heard that name before, and it stuck with me. Not long after, a writer friend and I were brainstorming stories. Somehow we came up with an adventurer character named Jake West, and I found myself saying, “Yeah, and he has a daughter, and her name is Tiernay West.” Jake quickly receded into the background–at least for me–but Tiernay West, Professional Adventurer eventually became the protagonist of Secret of the Three Treasures.

Fast forward to TusCon last weekend. lnhammer tells me that one of the dealers has copies of my Phantom Rider books. This is kind of cool–I rarely see them on shelves these days, since they’re out of print–so I go in to have a look and to offer to sign them.

But it turns out they’re already signed.

To Tiernay.

I would have remembered had I signed books to another Tiernay, especially once I’d begun thinking about Tiernay West. Meaning this Tiernay was the original Tiernay–probably an adult now, and reading different books.

What are the odds?

Something, clearly, has come full circle.

I briefly thought about buying back Tiernay’s copies of the Phantom Rider books, but it seems to me that they should be released back into the larger world, where they can continue to be read.

But seeing those books as they paused in their journey made me smile. 🙂