A series of vignettes to accompany the release of Ember Boys (Flint and Tinder #1). You'll get to see Emmett struggling to accept being in a substance abuse program, while Jim tries to make sense of all the changes in his life. Available to subscribers to the author's newsletter August 2020.

Emmett Bradley thinks his adventures are over. Together with his friends, he stopped an ancient evil and lived to tell about it. But life as a survivor, even as a survivor of a victory, isn’t easy, and when Emmett runs away from Vehpese, Wyoming, he takes a few things with him: a battered ego, a broken heart, and his addictions. He’s lucky that Jim Spencer, his former English teacher, happens to have ended up in the same small, coastal town. He’s even luckier that Jim is doing everything he can to help Emmett hold himself together. When Emmett’s parents commit him to the psychiatric ward of an infamous hospital, though, Emmett finds himself struggling day to day to remember that the life he’s lived—a life with monsters and psychics—is real. Every day, he finds himself a little less certain that he can trust any of his memories. A chance encounter with a strange girl, though, forces Emmett to confront the possibility that things around him aren’t quite what they seem. The hospital may not actually be a hospital. His adventures may not be over. And the ancient evil he stopped in Wyoming might have been only one strand in a larger web. Then Emmett is attacked by a dead man, and he realizes that he’s caught up in a war he doesn’t understand. He must hurry to learn the truth about what’s going on, and he’ll need Jim’s help to do it. He just has to convince his old teacher that things between them aren’t too complicated already—but first, Emmett will have to convince himself. Note: Emmett has previously appeared in the Hollow Folk series.

Emmett might not have a job. He might not be going to school. He might not have any friends. Heck, he might not even be all that happy. But he’s clean; that’s the important thing. And all that spare time? It means he can really focus on screwing up his friendship (and absolutely nothing more than friendship) with Jim, who just happens to be the most important person in his life. When their friend Chloe shows up at their apartment, being chased by men with guns, Emmett and Jim find themselves dragged into a conflict they don’t understand. A year ago, they saved Chloe’s life from a band of supernatural killers. Now, it seems someone is after her again. It’s up to Emmett and Jim to stop them, which might be easier if they could figure out why everyone wants her. It won’t be that easy, of course. When Chloe’s on-and-off-again girlfriend gets taken hostage, Emmett and Jim will have to race to save her. But an invisible war is raging all around them, and they’ve just stepped into the crossfire.

Jim’s birthday is coming up, and Emmett is determined to make it a good one. Scratch that. A perfect one. Sure, that means spending money he doesn’t have. Sure, that means trying to keep secrets, which Jim is irritatingly good at ferreting out. It even means playing nice when his parents attempt a reconciliation, no matter how much he wants to tell them to screw off. But he can do that—all of it—for Jim. When Emmett’s parents ask him to befriend a girl who survived a terrible car crash, Emmett can connect the dots: his father’s political aspirations; the daughter of a freshman senator; and Emmett, the boy with scars. To keep the peace, he agrees. But when he and Jim arrive at the remote cabin, everything goes wrong. An attack by the Solar Court ends with the senator’s wife and daughter being kidnapped—and with Jim and Emmett on the run. As someone tries to draw a net tight around Jim and Emmett, the two men must race to save the kidnapped girl and her mother. Their search takes them into the path of private security forces, the unnatural creatures known as wanderers, and—most dangerous of all—monsters from their past. And if they’re too late, they’ll watch the whole world burn.

Love, like fire, is a chain reaction. Boys with Matches is a collection of short stories from Flint and Tinder. It includes the following: “Heat” Jim visits Emmett at the psychiatric hospital. This story is a prequel and takes place before Ember Boys. “Sparks” A series of vignettes leading up to Valentine’s Day. This story takes place between Ember Boys and Queer Fires. “Fuel” Jim and Emmett go to the beach. “Oxygen” Jim and Emmett explore new territory in their relationship. This story takes place between Queer Fires and The Whole World Tinder. “Boys with Matches” Jim and Emmett go on a road trip to check out prospective colleges. This story is set after The Whole World Tinder. Please note that the first four stories were distributed previously in various formats. “Boys with Matches” is exclusively available in this collection.