HTF Publishing Welcomes Two New Authors: Rick Hodges and Jane D. Cairns

Written By Colin Mustful

For Immediate Press Release

September 23, 2025

Author Rick Hodges

Minneapolis, MN – HTF Publishing is proud to announce the signing of two remarkable authors whose forthcoming novels exemplify the depth, research, and imagination at the heart of our mission.

Rick Hodges, Nautilus Book Award–winning author of To Follow Elephants, joins HTF with his sweeping new historical novel The Death of Driftwood. Set on the coast of Virginia, The Death of Driftwood blends history, folklore, and multiple generations of voices to tell the story of a hidden community where escaped slaves, Quakers, and outcasts built lives together outside the racial and social boundaries of American society. With echoes of Grace Sherwood’s witch trial, Nat Turner’s rebellion, and the struggles of the Civil Rights era, Hodges explores how fear, faith, and resilience shape a town across centuries.

Author Jane D. Cairns

Jane D. Cairns, a Massachusetts-based writer and local historian, brings her debut novel Exalted Objects to HTF. A graduate of GrubStreet’s prestigious Novel Incubator program, Cairns has worked as a columnist and researcher for publications including Publishers Weekly and Library Journal. Exalted Objects is a powerful family saga set in 19th-century New England, tracing the lives of two brothers—railroad magnate George Stark and his eccentric younger brother Will—through ambition, art, loss, and the tumult of a changing nation. Inspired by real history and infused with themes of creativity, progress, and legacy, Exalted Objects captures the conflicts between industrial growth and human imagination at the dawn of modern America.

These two novels expand HTF Publishing’s growing catalog of historically rich and narratively compelling fiction. Founded in 2023 as an imprint of History Through Fiction, HTF Publishing, our hybrid model, offers an alternative pathway for authors committed to producing high-quality historical fiction in collaboration with our team.

We look forward to bringing The Death of Driftwood and Exalted Objects to readers worldwide soon.

Colin Mustful

Colin Mustful is the founder and editor of History Through Fiction, an independent press dedicated to publishing historical narratives rooted in factual events and compelling characters. A celebrated author and historian whose novel “Reclaiming Mni Sota” recently won the Midwest Book Award for Literary/Contemporary/Historical Fiction, Mustful has penned five historical novels that delve into the complex eras of settler-colonialism and Native American displacement. Combining his interests in history and writing, Mustful holds a Master of Arts in history and a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing. Residing in Minneapolis, Minnesota, he enjoys running, playing soccer, and believes deeply in the power of understanding history to shape a just and sustainable future.

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