★★★★★ Reedsy Discovery
“Equal Parts Hilarious Romp, Trope Stomper, and High-Stakes Thriller.”
— McKenzie Lynn Tozan, Reedsy Discovery
Must Read review
The Book
Hollowborn Roots
Apparently, being forgettable is more dangerous than I thought.
My coworkers call me "Cart Guy". Even my parents forget my name. It's Elias Cooper by the way. My crowning achievement is shelving books for years, and only getting tased by security once—for trespassing at my own job. I've spent most of my life trying to be seen.
Then a vampire tried to eat me and immediately regretted it. Apparently, the supernatural starts to unravel if it gets too close to me. At least that is what Lila—my terrifyingly competent coworker, and as it turns out a mage—says. According to her, I am a walking dead zone for magic. A magical EMP if you will.
That one event throws me into a hidden world of vampires, fey, and magic. For the first time in my life, I'm being remembered by things that want to collect me, kill me, or both.
I'm not exactly action-hero material. I'm five foot seven. But when the supernatural hits the fan, the most forgettable man in Ohio is left holding a shotgun and a survival plan that would be generously called questionable.
Releases September 16, 2026. Hollowborn Roots will be available
in Kindle and paperback editions on Amazon.
Praise for Hollowborn Roots
What readers are saying
Goodreads Reader Reviews
This book exists so forgetting loses.
About the Author
Meet Joshua Arnold
The author’s supervisor, accepting full credit.
The author is currently being supervised.
Joshua Arnold writes funny-dark adult urban fantasy where magic has rules, monsters remember, found family matters, and the quiet guy in the library is probably the problem.
By day, he works in cybersecurity, explaining invisible threats to people who would usually rather not believe in them. By night, he writes about vampires, fey, ancient bargains, talking cats, and supernatural disasters hiding in plain sight.
His debut novel, Hollowborn Roots, follows Elias Cooper, a forgettable librarian whose absence from the world turns out to be the one thing monsters cannot ignore.
When he isn’t writing, Joshua is usually reading, overthinking fictional magic systems, spending time with his family, or being monitored by a cat who has made it clear that all success belongs to him.
The Imprint
Ashthorne Press
Ashthorne Press is the publishing imprint of Joshua Arnold.
Its first release, Hollowborn Roots, begins with a forgotten librarian, a midnight vampire, and a supernatural world that should have known better than to look his way.
The Hollowborn Series
Being forgotten was the easy part.
Hollowborn Roots is the first book in a funny-dark urban fantasy series following Elias Cooper, a librarian the world can barely remember and the supernatural world suddenly can’t ignore.
There are vampires. Fey. Bad decisions. A talking cat with absolutely no respect for anyone. And, somehow, a group of people who keep choosing each other even when everything goes spectacularly wrong.
Professional Inquiries
Contact
For bookstore, library, media, rights, event, or professional inquiries, contact Joshua at:
Inquiries@JoshuaArnoldwrites.com
Find me online
Book news, character nonsense, event updates, and occasional cat supervision.