Aspects of Reno incorporated into debut novel
By Forrest Hartman, Reno Gazette-Journal
When Ben Rogers received his first published novel last month, he couldn’t help but sleep with a copy by his bed.
“Other than my kids and my family, it’s the thing I’m most proud of,” the 34-year-old writer said. “It’s just this little book, but so much of my heart and soul and tears went into it, and so much of what I believe is in the book.”
That book is “The Flamer,” a coming-of-age story centered on a Reno youth named Oby Brooks. But Oby isn’t your everyday kid. He likes fire and explosives — a lot. What’s more, his sexuality is in question through much of the novel, thus the double entendre of a title.
Renoites should take joy in the book’s expertly rendered local setting, and they can rest assured that it was crafted by a native. Rogers is a product of the region, where he still lives with his wife, Jill, and their two young daughters.
“The Flamer” is fiction, but Rogers said readers can find pieces of him on every page, and the Reno setting is part of that.
