I’m Nicklas Flanery—a writer, poet, former U.S. Army Infantry Officer, fitness professional, and creator of the Tales from the Forge series—a collection of short stories and poems born from struggle, resilience, and the relentless pursuit of meaning. In my work, I explore transformation through adversity, the testing of character, and the fire that forges both steel and spirit.

Before I devoted myself to storytelling, I served as an Infantry Officer in the U.S. Army. There, I learned the demands of leadership, the costs of responsibility, and how adversity refines a man’s mettle. Those lessons stayed with me long after the uniform came off.

After the military, I continued that work of transformation as a CrossFit coach and personal trainer, helping others confront physical limits, build discipline, and discover strength they didn’t know they had. The forge didn’t change. It simply changed locations—from the field to the gym—but the principle remained the same: growth is earned, not given.

That philosophy lies at the heart of my writing.

The Tales from the Forge series began as a spark—a personal reflection on how strength is not given but forged, refined in the fires of combat, challenge, and hardship and hammered out in the moments that test us most. From that idea grew Tales from the Forge—stories of a man who was lost and broken only to be tempered and reforged into something greater. These are stories about endurance, responsibility, faith, and becoming. Alongside them, Fireside Poems offers quieter reflections—words meant for stillness, honesty, and the long nights when clarity arrives softly.

My poetry and prose blend the mythic with the deeply human. Drawing on my own personal experiences, I write about discipline, tribulation, faith, and the fight to rise from the ashes stronger than before.

My family’s words, “Forged in the Fire”, are more than a phrase to me—they are a philosophy: that the trials we endure are not meant to destroy us but to burn everything away and shape us into who we are meant to become.

When not writing, I devote myself to the work of expanding the FORGED world through animation, visual art, and storytelling—transforming history into living myth.

Through Tales from the Forge, I explore the fire that tests and transforms us, a reminder to those who follow me on this journey that strength is not found—it’s forged.

This website exists as a home for that work. A place for stories and poems shaped by challenge and reflection. A place for those who understand that we are defined by the fires we walk through and what we are willing to face.

Forged in the Fire is not a slogan. It’s a way of living.