Book Spotlight: The House of Gold by Joni Parker

 

Lady Alexin Dumwalt—Alex to those who know better—just got booted from her mortal-world job. Her response? Return to Eledon, reclaim her title as Keeper of the Keys, and dive headfirst into a mission that reeks of politics and secrets. Her task: escort Lord Quasar of the Star Elves to Nimbus. Her reality: arrested at Moonbase, locked up by a power-hungry Lord Governor, and caught in a prison break that exposes a gold-smuggling operation buried beneath the surface.

The gold? Stolen from Eledon. The ship? Not what it seems. The Fire Elves? Gone—taken by someone who wasn’t supposed to be watching.

Now Alex is under guard, headed to Nimbus, and neck-deep in a conspiracy that could shatter the fragile balance between Elf factions. She’s got questions, she’s got enemies, and she’s got zero patience for anyone standing in her way.

Magic. Betrayal. One Elf with nothing left to lose.

Joni Parker’s story reads like a cross-continental odyssey with grit at every turn. Born in the heart of Chicago, she was just eight when her family uprooted to Japan so her father could chase a dream most wouldn’t dare—becoming a professional golfer. He made it. And when the dust settled, they landed in Phoenix, Arizona, where Joni carved her own path. After high school, she didn’t just serve—she committed. Twenty-two years in the U.S. Navy, followed by seven more in federal civil service, Joni built a career on discipline, resilience, and a no-nonsense drive to get things done. Now retired in Tucson, Arizona, she’s traded uniforms for imagination, channelling her fire into writing, devouring books, and catching the sunrise like it’s a daily ritual of renewal. Her stories reflect the same edge she’s lived with—bold, unflinching, and full of heart.

Her most recent book is the science fantasy, The House of Gold (Book 4 in the Golden Harvest Series).

Visit her website at http://www.joni-parker.com or connect with her on Facebook, Goodreads and  Bluesky.

Trouble With Titles? Here Are My Tips by author Rhea Thomas

 

Let Birds Fly by Rhea Thomas is a magical realism short story collection where the extraordinary sparks everyday lives toward transformation. Connected by Ripple Media, each of the fifteen characters navigates personal struggles, such as an impossible itch, a mercurial third eye, and hallucinating coffee. They discover hidden truths, purpose, or power. With whimsy and emotional depth, these stories explore identity, passion, and self-discovery through moments of enchantment that crack open ordinary reality. Let these tales remind you: sometimes, the most magical thing is becoming who you were always meant to be.

 GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/234299217-let-birds-fly

Main Street Rag: https://mainstreetragbookstore.com/product/let-birds-fly-rhea-thomas/

Trouble With Titles? Here Are My Tips

I enjoy the challenge of naming things. I love finding the perfect title for a piece of writing. Here are a handful of examples from my short story collection, starting with the title I initially chose versus the title I ultimately settled on. I almost always choose an easy title that easily and immediately reminds me what I’m writing about, in the first draft of a story. By the end of the story and multiple revisions, I usually choose a more solid title. One that is interesting but also fits just right.

Flight of the Blue Fairy

I often give stories self-explanatory names, such as “Shedding Skin” for the story about a woman who unzips her skin at the end. But after I completed the story, I realized that the title gave too much away, so I changed it to “Flight of the Blue Fairy”, referencing a fairytale that had been important to the main character as a child and became her adult pedicab persona. And this story was about her finding her wings, in a way. It was perfect.  

Sprouting

This story is about a woman who has to get a breast ultrasound after a mass shows up on her mammogram. To her surprise, she does not have a tumor or some benign growth … it’s a superfood, a miracle bean, and it’s close to sprouting. “Boob Beans” was the catchy in-progress title, but the story was not just about these special beans … it was about this woman finding her way. Not only is the bean sprouting, but so is she. She’s bursting at the confines and in a period of growth.

A Fearsome Thing

This story is about a young man who wants to become a writer but is intimidated by his best-selling crime-writing mother. She seems to be actively trying to prevent him from becoming a writer. So, he’s writing on the sly with low self-confidence and then, a mysterious, murderous woman appears in his attic. He’s genuinely fearing for his life. I don’t want to give much away, but that title has multiple meanings. I originally called it “The Muse” which was super boring and unoriginal.

To The Fairest

I originally called this story “Greek Goddesses”, just to remind myself what it was about and where I was going with it. Kind of a boring title. “To The Fairest” is the inscription on a golden apple coveted by Greek goddesses in mythology and in this story. And throughout the story, three Greek goddesses are vying for this apple and title. But at the end, without giving too much away, my main character plays on the “fairest” bit as just, not beautiful.

The Works

This story isn’t published yet, but I almost titled it “Soul Carwash.” The main character is a good guy who starts committing crimes, but he doesn’t like the guilt he feels afterward, so he finds different ways to absolve himself. Eventually, a strange flyer shows up in his mail for a soul wash. The main character is intrigued and goes to investigate. So, the title “Soul Wash” was a bit too obvious. The package he selects at this special soul-washing place is called The Works, and I love how that also subtly explains his situation.

The best practice for giving your piece its permanent title is to find something that is interesting (makes the reader want to check it out) and has some symbolism or relation to the subject. It’s something to have fun with. Get feedback from your writing group or beta readers. But it’s not something you need to worry about until the end, in my opinion. Wait until you’ve told the whole story, then ideally, the story itself will tell you what it wants the title to be.

 

About the Author

Rhea Thomas lives in Austin, Texas where she works as a program manager in the digital media world. Her short stories have been published in multiple publications, including, most recently, The Fictional Café, Toasted Cheese and Does It Have Pockets. She spends her free time hoarding books, walking her stubborn Labrador retriever, playing games with her sons, kayaking and swimming in rivers, searching for mysteries and writing short stories that explore magical moments in the mundane. Her first book, a collection of short stories, is due out in August 2025, and she’s currently working on a literary mystery novel.

You can find her online at:

https://rheathomasauthor.com/

https://www.facebook.com/rheathomasauthor

https://www.instagram.com/rheatellstales/

https://x.com/rheatellstales

Creating the Perfect Ambiance to Write Paranormal Tales by Amy S. Cutler

 

In her past life, after causing the death of a little boy, Nikki was so devastated that her soul mate promised to murder her in their next life, to make her pay for what she had done. With no knowledge of this, Nikki lives for years as an addict, down on her luck, until she is rescued by Ken, who helps her with all aspects of her recovery. With the help of a few new friends and a cat named Destiny, Nikki turns her life around. What she doesn’t know is that someone out there is destined to kill her, and he is watching, his passion for killing her growing stronger each day. The question is: Can an agreement made between two souls be broken, and how far will one soul go to keep a promise made in a desperate attempt to save the other?

 Where to Find To Have and To Hold, To Love and To Kill:

 https://www.amazon.com/Have-Hold-Love-Kill-Agreement/dp/1685133428/

https://bookshop.org/p/books/to-have-and-to-hold-to-love-and-to-kill-an-agreement-of-souls-amy-s-cutler/20601757?ean=9781685133429&next=t

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/200655790-to-have-and-to-hold-to-love-and-to-kill

 

Creating the Perfect Ambiance to Write Paranormal Tales

Currently on my desk, I have a candle from a company called Mythologie, and the candle is called Phoenix. The scent includes grapefruit, cinnamon, clove and vanilla, and has a crackling wooden wick. I burn this when I am working on a special project, a non-fiction piece that includes the mythological story of a phoenix. When I light this candle, I immediately focus on the story, and with the crackle of the wick, I am drawn closer to the words. Do I need the candle to write this story? No, of course not. It is the intention behind the candle that I desire, and that is to create a space where my mind blocks everything out but the story in my head.

As often as possible, I try to start a writing session with a clear desk and whatever props might inspire me. These might be a candle, a photograph, some books (The Amityville Horror is almost always in sight), or a playlist curated to inspire a particular story. I also like to write outdoors, where I can close my eyes and allow the sounds to filter their way into my tales. The set-up for writing a paranormal story can be quite fun. A perfect vision for me would be a full moon, lots of candles, and a silent house. No dogs barking or chewing on bones, no background noise of the television or Instagram reel, just me, my keyboard, and the glow of the moon. If I were to give myself a nice date-night, that would probably be it. In that setting, something spooky always ends up on the page. Sounds nice, right?

Back in reality, where I usually live, I do not always have a clear desk, and I find that I’m out of matches. In these cases, it’s just a matter of turning inward, and creating a space inside that blocks out the mess of the outside. Writing is a bit of meditation, and even when it starts out hard and the noises from the outside (or the inside) create a distraction, if you sit with it long enough, a nice tunnel vision begins to form, and even amidst chaos, a calming focus can take over. Before you know it, an hour has passed and the word count has grown.

When writing a paranormal story, I also like to sit for a moment before each writing session and picture the characters in mind. I sort of talk to them, picture them in the setting that I have written them into. See if anything has changed, if there are any pivots that the story needs to take. This can be helpful when writing any story, but it is special with a ghost story, because when we write about ghosts, it seems like the crack between worlds opens a bit. And sometimes, if I’m lucky, those ghosts will whisper back to me. Put pen to paper when there’s a ghost in your ear, even a 100 percent imaginary ghost, and magic can truly happen.

 

About the Author

 Amy Sampson-Cutler, author of "To Have and to Hold, to Love and to Kill: An Agreement of Souls" and "A Shadow of Love," is a writer who earned her master's degree in creative writing from Goddard College. Her work can be found in Slut Vomit: An Anthology of Sex Work, Tales to Terrify, WOW! Women on Writing, The Pitkin Review and more. She is the Executive Manager at Mount Peter Ski Area, where she grew up skiing in the winter and dreaming up stories in the summer. Her favorite days are spent knocking around story ideas with her husband. She lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband, son, and a ridiculous amount of furry family members.

 She can be contacted through AmysHippieHut.com. Also follow her on:

Facebook: https://facebook.com/AmysHippieHut

Instagram: https://instagram.com/amyshippiehut

Book Spotlight: The Essence of Bliss by Emily Astillberry

A heartwarming, magical novel, which follows Isabel Bliss, a primary school teacher with an invisible power over emotional energy, as she discovers, explores and comes to terms with her ability and her potential.

 

Isabel Bliss is a reception class teacher. She experiences other people’s emotions and can influence how they feel but she doesn’t truly understand her gift and has been encouraged, by her mum, to hide it from others. She often feels lost and alone. 

When a child in her class experiences chronic distress that only she can perceive, Isabel uses her ability to relieve his suffering, but his situation continues to worsen. Eventually she is forced to take matters into her own hands, escorting him home where she finds horrific signs of abuse. She saves his mum’s life and his father is arrested for the brutal torture he has inflicted upon his family. 

A wealthy family moves to town and Isabel meets the two sons. She recoils from Daniel, who is hateful, rude and emotionally deficient but is inexorably drawn to Scott, who awakens something magical, deep inside her. They are like her. They are fluencers and have the ability to sense, read and willfully manipulate emotional energies. Isabel confronts her mum and uncovers hurtful lies and deceit within her own family. 

She falls deeply in love and ultimately discovers the untold potential of her gift and the passion and power that dwells within.

Read a sample here.

The Essence of Bliss is available at Amazon UK and Amazon US.

Book Excerpt

The next few moments occurred in painful slow motion. As I tugged my arm sharply out of Donna’s grasp, I was jostled by a stranger on the other side. I felt myself falling off balance and reached out to grab onto something, anything, to keep me upright. The something that I grabbed onto was a jacket slung over an arm and the owner of the jacket pulled back on it hard, tipping me further off balance and sending me sprawling to the floor on my knees. I let out a pained cry as my still bruised knee struck the hard floor.

I ended up on my knees in front of a strong, long set of masculine legs in blue denim. I didn’t know for certain to whom the legs belonged, but I could make an educated guess from the pitch of the gasp and giggle from Donna and the murmuring of the onlookers. I really didn’t want to look up, but I knew that it was inevitable. I couldn’t stay on the floor forever. My knee was painful, and I wasn’t even certain that I could get up by myself. Slowly, grudgingly, I raised my eyes to find Daniel Callahan looking down at me with distasteful recognition and an unpleasant, disdainful smile. I looked him in the eye with as much dignity as I could muster. He continued to stare rudely. He didn’t utter a word.

“Sorry,” I muttered, and my hand flew to my mouth in instant regret. Had I seriously just apologised to him, again, for falling over, again? I was a total idiot, and I was more embarrassed than ever. What was it about this man that made me fall at his feet and behave like a stuttering moron with an apology tic?

“It seems like you’re making a habit of falling on your knees in front of my brother. Here, let me help you.” 

In an instant, everything changed. My whole life turned upside down. Something inside me roared to life and I suddenly felt different, stronger, more alive. It came from the source of the humming, that place deep inside of me. Those simple words, that simple offer of a hand to my feet, the smooth, velvety voice. It was the sort of voice that could make a person weak at the knees with its deep resonance and gentle tone, but it was so much more than that. I didn’t just like the sound of his voice. Something about the owner of that voice had just changed something fundamental about me, and somehow I knew, in that fraction of a second, that nothing was ever going to be the same again.

I wasn’t sure if I could move or if I wanted to look into the face that belonged to those words, that voice. I was frightened about what I might find and what it might do to me, what I might become. However, I was still on the floor on my knees, so I put my hand out, took his and let him pull me to my feet. 

Our eyes met, and without warning, a multitude of sensations overwhelmed me. I saw him, I felt him, I sensed him. I experienced things that I couldn’t understand or explain, but it was like a fire had been lit in my soul, like fireworks exploding in the deepest recess of my mind. I couldn’t just feel his emotions in the way that I normally do. This experience went further, deeper. It felt like in that single second, he was actually inside my mind, or I was inside his. I wasn’t sure whether it was one or the other or if it were both. I couldn’t process what was happening to me. It was happening too fast and exercising too many of my senses. 

He looked at me with bewitching eyes that reached into my very core. Eyes a deep, rich brown, like swirling chocolate, shimmering with a layer of warmth. They glistened with a flame that matched the fire that had ignited inside me, as if his eyes understood and reflected the very essence of me. We saw each other in a way that I had never known before, a way that I had never even dreamed of, and as we looked into each other’s eyes, the flames in his eyes grew larger, hotter. I took everything in, every minute detail. The dark hair swept back from his face, the healthy tan to his skin, the perfect line of his nose leading to full, rich lips surrounded by laughter lines, indicating a happy man: a joyful, confident, beautiful, magical creature.

The intensity of the moment wasn’t limited to the visual. The way that he looked wasn’t what captivated and thrilled my senses. When I sensed a person through their emotions, I usually felt that they were happy or sad, angry or hurt, but this was something new. This was a cacophony of feelings so loud that I felt as if my head might burst with the joy of it. Emotions that lifted me into the sky, swirling around me and through me — through my mind, through my heart, through my body — until I felt dizzy with the power of it. All that I could see were those eyes, those lips. All that I could hear was that voice, and yet I could feel and see and hear everything all at once, like I was awake for the first time in my life, like I had found the answer to a question that I hadn’t known I’d been asking.

– Excerpted from The Essence of Bliss by Emily Astillberry, Blossom Spring Publishing, 2024. Reprinted with permission.

About the Author

 

Emily Astillberry is an author and RSPCA Inspector from Norfolk, England. She has a degree in English Literature and Linguistics from York University and has been investigating animal cruelty and neglect and rescuing sick and injured animals for 20 years. In her day job, Emily deals with very difficult and often emotional situations and meets all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds. Her career provides some of the inspiration for themes and characters that can be found in her fictional work.

At home, in a very old cottage in the country, Emily has a husband, 5 children, a dog, a cat, an axolotl, 2 giant African land snails and a varying number of rescue hens, so finding time to write can be a challenge. She is happiest outdoors, growing fruit and vegetables in the garden, walking the dog and family holidays usually involve walking up mountains in summer, skiing down them in winter and sleeping in a tent whenever possible.

Emily loves spending time with her large, noisy, chaotic family, cooking meals for friends and playing board games. She always has at least one book on the go and has always dreamed of writing her own novel. She now dreams of writing more. 

Visit her website at https://emilyastillberry.com. 

You can also find her on Facebook and Instagram.

The Essence of Bliss is her latest book.

 

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