Bella Santini in the Land of Everlasting Change
Bella Santini in the Land of Everlasting Change, by Angela Legh, is a children’s fantasy adventure that blends fairy-tale magic, a hidden world, magical-school fantasy, and a coming-of-age story with a surprisingly thoughtful look at emotions. Fourteen-year-old Bella would rather spend her summer painting than camping with her parents, but a mysterious light leads her into a fairy realm where she’s arrested, questioned by the Seelie Court, and eventually sent to Yelimoon Fairy School. What starts as a strange detour quickly becomes a much larger discovery about Bella herself. She may have entered this world believing she’s human, but the magic around her keeps suggesting there’s much more to her story.
The fantasy world is colorful and busy in a way younger readers can easily picture. There are fairies with shimmering wings, magical spells, enchanted mirrors, a fairy tribunal, trolls gathering in the woods, an ancient chalice, a formerly stone gargoyle named Torvieto, and even a parallel realm inhabited by emotions. Yelimoon gives the book its magical-school adventure energy, while Bella’s initiation trials create a clear series of challenges that keep the story moving. One of my favorite stretches is her search for the Chalice of Keani, which turns into a genuine fantasy quest filled with puzzles, danger, strange magic, and some clever problem-solving from Bella.
What gives this children’s fantasy novel its own personality, though, is the way emotional growth is built directly into the adventure. Bella learns about fear, sadness, frustration, calm, trust, friendship, bullying, and the stories people tell themselves about who they are. Those ideas aren’t confined to conversations. In Emovia, emotions actually become forces Bella and Torvieto have to navigate, so techniques such as breathing, calming yourself, examining fear, and trusting your own judgment become part of surviving the quest. Bella also changes in believable ways. The girl who begins the book irritated with her parents and determined to stay inside painting gradually discovers courage, loyalty, resourcefulness, and a much greater sense of what she might be capable of.
There’s plenty left unresolved by the end, and that works well for the opening book of a fantasy series. Ginekei and Ashworth are still moving pieces into place, the trolls are gathering, Bella’s royal connection is becoming harder to hide, and even Bella doesn’t yet understand the truth about her identity. At the same time, this first adventure gives her a satisfying arc of its own. She arrives in the Land of Everlasting Change feeling frightened and powerless and finishes surrounded by friends, aware of her growing magic, and more willing to trust herself.
Readers looking for a middle grade fantasy, fairy adventure, magical school story, or children’s book about emotional intelligence will find all of those elements woven into Bella’s journey, with enough mystery waiting in the wings to make the next installment feel like a natural continuation.
Pages: 190 | ASIN : B0FS6HZY8K
The Inner Upgrade
The Inner Upgrade is a raw and compelling self-improvement memoir that explores one man’s journey from the depths of personal chaos to a life of clarity, purpose, and inner strength through unfiltered storytelling, LORD ASHLEY PHIPPS-WARREN takes readers deep into the realities of struggle, addiction, self-destruction, and the mental battles that often go unseen before guiding them through the powerful process of transformation.
More than just a story of survival, this book is a blueprint for change. It examines the mindset shifts, discipline, and self-awareness required to break destructive cycles and rebuild from within. Drawing on themes of manifestation, resilience, and personal accountability, the author reveals how the power of thought and belief can shape reality and unlock a new way of living.
Honest, gritty, and deeply reflective, The Inner Upgrade speaks to anyone who has ever felt lost, stuck, or defined by their past. It challenges the reader to confront their own limitations and realise that change is not only possible, it is inevitable when the mind is aligned with purpose.
This is not just a story. It’s a wake-up call. A transformation. An upgrade from the inside out.
A Sense of Belonging
Tales of New Stenchford follows a scrappy petty criminal navigating a filthy, dangerous, and absurd fantasy city filled with crooks, nobles, monsters, and chaos. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I was born and raised in Manhattan in the 1970s and ’80s, and for reasons I don’t fully understand, I was always drawn to the city’s underbelly. I explored deserted subway tunnels, decommissioned ship piers, condemned buildings—anywhere with a “Keep Out” sign.
I met all sorts of marginalized people and discovered elaborate worlds hidden away inside the city. Still, it wasn’t any one thing in particular that I was seeking; it was a feeling, a sense of belonging that coaxed me onto buses and under bridges to commune with something I couldn’t describe but knew felt right.
Alongside all of that, I had a family that introduced me to opera, museums, and fine dining. I experienced the world that lived high above the scrappy streets and had to wrestle with the dissonance. I experienced the city on many levels and brought its richness to New Stenchford.
I think it’s fair to say that when you ask about “navigating a filthy, dangerous, and absurd fantasy city filled with crooks, nobles, monsters, and chaos,” you might be referring to New Stenchford, but you could just as easily be talking about my hometown.
Rizzle is treated as an outcast by many people, yet he seems perfectly at home in the city’s streets. What does his relationship with New Stenchford reveal about his character?
The book had to begin with Rizzle. It had to start with something base and real, not a square-jawed hero with wavy blond hair.
Rizzle is a dirty little scoundrel, but he has a big heart, not unlike Ratso Rizzo from Midnight Cowboy. Rizzle is pragmatic and can bend his morals to fit whatever situation he might find himself in, but he is not a sociopath. He has empathy for his fellow city dwellers, even if sometimes he uses it to con them.
People look down on Rizzle, but he doesn’t need their approval; he has the city. New Stenchford keeps him warm, fed, and protected, even if those things require a bit of thievery and stealth to acquire.
Rizzle can see the rich living high on the hog, but he knows their secrets. He knows who is addicted to what and who is cheating with whose wife. It gives Rizzle a no-nonsense point of view that allows him to see the world clearly.
The novel contains numerous intersecting plots, including political corruption, organized crime, forbidden romance, religious conspiracies, curses, and magical disasters. How did you approach bringing those seemingly unrelated threads together?
Believe it or not, when I sat down to write the book, I had nothing but a cluster of characters and locations. I didn’t have a plot, a theme, or an outline.
I just sat down one afternoon and started writing the book chronologically, moving from one scene to the next without knowing anything about where I was going.
The resulting book is a little scattered, but I don’t think I could have written it any other way. I needed to let the characters and situations dictate what happened next; otherwise, I think it would have felt stale.
It wasn’t until I was more than halfway through the book that I started jotting down notes and making plans. It wasn’t until I reached the last chapter that I knew how the book ended.
If you could spend one day in New Stenchford, where would you go—and what would you do your best to avoid?
The answer to both of these questions is one place: the Last Resort. It is probably the smelliest, most dangerous place in town, but that’s where all the action is. It’s a dirt-floor bar down by the Pue River near the center of town. In a later book, I explain that although the Last Resort has windows, sunlight does not come through them for fear of what it might illuminate.
You don’t know what might happen in that rundown little shack, but that’s what makes it interesting. Yes, it’s possible you might lose a limb or end up with vomit in your hair, but you won’t be bored. The palace will no doubt be a predictable pageant of arrogance and sycophancy, and the inns will be crowded and hot, but in the Last Resort, you might see something truly novel. It might be something you wish you had never seen at all, but it won’t be boring.
Tales of New Stenchford is the first in the New Stenchford Series. There are ten books in the series. A new one will be published approximately every five months.
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon
Queen Strongbottom, brave of heart, strong of bottom, runs the place, but has no idea that Wanda Stickybuns, the secret mistress of Queen Strongbottom’s father Gluteus, is plotting to overthrow the King and install her illegitimate two-headed son on the throne.
If you choose to come and see for yourself you’ll want to keep a close eye on your belongings and wash your hands thoroughly when you get home, if you get home.
Pallomand
J. W. Murray’s Pallomand, the second book in The Winter’s Twins Series, is a sprawling epic fantasy novel built around prophecy, fractured kingdoms, ancient crimes, cloudships, dragons, and a war that keeps widening in scope. Murray opens with the fall of the Winter Kingdom and the murder of King Karradine Tieton, then carries that history forward into several interconnected storylines whose characters are living with the consequences centuries later. The central prophecy gives the novel its gravitational pull: the Pallomand, or Traveler, is destined to unite the Raven clans, while the Arcusian is tied to the destruction of the ruling Triumvirate. That setup makes Pallomand feel like high fantasy in the fullest sense, with old bloodlines, competing religions, magical artifacts, hidden civilizations, and political powers all converging on the same approaching crisis.
The worldbuilding is probably the book’s most immediately distinctive feature. Murray has created a fantasy world where air currents function like highways, rocky aerracks float in the atmosphere, Raven navigators sail cloudships, the Haik fly on their own wings, and time itself can be manipulated through objects and places such as the Oculan and Nol-Tajerus. The Moonstones can harness tremendous elemental power, while the book’s other supernatural systems involve telepathy, weather control, temporal travel, animal communication, prophetic visions, and the disturbing ability to steal memories through a victim’s eyes. The extensive glossary shows just how deliberately all of these cultures, technologies, titles, creatures, and magical concepts fit together. As epic fantasy worldbuilding, it has a lived-in quality. Terms such as Ko’journ, Saken, Marschirne, Strix, Navarasche, and har’korda gradually become parts of a coherent history.
What keeps all that lore grounded is the book’s attention to family, belonging, and identity. Marek’s story carries much of the emotional weight as he learns the truth about his Nordac ancestry, struggles with his failures as a father, and reaches a breaking point with both Elenya and the Triumvirate. L’dai’s arc has a different kind of force. After losing her wings, she has to rebuild her sense of self among the Snow Walkers, a people carrying their own inherited shame. Cassille develops from a stubborn child into someone frighteningly powerful, while Caleg wrestles with the legacy of Tadral the Traitor and the possibility that his people might finally redeem themselves. Even secondary threads, such as Alexi’s determination to protect his son and Harnen’s attempt to save Serrat through preparation, reinforce the same concern: what do people owe their families, their communities, and the generations that come after them? That gives this fantasy adventure a strong human center even when armies, dragons, and prophecies are moving across the page.
Murray also gives Pallomand a darker current that suits readers looking for dark fantasy alongside traditional high fantasy. The Korgon’s power comes as much from understanding desire and weakness as from military strength, which makes him a more interesting presence than a distant monster at the head of an army. His dominions embody different forms of corruption and control, from the Strix and Sedurai to the memory-stealing Navarasche. The Legion’s use of bonded soldiers and creatures gives the recurring image of chains real thematic importance. At the same time, the book knows how to stage large fantasy set pieces. The hunt for the Moonstones beneath the ice, L’dai’s encounters with the Strix, the dragon assault on Serrat, and the fall of Caladrin all have their own visual character. The attack on Caladrin in particular combines dragons, flying warriors, cloudships, collapsing towers, and an evacuation into a sequence that feels enormous while still making room for individual acts of courage.
By the final chapters, Pallomand begins pulling its many threads into a clearer pattern, and some of the book’s earlier mysteries take on entirely different meanings. Marek’s encounter on the Southern Ocean gives the prophecy a deeply personal dimension, while Tylene’s return as the Winter Queen reshapes Elenya’s understanding of her visions and of the Korgon’s long manipulation. Elenya learns that her supposed gift of prophecy is actually something else, and that another presence has been fighting to reach her through those visions. The ending provides revelation, which fits a continuing epic fantasy series whose central conflict is now expanding into something much larger than the original search for the Moonstones. Pallomand is ultimately a lore-rich, character-driven high fantasy adventure about people discovering that the histories they inherited are incomplete, the roles assigned to them can change, and the approaching war will demand that scattered families, clans, and kingdoms decide what they’re willing to become together.
Pages: 350 | ASIN : B0H2BY12HS
Compelling and Inspiring
Joseph of Africa and America follows an elderly immigrant who recounts more than eight decades of childhood, education, migration, family, and personal transformation to his American grandson. What inspired you to share this story with readers?
After I retired, I suddenly found myself with plenty of time to indulge in my lifelong passion – reading. I read a lot of biographies and memoirs along with various novels. This led me to examine and reflect on my own life story, and I came to the conclusion that my life story was compelling and inspiring enough to share with the world.
What does the small metal trunk that follows Joseph through boarding school symbolize for you?
The trunk symbolizes for me the triumph of the human spirit over impossible odds. Due to poverty, Joseph’s relations were not able to buy him a new trunk for boarding school; they simply gave him his grandfather’s old trunk which was not adequate for boarding school. Joseph did not despair and instead worked hard in spite of the various challenges he faced and was able to lift himself out of poverty.
Were there any characters who surprised you by becoming more important as the story developed?
That character would be Matt. Matt played an important role in Joseph’s life throughout the story. He was with him at the beginning going to the farm at Camp, then through secondary school, university, and travelling to America; he was still with him in retirement and throughout all of Joseph’s adversities.
What does Joseph of Africa and America suggest about perseverance, family, and the meaning of a successful life?
It suggests that no matter how dire the circumstances one finds himself/herself in, one must always have hope and never give up. It is possible through hard work, perseverance, and even some help from providence, to emerge victorious from those circumstances. Joseph was able to lead a successful life in spite of his difficult beginning and the various financial and health issues he faced throughout his life.
When a miraculous visa drops at his feet on a crowded city street, he journeys to Los Angeles, determined to conquer the corporate world.
But the American Dream is far more unforgiving than the African sun.
Stranded with frozen funds and a debilitating muscle illness, Joseph must summon fierce determination to survive in a foreign land.
Just as he climbs to the top of a downtown skyscraper, a toxic web of corporate fraud and betrayal threatens to tear his life apart.
This sweeping work of biographical fiction is a deeply moving drama inspired by a remarkable true story of resilience, faith, and the triumph of the human spirit over impossible odds.
Get it Now.
Ingrained Preconceptions
When Songs of Children Filled the Air follows six lives on a collision course in an America consumed by post-9/11 fear, where one frightened teenager’s choice could either deepen the cycle of violence or interrupt it. What inspired you to imagine this particular alternate path for America after September 11?
I have honestly been surprised, pleasantly, that the fallout from 9/11 wasn’t more severe. Watching the towers fall, I expected something closer to the alternate history I created. Twenty-five years later, I wonder how we have grown, if we have grown, beyond learned and ingrained divisiveness. Beyond the high-level political and social impacts, I wanted to focus on the individual level and how the choices we make as a people are felt by the actual people.
How did you balance making Allison’s fear understandable while also showing how easily it hardens into prejudice?
When I write, I reach deep into myself and try to understand the human condition. Even the best of us are not immune to the societal “norms” surrounding us. I believe Allison’s blend of emotions and mixed reactions are completely human. It’s what she does with them that counts.
What research shaped your portrayal of Farid as both a Muslim American and an NYPD officer during a period of escalating distrust?
I have friends from Muslim backgrounds, some from countries of extremely limited freedoms. Being from Brooklyn myself, but not in New York on 9/11, I could relate to his situation. I have seen division between adjacent neighborhoods segregated by race and religion, and had friends involved in attacks for nothing more than walking down a street where they “didn’t belong.” I tried to make Farid somewhat sympathetic to the hatred he received, realizing that not everyone who is motivated by such powerfully ingrained preconceptions is themselves “evil.”
What do you hope readers take from the 2026 epilogue about the power and limits of individual acts of compassion?
Some readers might come away from Songs of Children feeling they are not powerless. We do not simply have to accept the world as it is, but even small acts can have impactful results. While these will not change the world, they can change a life, even if the only life affected is our own.
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon
On September 11, 2001, Allison’s husband dies in the North Tower. She survives only because a sleepless night made her late to her own office in the same complex. That accident of timing is the first of many that will bind her to a cable installer named Jake and a Muslim NYPD officer named Farid, as an America unrecognizable to any of them takes shape around them.
In this alternate history, the government’s response to the attacks does not stop at Afghanistan. It reaches into American cities, rounds up Muslim citizens into detainment camps, and eventually drops a nuclear bomb on a city called Bayt-al-Salam. Allison, Jake, and Farid form an unlikely household of survivors, hiding in a cemetery mansion and trying to protect two children from a country that has turned on itself.
A sixteen-year-old jihadist named Musa, smuggled from a training camp into the United States against his will, is moving toward them. He does not want to die. He does not want to kill. But the men who sent him are counting on him to do both.
Songs of Children opens at the moment of detonation and then steps back a full year to show how ordinary people on every side of an impossible conflict arrive at a single atrium in Philadelphia where one girl’s handwritten note may be the only thing that matters.
Order your copy today to experience this year that could have been.
Slowing Down is the Real Secret
Little Bear Betty follows an energetic young bear on a forest adventure as she discovers that patience, persistence, and believing in herself can turn a difficult challenge into a joyful victory. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The inspiration came from my youngest son. He is autistic, was completely nonverbal until age six, and still works through speech hurdles today.
When my husband suggested writing a fun story to help kids solve a problem, I thought of how many children get stuck on tricky words. Calling spaghetti “pasghetti” was a real milestone for my son. Combined with a nod to my Italian roots, Betty was born to show kids they can tackle tough sounds with patience and confidence.
Why did you choose Mr. Blandings, the wise old turtle, to help Betty learn how to break the word into smaller sounds?
Turtles never rush, and slowing down is the real secret to mastering tricky words.
Mr. Blandings was actually inspired by my husband and my grandfather. Both of them are naturally calm, patient, and take their time with everything. Pairing an eager little bear who wants fast results with that kind of steady patience felt natural. It shows kids that when a challenge feels too big, you just have to slow down and take it one step at a time.
What do you hope children who are struggling to master a word or skill will learn from Betty’s experience?
I hope kids learn that struggling with a tricky word doesn’t mean you aren’t smart. It’s easy to get frustrated and want to quit, but if you slow down and break a big challenge into small pieces, you can do it. Most of all, I want children to feel proud of themselves for trying and celebrate every bit of progress.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?
We don’t have a set release date just yet. Right now we are enjoying Betty’s journey and kicking around a few fun ideas. Our goal is definitely to bring another story with that same heart, humor, and encouragement to young readers in the near future.
Author Links: Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
“Spa… Get… Tea!” Some words can be tough for a little bear cub!
Every time Little Bear Betty tries to ask for her favorite meal, her tongue gets tied into a big knot of “pasghetti!”
Join Betty on a cheerful journey through the forest as she visits her friends Millie the Mouse, Hopper the Rabbit, and wise Mr. Blandings the turtle. With a little encouragement and a clever syllable trick, Betty discovers that tricky words aren’t so tough when you take them one step at a time. Will she be able to surprise her family at dinner and say her favorite food correctly?
Why Parents, Teachers, and Little Readers Will Love This Book:
Playful Rhymes & Read-Aloud Fun: A heartwarming rhythm that encourages children to clap, cheer, and sound out words right along with Betty.
Speech & Syllable Confidence: A gentle, relatable lesson for toddlers and early learners working on tricky pronunciation and speech milestones.
Vibrant Full-Page Illustrations: Rich, colorful storybook art that brings the cozy forest world and its lovable animal friends to life.
Real-Life Forest Fun Fact: Includes an educational spotlight on the fascinating, long-lived Blanding’s turtle.
Bonus Coloring Activity Page: Features a full-page family coloring sheet at the end to extend the fun beyond reading.
Ideal for children ages 3–7, bedtime story sessions, and preschool/kindergarten classrooms. Grab your copy today and share a sweet story about perseverance, family, and the joy of learning new words!
Discovery‑Writing
The Old Road follows a young man from Appalachian coal country who discovers an underground world of fantastical creatures and ancient civilizations after wandering into an abandoned mine. Where did the idea behind this novel come from?
I’d been turning over the idea for this story for a long time. At first, it was going to be about Dwarves breaking through our dimension into a coal mine during the great coal boom of the 20th century… hard times, script, company stores, lots of Appalachian grit. Later, I briefly considered making it something more modern, maybe even a litRPG with an Appalachian twist. But once I actually started writing, Pete appeared and took over. His voice, background, way of seeing the world… It all came through so strongly that the story shifted around him. I had the good sense to stand back, keep my mouth shut, and follow him where he wanted to go.
Pete begins uncertain about his future and carrying regrets from his past. What aspects of his personal journey were most important for you to explore?
I wanted to explore what happens to someone who grows up feeling beaten down, forgotten, and overlooked. Someone who’s been told time and time again that his future is already decided, that he doesn’t really have one. But pressure can create diamonds, and I was interested in how the right challenge and the right circumstances could reveal something extraordinary in a person who never believed he had much to offer.
Pete’s hard upbringing didn’t just give him scars. It gave him an iron will, a stubborn streak a mile wide, and a deep sense of loyalty and grace that he doesn’t even recognize in himself. Of course, with Pete being as hard‑headed as he is, getting him to see any of that is a job and a half. He can be his own worst enemy. His journey is really about discovering that the things he thought made him small – his regrets, his rough edges, his past… are the same things that make him capable of surviving and growing in the Below. I wanted to show how someone like Pete can rise when he finally finds himself in a place that demands everything he’s got.
How did you approach creating a fantasy world that feels large and mysterious while revealing it gradually through Pete’s discoveries?
I approached the world the same way Pete does, one step at a time. I wrote the book using a discovery‑writing technique, staying tight in his point of view so the reader only sees what he sees, when he sees it. I spent a lot of time walking and thinking about where the story currently was and what might be waiting just out of view, keeping my ideas intentionally vague so the world could unfold naturally instead of being forced into a rigid outline.
I didn’t want to paint myself into any corners, so I let the Below stay mysterious until Pete got close enough for it to come into focus. As he pushed deeper, the world expanded. My job was simply to stay inside his skin, keep the train on the tracks, and let the discoveries happen at his pace… not mine.
What can readers expect from Pete and the world of the Below as the story continues?
The Old Road is just the beginning. The Below expands a great deal in the next installment… The Goblin Capitol, Scout Academy, and the wider borders of the world all come into play. Readers can expect rising political tension, deeper mysteries surrounding the Power, shifting alliances, and a world that grows more volatile and dangerous the further it opens. Every faction in the Below has its own ambitions, history, and secrets. As the story continues, those forces collide in ways that reveal just how deep and far‑reaching the roots of this world truly are.
As for Pete… you’ll have to read to find out!
Author Links: GoodReads | Website | Amazon
Pete is a kid from the hills, hungry, stubborn, and a little too sharp for his own good. When the world fades and the Old Road opens beneath his feet, he’s pulled into a subterranean realm of Goblins, Dwarves, and Elves.
Taken in by a Goblin scout with secrets of their own, Pete discovers an ancient Power that seems like the answer to everything, one he begins to fear comes at a price.
If he wants to find a way home, he’ll have to decide how far he’s willing to go… and what he’s willing to become.
The Old Road begins The Dara Sealladh Trilogy, a fast‑paced dark fantasy rooted in Appalachian myth — a gritty, character‑driven tale of survival, Power, and a young outsider’s struggle against ancient forces. A fit for readers who like coming‑of‑age journeys and grounded, mythic adventure.
