Blog Archives
Connection vs Performance
The Influencer’s Canvas follows an elite nail artist from London who is invited to an exclusive Maldives retreat for elite creators, where, while she does their nails, she documents their hidden lives. I think this original idea is intriguing. How did you come up with this idea and develop it into a story?
The idea came directly from my work. I’ve been doing nails for influencers and celebrities in London for years, and there’s something about the intimacy of that process: having someone’s hands in yours for an hour whilst they’re away from their cameras. That’s when people drop their guards completely. I started noticing this pattern. Their online personas were completely different from who they became during our sessions.
X, my nail artist character, first appeared in Polished Edges as someone who collects these unguarded moments. When I was developing her story arc, the Maldives retreat setting felt natural because I’d heard about these exclusive influencer events where the performance pressure is even more intense. The isolation, the competition, the need to create content even whilst supposedly relaxing: it creates the perfect pressure cooker for masks to slip.
The lives of social media content creators are intriguing, as is their die-hard followers’ obsession. What aspects of the human condition do you find particularly interesting that could make for great fiction?
The performance of authenticity fascinates me. We’re living through this moment where being ‘authentic’ has become a brand strategy, where people curate their vulnerability for maximum engagement. There’s something deeply human about our need to be seen and loved, but social media has commodified that need.
I’m drawn to characters caught between who they are and who they think they need to be to survive. The influencers in my book aren’t villains; they’re people trapped in a system that rewards them for turning their lives into content. That tension between genuine connection and strategic self-presentation feels universal now.
I found this novel to be a cutting piece of satire. What is one thing that you hope readers take away from your book?
I hope they start questioning the difference between connection and performance in their own lives. The book is satirical, but the real target isn’t individual influencers: it’s the systems that turn human relationships into metrics.
If readers think more critically about what they consume online and what they share themselves, that’s success. We’re all performing to some degree now. The question is whether we can still recognise ourselves underneath the performance.
What is the next book you are working on, and when can fans expect it to be released?
I’m working on Project Mirror, which takes these themes into speculative territory. It’s about a world where beauty becomes algorithmic: people subscribe to facial features and get software updates for their appearance. My protagonist is a technician who fixes glitches in people’s neural aesthetic systems.
What unsettles me is how plausible it feels when you look at where beauty technology is heading. We’re already filtering ourselves in real-time during video calls. Neural implants for aesthetic modification seem like the logical next step.
No firm publication date yet, but I’m deep into the writing process. The research keeps making my fictional dystopia look conservative.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website
What you’ll find insideConfessions at the manicure table
Each chapter is a fresh set of nails and a fresh secret, from burnout hidden beneath flawless French tips to crypto fraud masked by liquid-gold chrome.
High-gloss social satire with a beating heart
Picture White Lotus colliding with The Devil Wears Prada, written in micro-cinematic detail and edged with sly wit.
A thriller of algorithms and aesthetics
Beneath the sunsets and “sustainable luxury” hashtags lurks Project Chimera, an AI experiment that scores every guest’s malleability. Recommendation: neutralize or recruit.
Sensory prose that sparks the feed
Sharp dialogue, vivid color palettes, and scroll-stopping quotes perfect for BookTok or Instagram.
Perfect for readers whoScroll Instagram before they blink and wonder what is real
Devour sharp, contemporary fiction like Crazy Rich Asians and Such a Fun Age
Love luxury-world settings, moral gray areas, and plot twists that sting like acetone on a paper cut
Will the polish crack, or will the algorithm win?
The Influencer’s Canvas peels back the gel-coat glam to expose the messy, human nailbed beneath, then asks whether authenticity can survive once the cameras stop rolling.
One retreat. Two weeks. A million followers waiting.
Swipe in if you dare.
Compassion and Vulnerability
Dark District Primer: Duology on the Lore and Lure of the Dark District combines two novellas, Sojourn and Take Me Now, weaving personal identity with fantasy, Filipino folklore with urban life, and spiritual questions with surreal encounters. What was the inspiration for these stories?
For Sojourn, I wrote it in a time of grief when my father passed away. And so most of the things that I wanted to say and wanted to do were all poured into that novella as well as the emotions involved in such a given circumstance. Writing it was both an affirmation for me in being the son that I am and the son that he wanted. He was the first one to acknowledge my writing growing up. Perhaps he already knew something even before I knew who I was.
For Take Me Now, I wanted to incorporate the world that I have established and expound on it and give it more spice and relationship-driven. While Sojourn was written first, it was Take Me Now that was first published and I had to go back and tweak Sojourn in order that it would mirror the world that I wanted to establish.
What are some things that you find interesting about the human condition that you think make for great fiction?
I love it when we show our humanity both through compassion and vulnerability. Compassion when we are able to put ourselves in the shoes of others to either feel their weakness in order to give them a little bit of our strength so that we help sustain them and what they need to do and vulnerability when it is our time to be on the receiving end of the help and empathy we give to others.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
As my father’s passing was the catalyst for me to be more introspective and re-examine my writing, it was both my feelings of grief, honesty and self-identity that I wanted to explore more in Sojourn while framing it within a created universe that has touchpoints in Philippine Folklore. In any relationship, being true and comfortable with oneself is one of the pillars in making it work. Lose that or postpone that form of self-affirmation then the foundation to establishing a relationship with another falls apart.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when can your fans expect it to be out?
My next book is the next installment of the Tales from the Dark District series, entitled Take My Heart, and is being targeted for a FALL 2026 release. Along with that I shall also resume work on my New Adult series, which will also be set within the Dark District Universe.
Author Links: GoodReads | X | Instagram | Facebook | Website
By C.J. Edmunds
Welcome to the Dark District. A place where magic hides in plain sight, and desire leads you deeper into the unknown.
In this atmospheric duology by C.J. Edmunds, two queer protagonists are drawn into the same hidden world—but under very different circumstances.
🌀 In Sojourn, David Lansing, a half-Filipino call center trainer, suddenly begins seeing visions and a mysterious spirit guide. Haunted by creatures from Philippine folklore—Tikbalang, Aswang, and the White Lady of Balete Drive—he embarks on a magical and existential journey that becomes one of purpose, ancestry, and an invitation to a place where people like him finally belong.
✅ Recommended for ages 16+ due to complex parental and identity themes and supernatural tension.
🔥 In Take Me Now, Alvin is tired of the wrong men, wrong choices, and wrong timing. Until the Dark District opens its doors and gives him more than he bargained for. Steamy encounters, eerie magic, and dark truths collide in this sensual tale of love and self-worth.
⚠️ Recommended for ages 17+ for sensual scenes and mature emotional content.
Whether you crave introspection or intensity, Dark District Primer invites you to step through the veil—and explore what’s waiting on the other side.
This lush and haunting collection explores:
Filipino urban legends reimagined
Queer identity and transformation
Steamy encounters and emotional awakenings
A universe where fantasy, myth, and reality blur
Welcome to the Dark District. You might not want to leave.
Perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman, Philippine mythology, and magical realism with queer narratives.
📘 Includes the complete novellas “Sojourn” and “Take Me Now.”
Seasons in Manana
Seasons in Manana tells the story of Alan Cook’s childhood years in Hawaii during the early 1970s. It mixes memories of baseball, schoolyard lessons, friendships, and family life with the shadow of darker cultural forces at the time, including counterculture unrest and the infamous Patty Hearst kidnapping. Baseball runs through the book like a backbone, but so does the tension of being a young outsider learning how to belong in a place that’s both paradise and something more complicated. What begins as a nostalgic recount of sandlot games and Little League gradually unfolds into a narrative with loss, trauma, and the bittersweet pull of memory.
Reading it, I felt a lot of warmth for the way Cook captures childhood. The thrill of hitting a ball over the fence, the pride of finding your place on a team, the confusion of first crushes and cultural clashes. The writing is simple and straightforward, yet it carries weight. At times, I laughed out loud, especially at the awkward moments with teachers, neighborhood kids, and those backyard fields of dreams that turn into battlefields. Other times, I found myself sitting with the heaviness of tragedy, the way innocence bumps up against a world that isn’t always kind. The book doesn’t try to polish everything. That makes it more real, and it pulled me in deeper than I expected.
What I also appreciated is the honesty in how Cook admits his own shortcomings and misconceptions as a kid. It’s not just sports fiction, though the baseball parts are excellent; it’s also a reflection on identity, on being the “haole” outsider, and on the cultural shifts of the 70s. The mix of humor, nostalgia, and darker threads keeps the story from ever being flat. Sometimes the pacing wanders, but even then, I didn’t mind. It felt like sitting with someone who tells stories the way they come, with tangents and side notes that only add to the charm.
I’d recommend Seasons in Manana to anyone who loves baseball stories, but also to readers who enjoy coming-of-age tales set against vivid backdrops. It’s great for people who grew up in military families, or who know the strange feeling of belonging everywhere and nowhere. If you like fictional memoirs that balance nostalgia with honesty, this book is worth your time.
Pages: 257
A Line In The Sand
A Line In The Sand follows the life of Nilima, a young woman whose dreams and determination clash with the crushing weight of poverty, political unrest, and the merciless grip of microfinance debt in rural Bangladesh. It begins with her small but ingenious act of saving rice for chickens, showing her resourcefulness and grit, then moves into her family’s struggle to rise above hardship, their hopeful venture into poultry farming, and the devastating consequences that follow. At its heart, it is both an intimate story of love and loss and a wider indictment of a system that fails the very people it claims to uplift. Nilima’s journey is heartbreaking and raw, a story where triumphs are fragile and tragedy feels inevitable.
The writing pulled me deep into the everyday textures of life. Rain drumming on tin roofs, muddy fields, mothers whispering blessings, bank agents pounding at doors. These scenes felt so alive that I could almost smell the damp soil and hear the clamor of village life. The author lingers on details that many might skip, and while sometimes this slows the pace, it also creates a sense of intimacy. I felt like I was sitting in the room as Nilima set aside that handful of rice each day, sharing her quiet hope. The language is unpolished in places, almost raw, yet that very rawness gave the story its soul. It felt honest, like something carved out of lived pain rather than polished for prettiness.
The narrative can be heavy, and the sorrow almost relentless. Some passages leaned into exposition, especially when diving into the politics of Grameen Bank and corruption. Yet even then, the fury behind the words was undeniable, and I couldn’t help but respect the conviction driving them. What stayed with me wasn’t the banking jargon, but the sense of injustice, the deep unfairness that weighed on Nilima and countless others like her.
This is not a book you close and forget. It made me think about the hidden costs of “progress” on people who are barely noticed by the world. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to feel, not just read, to anyone who can handle being unsettled and wants to see the human cost of economic experiments and systemic neglect.
Pages: 210 | ASIN: B0FL99N2FZ
Alignment on the Rocks: Reconnect the Work You Do to the Impact You Make
Sean Albertson’s Alignment on the Rocks is a guidebook wrapped in a river metaphor. The idea is simple yet powerful: our lives and our work move like rivers, and the rocks we hit along the way don’t stop the flow, they shape it. Albertson breaks life and business into four rivers: Customer, Career, Community, and Core, and shows how they connect and sometimes clash. He uses stories, frameworks, and personal reflections to show readers how to find alignment when things feel scattered or stuck. The book moves from explaining these rivers to offering tools like the 4ROCKS, FIND, and BREAK frameworks, all building toward a state of FLOW where life and work feel intentional and balanced.
Reading this, I felt both inspired and a little challenged. Albertson doesn’t sugarcoat the reality of misalignment, whether in a company or in a person’s life. I liked how he wove in his own career experiences, from climbing ladders to realizing he was chasing the wrong things. It made the lessons feel real, not abstract. At times, the book leaned into repetition, circling back to the same metaphor of rivers and rocks, but oddly enough, I found that grounding. It drilled the point home in a way that stuck with me. I came away reflecting on my own “rivers,” and it was hard not to pause after certain chapters and scribble notes about where I might be stuck.
What I appreciated most was the practicality. This isn’t a book of lofty slogans that sound good but fall apart on Monday morning. The frameworks, especially the BREAK method for turning obstacles into opportunities, felt usable right away. I could see myself applying them at work and at home. That said, the tone sometimes veered into the motivational-speaker zone, which may not land for everyone. I personally didn’t mind it because it was backed by stories and concrete steps. It gave the book both energy and warmth, and I found myself nodding along.
I’d recommend Alignment on the Rocks to anyone feeling caught in turbulence, professionals trying to reconnect with purpose, leaders aiming to build healthier teams, or even individuals seeking better balance in life. It’s not a dense business manual, nor is it a fluffy self-help book. It sits somewhere in between, with heart and structure working together. If you’re open to reflection and ready to look at the “rocks” in your path, this book will give you both a lens and a set of tools to move forward.
Pages: 121 | ASIN : B0FPGG4SKV
Transcendence: The Spiritual Power of the Mind
Transcendence is a sweeping exploration of how the mind can serve as a bridge between the physical and the spiritual. It blends neuroscience with mysticism, moving from the science of intuition and the gut-brain axis to dreams, synchronicity, and even future-facing ideas like transhumanism and artificial intelligence. The author positions the brain as an oracle, a receiver of divine messages, and presents a path of practices like meditation, dream journaling, and ritual as ways to activate this hidden potential. Case studies, spiritual traditions, and speculative science are woven together into a tapestry that aims to show how human beings are wired for transcendence and divine dialogue.
Reading this book felt like opening a window into a world where science and spirit refuse to sit in separate corners. I loved the boldness of tying brain structures like the amygdala and insula to things like gut feelings and sacred intuition. The author doesn’t shy away from lofty claims. I found myself charmed by the sincerity and the sense of wonder. The sections on dreams and prophecy especially stirred something in me. I could feel the awe the writer clearly carries, and it reminded me of how powerful and strange it feels when life hands you one of those uncanny coincidences that makes you stop in your tracks.
There were parts where the writing was loaded with mystical terms and scientific terminology that sat side by side. Some sections left me desiring fewer layers of theory and more grounded stories. The poetic tone works well in moments, but it can also drift into repetition. Still, I couldn’t deny the author’s conviction. It’s rare to read something that manages to be both earnest and ambitious, and I respect that the book aims not just to inform but to transform. It wants to shift how you see yourself and your mind, and that’s no small thing.
I think this book will speak loudest to seekers who love crossing boundaries between science and spirit, people who journal their dreams or meditate, and also read about quantum mechanics for fun. If you’re open to being carried along by a vision that ties brainwaves to divine whispers, this book will likely resonate with you. For me, it left me reflecting on my own inner signals and how much more there may be to listen to.
Pages: 223 | ASIN: B0FG1TTTF8
The Lights of Greyfare
The book follows Katherine Calder, a burned-out journalist reeling from heartbreak, addiction, and the collapse of her marriage. She drifts into Greyfare, a coastal Maine town wrapped in fog, folklore, and menace. What begins as an assignment about strange lights and odd behavior slowly spirals into something darker, blending her personal unraveling with the creeping dread of a town that seems alive in ways it shouldn’t be. The story balances her private grief with an escalating sense of otherworldly danger, drawing the reader into a story where isolation, obsession, and the supernatural bleed together.
I found myself both impressed and unsettled by Juno Guadalupe’s writing. The prose is vivid, almost cinematic, and it often feels like the narrator is talking directly to you. The raw honesty in Kat’s self-destructive habits and inner monologue resonated with me. Sometimes I wanted to shake her. Other times, I felt her pain in my gut. The blend of humor and despair made her feel real. But the story also takes sudden, chilling turns. Those shifts, from Kat’s drunken sarcasm to grotesque encounters with what lurks in Greyfare, kept me off balance in the best way. It was like watching a storm roll in, beautiful and terrifying.
Kat’s internal spirals gave the story a raw and unfiltered rhythm. They slowed the pace in a way that felt intentional, letting me sit with her turmoil instead of rushing past it. Her reliance on alcohol and pills wasn’t easy to watch, but it made her struggle painfully real. That messy honesty reminded me how complicated people are, and that’s what gave the book its emotional punch. The horror elements, especially the mimicry and the way the environment itself seemed to breathe, gave me chills. They also mirrored Kat’s own sense of being replaced or erased, which added a clever layer of psychological dread.
The Lights of Greyfare is more than just a horror story. It’s about grief, identity, and the lies we tell ourselves just to keep going. I’d recommend it to readers who like their horror atmospheric and layered with emotional weight. If you enjoy Stephen King’s small-town dread or Gillian Flynn’s raw character work, this book will pull you in. Just don’t expect clean answers. Expect to sit with the fog, the echoes, and the ache of a story that wants to haunt you long after you close the book.
Pages: 345 | ASIN : B0FLLJMWZS
Embracing Your Inner Villain: Becoming Unstoppable
Embracing Your Inner Villain is a fiery manifesto about owning your light in a world that often punishes those who shine too brightly. Clermont dives into the psychology of envy, the social costs of standing out, and the resilience required to stay unapologetically authentic. He reclaims the word “villain” as a badge of independence, urging readers to reject conformity and embrace audacity, even when it triggers discomfort in others. Across chapters, he blends cultural references, sharp storytelling, and straight talk into a roadmap for becoming, in his words, “untouchable.”
Reading this book felt like being shaken by the shoulders in the best way. The writing is bold, punchy, and raw, and it carries the cadence of someone who has lived through the very shadows he describes. I loved how he pulled apart envy and projection with such clarity. It made me think about times I’ve felt people pull away when I was stepping into my own growth. His words gave me both comfort and a kind of defiance, reminding me not to shrink.
What stood out most to me was Clermont’s refusal to whitewash the reality of standing out. He talks about betrayal, gossip, and subtle sabotage with unflinching honesty. That resonated deeply with me, because those are the parts of success we rarely name out loud. I felt both affirmed and challenged. The constant rallying cries, while energizing, risked becoming predictable. Still, the passion never wavered, and that consistency left me with a lasting sense of strength.
I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever felt out of place for daring to want more. It’s for creatives, entrepreneurs, leaders, or anyone tired of dimming themselves to fit in. If you’re ready for a call to arms wrapped in sharp prose and unapologetic truth, Clermont delivers exactly that.
Pages: 156 | ASIN: B0FLWQ5GSB
LITERARY TITAN 