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Fragments of Light
Fragments of Light is a sweeping and atmospheric dive into a fractured world where humanity rebuilds in the shimmer of auroras and forgotten machines. The story follows Keela, a young Archivist in the crystalline city of Lumik, as she unearths relics from a past civilization while strange awakenings stir beneath the ice. The novel blends science fiction and myth with elegant precision. From flooded towns to radiant cities, author Arlen Voss crafts a landscape that feels both alien and deeply human. The world pulses with mystery, every shard of glass or whisper in the frost hinting at something larger, something old and waiting.
The prose is lyrical and deliberate, yet grounded enough to keep the story alive with movement. Voss’s worldbuilding shines brightest, the mix of Arctic folklore and speculative technology is mesmerizing. But it’s the emotional undercurrent that struck me most. Keela’s curiosity feels contagious, her fears achingly real. The author paints her world with a quiet sadness, a kind of beauty that only exists in loss. At times, the pacing slows, but I didn’t mind. The stillness gives the reader space to breathe, to feel the hum of a place where even silence has memory.
I loved how Voss lets themes of memory and connection rise slowly. There’s wonder here, but also unease. The machines waking up, the whispers of the past bleeding into the present, it all feels eerily relevant. The dialogue, especially between Keela and her mentor Naaja, carries warmth and wisdom without feeling heavy. I appreciated the subtlety in the emotional moments, the quiet restraint that lets the story breathe. Rather than pushing too hard, it invites the reader to lean in and feel the emotions between the lines. That control gives the book a quiet strength, reflecting a world learning to remember with care instead of pain.
I’d recommend Fragments of Light to readers who like their science fiction poetic, patient, and full of heart. It’s for those who savor atmosphere over action and find joy in slow discovery. Fans of Le Guin, Chambers, or Ishiguro’s quiet dystopias will feel right at home.
Pages: 397 | ASIN: B0F3D7WDHG
What Can Become Life Changing
Not Just Another Brick in the Wall! follows two fifteen-year-old students, a boy and a girl (Sky McCray and Cali Snipe), who just started high school and who find out that an older high school girl was kidnapped, raped, and murdered at the school last year. Cali thinks she can help solve the case. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Cali Snipe and Sky McCray had experience being kidnapped (events that happened in the previous three novels in the series). In those stories, a local crime boss had hoped to sell them to sex traffickers for a large sum of money. Using their wits and sometimes with the help of teen friends they were always able to escape, but they are knowledgeable of what fates awaited them if their sale to traffickers had transpired. Consequently, once made aware of the kidnapping and murder of a classmate, they are determined to expose the guilty perpetrator.
Sky had always been the primary creator of the method(s) for his and Cali’s escapes in the past, so this time I wanted Cali to have the limelight in solving this new kidnapping dilemma.
As in the previous novels, friends become crucial, this time for Cali’s ability to gain insight on the criminal responsible for the crime. However, it is her own courage, ingenuity, and her determination that eventually solve the mystery and helps her bring the pedophile to justice.
Cali and Sky are your typical teenagers when not investigating crimes. Are there any emotions or memories from your own life that you put into your characters’ life?
One emotion would be the pleasure of sharing concerns and humor with close friends. Even sharing homework assignments can be bonding and enjoyable and often outrageously humorous.
One memory of my teen days was mine and my friends’ constant curiosity about our budding interest in sexuality and our confusion regarding our sexuality. Accurate information about relationships between males and females was not available to teens when I was in high school. Teens could not even take a book from the local library to read if it contained “adult” material.
I wanted to focus on both these issues for teens in my books. I wanted to highlight the joy of sharing daily experiences, mundane or otherwise, with friends. When we look back on our teen years as adults, we realize how precious and rewarding were those moments. I also wanted to include accurate and timely information on human sexuality that some of my teen readers might be seeking. I also hoped that some parent readers would realize the importance of offering tactful but accurate and enriching advice on sexual issues.
Do you think there’s a single moment in everyone’s life, maybe not as traumatic, that is life-changing?
Absolutely. Sometimes it can be a traumatic or dramatic event like a car or airplane crash or an unexpected health issue or the death of a close relative. Or it could be something as inconspicuous as something someone says to you like a teacher saying you will never learn to write well or solve math problems, or a friend saying to you that it was so out-of-character for you for the despicable way you treated another person. What is then lifechanging is not the event or what was said but how you respond to it. Your positive response to the event is what can become life changing.
What will the next book in that series be about and when will it be published?
The book is already written and published: Facing Revenge. Once again, as in most of the earlier books in the series, both Cali and Sky are instrumental in their own way in facing a challenge, a traumatic event, and finding a successful resolution. Assistance from friends is also crucial to their “survival”.
As in the earlier books, other events typical of teen life occur. Cali, Sky, and friends cope with typical teen situations with humor and with comradery.
Author Links: Amazon | GoodReads
Unfortunately, along with the excitement of adjusting to a new school environment, Cali and Sky discover that last year a student was abducted, raped, and murdered. The police investigation is at a standstill. Because of her history with kidnapping, Cali believes she might find some answers to the murder mystery. She drags Sky into her quest. Will Cali’s involvement in the murder open Cali to being a victim herself? Cali and Sky may be new to Parkington High, but they are not new to danger.
The Power of Human Connection
Washington follows a ninth-grader navigating the chaos of high school, who, after transferring to a new school, finds a group of friends and starts to build a new normalcy, until it is shattered by the sound of gunshots. What made you write a story about this topic?
The story had actually been rolling around my brain since I myself was in high school. Columbine happened when I was in freshman year, and kind of stuck with me throughout sophomore, junior and senior year. I used to walk around the halls and wonder what would I do if that happened? Where would I go? What if one of my friends was being bullied? Going there in my mind over the years created many different mixed feelings. On the one hand, it is of course a dark taboo topic and very tragic. On the other hand, it could also be a beautiful concept and very pure when paired with the strength of spirit and the power of human connection. I wanted to try to dissect all of this darkness and light through a sweeping romance with pulsing action and painful drama, all at the same time.
In many contemporary coming-of-age fiction novels, authors often add their own life experiences to the story. Are there any bits of you in this story?
I had a group of friends, like in the book. I transferred schools in my freshman year, like in the book. I also used to doodle and draw a lot. I used to go to the arcade and comic book shop after school. So, there’s many bits and pieces from my life and from people I know. But whenever I sit down to write, I never do an exact replica of myself or anybody else. Rather, I kind of Frankenstein together different composite sketches. I remix reality in a sense to fit my narrative, to better idealize a character, and to emphasize personality and contrast. It leads to an immersive experience writing it so my goal is to also lead to an immersive experience reading it.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
One of the first things I remember thinking before I committed to writing this was how much I missed that younger period in my life. I missed the innocence of it. Being such close friends, you would put your arm around one another. Having nothing else to do, but to hang out and joke and have fun. So, friendship definitely was one theme. Falling in love was another, and especially first love. I thought it was interesting to explore crushes and liking one another. At the time when Columbine happened, the news outlets really blamed video games and movies and music, which bothered me quite a lot. Those were the games that we all played. Those were the movies we all watched. That was the music we all listened to. Because so many others enjoyed those things and went on to be perfectly normal and fine, I guess I wanted to counter that and examine what would really drive someone to do something so horrific in the end.
What is one thing that you hope readers take away from Washington?
For me, this project began as part of my practicing how to write. I never intended to try to publish a book like WASHINGTON since it is so controversial. I was gonna keep it in a drawer somewhere if agents and publishers were ever pressing me for more. However, something magical sparked on the page, and I couldn’t hide it from the world. My aim was to walk the fine line between authenticity but not glorify anything, to keep it neutral and universal, and focus on the characters in the attack, not the attacker. I want readers to go back in time, to fall in love again and have those kinds of friends again. I’ve taken many Asian literature classes and the best part was always the discussion and reflection. So, finally, I hope that there are plenty of deep talks and deep thinking long after the last page.
Author Links: Amazon | GoodReads | Instagram | Facebook | X | Website
Before that dreaded day, Evan is a new transfer to Washington High School, where he’s reunited with his best friends from childhood. He’s a typical slacker who would rather sketch and daydream than pay attention in class, waiting for the bell to ring so he can go to the arcade and comic book shop after school. When he meets Judith, who aims for perfection and top honors, they slowly grow closer and closer. Evan is unsure how he feels, if he fits in or what he wants out of life. And before he can think things through, he finds out a new member of his group of friends is being bullied…
Now, Evan runs through the hallways, building to building. Where is Judith? Can he find her in time? And why does something about the shooter seem so familiar?
* * *
WASHINGTON is a former NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) project and was crowdfunded through Indiegogo. It features an Asian American love interest, geek humor and easter egg references to 90s and 2000s movies, music, video games, comic books, anime and manga. A portion of all profit goes to various charities.
My Twelve-Year-Old Wife
My Twelve-Year Old Wife is a dark, time-bending thriller about love, grief, and the unrelenting pull of fate. It follows Dan Fox, a husband desperate to find his missing wife, Celia, only to have a twelve-year-old girl appear at his door claiming to be her. What begins as a mystery about disappearance spirals into something stranger, a story that slips between timelines and emotions, showing how trauma, memory, and devotion can warp across the years. The book plays with horror and science fiction but stays grounded in its aching humanity. Each chapter peels back another layer of the impossible, until the reader is as disoriented and haunted as Dan himself.
The writing is cinematic and unnerving, full of tight, fast sentences and moments that hit like a punch. I could feel Dan’s confusion and fear, his disbelief when he’s confronted with a version of his wife that shouldn’t exist. The story toys with logic but never loses its emotional truth. The prose has this eerie stillness, a rhythm that feels like breathing in the dark, and the pacing moves between slow dread and heart-hammering tension. I caught myself whispering “what?” out loud more than once, which almost never happens when I read. The author’s control over mood and momentum is impressive. Even when scenes leaned into the surreal, the characters kept me anchored.
But what hit me hardest wasn’t the time travel or the mystery, it was the loneliness. Beneath the weirdness, this is a love story about guilt and obsession. Dan’s desperation feels raw and a little ugly, and Celia’s time-fractured existence is both tragic and strange. Their connection stretches and twists, but it never breaks. I could sense how much the author wanted to explore what happens when love is stronger than reality itself. At times, the dialogue can feel blunt, but it works here, it fits people who are terrified and grasping for sense in the middle of madness.
My Twelve-Year Old Wife is for readers who like their stories unsettling, who don’t mind questioning what’s real and what’s imagined. If you liked Dark, Arrival, or The Time Traveler’s Wife but wished they were more psychological and eerie, this book is for you. It’s weird, bold, and relatable.
Pages: 194 | ASIN : B0FD87Y85R
The Conti Family: Luca (An Enemies to Lovers Mafia Romance)
After eleven years in prison, Don Luca Conti walks free. Harder now. More dangerous. Elena is the federal prosecutor determined to send him back. But when their eyes meet across the courtroom, the world stops…and forbidden desire ignites. She is sent to destroy him, but ends up beneath him. One unforgettable night that leaves her carrying a mobster’s baby. And when the death threats begin, and danger closes in, the only man who can protect her is the one she vowed to destroy. Some lines shouldn’t be crossed. And some desires can’t be denied. LUCA. A Conti Family Mafia Romance by Claire Kirby.
The Kingdom Thief
The Kingdom Thief kicks off in a fantasy world. Princess Sitnalta is happy with her adopted parents, King Gerald and Queen Aud. She has a blossoming friendship, maybe more, with Prince Navor. But then a thief named Wilhelm gets his hands on a magical wish-granting coin. He rewrites reality itself. Suddenly, Wilhelm is king, Sitnalta’s parents are traitors in a dungeon, and she’s a fugitive. The catch is, Sitnalta is the only one who remembers the “real” world. She has to figure out how to fix a history that nobody else knows is broken.
I found this central idea really compelling. It’s a fantastic hook. The “gaslighting-by-magic” concept, where the hero’s entire reality is upended, creates immediate, high-stakes tension. I was completely on board. The writing itself gets the job done. It is clear, and it is direct. It moves the plot forward at a really fast clip. Sometimes, I will admit, it moved almost too fast. I felt the story leaped from one major plot point to the next. It was a whirlwind of a ball, a boat trip, and a new reality all in just a few chapters.
When Sitnalta discovers her world is a lie, I was devastated for her. The connection between Navor and Najort (the troll he is a reincarnation of) was a genuine surprise. I thought that was a brilliant twist. It added a new layer of tragedy and sacrifice to the story. I just wish I’d had more time to explore what that felt like for both him and Sitnalta. Their romance, which I was rooting for, was a really bright spot in the story, and it made total sense that their connection would grow so strong given the magical problems they had to solve together.
I really enjoyed the book’s finale. This book is a lot of fun. It is packed with creative ideas, big twists, and a classic good-versus-evil fight. I would absolutely recommend this for a younger YA reader, or really, for anyone looking for a quick, imaginative fantasy adventure. It’s the kind of book you can read in a weekend and just have a good time with.
Pages: 227 | ASIN: B0G1VTB3C3
LITERARY TITAN 