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A True Redemption
Affliction is a harrowing dark fantasy that follows a captive prince grappling with trauma, identity, and survival under the rule of a ruthless Alpha in a world where magic is a weapon of oppression. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The story was inspired by the desire to write something different, where people of all walks of life could feel represented. I felt like there wasn’t much for options as far as a queer romantasy, and as cliche as it sounds, the story sort of wrote itself. I wanted a story that wasn’t a coming-out story, I wanted to write something where the characters just happened to have different preferences beyond the mainstream.
What inspired you to create such an emotionally raw and psychologically intense character in Nicolas?
Nicolas represents a lot of friends I had growing up who struggled with not only their sexuality but also their worth. Women and men can both struggle with feeling as though their worth ends with what they have to offer; some of them like the power their bodies hold, while some of them become slaves to it, and I wanted to shed light on that. I wanted Nicolas to have a true redemption, and I wanted to touch on the trauma that someone in a situation like this might have actually gone through. It’s not always pretty, and I hope people can enjoy him for what he is. A human.
How did you approach balancing the brutality of the world with moments of introspection and humanity?
I really wanted to try and add dark humor to break up the intensity. My own sense of humor can be dark, and I think when a topic like this comes up, it suited the story to keep up with the theme of, ‘these guys are having a really hard time, but they’re doing it together, even if they don’t want to.’ The villain isn’t always the villain in everyone’s story, and sometimes the good guy is the villain.
Affliction is book one of the Alpha Series. What can readers expect in book two?
The series has 9 books, with 8 finished and the 9th in the works. Book Two is sort of the ‘coming of age’ part of the story. It’s a bit more serious, a lot more magic, and a whole lot more drama.
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon
Fulfilment City
Fulfillment City is about collapse—the slow, sticky unraveling of a woman, a city, an industry, and, in a broader sense, American identity. The story kicks off with Lydia Calligan, once a powerhouse in San Francisco’s boutique advertising world, and follows her as her crown jewel campaign. A wholesome berry ad featuring a lisping Black child implodes spectacularly in a culture-shifting scandal. What follows is a ghost story, but not the kind with cobwebs and creaky doors. Lydia becomes a living specter, wandering the city in a trench coat, haunted by both personal and public failure, as her former colleague Paul, sharp-tongued, prickly, and strangely endearing, tries to drag her back from oblivion. From its hip urban core to a strangely eerie prefab town in rural Colorado, the novel explores guilt, reinvention, and the absurdities of a country selling itself one delivery box at a time.
What I really loved was how quietly funny the book is, even when it’s steeped in grief and disappointment. The writing is whip-smart but never showy. The scene where Lydia, now adrift, sits in silence at a café while Paul performs his one-man comedy routine, trying to draw a single flicker of recognition from her, is painfully hilarious. I could practically hear the espresso machine hissing in the background as he babbled nonsense, and she stared through him like he was just another ghost. The comedy sneaks up on you, poking at the tragic bits without letting you sink. And Lydia’s fall from grace was Brutal, but also believable. The way the berry campaign spirals into controversy, starting with a lisp and ending in a death, is satire so sharp it practically bleeds.
Paul, for me, stole the show. He’s this oddball mix of charming, petty, broken, and brilliant. I didn’t expect to feel for him so much, but watching him scramble for relevance while his world shrinks to the size of a secondhand teacup was quietly devastating. His dry midwestern sass and resentment give the novel its bite and his weird antique obsession is oddly grounding.
The section set in the artificial town of Saltair Springs was deliciously eerie. The contrast between Lydia’s haunted sophistication and the soulless sheen of a fulfillment-center utopia gave me chills. You can feel Lydia’s unease seep through the page and yet, the town isn’t just a prop. There’s real life and love there, like with Cherise and Darnell, a couple that somehow blooms in the middle of all this engineered happiness. That sweetness tucked between cynicism and corporate doom felt like a little glimmer of hope.
Fulfillment City doesn’t wrap itself up in neat bows. But its honest about loss, about compromise, about how easily people and institutions get swallowed whole. I’d recommend this book to anyone who likes their fiction with bite and wit, who’s curious about what happens when the culture machine eats itself alive. If you liked Mad Men, White Noise, or just want to read something that feels both current and weirdly timeless, this one’s for you.
Pages: 245 | ASIN : B0DZ3RWF83
Kissing Toads
Danissa Wilson’s Kissing Toads is a nostalgic, heartfelt, and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny journey through the highs and lows of finding love in the 80s and 90s. At its core, it’s a coming-of-age story wrapped in a romantic memoir, following Annie as she navigates the minefield of romance, heartbreak, and self-discovery. Raised with the belief that a woman’s worth is tied to the man she lands, Annie embarks on a decades-long quest to find her “Prince Charming” by kissing an array of metaphorical (and sometimes literal) toads. Through first loves, bad boyfriends, and the chaos of early online dating, her story unfolds with a mix of humor, nostalgia, and a healthy dose of reality. But just when you think you’ve figured out where it’s headed, Wilson throws in an unexpected twist that flips the script entirely.
Wilson’s writing shines in its ability to be both sharp and self-deprecating. The humor is biting but never forced, and Annie’s voice is refreshingly honest. The opening chapter, where Annie details the absurdity of being named after her mother’s beloved golden retriever, immediately sets the tone. Lines like, “Being the namesake of the family pooch? Does it get more humiliating than that?” make it clear that this book isn’t just about romance; it’s about identity, self-worth, and breaking free from expectations. The book doesn’t shy away from the awkwardness of young love either. Annie’s high school relationship with the Ozzy Osbourne-worshipping, eyeliner-wearing “Oz” is painfully relatable, showing how teenage romance can be both intoxicating and utterly misguided.
One of the most compelling aspects of Kissing Toads is its exploration of societal expectations placed on women, particularly in past decades. Annie’s mother, a woman who abandoned her own dreams for the role of perfect wife and mother, serves as both a loving figure and a cautionary tale. She constantly reinforces the idea that Annie’s happiness hinges on finding a man. This generational pressure is woven throughout the book, making Annie’s journey all the more meaningful. When she starts to question whether she’s searching for love or simply fulfilling a script handed down to her, the book reaches its most thought-provoking moments. Scenes like her internal struggle over a sexist “No Fat Chicks” sticker she bought as a teen highlight the subtle ways misogyny is ingrained in everyday life. Wilson brilliantly captures how these influences shape Annie’s choices, often without her even realizing it.
The book’s pacing is another strong point. Wilson moves seamlessly from high school heartbreaks to the cringe-worthy infancy of online dating, never lingering too long on any one phase of Annie’s journey. Each relationship teaches her something new, sometimes through devastation, other times through sheer absurdity. The dialogue is snappy, the 80s and 90s references are spot-on, and there’s an authenticity to Annie’s experiences that makes her deeply relatable. However, what sets Kissing Toads apart from a typical rom-com or coming-of-age novel is its refusal to tie everything up in a neat bow. Without giving too much away, Annie’s “happily ever after” isn’t what you’d expect but it’s so much more satisfying because of it.
This book is for anyone who has ever looked back on their past relationships and cringed, laughed, or wondered what the hell they were thinking. It’s for Gen Xers who lived through the rise of online dating, for women who’ve been told that their worth is measured by their romantic success, and for anyone who loves a story that balances humor with heartfelt moments. Wilson has crafted a novel that’s both wildly entertaining and deeply resonant, proving that sometimes, kissing toads isn’t about finding a prince, it’s about finding yourself. Highly recommended.
Pages: 180 | ASIN : B0DGVT1XVC
Kissing Toads
Danissa Wilson’s Kissing Toads is the kind of book that sneaks up on you. It starts out like your typical coming-of-age tale of a young woman, Annie, wading through the chaotic waters of romance in the ’80s and ’90s, hoping to find her Prince Charming. But as you turn the pages, you realize this is more than just a love story. It’s a messy, hilarious, and sometimes gut-wrenching journey of self-discovery, resilience, and the realization that sometimes, the fairy tale we’ve been chasing isn’t the one we actually need.
One thing I absolutely loved about Wilson’s writing is her ability to balance humor with heartbreak. Annie’s experiences range from laugh-out-loud ridiculous to moments that truly sting. These are the moments that make Kissing Toads feel so raw and real. Wilson doesn’t just give us a woman searching for love; she gives us a woman navigating a world that constantly tells her what love should look like, only for her to realize that maybe she’s had it all wrong.
Annie’s mother is relentless in her belief that her daughter’s ultimate goal in life should be to “fetch herself a man.” That pressure is both maddening and relatable. The contrast between Annie’s youthful determination to fulfill that expectation and her later, painful questioning of whether she wasted her best years chasing a dream someone else planted in her head is beautifully done. One of the most poignant moments comes when she wonders if she failed in getting her “MRS” degree while earning her BA. That single line encapsulates so much about the way young women are conditioned to prioritize romance over self-fulfillment.
And then, there’s the love story at the heart of it all, just not the one Annie expects. The book’s final act brings both a twist and a moment of clarity. After years of chasing after one “toad” after another, Annie doesn’t find a prince, but someone even more unexpected. That’s what makes Kissing Toads so satisfying it’s not about Annie magically finding love, but about her finally seeing herself clearly enough to recognize it.
I’d recommend Kissing Toads to anyone who’s ever been on the wrong side of a bad relationship, struggled under the weight of expectations, or just enjoys a damn good story with characters who feel like old friends. It’s funny, it’s sharp, and it’s got a heart big enough to make you laugh and cry in the same chapter. Danissa Wilson has crafted a book that doesn’t just explore what it means to find love but it questions everything we’ve been told about it.
Pages: 180 | ASIN : B0DGVT1XVC
A Circle Of Fate And Coincidence
The Peruvian Book of the Dead follows four people as they seek to understand what has happened to a missing museum curator. I think this original idea is intriguing. How did you come up with this idea and develop it into a story?
I think it was Agatha Christie who marvelled that her ideas came from her deep subconscious. Like Brisdon, the protagonist in my book, I studied art at college and also travelled to Peru in the early 80s. At the beginning of the trip, the airline lost my luggage so all I carried with me was my blank journal. I wrote my journal as a long letter-diary of my adventures in Peru to my dear friend Karen who, a few years later, gave me back a copy saying, “You may need this one day.”
Decades later, I thought I recognized the real César from Lima pass by outside my bus window on my way to work. A story, long buried, began bubbling to the surface. That night I dug out my Peruvian journal, re-read it, and wondered: What if César suddenly returned? What would happen…? From it, the fictitious, but very personal The Peruvian Book of the Dead was born.
Were you able to achieve everything you wanted with the characters in the novel?
Yes, I believe the four characters have come alive to tell their own unique stories so that they would lattice into one greater story of love and redemption. I read once that different characters can represent different parts of the author — so I am partly Brisdon, César, Margaret, and Imogen. There may be truth in that but mostly, I am Brisdon.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
I was interested in exploring the effects of guilt and regret. The theme of a circle of fate and coincidence permeates my story. As my characters say, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” The world seems to be becoming less and less tolerant and accepting with respect to queer culture and many other cultures, races, and identities, so I hope my novel can be of some value.
What is the next novel you are working on, and when will that be available?
Actually, I have been busy promoting my debut book as an Indie publisher has no budget for promotion. As for future projects, I am looking to expand on a screenplay I wrote years ago but was never picked up for production; it takes place during the fall of the Berlin Wall where the Stasi police try to tear an East/West love apart. I grew up spending time in both East and West Germany, exposed to the Stasi and that horrible Wall, so I would like to explore this story further as a novel. It has a long way to go yet.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
So begins a story that will take you from post-war Scotland to the art world of London and New York, across the Peruvian countryside during the rise of Shining Path, and to a secluded Ontario summer resort during its darkest hours.
The Peruvian Book of the Dead weaves four separate narratives into a single tale of mystery, love, and horror as it examines the effects of guilt and regret, secrets and lies, and shows us how the enigma of the heart will ultimately reveal its mysteries.
Who Is Playing This Game?
Catfishing Caitlyn explores the thrilling journey of a brilliant yet aimless Ph.D. graduate who, while unraveling enigmatic historical riddles, inadvertently uncovers the hidden traumas of her own past. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The simplest answer is that I’m not really sure! The story arrives, so to speak, as is the case with almost all the stories I write, and I find myself rushing to put it to paper before it leaves me.
If I were to dig a little deeper though, I would confess that the exploration of historical archives has always captivated me. As a historian by training, I spent most of my university years with my nose in dusty pages (long before there were digital archives!), and I was constantly astounded by the gems I found hidden deep in the lines that filled the library shelves. I wondered how much of ourselves we might find if we only looked closely.
Caitlyn is an intriguing and well-developed character. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
I grew up around strong and powerful women. My mother, my grandmother, my two sisters, and my seven aunts were all fascinating to observe and listen to, and essentially incredibly inspiring. What I love most about them is how indifferent these women were to how they were perceived by others. I grew up at a time and in a culture when this type of indifference was predominantly a male privilege. But in my family, it was the women who were eccentric and lived life entirely on their terms. I think I am constantly recreating these women in many different manifestations in my novels.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
I am possessed by the idea that something, which is at times referred to as ‘God’, though I would rather not describe it in such terms, appears to be interacting with us — pulling us and pushing us, and ultimately communicating with us. In this novel, something is communicating with Caitlyn, and is doing so through the very object of her desire, namely, her love for history and research. She is lured into what appears to be a game of academic skill only to find herself unexpectedly confronting her own childhood trauma. In a similar manner, I have often found myself pulled towards certain destinations only for them to unfold in a manner very different to that which I’d anticipated, perpetually leaving me with the question: who is playing this game?
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
My next novel, Erasures, is scheduled to be published in October. I actually completed this book some time ago, along with several others that will follow it. It’s a post-apocalyptic story that focuses on the life of a man who works at one of the last libraries on earth. He is shocked one day to witness the disappearance of words from texts, sacred texts it turns out, first from digital versions but eventually from paper copies as well. It’s both a thriller as well as an exploration of the complexities of humanity’s spiritual past and future.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website | Website Publisher | Instagram | Instagram Publisher | Medium
Password required.
Hint: If you’re not smart enough to guess the password, you’re not smart enough to play.
Gifted with an extraordinary mind, a ravenous appetite for knowledge, food, and women, Caitlyn thrives on challenges.
Despite having just finished a highly specialized PhD in Middle Eastern History, with an impressive array of potential careers ahead of her – from intelligence agencies to Ivy League posts – Caitlyn finds herself spiraling, unable to make her next move. She is at a loss, suspended on a precipice of uncertainty, a feeling reminiscent only of being abandoned by her mother many years ago.
But then, in her last hours as a student at Yale, she receives a mysterious invitation. One she cannot refuse. Selected by a panel of twelve of the world’s greatest minds in her field, Caitlyn is invited to play a game – a unique contest of knowledge based on a series of expertly crafted questions. The stakes? Incredible rewards or instant elimination.
The search for answers takes Caitlyn on a journey from Jerusalem to Tibet, Arabia to Mesopotamia, Christie’s auction house in London to the Four Seasons hotel in Istanbul. But, as she continues to follow the clues and her investigation into historical archives deepens, she is unexpectedly pulled further into the mystery of her own traumatic past.
The challenge of winning the game quickly escalates into a mission of uncovering who, or what, is asking the questions, and why.
Catfishing Caitlyn
Omar Imady’s Catfishing Caitlyn is an exhilarating and refreshing thriller that engages readers from its compelling opening to its dramatic culmination. The novel encapsulates an immersive journey marked by Imady’s exceptional prose and vibrant descriptiveness, immersing readers into the core of the developing narrative. Catfishing Caitlyn takes its readers on a suspenseful voyage, maintaining constant intrigue as they maneuver through a complex maze of unexpected developments. Consistent with Imady’s past literary contributions, this narrative explores the profound human encounter with isolation and the relentless quest for significance in an increasingly adversarial world that resists clear-cut resolutions.
Central to this narrative is the character of Caitlyn O’Keefe, a distinguished Ph.D. scholar from Yale. Her portrayal as a resilient, captivating, and compelling protagonist ensures readers’ full investment in her narrative. Caitlyn’s extraordinary intellect and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge allow her to flourish in demanding circumstances. Yet, just when life seems to corner her with disillusionment, an intriguing invitation to engage in an enigmatic game presents itself, challenging her cognitive and emotional boundaries. This unconventional contest involves a sequence of skillfully devised questions with high stakes, enticing rewards for correct responses, and instant dismissal for wrong ones. However, the pursuit of a victory rapidly evolves into an intense mission to uncover the mysterious entity posing these questions and decipher its underlying motives. In addition, Caitlyn’s poignant past resurfaces, infusing additional layers of fascination and emotional depth to her noteworthy journey.
While the narrative is primarily based in the United States, Caitlyn’s tireless quest for truth drives her to traverse diverse locales worldwide. From the time-honored streets of Jerusalem to the mystical terrains of Tibet, from the vast Arabian deserts to the historical landscapes of Mesopotamia, and even to the renowned Christie’s auction house in London and the opulent Four Seasons hotel in Istanbul, her journey is truly global.
Imady’s remarkable novel is an essential read for aficionados of suspense-filled psychological thrillers, complex familial narratives, and assertive female protagonists. I recommend Catfishing Caitlyn to any reader searching for a captivating literary adventure that will leave them mesmerized.
ASIN : B0C3WSDPS3
Jayne and the Average North Dakotan
Jayne and the Average North Dakotan by Chandler Myer tells a story of queer self-acceptance outside the stereotypical framework of young teens just figuring themselves out. Randy, our 33-year-old protagonist, has been aware of who he is from a young age. Still, between his family’s expectations and religious upbringing, he had long ago put to bed any thought of being open about his identity. That is until his dying mother pulls him aside and gives him one simple piece of advice- “Move to the city.” This starts him on a journey that will lead him to incredible new experiences as a tall, elegant drag queen named Jayne comes into his life. With Jayne’s help, Randy comes to a better understanding of love, of what it means to be a true friend, and of himself.
This coming-of-age story is packed to the brim with fun, quirky characters, each with a unique voice all their own, that are sure to stick with readers. In addition, it’s written with a degree of self-aware humor. The comedy definitely falls into a more raunchy category.
While the book is mainly comedy, and a laugh-out-loud one, it has its more heartfelt moments mixed in. I found the relationship between Jayne and Randy to be especially compelling, as for a majority of the book Jayne herself is a bit of a mystery. By the end, I felt everything had been wrapped up satisfyingly. While Jayne and the other members of the queer community Randy meets in the city had a lot of depth, some of Randy’s friends from back home came off as a bit stereotypical- a choice that felt intentional, providing readers with a jarring experience in places.
Jayne and the Average North Dakotan is a rousing coming-of-age novel with humor and heartwarming friendships. Filled with acerbically witty dialogue and insightful commentaries on gay culture, this captivating story is a must-read for anyone looking for a fun, lighthearted romp with LGBTQ+ themes.
Pages: 335 | ASIN : B0BNF61N85
LITERARY TITAN 