Blog Archives
Primordial, Beautiful and Dangerous
The Gap follows a group of migrants who are forced through the Darién Gap by traffickers, they encounter cruelty, hellish landscapes, and things that blur the line between survival and damnation. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I had actually been in Panama at the time, preparing to move there with my wife and daughter. Unfortunately, that was an adventure we were unable to complete. I was flying home when the idea for ‘The Gap’ came to me. I had read about the human trafficking problem there, and done a bit of research on the area just out of curiosity. It’s such an interesting place. Primordial and beautiful and dangerous, like Earth must’ve been before mankind walked it. Like Skull Island in King Kong. And I pictured an obelisk, standing in a jungle, and that was it. I was off. I was fortunate; the story came to me complete on that plane, beginning, middle, and end. Many of the characters, the situations, everything. I didn’t have to fight that part, which was good. The languages were hard enough!
What first drew you to the Darién Gap as a setting for a horror novel?
The fact that no one had ever written any fiction about that area, and the timeliness of it. People were just starting to learn what the Darién Gap was, where it was, etc. The problem of human trafficking was growing in the Gap. And it’s so primordial; I wanted to write a Lovecraftian horror novel, and I couldn’t imagine a better setting for cosmic horror than the Darién. It’s dangerous just to go there, for real. The water is full of parasites and amoebas, the black palms have bacteria in their thorns, the snakes are all deadly, the insects are rampant, tropical diseases like malaria and dysentery are common, the heat is crushing, the rain is ceaseless, the guerillas will make you disappear. It’s a place human beings don’t belong. It seems a perfect setting for the worst possible things to happen.
The novel suggests that the line between human and monster is dangerously thin. Is that the core question you wanted readers to wrestle with?
I wanted to blur those lines, definitely. The creatures in ‘The Gap’ feel a real kinship with Pinche, the lead coyote in the story. He’s just like them; he uses people. When he needs to, he sacrifices them. He’s amoral, ruthless, but still human. It’s his willingness to bring people out there into the Gap that makes everything that follows possible. They monsters, the ACTUAL monsters, need a human conduit to act on their behalf, and Pinche is their man. He’s not aware of his complicity, but he’s doing their bidding in the end. In more real terms, the toll human trafficking takes on people in the the Darién Gap is horrific. The level of barbarism and depravity on display there on a daily basis would make most people wish they’d gone their whole life without seeing it. Anything awful that you can imagine occurring to human beings on this Earth does occur there. Rape, torture, kidnapping, murder, forced prostitution, forced drug smuggling. The buying and selling of men, women and children. Slavery, brutality, all relying on humanity to exist. It’s a hopeless, scary region. Setting a horror book there seemed like a natural fit. Half the work was done for me, because the setting is so dangerous in real life.
What reactions do you expect or hope for after someone finishes reading The Gap?
Well, I hope they tell all their friends and neighbors, and coworkers and complete strangers, even, to go right out and buy a copy. SEVERAL copies!! LOL! Honestly, I just hope they enjoyed the story and that the book scared them. Genuinely made them uncomfortable and grossed out. I think horror stories should be as scary as possible. If people buy a ticket for a roller coaster ride, they should get one! So, I hope my readers think the book did that, scared them and made them feel like they were immersed. Sweating, hungry, picking bugs off their necks as they trudge towards some unknown future. I know the inclusion of foreign languages can be challenging, but I wanted the reader to experience the trip the same as anyone in the book did. Coming to grips with differences in culture and language, having to adapt, just gives the reader that much more truth, in my opinion. I hope that anyone who reads ‘The Gap’ has never read another book like it!
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website
They face unrelenting heat, humidity, venomous animals and insects, poisonous plants, starvation, thirst, disease. The most dangerous creatures are the ones the travelers hire, to guide them through this primeval place.
Migrants are routinely robbed, raped, murdered, or simply lured down ghost trails and left to die. Terror and death are a constant companion.
The migrants are the nameless, known only by their dialects or countries of origin.
Guided through the hellish landscape by three ruthless, amoral human traffickers, each step becomes a struggle for survival as the group discovers the nature of the men to whom they have entrusted their lives. The violence escalates with each passing day, erupting in a shocking act of brutality. And the worst was yet to come.
Awakening from a horrific vision of ancient rituals and malevolent gods, they find themselves in a dreamworld of eldritch gods, old ones from the depths of space and time itself. With four dead at dawn, in the shadow of a malformed and alien edifice beyond reason, the group sets out to find their way back.
Over the course of the next four days, each of them discover that some paths are better left untraveled. That a new life can take on many forms. And that some gaps were never meant to be crossed.
The Condemner: Arisen
The Condemner: Arisen is a dark fantasy novel that drops you straight into a world already splitting at the seams. It opens with Snip, a wiry and stubborn survivor, returning to a growing settlement ruled by his old friend Bobby, now “King Robert.” Their relationship is complicated, built on shared history and shaky trust, and things fall apart fast. A single moment of violence sends Snip running for his life, hunted by people who once saw him as family. From there, the story shifts to his struggle in the northern kingdom of Fanlon, where he gets tangled in cults, crime, and a hulking miner named Laf who saves him for reasons that feel as mysterious as they are unnerving. It’s gritty, moody, and full of momentum.
The writing has a lived-in roughness that good dark fantasy thrives on, but it also lets in these brief moments of softness, just enough to make the hard edges hit harder. Snip’s voice in particular is addictive. He’s flawed, cynical, sometimes funny without meaning to be, and painfully honest. His reactions feel grounded, even when the world around him swings between political ambition, daemon worship, and back-alley chaos. The author’s choice to center such a small man in such a dangerous world works beautifully. It makes everything feel bigger, heavier, more threatening. Even the early warehouse scene with the plague-masked revelers lingers like smoke in the lungs, strange and unsettling without feeling forced.
What surprised me most was how often the book made me feel two things at once. Curiosity and dread. Warmth and irritation. Admiration and exhaustion. The genre label here is firmly dark fantasy, but it’s got a human pulse running through it that keeps it from sinking into hopelessness. The ideas around power, loyalty, and the cost of survival show up in small gestures as often as in big confrontations. And whenever the world starts to feel too large, too mythical, the story tugs you back to the intimate perspective of someone who just wants to make it through the day with his ribs unbroken and his conscience mostly intact. That balance kept me turning pages.
If you like character-driven dark fantasy with grit, tension, and a touch of the uncanny, this book will be right up your alley. It’s especially suited for readers who enjoy morally tangled protagonists and worlds that don’t pretend to be kinder than they are. I’d recommend it to fans of grimdark and anyone who appreciates a fantasy story that feels personal even when the stakes swell to the size of nations.
Pages: 322 | ASIN : B0GC8R8LXF
The Great Dick: And the Dysfunctional Demon
Barry Maher’s The Great Dick and the Dysfunctional Demon starts with a Harvard professor in the late sixties riffing on Moby-Dick and The Great Gatsby and tossing off the idea of a modern version called “The Great Dick.” The story then jumps to 1982 and to Steve Witowski, a thirty-something screwup on the run from a botched drug deal who stumbles into a brutal assault near an old church on the California coast. He tries to help, kills the attacker in chaotic self-defense, and meets Victoria Fairchild, a luminous stranger with secrets of her own. From there, the book slides into a mix of road novel, noir, and supernatural thriller as Steve gets dragged deeper into a tangle of murder, occult relics, demons that may or may not be real, and his own talent for bad decisions.
Steve opens by flat-out calling himself an asshole, and the narration never lets him off the hook. His inner monologue is sharp, petty, funny, horny, scared, sometimes all in the same beat. The writing leans hard into sensory detail and low-level absurdity, like the reek of the Checker cab or the way cheap weed and an old song drift through the scene right before the attack. The fight on the embankment is brutal and weirdly intimate. Keys in his fist, Latin muttered at the worst possible moment, a truck roaring closer. I could feel the panic in my throat. When the book slows down afterward and lets Steve and Victoria talk, that same energy hums under the dialogue. The tone stays casual and foul-mouthed, yet there is a careful rhythm in the sentences. It feels tossed off in the way really worked-over prose often does. I found myself rereading lines just to enjoy how a joke landed or how an image curved at the end.
The book plays with failure and faith in a way that was thought-provoking. Steve keeps trying to patch his life with lies, quick exits, and a little dope, then suddenly he is neck deep in something that smells like capital E Evil. The dagger with the names of Jehovah, Ahura Mazda, Huitzilopochtli, and Asmodeus etched into the handle is such a great symbol for the book’s spiritual chaos. It pulls Jewish, Christian, Zoroastrian, and Aztec gods into the same creepy object and then hands it to a loser who just wanted to dodge a prison sentence. I liked how the story keeps asking what counts as sin, what counts as choice, and where simple cowardice shades into something darker. At the same time, it never reads like a lecture. It feels like a wild story that happens to drag big questions in behind it.
The book is full of sex, violence, and black humor, yet there are small, quiet moves that give it an unexpected emotional weight, little flashes of shame or tenderness or sheer exhausted relief. The setting, work around coastal California, and the abandoned church give the more supernatural turns a solid, grimy base to grow out of, which I really liked, and the whole thing runs on a kind of nervous, late-night momentum.
I would recommend The Great Dick and the Dysfunctional Demon to readers who enjoy flawed, talkative narrators, morally messy thrillers, and horror that leans into both jokes and genuine unease. If you like work in the vein of Carl Hiaasen or early Stephen King but wish it had more occult weirdness and a bit more sex, this will probably hit the spot. For anyone up for a fast, foul-mouthed, slightly unhinged ride that still has something on its mind, I think this book is absolutely worth the trip.
Pages: 464 | ASIN : B0FKWK2K7C
The Can Sack Ghost
The Can Sack Ghost is a collection of personal paranormal experiences that author John Russell has gathered across a lifetime of psychic work. The book moves through story after story with the ease of someone who has lived these moments so fully that they spill out of him. Russell blends ghost tales, philosophical reflections, humor, and straight talk. He jumps from haunted homes to guardian angels to strange synchronicities and encounters that linger in the mind. He frames it all with a simple aim. He wants readers to feel the mystery he’s lived with since childhood and to see the supernatural as both real and meaningful.
I found myself torn between fascination and a kind of wide-eyed wonder. Russell writes in a voice that feels conversational and familiar. He talks about spirits turning radios on during power outages and unseen guests laughing downstairs in the middle of the night. He writes about odd visitors on motorcycles, and even haunted Halloween candy bowls that carry on like they’re trying to join the conversation. What struck me most was not the strangeness of the events but the sincerity behind them. He tells these stories with such calm conviction that it’s hard not to lean in. At times I felt wrapped up in his world, and at other times I caught myself pausing to think, Did that really happen. His storytelling carries that kind of pull.
I appreciated the honesty that shows up when he talks about loss or doubt or the way people dismiss the unusual. Some chapters made me laugh because the moments were just so odd and human. Others made me feel a kind of quiet sadness. He can shift from soft nostalgia to sharp frustration, especially when he writes about so-called skeptics who refuse to believe their own eyes. He doesn’t pretend to be perfect. He doesn’t claim to always be right. Instead, he writes like a man who has lived a wild and unpredictable spiritual life and wants to share what he has learned. That earnestness makes the ideas really resonate with the reader.
I’d recommend The Can Sack Ghost to readers who enjoy true paranormal tales, personal memoirs with heart, or reflective stories told by someone who has walked a very unusual path. If you like books that make you sit back and say, huh, I didn’t see that coming, this one will hook you.
Pages: 156 | ASIN : B0FFLX1YCV
The Gap
The Gap is a survival-horror novel that follows a group of migrants forced through the Darién Gap under the control of brutal coyotes. The story begins with a claustrophobic march through the jungle, where the guides Pinche, Mosca, and Guapo terrorize the group, and the environment itself seems determined to finish the job. As the days stretch on, exhaustion, cruelty, and the strange dread creeping through the rainforest shape a journey that becomes as psychological as it is physical. By the time the story reaches its ending, the line between man and monster feels disturbingly thin.
The writing is direct and raw. The misery hits you in small, relentless details: ants marching through a dead boy’s mouth, water that can’t be drunk without risking agony, a jungle that seems to breathe around the characters. The choices the author makes feel purposeful, even when they’re harsh. Scenes of violence make your stomach churn. At the same time, there’s a strange tenderness woven in through the quiet connections the migrants form, even when they don’t share a language. Those brief human moments, scattered among the horror, make the whole thing feel heavier.
What surprised me most was how the novel blends realism with a slow, creeping sense of the uncanny. For a long stretch, it reads like pure survival fiction, the kind grounded in real-world danger. Then the edges blur. Nightmares start to feel prophetic. The violence becomes ritualistic. By the end, the horror has tilted into something almost mythic, and the shift feels earned because the world was already so brutal that monsters didn’t seem far-fetched. I kept thinking about how trauma can warp perception, how the mind tries to make meaning out of dread. The book never overexplains its stranger moments, and that restraint makes them even more intriguing.
The Gap is a gritty survival horror novel with psychological and supernatural undertones, and it leans hard into the reality that human beings can be more dangerous than any jungle. I’d recommend it to readers who appreciate dark, visceral fiction that doesn’t pull punches, especially those who like their horror rooted in real places and real suffering.
Pages: 356 | ASIN : B0DQJ85XCG
Coffee, Murder, and a Scone: A Mystic Brew Cafe Novel
Coffee, Murder, and a Scone is a paranormal romance mystery wrapped in the everyday life of Violet Blueblade, a sarcastic, introverted mystic who would rather hide behind a cup of coffee than deal with people. The story follows her quiet routines being shattered when vivid visions begin showing her a dangerously handsome man, murdered women, and her own death. As Violet tries to avoid the stranger who seems woven into her fate, she instead becomes tangled in a real haunting, a string of killings, and the sudden awakening of her nieces’ mystical abilities. What starts small in her cozy café grows into a full-on supernatural murder investigation that tests her gifts, her boundaries, and her heart.
The writing has this unfiltered, candid energy that makes Violet’s voice stand out right from the start. She’s funny without trying to be. She’s blunt in ways that feel real. And she never falls into the stereotypical “mystic woman” trope, which I appreciated. Even when the story plays with paranormal romance expectations, Violet keeps everything grounded through her tired sighs, her love of coffee, and her constant attempts to stay out of the spotlight despite literally seeing the future. The genre mix of paranormal romance and cozy mystery works better than I expected, especially because the author lets Violet’s anxiety, humor, and reluctant hopefulness steer the tone.
The story moves from slow daily life to emotional intensity quickly. The visions are vivid, the stakes high, and Steven walks the line between romantic interest and potential danger in a way that keeps the tension humming. There’s a nice thread about intuition, trust, and the cost of being someone who “sees too much.” The way Violet’s nieces slowly discover their own abilities added warmth and levity. Even the side characters, like chaotic Daisy and ever-present Reggie, bring texture to this small town where magic hides in plain sight. When the murder mystery deepens, the shift toward darker images surprised me, but it felt earned because Violet never stops narrating with that same blend of honesty and exhaustion.
By the end, what stuck with me wasn’t just the plot but Violet herself. She doubts, she jokes, she panics, she cares deeply, even when pretending she doesn’t. The paranormal elements give the book spark, but her relationships give it weight. If you like stories that fuse supernatural suspense with character-driven romance and a dash of cozy small-town charm, this book will land well. Fans of paranormal romance, witchy mysteries, and quirky-voiced narrators will probably enjoy it most. If you’re looking for a reflective, funny, slightly chaotic journey with heart, then pick up Coffee, Murder, and a Scone.
Pages: 254 | ASIN : B0FPQG2F2G
Between Worlds: Between Worlds, A Life of Abduction, Addiction, and Awakening
Brian Martin’s Between Worlds is an unflinching memoir wrapped in the surreal. It’s part trauma confession, part spiritual reckoning, and part cosmic fever dream. Martin tells of a life marked by abuse, addiction, strange visitations, and an aching search for meaning. The book opens in darkness, both literal and emotional, moving through scenes of childhood pain, hallucination, and haunting encounters that blend the psychological and the supernatural. As the story unfolds, it shifts from terror to transcendence, revealing a man grappling with his own mind and his memories, questioning what’s real and what’s revelation.
Reading this felt like wading through someone’s nightmares while clutching a flickering flashlight. Martin’s writing hits hard, raw and poetic in turns, and sometimes so vivid that it left me uneasy. His prose can feel chaotic, but that chaos feels intentional, like the inside of a fractured mind trying to make sense of itself. I found myself fascinated. The honesty is brutal. There are no neat answers, no tidy lessons, just waves of memory and madness that force you to sit with discomfort. I respected that. It made the book feel alive, even when it hurt to read.
At the same time, there’s a strange beauty threaded through all that pain. Martin writes about horror with the eye of a poet, and about faith with the heart of a skeptic. I could feel the ache of someone who wants to believe in something, God, magic, UFOs, salvation, but can’t ever quite grasp it. That struggle hit close. The spiritual parts don’t feel preachy. They feel desperate and human. There were moments when I had to pause just to take in how he could write about trauma with such raw tenderness.
Between Worlds is for readers who can handle truth that’s ugly and luminous at once, who don’t mind getting lost in someone else’s storm if it means finding a little light of their own. If you like memoirs that bleed honesty, or stories that blur the line between real and unreal, you’ll remember this one.
Pages: 307 | ASIN : B0FWN2PGHM
My Soul Mission
Transform Your Cosmic Self is a spiritual guide that charts a path from awakening to ascension by blending autobiography, metaphysics, and practical exercises to help readers explore their spiritual evolution. Why was this an important book for you to write?
It was a Divine calling for me to write Transform Your Cosmic Self after years of soul-seeking and awakening—experiencing both the profound highs and lows of my spiritual journey, which ultimately led me to reunite with my Higher Self, the enlightened aspect of my consciousness. Through this reconnection, I was guided to create a comprehensive guide that intertwines my personal experiences with the Divine wisdom I’ve channeled, to illuminate the path for others who are also navigating their journey of awakening and ascension.
This book is a vital part of my soul mission—to help others expand their consciousness, embody their Divine essence, remember who they truly are, and contribute to raising the collective consciousness of humanity. It serves as both a roadmap and a companion, blending personal story, higher teachings, and practical exercises to support readers in their spiritual evolution with greater clarity, confidence, and Divine alignment.
What is a common misconception you feel people have about awakening and ascension in relation to finding their Soul Purpose?
A common misconception is that awakening and ascension happen suddenly — as if one day you simply “wake up” enlightened and instantly know your Soul Purpose. In truth, awakening and ascension are not single events, but ongoing journeys of self-discovery, healing, and self-mastery.
For every soul, the ultimate purpose is to transcend the cycle of rebirth. Within each lifetime, we are presented with unique lessons and experiences designed to support our spiritual evolution. Many people remain unaware of their greater Soul Purpose until they begin the awakening process. As we evolve, we come to realize that our purpose is not something to seek outside ourselves, but something that unfolds naturally from within as our consciousness expands.
Awakening and ascension invite us to release energetic blockages, raise our vibration, and realign with our Higher Self. It’s not about reaching perfection or a final destination — it’s about walking the path of evolution in alignment with our true essence and allowing our true Soul Purpose to unfold with Divine timing.
What were some ideas that were important for you to share in this book?
This book is not just a collection of theories or spiritual concepts — it is an integration of my own first-hand experiences gathered over decades of spiritual evolution, combined with the Divine wisdom received through direct connection with my Higher Self and Ascended Masters. It interweaves transformative insights with practical inner-work practices that have emerged through years of soul searching, ascension work, and self-mastery.
It offers a comprehensive roadmap — from the foundational principles of creation to guidance on transcending the cycle of rebirth — providing readers not only with tools for spiritual awakening but also actionable practices to support their ongoing journey of ascension and soul evolution.
How did you develop, or choose, the exercises you use in your book, and what is the best way for a newcomer to explore consciousness and multidimensional existence to get started down this path?
This book is written in a natural flow, so I recommend starting from Chapter 1 and following through each chapter in sequence when reading for the first time. The exercises in this book were carefully developed from decades of personal spiritual practice, energy work, and direct guidance from my Higher Self and Ascended Masters. They combine experiential practices, meditations, and reflective exercises that I have personally used to deepen awareness, release limiting patterns, and expand into higher states of consciousness. Each exercise is designed to help readers access their inner wisdom and cultivate a deeper connection with the true essence of the self.
For newcomers, the best way to begin exploring consciousness is through simple, consistent practices that foster presence and self-awareness. Meditation, contemplation, and energy-focused exercises are excellent starting points. It’s essential to approach this journey with curiosity, patience, and compassion for yourself — awakening and multidimensional exploration are gradual processes. Start small, honor your own pace, and allow insights to unfold naturally as you expand your awareness and reconnect with your Higher Self.
Author Links: GoodReads | Instagram | Facebook | Website | Amazon
Through powerful personal stories and timeless teachings—complete with reflections and exercises—Joy reveals profound Truths that transcend ordinary reality. This book offers a clear and grounded framework for self-discovery, spiritual awakening and ascension.
Journey through over 90 spiritual topics as Joy shares her awakening and ascension path, explores the universal principles of creation, uncovers humanity’s spiritual origins, offers practical pathways to enlightenment, and reveals the transformative power of the Akashic Records and multi-dimensional healing.
Whether you’re just beginning or advanced on your spiritual path, this book provides guidance and clarity to support your soul evolution. Let this be your guide to reclaiming your Divine essence and fulfilling your highest potential.
LITERARY TITAN 