Blog Archives
A Delicate Dance
Wings of the Gods centers around two friends thrown into a time-bending mission where old myths are tangled in a cosmic war. What is the most challenging aspect of writing a series?
Honestly, it’s been all fun and games so far! No, really. I’ve had an absolute blast creating these first two books, and I can’t wait for the next one. One of the things I wanted to pay attention to is sprinkling enough information into the first couple of chapters of Wings of the Gods so that someone could pick up this book without reading the first one and not be lost, while also not spoiling anything if they want to go back and read The Emerald Tablets. Once we get further into the series, every book will be a delicate dance of weaving everything together in a way that feels complete and satisfying. But I think I’ve set myself up well and I’m not too worried about that right now. I’m just enjoying the ride and looking forward to book No. 3, which is going to be a horror/mystery set in Enlightenment England.
What first inspired the idea of blending ancient Greek mythology with science fiction and cosmic warfare?
Everybody asks this, and, honestly, I wish I had a better answer, but … it just came to me. That’s right! One day, my weird brain was like, “What about time-traveling, teleporting teenagers battling Evil Lizard Aliens?”
In truth, it was probably an amalgamation of my love for science fiction and fantasy space epics like Star Wars and Star Trek, my experience falling in love with The Chronicles of Narnia as a young reader, and how my own daughter and one of her childhood friends were thick as thieves.
I’ve always loved mythology, to the point of studying it as a fascination, and I’m intrigued by the possibility that we’re not alone in the universe. So many civilizations have stories of gods and goddesses that sound a lot like encounters with extraterrestrials. So, I wanted to ask the question: what if all those stories are just glimpses of a larger picture? What if the “gods” aren’t gods at all? And, what does that mean for humanity?
How did you approach reimagining figures like Athena, Hermes, Hades, and Zeus in a way that still felt surprising?
I’m just trying to have a good time and write something that would interest me.
Obviously, so much has been done with Greek Gods, specifically—most famously with the Percy Jackson series—but I think what’s allowed me to bring a fresh take to this story is the fact that I’m not thinking of them as Greek Gods, per se. I’m engaging with these characters on a more holistic level, imagining how they fit into the larger, cosmic story I’m creating. So, while all of them exist within the myths of the Olympian Gods, they also have stories outside of those stories about how they got here, what they’re doing at this particular point in history, and how they’re perceived by the populace. It’s all just a slice of the larger pie, which I can’t wait to reveal layer by layer as we get deeper into the story!
What kind of reader did you imagine while writing Wings of the Gods?
I’m writing these stories for my own teenage daughter, and all the boys and girls who will pick them up along the way. Guardians of the Cosmic Clocks is a love letter to the next generation, and I hope they’ll feel the same kind of wonder I felt while reading The Chronicles of Narnia. This book, in particular, addresses some of the core emotional battles that adolescents face every day, and I hope that, through this story, they’ll learn what it means to be a Guardian and rise to the challenge in their own lives.
Beyond that, the beauty of Guardians is that it’s made for dreamers of all ages. Just like Narnia is a magical land I can come back to over and over again, no matter where I am in life, I believe Guardians of the Cosmic Clocks has the same kind of cross-over appeal as The Series That Shall Not Be Named. I’ve already had 30, 40, and 50-year-olds reading and loving it! And, I hope, if you’re reading this, you’ll be the next one to fall in love with Zya and Elijah.
Author Links: GoodReads | Instagram | Guardians of the Cosmic Clocks | TikTok | Jabril Yousef Faraj | YouTube | X (Twitter) | Cosmic Clocks | Facebook | Wings of the Gods | Website | Amazon
TWO FRIENDS. ONE GLOWING PORTAL.
When tragedy strikes at home, teenagers Zya Nicole Jenkins and Elijah Morgan escape through a portal, once again donning their magic timepieces. The Evil Archons have reclaimed Earth, declared war on the galaxy and are rumored to be developing a weapon that will tilt the balance of power.
Dive into an adventure of epic proportions, as the Guardians brave the Greek Underworld, commune with the Oracle of Delphi and face their fate on Mount Olympus. Encounter Plato, Heracles and the ghost of Pythagoras as our champions sail the Aegean and battle mythical beings in this sprawling Young Adult Fantasy.
A finalist for the 2026 Children’s Book International Award in Fantasy, Guardians of the Cosmic Clocks: Wings of the Gods is a story about love, trust and blooming adolescence. Our heroes will be put to the test, pushing their bond to the limit as Zya and Elijah are forced to confront their own inadequacies.
Wings of the Gods takes us from the depths of despair to the heights of true friendship and back. Can the Guardians overcome their demons and emerge victorious? The fate of humanity depends on it.
A QUEST THROUGH TIME AND SPACE TO SAVE HUMANITY.
Zya and Elijah’s first battle might be in the books, but the adventure is only beginning. Once again, the 13-year-old best friends are swept up in the Archons’ millennia-long conquest of the Milky Way.
This time, it’s personal. While Elijah wrestles feelings that could threaten to derail their mission, memories of her father leave Zya more vulnerable than ever.
Unlikely allies, the second ancient talisman and an epic mystery await in 363 BCE. Rumors are that Zeus, who governs Earth from his seat on Mount Olympus, is constructing a secret weapon that will spell certain doom for the galaxy. On top of it, the Lumerian captain Maroun has gone missing.
The Guardians meet Plato and Aristotle, commune with the Oracle of Delphi and tangle with mythic monsters in this high stakes quest across Classical Greece. Our heroes traverse land, sea, the Fifth Dimension and the dreaded Underworld, encountering Hermes, Hades, Medusa and the deadly Minotaur.
As their weaknesses surface and failure rears its head at every turn, the Guardians find there’s nothing more powerful than the love of a friend.
WILL THEY UNLOCK THEIR TRUE POWER BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE?
Faraj’s debut novel, Guardians of the Cosmic Clocks: The Emerald Tablets garnered the 2025 Literary Global Children’s Book Award for Best Young Adult Novel, was a finalist for the Children’s Book International Award in Fantasy and runner-up at the New York Book Festival.
The Tale of Capri
Kathleen Solis’s The Tale of Capri is a tender fantasy romance built around an inviting premise: a wounded mermaid washes into a tide pool, and the young lifeguard who finds her changes both their lives. The book began as a MerMay-inspired story, and that origin shows in the way it thinks visually, with scenes that feel sketched in light, water, scales, gardens, and moonlit coastlines.
At its center are Capri and Eden, and the story works because their connection grows through care before it grows into romance. Eden doesn’t just rescue Capri once. He feeds her, tends her wound, gives her space, listens to her, and slowly becomes someone she can trust. Capri, in turn, brings him closer to the ocean he already loves but doesn’t fully understand. Their bond has a soft, earnest quality that fits the fairy-tale setup without making the emotions feel empty.
The strongest parts of the book are the moments when Capri experiences the human world with fresh eyes. Her wonder gives everyday things, like sand, food, swimming pools, seat belts, and sunsets, a new texture. One of the loveliest lines comes when she says, “Being human sounds…beautifully and tragically wonderful.” That sentence captures the book’s whole mood: curious, romantic, a little sorrowful, and deeply attached to the natural world.
The environmental thread gives the romance more weight. Capri’s pain isn’t only personal. It’s tied to polluted coastlines, ghost nets, and the way human carelessness reaches creatures humans never see. Eden’s guilt and Capri’s anger make the second half more emotionally complicated, especially once wishes, transformation, and the wider mer world come into play. When Capri tells Eden, “I forgive you,” the moment really works because the story has spent so much time building both the wound and the tenderness around it.
The Tale of Capri is a sincere, ocean-soaked fantasy about rescue, trust, and learning to love across a divide that seems impossible at first. It’s romantic in an open-hearted way, but it’s also about stewardship, grief, wonder, and the strange beauty of being seen by someone from another world. Readers who enjoy mermaid stories with gentle intimacy, environmental feeling, and a dreamy coastal atmosphere will find a lot to enjoy here.
Pages: 225 | ASIN : B0GYQF91BP
The Intrepid Three: Animus Rising
The Intrepid Three: Animus Rising by Brianna and Matthew Penfold is a young adult fantasy adventure that follows Dez, Arabella, and Walter as they continue their quest to restore three divided planes and confront the Switcher, a force of evil that feeds on fear, selfishness, and human failure. The story blends supernatural worldbuilding, moral allegory, and coming-of-age stakes as the three young heroes gather allies, face the darkness gathering in Animus, and learn that restoration is not just about fixing a broken world, but choosing courage, belief, and connection when everything feels ready to fall apart.
What stood out to me first was how earnestly the book leans into its genre. This is fantasy with a clear moral center. There are glowing beings, shadow armies, portals, chosen heroes, and a cosmic creator called Author, but underneath all of that is a pretty direct question: what do people do when fear makes goodness feel impossible? I appreciated that the Penfolds do not treat their young characters as decorative heroes. Dez, Arabella, and Walter are scared, unsure, and sometimes overwhelmed, which makes their bravery feel less like a superpower and more like a decision they have to keep making. That worked for me.
I enjoyed when the authors let the worlds reflect the characters’ inner lives. Euporia’s exhaustion, Immerxia’s dependence on virtual approval, Aurelia’s obsession with image, and Animus’s battle between light and dark all give the book a strong symbolic structure. Sometimes the message is very clear, maybe even a little too clear for readers who prefer more ambiguity, but I didn’t mind it much because the book seems fully aware of what it wants to be. It’s sincere. It’s big-hearted. It wants hope to feel active, not passive. I also liked the smaller human touches, especially the friendships, the awkward teenage affection, and the way allies begin to gather not because they are fearless, but because they’re tired of being alone.
As a fantasy adventure, Animus Rising will probably appeal most to readers who enjoy faith-inflected stories, chosen-one quests, and battles where the emotional stakes matter as much as the magical ones. I would recommend it to middle-grade and young-adult fantasy fans who like clear good-versus-evil conflict, layered worlds, and stories about courage, sacrifice, and restoration. Readers looking for gritty moral grayness may not find as much to hold onto here, but those who want an earnest, hopeful fantasy with a strong spiritual backbone will likely feel right at home.
Pages: 147 | ASIN : B0C2FMSS8N
Our World’s Precious Resources
Cyborg Contact follows a cyborg ANT who travels through a wormhole to Earth on a diplomatic mission to reconnect with humans who once visited his world and bring them a warning. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Cyborg Contact is the fourth book in The Antunite Chronicles series. I originally intended the series to be a trilogy, with Antuna’s Story, The Rise and Fall of Antocracy, and Antunites Unite. The first three books were all published in 2022, and that was supposed to be the end of the story. Two things inspired me to write this much later installment. First, the political climate in the United States prompted me to write another political satire lampooning the current administration’s policies. Second, as a Metis author, I wanted to include a strong Indigenous main character in one of my novels. I had previously included quotes from Indigenous leaders and statements that reflected Indigenous lore. Still, since the stories took place on a planet and moon inhabited only by insects and insectoids, I could not include such a character. By bringing a cyborg insect from Bilaluna to Earth, my fourth book, Cyborg Contact, allowed me to achieve both these objectives.
What challenges came with writing Earth from the perspective of a nonhuman traveler?
As Cyborg Contact is a Cli-Fi story with stinging political satire, the biggest challenge was to determine just how far I and my main character could go with my intended messages. When writing a tale on another planet, the satirical elements told by aliens are metaphors, and the story’s allegorical nature softens the parody. But when you bring an alien to Earth to further spoof an administration’s political policies, lampooning can come across more as direct mockery. I tempered the ridicule by combining political satire with a highly adventurous story and by having my main character interact with multiple species on Earth, not just humans. My human-sized cyborg ANT first interacts with Earth insects, who see him as a god. Vigilantes and ICE agents later hunt him as the ultimate illegal alien. He adopts the name Dee, short for Dios, as the insects call him, and continues to meet various ant and other insect species who help him overcome obstacles he encounters along his way. But he also meets marginalized humans, particularly immigrant teens, and an Indigenous woman, who help him learn about Earth and human civilization as Dee takes a road trip from the Yucatan to the Yukon across a near-future, splintered America. Dee’s naivety and sense of wonder tone down events that might otherwise shock or enrage a more worldly individual, as he witnesses a civilization in political and environmental turmoil.
How do you hope readers respond to the environmental themes in the novel?
I hope readers will respond with urgency to the novel’s environmental themes, which illustrate the dire consequences if we do not alter current trends. And although some may see the novel as apocalyptic, the high levels of action, adventure, humor, and cross-species connections soften the story, making it not simply a tale of drought and devastation. There are hurricanes, droughts, flash floods, and forest fires, but there are also wondrous moments in lush green jungles, blue-green seas, and arctic-boreal forests. We see the magnificence that nature offers and how that beauty can be lost if not nurtured. We also see a contrast between Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge, which reflects a measured stewardship of Earth’s environment, and a colonial civilization that has lost its way, both politically and in its overuse of our world’s precious resources.
Can we look forward to more work from you soon? What are you currently working on?
I continue to be obsessed with dystopian stories that have environmental undertones. Still, after moving my Sci-Fi stories back to Earth, I plan to keep my feet grounded here while I tell my next story from a human perspective. However, the characters may spend some time at sea before they are Marooned (the working title for my new novel).
Author Links: GoodReads | Bluesky | Facebook | Website | Amazon
A cyborg ANT from Bilaluna, Dee crash-lands in a Mexican cenote and embarks on an epic road trip from the Yucatan to the Yukon across a splintered near-future America. He travels with only a syntax generator and a bag of cicadas and has little understanding of human politics. He befriends Earth insects, rescues kidnapped teens, and battles the elements and a trigger-happy border patrol. His key ally? Seka, a brilliant Indigenous chemist with a sorted past, a spirit strong enough to tame grizzlies, and a heart warm enough to melt his hard exoskeleton.
But as ICE agents close in and climate disasters escalate, Dee realizes his warning about environmental collapse might come too late. Can Dee and Seka spark the change Earth desperately needs?
Find out in Cyborg Contact, an action-packed cli-fi road trip featuring first contact, political satire, and the ultimate fish-out-of-water hero. Grab your copy to ride shotgun with the galaxy’s most charming ANT today!
Tropes
First contact, fish-out-of-water, road trip adventure, climate apocalypse, unlikely romance, found family, political satire.
Microtropes
Alien POV, cross-species bond, damsel-in-distress, hunted by authorities, stranded together, nature’s fury, Indigenous wisdom, secret police.
Guardians of the Cosmic Clocks: Wings of the Gods
Wings of the Gods throws Zya and Elijah back into danger almost immediately, pulling them from a frightening attack at school into a time-bending mission in ancient Greece, where Plato, Athena, Hermes, Hades, Zeus, and the old myths all turn out to be tangled in a much larger cosmic war. The plot moves fast, from the Nimrod to Athens, from riddles and sea monsters to the Underworld and Olympus, but what held me most was the changing bond between the two Guardians. This isn’t just a quest to stop a weapon. It’s a story about fear, power, jealousy, trust, and what happens when children are forced to become braver than anyone should have to be.
I liked how emotionally messy the book lets Zya and Elijah be. Zya’s instinct to protect is fierce, almost beautiful, but it can harden into control. Elijah wants to be seen as capable, not just rescued, and that hunger makes him vulnerable to pride, shame, and darker impulses. Their arguments don’t feel like filler. Zya’s heroic efforts, Elijah’s resentment and resistance to be cared for, and the old witch Riija’s ability to twist their confusion and weakness against them make the adventure suddenly feel intimate. The fantasy is huge, but the ache underneath is very recognizable. I also found Elijah’s transformation especially compelling. The terror of becoming something he doesn’t understand gives the book one of its strongest ideas: darkness inside you isn’t the same thing as destiny.
The story has a big imagination. It can be funny one minute and mythic the next, with chapter titles that wink at the reader and set pieces that feel made for a movie screen. I loved the way Plato’s cave lecture isn’t treated like a dusty lesson, but as a living key to the whole story. The book keeps asking what reality is, who gets to name it, and whether freedom is worth pain. Faraj writes with an appetite. The story piles on lore, philosophy, monsters, reveals, and jokes all in one scene. The pages have a pulse, color, and conviction that are unmatched.
What begins as a breathless rescue mission gradually becomes something more inward and resonant, asking what courage costs and how friendship can bend under pressure without fully breaking. I’d recommend Wings of the Gods to older middle grade and young young adult readers who like mythology remixed with science fiction, cosmic stakes, philosophical questions, and friendships that bruise before they heal. It’s intense in places, so kids ready for a bigger, stranger, more emotionally charged adventure will find this book very entertaining.
Pages: 267 | ASIN : B0FMPQMPMP
Cyborg Contact
Cyborg Contact, Book 4 of Terry Birdgenaw’s Antunite Chronicles, is a big-hearted science fiction adventure about Dee, a cyborg ANT from Bilaluna who travels through a wormhole to Earth. His mission is diplomatic, ecological, and personal: he wants to reconnect with the humans who once visited his world and warn Earth about the kind of climate disaster that damaged his own planet. Early on, he sums up the heart of the book clearly: “I am contacting humans so our worlds can unite, if that is possible.”
The book works best as a travel story told through a truly unusual narrator. Dee’s first contact isn’t with governments or scientists, but with ants, hurricanes, jaguars, cicadas, abused children, sailors, and eventually public leaders. That gives the story a lively, episodic feel. Each stop teaches him something about Earth, and because he’s both alien and insectoid, ordinary things feel freshly strange. Food, language, boats, politics, and even hotel lunches become chances for comedy, curiosity, and connection.
Birdgenaw’s tone is playful and earnest at the same time. Dee loves puns, rhymes, sensory descriptions, and insect-based comparisons, so the narration has a goofy charm that keeps the climate message from feeling dry. The book also has a strong compassionate streak, especially in Dee’s bond with Juan and Isabella and in the way it treats interspecies friendship as something practical, not just sentimental. Dee doesn’t simply preach cooperation. He rescues, learns, apologizes, improvises, and keeps showing up.
The environmental theme becomes clear once Dee reaches a public platform. His message to Earth is direct: “Climate change is real! It’s not a hoax!” That line fits the book’s approach. This isn’t subtle climate fiction, but it’s sincere, accessible, and built around adventure rather than despair. The story imagines first contact as a chance for mutual correction: humans once helped Bilaluna change course, and now Dee hopes Bilaluna can return the favor.
Cyborg Contact is a warm, oddball, idea-packed novel about friendship across species, climate responsibility, and the value of seeing Earth through nonhuman eyes. It’s at its most enjoyable when Dee is reacting to the world with a mix of wonder, confusion, and moral seriousness. Readers who like ecological science fiction with humor, a hopeful outlook, and a narrator who’s unlike anyone else in the room will find a lot to enjoy here.
Pages: 312 | ASIN : B0GX2ST9HB
Nurse Dorothea® Presents Distress Tolerance and Contentment, and Why We Need to Develop Those Skills
Distress Tolerance and Contentment and Why We Need to Develop Those Skills, by Michael Dow, frames itself as an after-school class led by Nurse Dorothea, who speaks directly to children about how big feelings work, what unhealthy coping can look like, and which practical tools can help. The first half focuses on distress tolerance, naming triggers, noticing distorted thoughts, and practicing strategies like “emotional surfing,” STOP, TIPP, ACCEPTS, and radical acceptance, while the second half turns toward problem-solving and contentment, urging kids to tell needs from wants, protect their time, and build steadier inner ground.
As a parent, I admired the book’s seriousness. It doesn’t speak to children as if they are decorative little optimists; it assumes they can confront anxiety, avoidance, shame, impulsivity, and loneliness with honesty. I found that bracing and, in places, genuinely heartening. There is a humane impulse underneath the instruction, the repeated insistence that mental health can be discussed openly, that distress is survivable, and that skills can be learned even when feelings arrive like weather fronts. This is much more didactic than lyrical. It reads less like a conventional picture book and more like a classroom script or guided workbook.
I liked the book’s practical texture. It asks children to journal, reflect, pause, observe, compare choices, and rehearse healthier responses rather than merely absorb a moral and move on. As a parent, I can see real value in that. I could imagine reading sections of it with a child who is old enough to discuss them, then stopping to talk rather than hurrying to the next page. I also think some families will need to mediate the material carefully: the examples of self-harm, binge eating, smoking, vaping, and drug use are frank, and the vocabulary lands closer to social-emotional curriculum than bedtime fare.
I would recommend Dow’s guide most strongly for older children, tweens, middle-grade readers, counselors, classrooms, and families looking for children’s mental health nonfiction, social-emotional learning, psychology for kids, or therapeutic read-alouds rather than a snug narrative picture book. In spirit, it sits closer to an educational companion than to the emotional parable of The Rabbit Listened, where that book comforts through quiet metaphor, this one teaches through direct instruction. This book is useful and earnest, less a lullaby than a toolkit, and sometimes that is exactly what a child needs.
Pages: 99
Empower Readers
Exit Signs follows an eighteen-year-old girl with plans to graduate early and attend Stanford, who has it all ripped away when her mom throws her out with nothing, leaving her homeless and vulnerable to coercion disguised as love. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Thank you for that question. For years, I kept this close to my chest due to the lingering shame, but the truth is: my own life was the inspiration. This actually happened to me. The story began years ago as a cathartic exercise titled Abandoned, which sat on my computer for a long time. However, after losing my eldest son to cancer, I felt a profound need to tell his story—and he had such a beautiful life. To tell his story properly, I realized I had to start from the very beginning. Stella’s journey is the result of that, and readers can expect her narrative to unfold across three books in this series.
The book emphasizes the practical realities of homelessness—money, hygiene, parking, paperwork. Why was that level of detail important?
I wanted the reader to truly inhabit Stella’s world. Those specific, gritty details aren’t just creative choices—they are drawn directly from lived experience. To write about such a sensitive topic with precision and impact, I felt it was a necessity to include the small, often overlooked realities that define a person’s survival from day to day.
The novel explores how control can disguise itself as generosity. What drew you to that theme?
That question actually makes me laugh a little because it hits so close to home. In my own life, generosity has often been the “front door” of my relationships, while control was the way they ultimately went wrong. I wanted to explore that theme to empower readers. My goal is for them to realize that they ultimately hold the power over their own lives and destiny. I hope Stella’s story serves as a reminder: do not let someone else’s “generosity” become your cage.
Can you tell us what the second book will be about and when it will be available for fans to purchase?
The second book is currently living in my head, and the characters—especially Stella—are screaming to be unleashed! While I am juggling a few other projects at the moment, fans can expect the sequel to arrive sometime in 2027. Of course, if the writing process goes particularly well and I stay “in control” of my schedule, perhaps we’ll see it as early as the end of this year!
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Instagram | Website | Amazon
When you have nowhere to go, any door looks like open arms.
Some doors don’t close; they slam. At eighteen, Stella Hart had a plan: early graduation, a Stanford acceptance letter, and a future she’d built from scratch. Then her mother threw her out with nothing but a pile of clothes and a slammed door, and everything Stella thought she’d earned disappeared overnight.
Homeless, broke, and alone in the SF Bay Area, Stella finds shelter in the arms of a man who seems like salvation. Jim offers safety, stability, and love. But safety, she will learn, can be a cage, and love can be a leash dressed up as loyalty.
As Jim’s generosity quietly hardens into control, Stella begins to see what she almost missed: the exits were always there. She just had to choose one. Exit Signs is a raw, unflinching story of a young woman who did everything right and still had to fight her way back to herself, through homelessness, coercive control, and an unplanned pregnancy, armed with nothing but her intelligence, her instincts, and the stubborn belief that her future still belonged to her.
For readers who know what it means to survive the people who were supposed to love you.
