After 13 years of development and writing, Emma Couette’s epic trilogy The Fidalian Chronicles is now finished. Book 3, Season of Ruin, just released on May 1st, and the entire trilogy is being released in special edition hardcovers on Kickstarter right now. The Fidalian Chronicles are around 1400 pages worth of epic high fantasy, sword and sorcercy, young adult fiction. From now until May 21st, you can catch up on the series and get all three volumes on Kickstarter—ebook, paperback, and the special edition, sprayed edges, ribbon bookmark hardcovers that come with colourized maps, new cover art, and scenes from the book depicted as images therein. Emmaand I chat about the Chronicles, how this has been such a big portion of her life, how the series was thoroughly edited and written from its original vision to the final product, and we get into all the details of the campaign itself. Link for that is in the shownotes. Kickstarter is one of the most direct ways to support an author or creator.

Reading from Book 1: Summer’s Revenge, at timestamp 47:30

Support the Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/elginhousepress/the-fidalian-chronicles?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=emma%20couette&total_hits=1

Emma's website: https://www.emmacouetteauthor.com/

Emma's IG: https://www.instagram.com/emmacouetteauthor/

Upcomingevents:

IntriguingBookish Market in Peterborough May 30

GanonoqueComiccon May 31

ManitoulinIsland Comiccon June 13

EspanolaComiccon June 14

PictonComiccon June 28

SaultCon

FridayJuly 10, 3pm-8pm

SaturdayJuly 11, 11am-8pm

Sunday,July 12, 11am-4pm

FlamboroughBook Fair at the West Avenue Cider House July 26

Cogsand Clockwork Steampunk Festival in Fergus, Ontario September 12/13

Followmy social media @harujinshounds

JA Merkel is the author of the Fall Gauntlet novella series, as well as The Fourth Portal, a dystopian science fiction novel kicking off the Song of Saudade series. Here we mostly discuss the Fourth Portal, set in a distant future on another planet, where love itself has been criminalized. We talk about him, his process, editing, and how the Fourth Portal can be read as a commentary on individualistic vs communal societies. JA, as I found out, spent three years living in South Korea as an ESL teacher, and I just had to pick his brain on that because of the trip I took to Korea in the autumn of 2024, so we spend a few minutes discussing Korea.

Reading from The Fourth Portal at timestamp 1:06:20

Author website: https://jamerkel.com/

Author store: https://store.jamerkel.com/

Amazon storefront:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/J.-A.-Merkel/author/B0CCNM9DKB

J.A. Merkel in the media!: https://jamerkel.com/media-press-kit/

Join J.A.’s Street Team: https://store.jamerkel.com/pages/street-team

Newsletter Sign-Up: https://jamerkel.com/newsletter-sign-up/

Jason Shannon is an indie Canadian author of science fiction and more. His seventh novel, Tiger Blues, is available now: “A plucky crew of mercenaries must keep a doomsday weapon from the Maoists in alt-history 1948 Tibet.”

Upcomingevents:

NorthBay Comiccon May 2

HuntsvilleComiccon May 3

IntriguingBookish Market in Peterborough May 30

GanonoqueComiccon May 31

ManitoulinIsland Comiccon June 13

EspanolaComiccon June 14

PictonComiccon June 28

SaultCon

FridayJuly 10, 3pm-8pm

SaturdayJuly 11, 11am-8pm

Sunday,July 12, 11am-4pm

FlamboroughBook Fair at the West Avenue Cider House July 26

Cogsand Clockwork Steampunk Festival in Fergus, Ontario September 12/13

Followmy social media @harujinshounds

VKThiran is a Tamil-Canadian author of 3 books: When LighteningStrikes, The Accursed Venge Seeker, and Us or Them: a Venge Seeker’sTale. He has been obsessed with books of various genres ever since hewas a child. His vivid imagination spurred him to weave worlds andintricate storylines filled with morally grey anti-heroes with tragicbackstories. VK reads anything he can gethis hands on, from gothic to historical fiction, but he is mostinterested in writing dark fantasy, romance, and action-adventurestories, particularly with themes of vengeance and betrayal. Asidefrom reading, writing, and studying, VK Thiran enjoys spending timewith his family and friends, going to the gym, and going for longwalks on nature trails.

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/vkthiran/

Website:https://vkthiran.wordpress.com

We discuss his writing, how hisworlds have been inspired by history—specifically the Sri LankanCivil War—his process, and what life is like in the self-publishingworld. VK does a reading from The Accursed Venge Seeker at the end ofthe episode.

JasonShannon is an indie Canadian author of science fiction and more. Hisseventh novel, Tiger Blues, is available now: “A plucky crew ofmercenaries must keep a doomsday weapon from the Maoists inalt-history 1948 Tibet.”

Upcomingevents:

SudburyComiccon April 25

NorthBay Comiccon May 2

HuntsvilleComiccon May 3

TrentonCC May 9

IntriguingBookish Market in Peterborough May 30

GanonoqueComiccon May 31

ManitoulinIsland Comiccon June 13

EspanolaComiccon June 14

PictonComiccon June 28

SaultCon

FridayJuly 10, 3pm-8pm

SaturdayJuly 11, 11am-8pm

Sunday,July 12, 11am-4pm

FlamboroughBook Fair at the West Avenue Cider House July 26

Cogsand Clockwork Steampunk Festival in Fergus, Ontario September 12/13

Followmy social media @harujinshounds

Eye-Spied is the third installment in Crystal Quast's Serenity Acres series, newly released April 15th, 2026. This episode goes back to post-war Europe, illuminating some of the threads that lead to the modern-day Serenity Acres drama. In this episode, we host a release party to celebrate Crystal's third volume in the series. I am joined by Crystal, as well as fellow authors Matthew Gabrielson (author, Small Town Chaos), and Ryan David Gerard (author, The Baptist Trilogy, The Born Again Trilogy, The Things That Are Not, and Wildmen).

Congratulations Crystal on the release of Serenity Acres Volume 3!

Crystal's website: http://serenityacressecrets.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/55082710.Crystal_Quast

Matt's YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MattsIndieBookClub

Matt's Linktree: https://linktr.ee/mattsrandomramblings

Ryan’s website: ⁠www.Gerardtheauthor.com⁠

Ryan's IG: @ryandavidgerard

JasonShannon is an indie Canadian author of science fiction and more. Hisseventh novel, Tiger Blues, is available now: “A plucky crew ofmercenaries must keep a doomsday weapon from the Maoists inalt-history 1948 Tibet.”

Upcomingevents:

SudburyComiccon April 25

NorthBay Comiccon May 2

HuntsvilleComiccon May 3

IntriguingBookish Market in Peterborough May 30

GanonoqueComiccon May 31

ManitoulinIsland Comiccon June 13

EspanolaComiccon June 14

PictonComiccon June 28

SaultCon

FridayJuly 10, 3pm-8pm

SaturdayJuly 11, 11am-8pm

Sunday,July 12, 11am-4pm

FlamboroughBook Fair at the West Avenue Cider House July 26

Cogsand Clockwork Steampunk Festival in Fergus, Ontario September 12/13

Followmy social media @harujinshounds

Rod Carley is the award-winning Author of 4 books: A Master of Will, Kinmount, Grin Reaping, and his newest book, Ruff, which was long-listed for the Leacock Medal of Humour and the silver medal winner for best European fiction from and Independent Publisher. Today’s discussion focusses on Ruff, which is a retelling of a period in William Shakespeare’s life, and some of the events going on around him. Rod is also on the organizing committee for the St Lawrence Writers Festival, happening in September in Brockville,Ontario. Previously we had Michael Parkes on, also on the committee, to discuss the festival. We touch on it briefly here. Rod is also an avid Shakespeare fan and student, who’s worked as an actor, director and producer of various productions—one particular production that hasn’t happened yet is an adaptation of Julius Caesar reimagined surrounding the events of the October Crisis and the FLQ, which we discuss in the third part.

Reading at 1 hour, 9 minutes

Rod’s website: rodcarley.ca

Instagram: @rdcarley

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rodcarley.ca/

St Lawrence Writer’s Festival:https://www.stlawrencewritersfestival.ca/

FARM FREAKS DAY 5 on Kickstarter:https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/accidentalcreations/farm-freaks-day-5-the-festival

Ryan Poirier’s website: https://www.accidentalcreations.ca/

Jason Shannon is an indie Canadian author of science fiction and more. His seventh novel, Tiger Blues, is available now: “A plucky crew of mercenaries must keep a doomsday weapon from the Maoists in alt-history 1948 Tibet.”

Upcomingevents:

BarrieComiccon April 11

SudburyComiccon April 25

NorthBay Comiccon May 2

HuntsvilleComiccon May 3

IntriguingBookish Market in Peterborough May 30

GanonoqueComiccon May 31

ManitoulinIsland Comiccon June 13

EspanolaComiccon June 14

PictonComiccon June 28

FlamboroughBook Fair at the West Avenue Cider House July 26

Cogsand Clockwork Steampunk Festival in Fergus, Ontario September 12/13

Followmy social media @harujinshounds

Hannah Manders is a lover of fantasy, a writer of books, and (in her words) a mighty fine cook. She also identifies as a slow reader and tea lover. In her free time she enjoys playing video games, reading, gardening, drawing, doing yoga and NPCing at a LARP in southern Ontario. She aspires to be at least one person’s favourite author and become local folklore in her city. She is excited to publish more of her series, and watch how her writing style grows and improves. Currently, she has several projects on the go, the most anticipated workbeing Death and Rest, the next book to release within herliterary universe, coming September 20th 2026.

If you are in the Durham area in Ontario, both Hannah and I have our books available at a local bookstore in downtown Oshawa called Book Dragons Den, and you can feel free to stop in and pick up copies.

Reading at 58 minutes

Hannah’s Website: https://hannahmanders.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hannah_manders/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mossepajamas

Discord: https://discord.gg/GVQM9nhg3P

FARM FREAKS DAY 5 on Kickstarter:https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/accidentalcreations/farm-freaks-day-5-the-festival

Ryan Poirier’s website: https://www.accidentalcreations.ca/

Kristy Lee’s website: www.authorkristy.com

Jason Shannon is an indie Canadian author of science fiction and more. His seventh novel, Tiger Blues, is available now: “A plucky crew of mercenaries must keep a doomsday weapon from the Maoists in alt-history 1948 Tibet.”

Upcoming events: Barrie Comiccon April 11

Sudbury Comiccon April 25

North Bay Comiccon May 2

Huntsville Comiccon May 3

Intriguing Bookish Market in Peterborough May 30

Ganonoque Comiccon May 31

Manitoulin Island Comiccon June 13

Espanola Comiccon June 14

Picton Comiccon June 28

Flamborough Book Fair at the West Avenue Cider House July 26

Cogs and Clockwork Steampunk Festival in Fergus, Ontario September 12/13

Follow my social media @harujinshounds

Matthew Gabrielson is author of the book Small Town Chaos and Host of the Matt’s Indie Book Club Youtube channel.

Small Town Chaos: https://books2read.com/u/b60l0A

YT Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MattsIndieBookClub

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/mattsrandomramblings

Vicki Ann Bush: https://www.vickiannbush.com

FARM FREAKS DAY 5 on Kickstarter:https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/accidentalcreations/farm-freaks-day-5-the-festival

Ryan Poirier’s website: https://www.accidentalcreations.ca/

Jason Shannon is an indie Canadian author of science fiction and more. His seventh novel, Tiger Blues, is available now: “A plucky crew of mercenaries must keep a doomsday weapon from the Maoists in alt-history 1948 Tibet.”

Upcoming events: Stratford Comiccon March 29

Cambridge Comiccon March 30

Barrie Comiccon April 11

Sudbury Comiccon April 25

North Bay Comiccon May 2

Huntsville Comiccon May 3

Intriguing Bookish Market in Peterborough May 30

Ganonoque Comiccon May 31

Manitoulin Island Comiccon June 13

Espanola Comiccon June 14

Picton Comiccon June 28

Flamborough Book Fair at the West Avenue Cider House July 26

Cogs and Clockwork Steampunk Festival in Fergus, Ontario September 12/13

Follow my social media @harujinshounds

Today I'm talking with Isaac Fernandes. Isaac is a brand new author who just published his first novel in February of this year. It's called Beneath Nevada, and is a western thriller about a man following an ancient map to potential treasure out in the Nevada desert. We talk about Isaac's book, the process of writing it, and how he's finding life as an author. Isaac also gives us a little preview of his next book, which, with luck, will be coming later this year.

Isaac's Instagram @issy.fern02

Jason Shannon is an indie Canadian author of science fiction and more. His seventh novel, Tiger Blues, is available now: “A plucky crew of mercenaries must keep a doomsday weapon from the Maoists in alt-history 1948 Tibet.”

Upcoming events: Stratford Comiccon March 29

Cambridge Comiccon March 30

Barrie Comiccon April 11

Sudbury Comiccon April 25

North Bay Comiccon May 2

Huntsville Comiccon May 3

Intriguing Bookish Market in Peterborough May 30

Ganonoque Comiccon May 31

Manitoulin Island Comiccon June 13

Espanola Comiccon June 14

Picton Comiccon June 28

Flamborough Book Fair at the West Avenue Cider House July 26

Cogsand Clockwork Steampunk Festival in Fergus, Ontario September 12/13

Follow my social media @harujinshounds