Inkbound Realms

Notes, musings, and dispatches from across the realms.

Office Romance: The Secret Relationship Dilemma

Jade Black

19 hours ago

Black-and-white view from a courtyard looking up at tall apartment buildings framing a bright sky, with curved facades and many windows.

A Glimpse Into the Press Architecture

Ink & Aether Studios

4 days ago

Mid-Year at Ink & Aether: What We’ve Built, What’s Coming

Ink & Aether Studios

6 days ago

J.P. White

Happy Release Day - JP!

The Ember Mill is open. 🕯️ The Case of the Ember Mill Haunting is live today. Book 2 in the Vale & Stone: Consulting Detectives series. Blackvale has always known how to keep a secret. The Ember Mill has stood at the edge of town for over a century — first a working mill, then a speakeasy where a 1920s poker game ended in gunfire, and now, after years of failed businesses and strange occurances, a nightclub with a fresh coat of paint and a grand reopening. Cressida Vale woul

From the Midsummer Feast to the Ember Mill: The Making of Vale & Stone

A year ago, Blackvale didn’t exist. Now it has fog and old money and two consulting detectives who solve murders the locals would rather call accidents. It has séances and masquerade balls and estates full of secrets. It has Cressida Vale, who notices everything, and Miles Stone, who says almost nothing — until what he says changes the entire shape of the investigation. It has, in short, become exactly what J.P. White set out to build: a world that breathes with history and r

Everything You Need to Know Before Reading The Case of the Ember Mill Haunting

J.P. White’s Vale & Stone series returns July 28. Here’s everything you need to step through the doors of the Ember Mill ready. If you’ve read Book 1: Welcome back Murder at the Midsummer Feast introduced Blackvale, North Carolina — a fog-shrouded mountain town where old money, older secrets, and the occasional unexplained phenomenon make for excellent murder mysteries. You know Cressida Vale. You know Miles Stone. You’ve seen the first crack in the town’s well-maintained sur

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Jade Black

Pink handwritten note on a teal wall reads I love you so much and I hate that I have to keep it to myself, with an envelope doodle

Office Romance: The Secret Relationship Dilemma

Let's talk about the worst-kept secret in professional life. Two people. One workspace. A connection that should not exist, by every HR policy and professional standard currently in print. And yet. The office romance is not a modern invention. It is not a product of open floor plans or abolished corner offices. It is as old as shared purpose — which is to say, it is ancient. Two people working toward something together will sometimes notice each other. Will sometimes do m ore

A Glimpse Into the Press Architecture

There is something we've believed from the beginning: a book is not just a story. It is an object. A threshold. A physical thing that a reader holds in their hands before they've read a single word — and that first contact matters. This is why we think about architecture. When Ink & Aether Studios was built, it was designed from the inside out. Not just which stories we would tell, but how they would exist in the world. What they would feel like. How a reader would encounter

Mid-Year at Ink & Aether: What We’ve Built, What’s Coming

Six months ago, Ink & Aether Studios was a plan and a filing. Today it’s a catalog. What’s in the world Murder at the Midsummer Feast (J.P. White, Vale & Stone Book 1) opened the studio and introduced Blackvale, North Carolina to readers who made themselves at home in the fog immediately. Available in paperback, ebook and in Kindle Unlimited. Saltwater Between Us (Jade Black) turned one woman's solo sailing adventure into an island romance she never planned for — a story abou

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Everything You Need to Know Before Reading The Case of the Ember Mill Haunting

Jul 21
2 min read

J.P. White’s Vale & Stone series returns July 28. Here’s everything you need to step through the doors of the Ember Mill ready.

If you’ve read Book 1: Welcome back

Murder at the Midsummer Feast introduced Blackvale, North Carolina — a fog-shrouded mountain town where old money, older secrets, and the occasional unexplained phenomenon make for excellent murder mysteries. You know Cressida Vale. You know Miles Stone. You’ve seen the first crack in the town’s well-maintained surface.

The Case of the Ember Mill Haunting picks up there. New case, same dynamic — and considerably higher personal stakes for Miles.

You’re ready. Pre-order for $0.99 — price goes up July 28.

If you’re new to the series: four things you need

What kind of series is this?

Vale & Stone: Consulting Detective Mysteries is a cozy gothic mystery series. Think atmospheric dread wrapped in sharp banter and small-town charm. Creepy, but not scary. Dark, but never grim. Every case is steeped in the history of Blackvale — a town that doesn’t let its secrets stay buried forever.

Who are the detectives?

Cressida Vale is sharp-tongued, observant, and relentlessly curious. Miles Stone is her childhood friend turned reluctant partner — deadpan, precise, and quietly perceptive in ways that tend to matter at exactly the wrong moment. They solve crimes the local police can’t or won’t. What starts as low-stakes inquiries has a habit of becoming something much more serious.

Do I need to read Book 1 first?

Reading Murder at the Midsummer Feast first will give you the fuller picture — the partnership, the town, the dynamic between these two. But The Case of the Ember Mill Haunting is written to be accessible whether you’re new or returning. Either way, you won’t be lost.

Book 1 is available now in Kindle Unlimited. [link]

What is Book 2 about?

Something in the Ember Mill doesn’t want to be found.

The building has a reputation — every business that takes up residence inside eventually fails, some more spectacularly than others. Now someone has died there, and the blame is being laid at the feet of a ghost. Specifically, the ghost of a dead singer who allegedly never left the stage.

Cressida Vale is inclined to believe it. Miles Stone thinks the truth is far more human — and far more dangerous.

They’re about to find out which one of them is right.

The $0.99 pre-order window closes July 28

The Case of the Ember Mill Haunting is available to pre-order now for $0.99. That price goes up to full retail on launch day. If you’ve been on the fence, this is your window.

Pre-order for $0.99 — Catch up on Book 1

We’ll see you in Blackvale. 🕯️