The Glass Inkwell

Cressida Vale gets to be the one readers notice first. She's sharp-tongued, she walks into rooms like she already owns the answer, and she has never once apologized for being right. Miles Stone, by contrast, is the one you underestimate — right up until you don't. Which is exactly why The Case of the Ember Mill Haunting had to be his book. Who Miles Actually Is Miles did not sign up to become a consulting detective. He got pulled into it by Cressida — his childhood best frien

Every Vale & Stone case has a soundtrack nobody sees. I keep one for Cressida and one for Miles while I'm drafting — partly to stay honest about their voices, partly because I'm nosy about my own characters. Today I'm letting you in on both. Cressida's Playlist: "Feel It First, Solve It Second." "Feeling Good" — Nina Simone. Her 'I just figured something out' song. The exact moment her brain clicks into place — and she already knows she's right. "Crazy in Love" — Beyoncé. She

We've been heads down this year. Building the foundation: three authors, two imprints live, the third in development, a catalog beginning to take shape. The infrastructure is real and it runs deep — brand systems, publication pipelines, editorial philosophy baked into every draft. Now we want to let you see a little further ahead. Not everything. Some of these projects live years out, and we believe in building anticipation slowly and honestly. But enough. Enough to show you

I want to tell you something about Cerys Duncan before you meet her. She's not a woman in crisis. She's not broken, exactly—just... compressed. Like someone who's spent years fitting herself into spaces that were never quite the right shape, who learned early that being agreeable was safer than being herself, and who got so good at performing "practical" that she forgot practical and afraid aren't the same thing. She's also kind of remarkable. Quietly, stubbornly, wonderfully

I’ve been sitting on this post for a while now. Not because I didn’t know what to say—but because sometimes the space between books deserves a moment to breathe. To let the echoes settle. To allow the ghosts (literal or otherwise) to stop rearranging the furniture. But since you’re here, and since you’re asking… Let’s talk about what comes next for Vale & Stone. First Things First: Yes, Book 2 Is Coming Let’s get this out of the way up front so you don’t have to squint suspic

Saltwater Between Us by Jade Black Releasing Mid-April 2026 There are stories that whisper. There are stories that linger. And then there are stories that grab you by the hand, pull you barefoot across hot sand, and say, Come on. You deserve this. Saltwater Between Us is very much the third kind. This is your official heads-up that my next release—written under my romance pen name, Jade Black—is on the horizon, and I am vibrating with excitement like a sail catching its first

I have been sitting on a secret like a cat on a warm windowsill, pretending I’m not vibrating with excitement. But today! Today I finally get to slide the cover across the table, clear my throat dramatically, and say: look. Look at her. This is the official cover for Murder at the Midsummer Feast, the first book in the Vale & Stone: Consulting Detectives series — and yes, it smells faintly of citrus, summer sunlight, and Extremely Questionable Baking Decisions. A Little About

There’s this couple I watch on YouTube—yes, a sentence that still feels vaguely ridiculous to say out loud. Once upon a time we lived in a world before YouTube existed. (I don’t remember those days clearly, because my memory enjoys playing hide-and-seek, but I’m told they definitely happened.) Anyway. This couple lived in an RV when I first found them during my vanlife-curious era, and eventually they traded wheels for a sailboat. Something about that shift—taking your entire