FAQ

You can read a more in-depth history here. I always knew I wanted to be a writer, but it was in university that I started researching alternatives to traditional publishing. I’d submitted manuscripts to publishers with encouraging results, but I wanted to see if I could publish myself and actually be successful. I took a publishing course at Humber College, where I made lots of friends and filled in the gaps in my publishing knowledge. Then, in 2011, I published my debut novel, Within.

My partner, David. The Sparkstone Saga covers are illustrated by Bramasta Aji.

Sure! But:

• You have to contact me with your website/blog.
• I only give out eBook copies for review. Physical books are extremely expensive to ship.
• I reserve the right to grant or deny any review request (just because you ask, doesn’t mean you shall receive).

I generally say age 12+ for most of my titles, except Within, which I say 16+ for language and more mature themes.

The benchmark I tend to place here is, “Are they reading novels without too much assistance? Are they reading novels with 250 pages, with few or no illustrations?” If so, it's likely they will be able to read my novels. 

As always, this answer depends on the reader's individual reading level. 🙂 I suggest reading a sample chapter to get a sense for yourself!

“Inappropriate” can be a term with multiple meanings. Many parents I’ve talked to are most concerned about whether or not the teen characters in my books are engaging in sexual relationships.

My response: my characters are too busy saving the world to have serious, hot-and-heavy relationships.

As of writing this FAQ:

• None of the books have sex in them.
• The Violet Fox Series contains some make-outs.
• The Sparkstone Saga has some kissing.
• Within has adult language.

Yes. Please note that this may not be an exhaustive list.

• The Violet Fox Series contains death of a family member(s), public execution/torture, slavery, mentions of gambling, emotional manipulation by family members, kidnapping, plague, murder, anxiety spiraling, extreme poverty, and abandonment.
• The Sparkstone Saga contains kidnapping, death, murder, emotional manipulation by persons with extreme authority, torture, imprisonment, gaslighting, attempted suicide, feelings of hopelessness, living on the lam, and physically gross aliens.
• Within has many mature themes including kidnapping, death, and murder and adult language.

Yes – the Sparkstone Saga has at least one gay character.

You can read detailed descriptions of the Violet Fox Series and the Sparkstone Saga on their respective pages.

The Violet Fox Series is a Cinderella, fairy-tale type story set in a fantasy world. It’s about a girl who pretends to be a princess to sneak into a castle to retrieve a stolen magical artefact, but ends up falling in love with a prince and starting a war.

The Sparkstone Saga is a fantastical science fiction story set in a fictional town in Alberta, Canada. It’s about a girl who is accepted to a secretive university where everyone has superpowers, but a group of aliens control the university and they want to take the students’ superpowers, and so the protagonist and her friends have to use their superpowers to fight against the aliens.

Gear and Sea is a stand-alone book set in a larger universe created by my friends, Justin Currie (Chasing Artwork) and GMB Chomichuk. They approached me to write book set in their world. However, you do not have to have read their previous books in this universe to understand my story! Gear and Sea is about a group of children living on an automated, travelling boat in a post-apocalyptic world populated with predatory robots. One day, they find and repair a protector robot, who they befriend. This is a story about deep friendship in adversity and sacrifice, and ideal for fans of The Iron Giant.

Within is a horror/thriller mystery set in Halifax, Nova Scotia. It’s about a group of friends who get in a car accident and one of the girls becomes brain-damaged. She begins receiving visions of murders that are actually happening, but she’s only able to communicate lucidly when she enters a fugue state to write a strange, horrific novel. Her friends have to put the pieces together to uncover the murderer.

Identifying with a particular gender is not a prerequisite for book enjoyment.

In other words: did your daughter enjoy reading The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson) a series with male protagonist POVs? Or any other YA book with a male protagonist? If so, I don’t see why your son wouldn’t enjoy reading my books, which have predominantly female POVs.

In short, if you enjoy superheroes, solving mysteries, exploring the consequences of unchecked magical power, alien invasions, and young people standing up to people in authority…you’re going to like my books.

Faery Ink Press sells books directly to the reader online. You can also order them in to Chapters or your local bookstore. Most of the time, the copies provided to them will be print on demand, printed and distributed through Ingram. This is the cheapest, most efficient way for me to distribute a print copy that doesn’t come directly from me, however I cannot guarantee how long it will take for you to receive them. The fastest way to get a Faery Ink Press book is to order directly through this website. If you are a Canadian bookstore that would like to carry my books, please see the distribution page!

I also attend conventions regularly in Canada. You can see where I’m going to be by visiting my events page.

For print books, if you can send me proof that a book has a missing page, or anything where the printer might be at fault, I will send a replacement copy. Unfortunately I cannot accept returns on personalized, signed books.

I will do exchanges on corrupted eBook files, or try to help you troubleshoot files if they don’t work.

For more detail, see the shipping policy.

Please contact me ASAP with images of the damage and I will send a replacement copy.

• I live in Canada. Canada is a big land mass.
• Books are heavy. 

While this sounds like an elementary answer, these are the top two reasons why shipping is so expensive. Shipping cost is measured by how much something weighs plus the distance it travels. 

I offset shipping costs by offering free shipping over a set amount. This means giving you, the customer/reader, more books for the best deal possible - while I swallow the shipping cost. To an extent, I can do this because I (the creator) am selling directly to you, the consumer.

I ship with Canada Post for domestic orders and ChitChats for international orders. While I'm always on the lookout for the best shipping provider, these two solutions work the best for me and my customers at present.

Please read the shipping policy for more information about shipping.