Delaney Escott lives in a world where popularity reigns supreme. If you want to be noticed, social status is everything. The government is run by the Superiors: a very exclusive group of individuals who are virtually flawless. They are smarter than us and stronger than us, and to join their ranks is the highest honor. The Superiors pay an annual visit to the top schools in the nation and evaluate the students, choosing one boy and one girl - the most Popular in the school - to go the Capitol and train for Superiority. Delaney thinks that she's the only one indifferent to (and perhaps even suspicious of) the Superiors, until Caleb Payne, the most popular boy in school, approaches her with a request. He has a task for her, one that he believes she is uniquely capable of completing. And as she helps him, Delaney discovers that the government is hiding many secrets - and that the truth of the Superiors is far from what people believe it to be. [Watty Awards 2012 Winner, Science-Fiction: On the Rise]

The city of Harborne is one with a troubled past. Its influence once wiped out an entire nation and, in return, it brought the wrath of the Dragon-Kin, of Bron and the Viper, down upon its walls. For over a year it survived, protected by the subtleties of its location, by the ocean and the rain, until its fate was eventually sealed by one of its own. In this world where everyone is born with magic, Edward Montgomery, who somehow had not a scrap of power within him, turned his heart to darkness and let the serpents through Harborne’s battered gates. And though this happened seven generations ago, there is still a saying in the city that survived Bron: “No magic leads to dark magic”. Which wasn’t a problem when Kiara was a child and could disappear from sight with nothing more than a simple thought. Only now she’s inexplicably crippled, with no magic to speak of, and the horizons beckon. She’s headed East, to the Mirror City, because they say a man can buy anything there, anything at all. And anything is exactly what she’d give to get her magic back. She’s willing to face dragons for it. Lucky, really, since Ben is tired of this power he cannot control, and he’s headed East too, to see if he can’t just sell his. **** Watty Award Shortlisted (Most Imaginative Setting) 2012 *****

The first volume in the epic fantasy series Soulwoven. Litnig Jin has spent his life yearning for the power to weave the souls of the dead into magic. His brother Cole has spent his believing in nothing bigger than his own two hands. When a dragon sinks its claws into their nightmares, both of their lives will change forever. A dream of moving statues, shattered chains, and seething clouds of darkness sets the brothers on a journey into the unknown. A prince asks for their help. A necromancer hunts them. The bloom of first love gives Cole something to believe in. And as the brothers travel the world of Guedin seeking to prevent the hatred of a god from coming to life, Litnig learns that there are prices to pay for all power, and that the power he seeks may cost him more than he can possibly imagine. Soulwoven is a story of high fantasy, high adventure, and high soul searching in eight points of view, written with people between the ages of 15 and 30 in mind. I love it, and I hope you will too. Edit: An updated version of Soulwoven is available commercially. Help me write more and buy a copy! The print book will look great on your shelf, I promise. :-) Favorite reader blurbs! "This is the finest piece of literary work I've read in months." - @yakotseal "Very very like a piece of steak" - @incipient "THIS BOOK IS SOOO DAMN AWESOME A.K.A COOOOOL" - @jewell122 "Once it picks up it's impossible to put down." - @RonDoolin -JS

The second volume in the epic fantasy series SOULWOVEN. Darkness is falling. The dragon Sherduan is free, and the fate of the world balances on its claws. The Jin brothers and their friends are separated. Alone, they face shadows deeper even than those in their dreams. Litnig wrestles with his heritage. Cole and Dil cling to shards of happiness as the world crumbles. Quay finds that, in the end, his weakness may outweigh his determination. Ryse and Leramis find in their homecomings not solace but soul-crushing ordeal. And others enter the stage. Len Heramsun's daughter follows Tsu'min as he tries to summon a force to oppose Sherduan. A prophet offers guidance to those he can find. In Nutharion, a boy of great power plots to reunite those spared by the dragon. And elsewhere, a ghost and a necromancer contend with the wages of sin. Those who stood before the black wall when Sherduan was summoned were chosen. But by whom? And for what? And will their courage create enough light to survive the darkness?

After spending a year teaching in Thailand, I longed to travel with only my quirky self to keep me company. My journey started in Myanmar where temple cycles and village treks exposed me to the past and present of this intriguing nation. I returned to Northern Thailand for a volunteer experience and some of the most ingenious and adrenaline-pumping New Year's celebrations. Indonesia's smiling faces warmed my heart and even coaxed me out on a date or two. Join in if you've ever wanted to experience the beauty of a volcanic sunrise, the joy of Javanese hospitality or the thrill of a five-day water festival where joining a water war is as easy as saying 'Sawatdee!' or 'Hello' for my English readers.

In Tokyo, where the System siphons thought, emotions & memories, a literature student meets a strange psychic girl and they embark on an escape from mindless agents, dream worlds and reality itself, in a soul-searching journey for love, for identity and what it means to be human. But all that remains is a peculiar coffee shop order. The novel examines the human condition, perception, socio-political systems, capitalism and consumer culture, incorporating paranoiac conspiracy theories, surreal cosmic visions, circular symbolism and shifting parallel worlds, with profound discussions of coffee, art, literature and music. [Dystopia, Magical Realism, Philosophy, Literary] #1 Sci-Fi, Spiritual; #Wattys2014 Award Winner; Featured on Wattpad, IndieReader, @DIGonUSA "Struck me to the very core of my being." "Very interesting concept of reality... Thought provoking.." "I have been turned to a whole new way of thinking because of you." "Like a seven course meal full of spice and illumination... One does not listen to a classical piece to get to its ending. No. It is the ride, the moment by moment...a genuine Masamune among stories." "It was both personable and philosophical. A rare breed of good story and thought provoking ideas... A virtual standing ovation would not be enough to encapsulate the absolute awe I have of you." "It's not a regular thing to find a piece of work that oozes sophistication and embodies literature and art." "The world Takatsu has created opens to the deeper awareness of another, the draw of another." - Mary L Tabor, Wattpad author, essayist, professor "Offers acute, almost painful observations of the minutiae of life, if life took place in a Murakami snow-globe." - IndieReader Insiders "Vapoury style that seems to hover off world at times...haunting and strange (which is good)...You're on to something different, striking." - B.W. Powe, York University English Professor, award-winning author, poet, philosopher http://EspressoLove.tk