Explore a world of possibility and mystery in Illeross, where Jean Cassy, a curseborn and thus a bad luck omen, faces racial prejudice and daily scorn regardless of her deeds.
Despite these challenges, Jean is determined to explore the world beyond her home, and soon finds herself embarking on a treacherous journey alongside the enigmatic and questionable researcher Popcorn. As Jean and Popcorn face dragon-worshiping cultists, demonic monsters that feast on fear, and Popcorn’s strange tendencies towards blood magic, she must make choices that will call into question all she believed to be true. With twists and turns that will keep readers enthralled, this gripping story of a young woman’s determination against all odds will have you hooked from the first page and leave you breathless until the last.
Jean Cassy is a fantasy that focuses on discovery of self and belief as it follows the title character through her first year away from home.
Through the pages, Jean experiences life as an adult through her first ‘real’ job in the fictional land of Illeross, a land full of darkness and secrets despite its relatively tame appearance. Of course, Jean is not the only character focused on as the male lead, a man named Popcorn, shapes and molds his own path as he interacts with Jean and demonstrates the more sinister side of the world they live in.
This book is for an older audience as it does discuss triggering topics such a racism, miscarriage, and several instances of domestic and sexual abuse in an attempt to allow readers to know that they are not alone in situations that they may have or may be experiencing. This is intentional as the author, Ellie, has seen trauma in her own life and desperately wished to have known that others were alongside her in that journey; as such, readers are invited to walk their healing path alongside Jean and Ellie as they experience and work through hurt that may be presented through the fictional scenarios. As such, the target audience is suggested to be 18+ simply due to the nature of many of the topics that are explored, though a younger audience may be able to read the content with parental guidance should the material become too heavy for them.
In a world of brokenness, Ellie hopes to help point others to the light.
After experiencing heartbreak and grief as a mother who lost two pregnancies, a relationship that broke her trust, and countless other moments of hurting, she found that her path was drawn to those who are cast aside by society due to stigma, misunderstanding, and fear in an attempt to help them feel less alone. Ellie currently lives in east Idaho with her husband, daughters, and a kleptomaniac cat. Ellie herself runs a website that gives additional contact information at My Website Ellie’s hope for her novel is to gain a community of individuals who needed someone in their lives during time of upset or pain, allowing her to communicate with others. Reaching out to individuals through Author’s Lounge is her first step into making her way into this community.
Jean Cassy and the Phantom in the Dark is the first book of a trilogy and will be followed by the second book
Jean Cassy and the Souls in the Ice, winter of 2023. Readers can expect to follow Jean’s journey while working through their own in the second novel as well. As such, Ellie’s book, Jean Cassy and the Phantom in the Dark, can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Nobel, and the Apple Book store.
