.jpg)
Featured Author
J.O. Ellis
J.O.Ellis is an author living in the piney woods of Texas with her veteran husband, autistic son and two dogs, not including the several other animals she brings into her home on a regular basis. When she’s not writing she can be found lost in a pile of books, advocating for the inclusion and rights of the neurodiverse, thrift shopping or befriending a woodland creature.
Her novel How the Fox Runs is loved by readers worldwide.
Visit her Instagram @paperbackhart
Authors Work
.jpg)
How The Fox Runs
Published November 21st 2023
Alise, an inmate at an asylum for the criminally insane, wants nothing more than a life of freedom in the forest she loves.
Charged with the murder of her lover, Alise is convinced she has been framed. Motivated by this belief she manipulates, cheats and steals her way out only to be captured by a mysterious acquaintance, who claims his intentions align with her own. Together, they embark on a path of betrayal that distorts the very fabric of her reality.
Alise is thrown into a realm unlike anything she’s ever imagined. A world of opulent balls and fanciful inventions that defy the laws of science. As an outlawed trespasser, she must choose between a certain death or accepting aid from The Colony's most feared lieutenant—the very man who betrayed her heart. Bound by their shared secret, they are forced to work together and play their roles perfectly lest they be discovered and executed for their crimes.
Will Alise ever be free and return to her beloved forest? Or will she be swallowed whole by this strange new world?
How the Fox Runs is a mind-bending journey between fantasy and reality where new worlds are discovered in a distant reflection of our own. Perfect for fans of V.E. Schwab, Stephanie Garber and Erin Morgenstern.
Swans by Design
Published June 30th 2025
What is to become of the one left behind?
In the aftermath of her brother’s retreat from the Second Realm, Kareena is desperate to escape her father’s relentless control over every aspect of her life. She travels to Wroclaw to study at their renowned medical university, determined to become the Colony’s first female doctor and to be with the man she has loved since childhood.
However, after unknowingly giving medical attention to injured rebels, Kareena begins to suspect they are not the villains she’s been led to believe. Thrust onto a path of secrets, lies, and sacrifice, Kareena must balance on a tightrope as she navigates the turmoil between Colony and rebel factions, all the while deceiving her father, who holds her future in his hands. As oppressive forces close in, will she have to give up her dream of becoming the first female doctor? Or will she finally claim her independence?
Journey with Kareena through a new and wondrous city. Where awe inspiring technology meets the glittering Victorian world of the Second Realm in this gripping continuation of How the Fox Runs.
Where the Blade Bites
Expected 2027
To save the lives of those I love, I must surrender my own.
When an Elite blackmailer threatens to expose Alise and Articus’s crimes, the two lovers flee certain death—not only for themselves but for those implicated. They gain passage—under the guise of academic research—on an airship departing for a trade route into the mysterious Third Realm. Alise grieves the life she must leave behind, but the only way to protect her loved ones is to disappear without a trace.
But the Third Realm is not the peaceful escape from persecution they’d hoped for. The native population violently retaliates against Colony foreigners in their lands, and sightings of strange hybridized creatures at the edge of the forest keep the residents fearful of venturing beyond the border of their quaint port town.
Tensions snap, resulting in a devastating ambush of bloodshed, and Alise and Articus are ripped apart, leaving Alise to rely upon her own strength and skills. Is she capable enough to rescue the one she loves with nothing more than a gifted dagger and a blood trail to guide her? Or will the remaining piece of her heart be out of reach forever?
Where the Blade Bites, book two in the How the Fox Runs series, continues Alise’s tale in a treacherous new realm with mad, man-eating beasts, a fierce clan of warrior women, and an unwavering lineage of royal goddesses, where the true monsters are far worse than the creatures that lurk in the shadows of the forest and sanctuary is found in the most unexpected of places.