When the shadows come alive, Ava and Caleb discover the only safe place is in each other’s arms.
But the closer they get, the darker the
truth becomes.
All the Shadows We
Become
by Dustin Blackwall
Genre: YA Romantasy Thriller
Caleb Ward is trying to forget the night he almost died.
Ava Lin is trying to understand why he survived.
But Hollow Creek isn’t letting either of them move on.
What starts as a strange blackout spirals into a trail of
eerie clues, shifting shadows, and a connection between Ava and Caleb that
grows hotter and more undeniable with every new secret uncovered.
Something happened
that night.
Something dangerous.
And it’s waking up.
But the second Caleb stepped out of his
hoodie, every ounce of training she’d ever had tried to evaporate at once.
Under the thin lantern light, he looked
unreal - like someone carved him in secret and forgot to tone it down for real
life. Broad shoulders, smooth lines of muscle, a chest that rose and fell in
slow, steady waves. Even the long cut of his waist looked sculpted, defined by
a faint shadow that dipped beneath the band of his shirt.
She swallowed hard. Professional. She
had to stay professional.
“Sit… sit still,” she said, though her
voice wavered.
Caleb obeyed, but the motion only made
things worse - muscles shifting under his skin like a quiet ripple, arms
flexing as he rested them on his knees. There were faint veins along his
forearms, subtle but impossible to ignore, and his hands… strong, warm-looking,
capable.
Ava’s fingers hovered before she touched
him.
Focus. Just focus.
But then she wrapped the blood pressure
cuff around his arm, and her fingertips brushed the heat of his skin - the kind
of heat that wasn’t just temperature. Caleb drew in a breath, low and
surprised, and she felt it like a pulse of electricity between them.
“You okay?” he asked softly.
“Yeah,” she lied instantly.
His eyes flicked to her mouth for half a
second - half a second - and her heartbeat misfired so hard she nearly fumbled
the stethoscope.
Get it together, Ava.
She leaned closer, pretending she needed to
hear his pulse better, but really just trying to anchor herself. Caleb smelled
faintly of clean soap and something warm, something masculine that made her
knees weaken.
“Your heart rate’s elevated,” she murmured.
His voice dropped: “Yours too.”
Her hands trembled.
Professional. Right. Any second now.
Light Years to
Midnight
by Dustin Blackwall
Genre: SciFi Thriller
When data itself begins to speak, who decides what it’s trying to say?
Light Years To Midnight — a globe-spanning thriller where science, faith, and
code collide in a race against a countdown written into the fabric of reality.
The wind whipped dust across the plateau as Jonas crested
the ridge, breath burning in his throat. Below him, the satellite dishes of the
abandoned relay station stretched into the dark like a field of frozen giants.
Their metal frames groaned under the rising storm, each bent toward the same
invisible point on the horizon.
He wasn’t alone.
A faint beam of light—too controlled to be an
accident—flickered between the dishes. Jonas crouched, heart thudding, watching
as a woman stepped into view, her silhouette sharp against the skeletal
machinery. She moved with the alertness of someone who had been running for far
too long.
Elena.
He had seen her face in files, in encrypted packets, in the
warnings that had chased him across continents. But seeing her here, in the
flesh, felt unreal—like walking into a photograph he wasn’t meant to
understand.
Before he could speak, a second figure emerged from the
opposite end of the array. Maya paused only when she spotted Elena, recognition
flaring across her face. They had never met, not really, but the anomaly had
braided their paths tightly enough that the moment felt inevitable.
Jonas stood and lifted a hand, but movement in the distance
froze him mid-step.
Engines.
Low, tactical, deliberate.
A convoy approached from the north, its headlights dark, its
tires crunching through gravel like muffled gunfire. Special
operations—unmarked, unhurried, confident. Not hunters, but collectors.
Maya stepped closer, her breath sharp in the cold air. “Does
it matter?”
Something pulsed beneath the earth—three beats, a pause,
three more—vibrating up through the metal frames of the dishes. The sky above
them shimmered, faint but unmistakable, as if answering the rhythm.
Jonas swallowed hard.
“No,” he said. “It doesn’t matter anymore. It’s already
found us.”
Dustin is a lifelong fan of science and speculative fiction,
blending his fascination with astronomy, technology, and the unknown into
stories that explore the edge between logic and wonder. When he’s not writing,
he’s reading, stargazing, or chasing trails on his dirt bike — always searching
for what lies just beyond understanding.
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GUEST POST
What inspired you to write this book?
I’ve always loved Halloween — it’s my second favorite holiday after Christmas — and there’s something magical about that time of year that never really left me. I wanted to tap into that feeling again, the sense of wonder and mystery I had when life was simpler and the world felt a little bigger.
So I started writing a story that let me step back into that space. A world I would have loved to wander through myself… eerie, playful, full of possibility. Creating it felt like revisiting an old memory and discovering something new inside it. And sharing that world with readers is one of the most joyful parts of the journey.
What can we expect from you in the future?
I’ve got a few more ideas rattling around in my head — stories that feel a bit more adult, a little grittier, with edges I’m curious to explore. And who knows… one of them seems to be whispering about becoming a trilogy.
It’s still early, but that’s part of the joy. Writing has opened doors I didn’t expect, and I’m excited to follow these new threads wherever they lead. If readers are willing to come along, I’d love to keep building worlds we can step into together.
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
What I enjoyed most was how writing this story carried me back to my childhood — a time when everything felt a little simpler and the world didn’t weigh quite so heavily. It reminded me of those early days of curiosity and imagination… and even of my first crush, with all the awkwardness and wonder that comes with those early infatuations.
There was something sweet about reconnecting with those memories, like rediscovering a part of myself I hadn’t visited in years. Bringing that feeling onto the page made the writing process feel less like work and more like a return to something familiar and deeply human.
If your book was made into a film, who would you like to play the lead?
Caleb: Jacob Elordi
Ava: Anna Cathcart
Liam: Timothée Chalamet
Dr. Vale: Lee Pace
Convince us why you feel your book is a must read.
I think this story is a must-read because of the way it unfolds — slowly at first, like a candle burning down in a dark room, and then suddenly you realize the shadows are moving in ways you didn’t expect. There’s a careful blend of suspense and a soft, growing romance, all wrapped in a tension that keeps tugging you forward.
What I love most is how the moments of quiet connection sit right beside the unsettling ones. It’s a story meant to pull you in gently, hold you close, and keep you wondering what might be waiting just beyond the edge of the light.
If readers enjoy that mix of heart, atmosphere, and mystery, then I think they’ll find something special here.
What did you edit out of this book?
There were moments when I felt the story tugging toward something a little steamier, especially as the characters grew closer and their emotions deepened. But I also wanted to honour the heart of the book — that youthful space where tension, longing, and connection can feel electric without crossing too far.
So I chose to keep the romance within a safe YA zone, focusing more on the emotion, the build-up, and those breath-catching moments that say so much without needing to go further. In many ways, holding back made the story stronger… it let the characters speak through their feelings rather than the physical details.
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