In the coastal town of Marshwick, tides whisper secrets, and maps hold more than mere directions they hold memory, life, and power. Lena, the mapmaker’s daughter, has grown up among ink-stained charts and murmuring compasses, never suspecting that her father’s obsession conceals a dangerous truth.
When the marsh begins to shift and maps bleed red, Lena discovers a hidden map unlike any other alive, sentient, and calling only her. With the mysterious boy Sol as her guide, she must navigate a world where the boundary between land and something otherworldly is thin, and the marsh remembers every wrong turn, every forgotten path.
Haunted by her father’s past, drawn into the tides’ ancient will, Lena is faced with a choice: resist the power that has chosen her, or accept it and become the voice of a living map that has waited decades for its next steward.
Derek Desousa is a storyteller who loves twisting the ordinary into something unexpected. His books mix mystery, humor, and supernatural weirdness in equal measure, usually with characters who didn’t ask for cosmic responsibility but got stuck with it anyway. When he isn’t writing, Derek can be found nursing a too-large cup of coffee, exploring forgotten corners of the city, or daydreaming about alternate timelines where he gets more sleep.
His stories invite readers to ask: What if the life you missed came looking for you?View all by Derek Desousa
