J. B. ROSE

A little light for good work

Friends of Eldria
and Beyond

Stories are never created in isolation.

Friends of Eldria and Beyond is a place to celebrate the indie authors, artists, creators, and wonderfully imaginative people I have met along the way. This is not a paid promotional space. These are people and works I genuinely enjoy, admire, or simply think deserve a little more light shone their way.

Have a wander. You might just discover your next favourite story, artist, or creative obsession.

The Early Shelf, a community marketplace for emerging authors and early readers

For emerging authors & early readers

The Early Shelf

The Early Shelf is a community marketplace designed to connect emerging authors with readers before publication, creating a space for honest, structured early feedback.

Authors can privately share as much or as little of their manuscript as they choose, while readers access the work through a protected in-app reader rather than receiving the manuscript file itself. Authors can set release countdowns, limit advance-reader numbers, and direct readers towards their eventual release or pre-order.

For readers, it’s an opportunity to discover stories before they reach the shelves, support emerging writers, and provide feedback that can genuinely help an author understand how their story is landing.

Why they’re a friend

I love the idea of creating a space where indie authors can find genuine early readers while remaining in control of their work. The Early Shelf aims to support both sides: writers looking for meaningful feedback and readers who enjoy discovering stories before everyone else does.

Visit The Early Shelf
Girl in the Mirror by Kelly Thompson, a memoir about loss and finding yourself

A friend of Eldria

Girl in the Mirror

Kelly Thompson

Kelly Thompson is a Friend of Eldria because her story, while heartbreaking, reminds us that we are not alone. Some of us write horror and fantasy to give shape to our fears, sadness, and the things we find difficult to say aloud. Kelly takes a different path. She jumps straight into the heart of those things and tells her story with an openness and vulnerability that stayed with me long after I finished reading.

Girl in the Mirror is heartbreaking and, at the same time, incredibly beautiful. This is Kelly’s story of being hurt, but it’s also the story of the journey she’s taking to discover who she is now. She writes about the girl she was before, who wasn’t afraid and made plans for the future, and the girl after, who can’t even look at herself in the mirror anymore.

This isn’t a story I’d describe as easy to read, nor should it be. It’s vulnerable, painful, and deeply human. But there’s beauty in the way Kelly has chosen to tell it. She took something horrible that happened to her and created something beautiful from it.

For readers looking for a book they can resonate with, a story that may help them recognise pieces of themselves in someone else’s journey, I highly recommend Girl in the Mirror. Sometimes knowing someone else has stood where you are standing can make the world feel a little less lonely.

Find Girl in the Mirror