THE INK IS BLACK PODCAST | Tiffani Staten

Illustrated woman with short black hair, pink sneakers, and hoop earrings sitting on a stack of books under a podcast microph

with Tiffani Staten

Blood Moon by Britney S. Lewis

October Book Club Pick

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A dark, lyrical exploration of grief, love, and generational curses.

Just in time for Halloween, Blood Moon sinks its teeth into the haunting realities that live beneath the surface of our pain. In this darkly poetic and genre-bending novel, Britney S. Lewis weaves a tale of grief, generational trauma, and the supernatural, where the monsters we face aren’t always the ones lurking in the shadows.

When Mira was thirteen, her mother vanished...no note, no answers, just an ache that never quit. Now, as a college freshman trying to start over, Mira can’t outrun the past. Strange incidents ripple across campus, old hometown legends suddenly have teeth, and a guarded boy with secrets of his own keeps crossing her path. As the blood moon rises, Mira is pulled into a world where history is written in scars and loyalty can be lethal.

Blood Moon is a pulse-quickening, paranormal romance about inherited wounds, first love, and the courage it takes to face what haunts your family line. Moody, magnetic, and mysterious, it asks: when the shadows finally name you, who do you choose to be?

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FRESH INK SPOTLIGHT

The Poisons We Drink

By Bethany Baptiste

Witchcraft, Legacy, and the Price of Power.

In The Poisons We Drink (debuted in 2024), Bethany Baptiste brews a potent blend of magic and moral consequence. Sixteen-year-old Venus Stoneheart crafts potions to manipulate emotions; a dangerous skill in a city where magic is both currency and curse. But when political unrest threatens her family, Venus must decide whether to heal the world or burn it down.

Baptiste’s debut novel is as sharp as it is spellbinding, exploring the intoxicating mix of grief, vengeance, and love that runs through every generation. A must-read for those who like their fantasy with heart, edge, and a hint of venom.

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THE INK IS BLACK BLOG

"Not Another Witch Story": How Blood Moon Rewrites Black Girl Magic

There's this quiet expectation in fantasy literature: when Black girls show up, they're witches. Root workers. Conjurers. Practitioners of something the industry keeps calling "dark" and "mystical." And look, I get it. That archetype comes from somewhere real. Our history is full of ritual and spiritual inheritance. The conjure woman, the root worker, the woman who knows which herbs heal and which words hold power? She's ancestral. She matters. But she's also become a loop. A

He Burns by the River: Colorism, Complexity, and the Power of Story

When I picked up Khalia Moreau's He Burns by the River , I knew I was stepping into Trinidad in the 1960s. What I didn't expect was how deeply the story would hold up a mirror to something we all recognize across the Black diaspora—colorism. The novel follows two brothers: Danny, the light-skinned golden child who everyone loves and admires, and Roran, his darker-skinned brother who carries the weight of constant comparison, jealousy, and responsibility. When Danny falls ill,

When Separate Could Have Been Equal: Jamila Minnicks' "Moonrise Over New Jessup" and the Integration Question We're Still Asking

There's a moment in Jamila Minnicks' stunning debut "Moonrise Over New Jessup" where Alice Young steps off a bus in 1957 Alabama expecting to encounter the familiar signage of segregation, "White Only" and "Colored", only to discover something extraordinary. New Jessup is an all-Black town where residents have not only rejected integration but have built something remarkable: a thriving community that operates entirely on its own terms. Reading about New Jessup in 2025 feels