Elissa wants to be elected to the student council, but she is terrified of public speaking. Then one night, she has a strange dream, where her adventures in a fantasy world teach her how to overcome her fears - both imagined and real.

When Elissa, a healer's apprentice, becomes a pawn in a battle for a royal's kingdom, her quest for freedom and the truth about her past leads to questions about the future and whether she truly is the key to the prophecy of the Phoenix.

“Disconcertingly thought-provoking.” —TechCrunch "Nineteen disruptive, disturbing and divergent voices ... an honest portrait of a network of gender-oppressed people leaning every which way." —Feministing "Everyone who hires or manages anyone in tech ought to read the remarkable book Lean Out. If tech companies are unwelcoming places, to hell with them. Start your own company and run it better." —The Los Angeles Times Why aren’t the great, qualified women already in tech being hired or promoted? Should people who don’t fit in seek to join an institution that is actively hostile to them? Does the tech industry deserve women leaders? The split between the stated ideals of the corporate elite and the reality of working life for women in the tech industry—whether in large public tech companies or VC-backed start-ups, in anonymous gaming forums, or in Silicon Valley or Alley—seems designed to crush women’s spirits. Corporate manifestos by women who already fit in (or who are able to convincingly fake it) aren’t helping. There is a high cost for the generation of young women and transgender people currently navigating the harsh realities of the tech industry, who gave themselves to their careers only to be ignored, harassed and disrespected. Not everyone can be a CEO; not everyone is able to embrace a workplace culture that diminishes the contributions of women and ignores real complaints. The very culture of high tech, where foosball tables and endless supplies of beer are de facto perks, but maternity leave and breast-feeding stations are controversial, is designed to appeal to young men. Lean Out collects 25 stories from the modern tech industry, from people who fought GamerGate and from women and transgender artists who have made their own games, from women who have started their own companies and who have worked for some of the most successful corporations in America, from LGBTQ women, from women of color, from transgender people and people who do not ascribe to a gender. All are fed up with the glacial pace of cultural change in America’s tech industry. Included are essays by anna anthropy, Leigh Alexander, Sunny Allen, Lauren Bacon, Katherine Cross, Dom DeGuzman, FAKEGRIMLOCK, Krys Freeman, Gesche Haas, Ash Huang, Erica Joy, Jenni Lee, Katy Levinson, Melanie Moore, Leanne Pittsford, Brook Shelley, Elissa Shevinsky, Erica Swallow, and Squinky. Edited and selected by entrepreneur and tech veteran Elissa Shevinsky, Lean Out sees a possible way forward that uses tech and creative disengagement to jettison 20th century corporate culture: “I’ve figured out a way to create safe space for myself in tech,” writes Shevinsky. “I’ve left Silicon Valley, and now work remotely from home. I adore everyone on my team, because I hired them myself.”

Finalist for the PEN Open Book Award Longlisted for the PEN/Jean Stein Award A TIME, NPR, New York Public Library, Lit Hub, Book Riot, and Entropy Best Book of the Year "Beguiling and haunting. . . . Washuta's voice sears itself onto the skin." —The New York Times Book Review Bracingly honest and powerfully affecting, White Magic establishes Elissa Washuta as one of our best living essayists. Throughout her life, Elissa Washuta has been surrounded by cheap facsimiles of Native spiritual tools and occult trends, “starter witch kits” of sage, rose quartz, and tarot cards packaged together in paper and plastic. Following a decade of abuse, addiction, PTSD, and heavy-duty drug treatment for a misdiagnosis of bipolar disorder, she felt drawn to the real spirits and powers her dispossessed and discarded ancestors knew, while she undertook necessary work to find love and meaning. In this collection of intertwined essays, she writes about land, heartbreak, and colonization, about life without the escape hatch of intoxication, and about how she became a powerful witch. She interlaces stories from her forebears with cultural artifacts from her own life—Twin Peaks, the Oregon Trail II video game, a Claymation Satan, a YouTube video of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham—to explore questions of cultural inheritance and the particular danger, as a Native woman, of relaxing into romantic love under colonial rule.

THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD ELISSA LEADS a solitary life. She knows nothing of her parents—only that her mother is dead. Her caretaker, Nana, keeps her father's identity a secret from her. Meanwhile Elissa carries her own secret—the people of the valley must not know that she has the gift of speaking to animals. For now she is just a healer's apprentice in peaceful High Crossing, but Elissa dreams of a more exciting life, and of, one day, finding her father. When an unexpected royal guest arrives at the Manor, Elissa's life changes forever. She leaves home with him, only to discover that she's become a pawn in a battle for his kingdom. Accompanied by her dear donkey, Gertrude, she is delivered to the evil Khan. Elissa's quest for freedom and the truth about her past leads to questions about the future. Is she the key to a prophecy—the prophecy of the Phoenix—that everyone seems to know about, except her? In Book One of the Phoenix Rising trilogy, new author Erica Verrillo has crafted a classic—and often humorous—fantasy adventure with a strong, unwitting heroine.

Overworked, exhausted New York City girl meets tough, rugged Texas tycoon and fireworks are the result. Elissa is sick of men and their philandering ways. She's not sure what she wants anymore, having had it all in New York - or at least what she thought was a full life in the Big Apple. Jake is skeptical that a city girl can make it in the rough Texas heat. But the two eventually discover that they are made for each other and the passion that is constantly under the surface flares to life, hotter than any Texas afternoon in July.

When Elissa, a healer's apprentice, becomes a pawn in a battle for a royal's kingdom, her quest for freedom and the truth about her past leads to questions about the future and whether she truly is the key to the prophecy of the Phoenix. Reprint.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A restless young journalist with big dreams interviews a Hollywood heartthrob—and reunites with him ten years later to discover exactly how he feels about her in this sexy and engrossing novel “You will absolutely devour this book. It’s filled with delightful banter, hot romance, and a love story that’s worthy of the big screen.”—Kate Spencer, author of In a New York Minute and host of Forever35 ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Cosmopolitan, NPR, The Washington Post, Book Riot Then. Twenty-something writer Chani Horowitz is stuck. While her former MFA classmates are nabbing high-profile book deals, all she does is churn out puff pieces. Then she’s hired to write a profile of movie star Gabe Parker: her number one celebrity crush and the latest James Bond. All Chani wants to do is keep her cool and nail the piece. But what comes next proves to be life changing in ways she never saw coming, as the interview turns into a whirlwind weekend that has the tabloids buzzing—and Chani getting closer to Gabe than she had planned. Now. Ten years later, after a brutal divorce and a healthy dose of therapy, Chani is back in Los Angeles as a successful writer with the career of her dreams. Except that no matter what new essay collection or online editorial she’s promoting, someone always asks about The Profile. It always comes back to Gabe. So when his PR team requests that they reunite for a second interview, she wants to say no. She wants to pretend that she’s forgotten about the time they spent together. But the truth is that Chani wants to know if those seventy-two hours were as memorable to Gabe as they were to her. And so . . . she says yes. Alternating between their first meeting and their reunion a decade later, this deliciously irresistible novel will have you hanging on until the last word.

On their way home after defeating the Khan, Elissa becomes separated from her donkey, Gertrude, and friend Maya, so with the hope of being reunited, she hitches a ride with the unusual crew aboard the precarious Swamp Maiden.

Book One - The Age of Shadows Series Elissa comes from hard and desperate beginnings on the streets of Galadrid. After falling foul of the City Watch and being thrown into the dungeons, she is suddenly thrust into the world of royalty and of magic. It is revealed she possesses a rare gift - the power of a Gold mage. Arina, the Queen, and one of the greatest Mages in her own right, quickly recognizes her power and commits to mentor and guide the young girl. Arth, an enigmatic Swordmaster, recently having lost his dear friend and liege, gets a message from across the veil to go to the west and find the one he is meant to protect. Arth soon reaches Galadrid and discovers Elissa and thus begins his connection as both a friend and as a master. As she trains under Arina & Arth's guidance, Elissa makes an unlikely friend in Thahim, a young lord. But her new life is far from safe. A strange enemy starts to arise to plague both the people of Galadrid and the greater kingdom. Arth, Elissa and the crown struggle to understand this rising enemy and to protect its people from the evils and destruction it heralds. Meanwhile, an ancient evil stir in the shadows, its insidious power growing. Elissa discovers that a Gold Mage is a sign of an impending age of turmoil. History has shown that, in such an age, chaos soon follows, and of impending battles between the light and dark forces. The more she learns the more she fears for the future. As Elissa wrestles with her newfound powers and responsibilities she encounters intrigue and politics swirling around her. She is confronted by the intrigues of the court and the tenuous relationship of the King, Drathren and the Guild of Mages. The realization that enemies of the crown exist within the very members of the court. Some challenge the authority of the Crown with Elissa finding herself unwittingly at the center of the resulting storm. When Elissa and Thahim make a startling discovery deep in the city, they unwittingly trigger lethal intentions. Betrayals and danger follow their every step, leading to Elissa facing her darkest hour. To save her friends and defeat the diabolical evil she discovers, she must accept her destiny and master the full might of her golden light. But even victories come at a terrible price. A wordless threat reveals greater shadows yet to come, and Elissa realizes her training has only just begun. The fate of the realm now rests on her shoulders in an epic struggle that will test the limits of her power - and her soul. Gripping from the first page to the chilling cliffhanger's end, The Rise of the Othari spins an epic tale of magic, mystery, and courage against overwhelming evil. Perfect for fans of character driven fantasy, this is the debut of an exciting new voice in epic fantasy. The Age of Shadows has only just begun.