What Burns Here

Crowned Catalyst Press is an independent fantasy press rooted in fire, myth, and emotional devastation.
We publish stories for the ones who feel too much. For the ones who lost something they can’t name.This isn’t just a press.
It’s a place to grieve. To burn. To survive.
It’s where the spark caught—and never went out.

Step Into The Flame

The Archive
For the grief behind the draft. Submit a whisper, or read what others left behind.The Novastrae Series
Where myth meets memory. Fantasy lit by fire, loss, and legacy.The Flamekeeper
Meet the writer who built a world out of what she couldn’t say aloud.Submissions
Not open yet. But when the time comes… bring your fire.

Join the Archive

For whispers, sparks, and sacred updates from the Flamekeeper.

Provide your email address to subscribe. For example: [email protected]

We only send whispers when it matters.
Your embermark will only be used for updates from Crowned Catalyst Press.You can step away at any time using the link in every message.

About the Flamekeeper

Arista Dawson is the founder of Crowned Catalyst Press and the writer of emotionally irresponsible fantasy fueled by myth, grief, and fire.
No degree. No chill. Just survival and storytelling.Crowned Catalyst Press was never meant to be a brand.
It was a spark—ignited by silence, carried by grief, and shaped into story.It began with Novastrae, a world built to hold what couldn’t be said aloud.
Now, that world is the first flame.
But it won’t be the last.This press exists for the ones who burn quietly.
For the letters never sent. The grief that lingers.
The kind of stories that don’t shout, but still cut deep.

“I didn’t write the story. I gave my grief a sword… and it wrote itself.”

This isn’t a brand. It’s a flame. And it burns beautifully.

Submit to the Flame

For the grief behind the draft. For the letters never sent. For the ones who still burn.The Archive isn’t fully open yet. The ink is still drying.
But grief rarely waits.
So if you need to say it—say it. We’ll hold the silence until it’s time.

If you’ve found the mark of the flame, you already know what to do.
(Not sure where to start? Try a memory you can’t hold but can’t let go.)

The Novastrae Series

The war took everything from her.
Her name, her home, her family.
But not her fire.In a fractured land where peace is a memory and power lies in silence, one girl carries a spark the world forgot how to hold.And when that spark ignites again, nothing—and no one—stays buried.

Book 1: The Spark of Elendirra — coming soon.

Reach the Flamekeeper

For press, partnership, or reader inquiries, the Flamekeeper can be reached here.

The Flamekeeper

This wasn’t supposed to be a book.

I didn’t make this to be known.
I made it because the silence got too loud.
Because grief needed a name.
And I needed somewhere to put it.Now it lives here—quiet, firelit, and still breathing.
This isn’t a brand. This isn’t a performance.
It’s survival.
And maybe, if it finds the right reader…
It becomes something more.

This is not just a book.
This is not just a story.
It is a weight. A breath. A quiet invitation.

You may not realize what you’re holding at first.
You may not notice the silence. But it’s there.
Waiting.This is a story shaped by grief, loss, love, and pressure.
It is about what we carry. What we bury. What we burn.And it does not shout its meaning.If you are looking for it—
you will find it.It’s in the stillness.
In the breath before a memory. In the pause after a name.
In the hands that offer softness without understanding why.This story won’t tell you how to feel.
It won’t give you answers.
But it will offer you space.To ache.
To question.
To remember.
To breathe.You might think you came here for fantasy.
But what you’ve stepped into is something quieter.
Something heavier.
Something real.You won’t find any of this said outright.
But it’s all there.
If you follow the flame—you’ll find it.
And maybe… you’ll find yourself.

I won’t spell it out for you.
But I will hold the space.I will guide you through grief with tenderness and timing.
I will let you breathe when it gets heavy.
I will let you question, ache, wonder—without giving you the answers.Because the answers aren’t written in ink.
They live in the spaces between.This story was never just mine.
Novastrae gave me the language to say it.
But what you find here?
That’s yours.

But only if you’re ready.

YOU'VE BEEN MARKED.

The Archive remembers you now.

Your ember has been added to the Archive.
The next whisper will find you when the time is right.Until then...
Stay close to the flame.