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  • 🔩Indie Ink Spotlight Debut: A Story That Fought to Be Told

🔩Indie Ink Spotlight Debut: A Story That Fought to Be Told

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WHTTR
June 07, 2025

🌒 Where the Real and Mythical Meet Ithandryll (Song of the Sidhe Book 1) by Nikki Auberkett

Welcome to the debut of Indie Ink Spotlight.


This is WHTTR’s new series dedicated to amplifying the bold, the beautiful, and the independently built. And we couldn’t have asked for a better first feature.

It starts with a lost notebook and ends with a question no one wants to ask: Where were you when it happened?

This week’s Indie Ink Spotlight isn’t just a portal to another world—it’s a reclamation. Ithandryll folds trauma into myth, memory into magic, and dares to suggest that the greatest fantasy might be survival itself. If you’ve ever run from your past—or wanted to speak a truth no one heard—this one’s going to stay with you.

First Lines

Ithandryll (Song of the Sidhe Book 1) is an emotionally intelligent, genre-blending fantasy novel where Celtic myth collides with modern survival. The story centers around Roxi, a woman caught in the quiet chaos of a past she can’t outrun—set in a world where the Sidhe walk city streets and folklore bleeds into everyday life.

At its core, Ithandryll asks a searing question: What exactly are you running from when you run from your past? Is it the trauma, the people, or the part of yourself you wish never existed?

For Nikki Auberkett, that question isn’t hypothetical. She began writing this series when she was eleven—scribbling in notebooks that were later lost, then returned to her as a birthday gift by a dear friend. By that time, Nikki had already published her debut novel. But something about Ithandryll kept pulling her back.

“I needed real-world experience,” she says. “I needed to live on my own, to experience things as an adult—good and bad—to really come from a foundation built in reality for this fantasy world.”

That foundation shows. Ithandryll doesn’t just imagine magic—it remembers pain. One key sequence in the book is drawn directly from Nikki’s own life, moments that were ignored or dismissed by those around her. “It’s cathartic for the ‘great reveal’ in the book to be a great reveal in real life,” she explains. “People told me, ‘That part was intense.’ And I ask, ‘Didn’t you notice? You were there.’ That’s exactly what Roxi is communicating to everyone in that moment.”

Ithandryll is rich with folklore and fantasy—but it's built from something deeper: memory, truth, and the bravery to turn pain into power.

Listen to the Podcast

Between the Lines

Sometimes the boldest worldbuilding happens outside the page. Here’s a glimpse into Nikki’s indie publishing journey:

What was a pivotal moment in your indie publishing journey?

“When I finally allowed myself to just be an author. Not an editor who writes. Not a bookseller who also pens fiction. Just—an author. Once I claimed that identity, doors began to swing open.”

What’s something not in your author bio?

“I’m a vegetable gardener! It started with a few seed packets and now I’m cultivating 72 food plant variations and preparing to join the Iowa Master Gardener program.”

What nearly stopped this book from existing—and how did you push through?

“Life. Trauma. Tragedy. Survival. It’s hard to chase imaginary worlds when real ones are crumbling. But I kept writing, even when it felt like no one noticed. That quiet persistence gave this story life.”

Margins & Meanings

“Being an indie author means I can share the story the way it’s meant to be shared—not trimmed down for marketability, but told with honesty, heart, and full creative freedom.”

For Nikki Auberkett, indie publishing isn’t a workaround—it’s a manifesto. A commitment to emotional truth over formula. A space where stories, especially the ones that don't fit cleanly into a genre box, can finally breathe.

With Ithandryll, Nikki doesn’t just invite you into a new world—she challenges you to rethink your relationship with forgiveness. “I hope readers who may be struggling with mercy and forgiveness at least feel curious about what might happen if those things are given—even when it hurts,” she says.

And in a world that teaches us to cut ties and guard our pain, Ithandryll quietly, radically asks: What if healing could be the most magical act of all?

Shelf Life

The Last Page

Some stories are written to entertain. Others, to heal. Ithandryll manages to do both. It’s a whispered truth disguised as a fantasy—an invitation to look again at the moments we thought no one saw.

We’re honored that this is where the Indie Ink Spotlight begins—with a story as raw, resonant, and real as this one.

And it’s just the beginning.
Every Saturday, we’ll meet here—with another voice, another book, another reason to believe that stories still matter.

Thank you for making time for this one.
After all, who has time to read?
We do. Together.

The WHTTR Team

✉ Share Your Story Next

If something in today’s story resonated—if you’ve written a book that carries its own kind of truth, myth, grit, or grace—we want to hear it.

Indie Ink Spotlight is where independent voices get the light they deserve. No gatekeeping. No gimmicks. Just stories that matter, told by the people who lived them.

To be considered for a future feature,
📬 email us at [email protected]
with the subject line: Community Exchange

We'll take it from there.

Published by ONE Media


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