Ink-Stained Hearts: A Shared Life in Words – Tags: Behind the Scenes, Creative Partnership, Ink-Stained Hearts, Literary Life, Writers' Life

The Long Reads📜| Life & Legacy

The best partnerships aren’t just a meeting of people, but a collision of worlds. For us, it was an instant recognition of a shared spirit — wanting to live a life building a dream together through words, books, and music, fuelled by coffee, ink, and an ongoing curiosity into life and all that surrounds us. We felt and became “Ink-Stained Hearts” and started our shared life together amidst an abundance of books and an unruly collection of vinyl & CDs — the heart of our home. 

Words, books, music, curiosity — building a dream together

Although we didn’t know its origin at the time (it comes from Seneca), we have always been familiar with the quote:

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”

This is exactly how our journey began. While Jon was busily promoting a first novel and preparing a serial-killer trilogy, a simple online correspondence with Caz about a writing magazine article (she had an interview corner in Writers’ Forum) turned into a life-altering connection.

Discussions quickly went far beyond the mechanics of the “literary box”, and together, we discovered we shared a dream of a life filled with writing — not only our own, but also to support independent authors where we can.

A Meeting of Minds

As a novelist (writing as Miles Etherton), Jon had spent years navigating the challenges of escaping the mainstream publishing machine, where luck often outweighs talent. From Caz’s perspective as an editor, she had spent years supporting authors and seeing a landscape where genuine talent was too often overlooked.

Together, we decided to redress this imbalance. We set out to create something that was more than just about the books — it was about building relationships.

Building the Dream Together

From those early discussions, our shared identity grew. We realised we were both writers at heart — Jon with his dark, intricate thrillers, and Caz with her reflective essays, poetry, and a deep-seated need to connect the books she reads to the life she lives.

This partnership led us to create our own publishing project, City Stone Publishing. It was a challenging, exciting world where we felt we could make a difference for authors looking to make their mark. However, we soon discovered that the relentless demands of running a publishing house began to overshadow the very thing we loved most: the writing itself.

While our journey has since evolved away from active publishing to focus on our own creative work and curated services through our Studio, Ink-Stained Hearts, that experience only deepened our commitment to the craft.

The Heart of our Home

Today, the writing adventure continues. We have traded the frantic “marketing hustle” for the vibrant, curated world of The Folio and the carefully sculpting craft of The Studio.

We live a life where the boundaries between “Writer” and “Editor” are beautifully blurred. Jon continues to explore the murkier depths of the online world in his cyber thrillers, while Caz focuses on unearthing the soul of a story — whether it is refining a client’s manuscript or penning her own personal narrative and verse.

We two have and are Ink-Stained Hearts, building a life defined by curiosity, a shared desk, and the constant, wonderful clutter of a home filled with stories.