Today we are interviewing Joni Parker, author of the science fiction fantasy, The House of Gold (Book 4 in the Harvest Series).
Joni Parker’s story reads like a cross-continental odyssey with grit at every turn. Born in the heart of Chicago, she was just eight when her family uprooted to Japan so her father could chase a dream most wouldn’t dare—becoming a professional golfer. He made it. And when the dust settled, they landed in Phoenix, Arizona, where Joni carved her own path.
After high school, she didn’t just serve—she committed. Twenty-two years in the U.S. Navy, followed by seven more in federal civil service, Joni built a career on discipline, resilience, and a no-nonsense drive to get things done.
Now retired in Tucson, Arizona, she’s traded uniforms for imagination, channeling her fire into writing, devouring books, and catching the sunrise like it’s a daily ritual of renewal. Her stories reflect the same edge she’s lived with—bold, unflinching, and full of heart.
Her most recent book is the science fantasy, The House of Gold (Book 4 in the Golden Harvest Series).
Visit her website at http://www.joni-parker.com or connect with her on Facebook, Goodreads and Bluesky.
I was mesmerized by the movie trilogy of The Lord of the Rings. Not only did I see all of them, but I bought the videos and watched them dozens of times. My sister and I even went to New Zealand to see the locations where they filmed the movies. My sister fell in love with the Hobbits, while I loved the Elves, which soon led me to create a character called Alex. She became the main character of my novels, and her stories formed the basis for many of my novels.
Your latest book in the Golden Harvest series, The House of Gold, is about space travel, besides being about betrayal. How did you come up with this very unique idea?
My main character, Alex, loves to fly. She first learned to fly by using the magical Keys of Eledon, but when she was exiled in the mortal world, she learned how to fly an airplane. She even got a private pilot’s license, so when she had an opportunity to learn how to fly a spaceship, she jumped at it. However, Alex didn’t live in a vacuum, and there were people who wanted her dead. What they didn’t expect was for her to fight back and survive.
Can you tell us more about the main character in your book?
Alex was born on Seaward Isle at the spring solstice in the year Island Elf year 982. Her father was the Count of Oltria, who was stranded on the island when his spaceship crashed. He had a son by his first wife, Isabella, but she died during the birth of a second child, who also died. The Count married again, this time to Lady Cadwin of the Water Elves, the granddaughter of Themius, the Titan and Lady Lestin of the Water Elves. Alex was four when the King of Agana attacked her father’s fortress and killed her parents. All this was so he could learn how to use a wizard in battle. With help, Alex escaped and was taken to her half-brother, Beren, who was a student at the Sword Academy, a boarding school, in Nyla, where her career as a soldier began.
Who are the other main characters?
Lord Quasar is a member of the Star Elf Regional Council, who came to Eledon to find his daughter, Corada, who was sent to kill the members of the Council of Elders. The only way Alex could stop her was to kill her. When Lord Quasar arrived, the Council arrested him for allowing the Star Elve to attack the planet of Oltria. He was sentenced to prison at the Mounds, the Elfin prison. He was released early on good behavior and allowed to return to Nimbus in the Constellations so long as Alex flew him home.
Lord Governor Starfire was appointed to his post on Moonbase by the Star Elf Regional Council. He used to be the Captain of the Star Elf Ship Azimuth until he was relieved of command. Instead of punishing him, he was promoted to be the governor of Moonbase.
Vortex is Alex’s android servant, a gift from the President of Oltria for saving her life. Although he worked as a gardener, his previous programming was as a spaceship mechanic, so Alex appoints him to be her co-pilot, which proves vital to her survival.
Mr. Robert J. Hardy is a mortal man from London, England, an architect by trade. Captain Starfire kidnapped him years ago and forced him to work for him as an architect and computer programmer. Alex helped him escape the first time. Then, the second time, and a third time.
Lady Abscissa is a member of the Star Elf Regional Council, who volunteered to become the assistant Keeper of the Keys for Nimbus. Alex trained her, but she resigned days later.
Captain Radon commands the vessel, the Star Elf Ship Comet, and is instrumental in the recovery of Moonbase after Alex and Vortex shut it down.
What is the very first line of your book?
“On September the first, the company I worked for in Paris changed its name from Echelon, Étienne’s Design Studio, to The House of Gold.”
What is the main reason people should read your book?
It gives the reader a chance to immerse themselves in another world where someone else has problems similar to their own and survives to find solutions and thrives.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
In writing this series, I took up the cause of sexual assault victims, who are often victimized more than once. First by the person or persons committing the assault; second, by failing to have an adequate system to report the assault, and third, by a poor justice system that punishes the victim, not the perpetrator.
In the first book of this series, The Epsilon Account, my main character, Alex, was sexually assaulted. She thinks about reporting it until she finds out the man who would take her report was one of the men who assaulted her. She doesn’t say anything until she meets other women who were also assaulted and sent to work in dangerous assignments as punishment. Later, Alex is brought before the captain of the ship, Captain Starfire, who accuses her of assault and sentences her to prison. The other women, Alex’s new friends, learn of her conviction and stage a rebellion, taking their cause to the Regional Council of Elders who remove the captain from his position.
In an unfortunate turn in book 4 of the series, The House of Gold, Alex meets the new Lord Governor of Moonbase only to find out the Regional Council promoted Captain Starfire after they fired him. A reward instead of a punishment. In addition, she meets one of the men who assaulted her. He can barely remember her, even though that assault is ingrained in her soul, and all her feelings of victimization come back to haunt her. In the end, she realizes she can’t fight the system, and the only way to survive is to move on, even if it means forgiving the man who assaulted her.
She’s done playing by the rules.
Lady Alexin Dumwalt—Alex to those who know better—just got booted from her mortal-world job. Her response? Return to Eledon, reclaim her title as Keeper of the Keys, and dive headfirst into a mission that reeks of politics and secrets.
Her task: escort Lord Quasar of the Star Elves to Nimbus. Her reality: arrested at Moonbase, locked up by a power-hungry Lord Governor, and caught in a prison break that exposes a gold-smuggling operation buried beneath the surface.
The gold? Stolen from Eledon. The ship? Not what it seems. The Fire Elves? Gone—taken by someone who wasn’t supposed to be watching.
Now Alex is under guard, headed to Nimbus, and neck-deep in a conspiracy that could shatter the fragile balance between Elf factions. She’s got questions, she’s got enemies, and she’s got zero patience for anyone standing in her way.
Magic. Betrayal. One Elf with nothing left to lose.
Read sample.
The House of Gold is available at Amazon.
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