Hello, beautiful people! For those who have been asking, I wanted to chat about the story behind my release of Lichgates (Grimoire Saga #1), my debut novel. I’ve since written the second in the saga (Treason, released October 2012). The third (Heritage, due Fall 2013) and fourth (Illusion, due Fall 2014) are on their way.
First, I would like to share the book description of Lichgates to give you a feel for the series, the story, and the world in which it happens:
About Lichgates (Grimoire Saga #1)
Kara Magari is about to discover a beautiful world full of terrifying things—Ourea.
Kara, a college student still reeling from her mother’s recent death, has no idea the hidden world of Ourea even exists until a freak storm traps her in a sunken library. With no way out, she opens an ancient book of magic called the Grimoire and unwittingly becomes its master, which means Kara now wields the cursed book’s untamed power. Discovered by Ourea’s royalty, she becomes an unwilling pawn in a generations-old conflict—a war intensified by her arrival. In this world of chilling creatures and betrayal, Kara shouldn’t trust anyone… but she’s being hunted and can’t survive on her own. She drops her guard when Braeden, a native soldier with a dark secret, vows to keep her safe. And though she doesn’t know it, her growing attraction to him may just be her undoing.
For twelve years, Braeden Drakonin has lived a lie. The Grimoire is his one chance at redemption, and it lands in his lap when Kara Magari comes into his life. Though he begins to care for this human girl, there is something he wants more. He wants the Grimoire.
Welcome to Ourea, where only the cunning survive.
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The Grimoire Saga has been in the works since 2006. It began as a day dream and, as tends to happen with my vivid imagination, the story snowballed into something epic. Huge. Dynamic. Almost unmanageable.
My story line began with the question “What if wizards didn’t need wands?” and became an exploration of magic, nature, and a vivid world called Ourea.
I actually came up with the basic idea while still in high school. As I honed my craft through college, the series simmered in the back of my mind. Concepts changed. Characters came and went. I ditched the wizards thing.
Time went on. I graduated. Got engaged to my soul mate. Travelled. Started a new job in a career I didn’t really like. And all the while, more ideas kept popping into my head. New series started to develop even outside the Grimoire Saga.
I kept asking myself…what if I actually wrote that book?
I don’t know what snapped. Something at work, probably—a general displeasure with where I was and where I was going. I couldn’t take it anymore. But that night, I came home, ate dinner, and wrote. I put personal hobbies aside. I spent less time in front of the TV. I spent all my spare time day dreaming and wondering what to do next, how to change the world to make it truly amazing. I wanted the world of Ourea—the setting of the series—to be its own character. I wanted to write something people would never forget. Something that might take a little time to settle into, but a series that would reward the reader who stuck with it and read all the books.
The result is the Grimoire Saga: a four book series of magic, betrayal, discovery, power, romance, courage, friendship, and loss. It has a little something for everyone. Not everyone will like it, but I admire anyone who sits down to give it a try.
To encourage bookworms to try something new—perhaps a genre they don’t normally enjoy—Lichgates is free for a time. I hope you enjoyed hearing my story and that you give Ourea a shot.