The year was 2017 or ’18, and my famiily had the privilege of doing what they do–be dragons. Oh, wait, perform fire shows. (Doesn’t be dragons sound better. They blow fire after all.) Anyway, we went up the mountain to church camp.

We left early to catch the evening chapel and meet up with our boys who were volunteering that week. As I rounded the corner to the chapel, I saw the two young men who were leading worship and was struck with awe. 

You see, the one had lost his older brother to death by suicide and the other’s older sister’s best friend had died by suicide in his house! Yet, these two were still remaining strong despite the adversity. 

The still small voice said, “Write a story for the Davids and Christinas.”

I replied, “No! I can’t do that!”

What ensued was a 30-45 minute argument with the still small voice, lots of tears, and finally, surrender with a compromise. Together, we could do it.

Once I had the world of Ardatz–the one where the north is always in darkness and the south always in light–I knew this story had to be set in the far north. But I still didn’t know what it would be about. A parent and a child. That much I knew. 

At Realm Makers 2018, I purchased a tree in a snowy night scene. It was Eelarga. No doubt about it. For two years, I stared at the tree wondering what more would come. 

In April of 2020, an Italian photographer took a photo of his brother and shared it in a facebook group. I couldn’t get those eyes out of my mind. In fact, I spent a week drawing the portrait in colored pencils (with permission, of course). But while I was drawing, I knew this was the son!

A year later, I began writing.

With the story written, it came time for the cover. I reached out to both artists–the photographer and the one who painted the tree–and received permission to use their work. Without futher ado, I present Kristjan’s Rise.

Instead of doing a normal pre-order, I’ll be offering the book in ebook, paperback, hardback, and special edition hardback via Kickstarter as an early release. The goal is by mid-May to have it go live, but that will depend on another wedding. 

What does that mean? That means you can get the ebook with any special digital goodies we earn before the book releases in November. You can get the paperback and hardback with any extra goodies (think extra map, extra art, etc) again before the official release in November and that specific offering of items won’t be available until after the duology is released next year or later).

Or you can get the special edition hardback. I’m going all out on this one–foil dust jacket, different foil cover, sprayed edges, end pages–and any extras in color in your book. If there’s art awarded, it’ll go into the book in color at the spot where the scene took place.

At this moment, you can click follow on Kickstarter to help build the momentum, and you can share it with your friends. If you’ve never been a part of Kickstarter, you can just follow along and see what it’s all about.

Cover Reveal celebration

To celebrate the cover reveal, you can pre-order Determined for only 99 cents! That’s this week only, so be sure to snag your copy.

If you haven’t started yet, you can start with book 1, Uprooted, for only 99 cents. The rest of the series is on sale for 30% off.

I also wrote an interview for The Fantasy Princess. It features Hest, Sydur, and Kyeth along with some Easter eggs, so you’ll want to bookmark it and return to it after reading Determined as well as Resolved and Divided.

What It’s About

What’s all the hype? Four Stars over Ardatz: Sovereigns is a coming-of-age epic fantasy set in a world where one side of the planet is always in night and the other side is always in sun.

18-year-old Hest lives on the dark side of the planet, and gets along with horses better than people. When a magnificent stallion walks into his stables, and the horse’s owner hands the innkeeper coins, Hest assumes he’s been sold into slavery.

It’s not until he’s traveled to the capital that Hest discovers he’s been taken on as squire to Captain of the Royal Guard of the neighboring kingdom.

If that’s not enough, he frees a baby dragon and sets into motion events that are beyond his small town heritage.

The first trilogy follows Hest as he learns to deal with castle intrigue, relationships, and his bond with the dragon. The second trilogy, beginning with Determined, focuses on Siobhan and then their daughter.

Blurb

When your nightmares waken, where do you find rest?

Eighteen-year-old Siobhan had lived a sheltered life until the Navwood attacked and a dragon bonded with her betrothed. Living with the remnant terrors of two abductions has left its mark, and that cut is getting deeper as she tries to adapt to life as a queen, a wife, and a mother.

Her husband is more interested in spending time with his dragon than being with her—or fulfilling his duties as king. Siobhan’s jealousy over their bond feeds her fear of the draconic features that come and go with his emotions, and the dragon’s silver around his eyes is a constant reminder that he’s not wholly hers—or ever will be.

But when the Navwood send a kidnapper to steal their daughter, Hest marches to battle, leaving his family under the protection of a palace guard. Unfortunately, the dangers of war are closer to home than either of them realized, and to save herself and her family, Siobhan will have to find new courage in the face of a waking nightmare.

When Hest returns, it’ll take all her strength to face the pressures from the court—let alone the changes war has wrought on her husband. Can their own bond survive both the pressures of a kingdom and the fears they both carry?

Cover

The impetus for the book

Back in the fall of 2015, I was teaching my first year in a school I loved to be at. It’s where three of my five kids had graduated and all five have attended. I wanted to be there and couldn’t have been happier. Dragon’s Future had just released, and I was given the freedom to add books to my list of to-be-published with my publisher. I began to dream. What could I do? 

One day returning from Coos Bay, the town an hour north of us, I crossed the Coquille River and had the thought of what would happen if a dragon flew down the river.

That brought about an idea of a story based in my area. Now, I just needed more information.

The Characters

At the same time four students stood out to me as I taught. Two of them were sixth graders in my study hall class, and two were eighth graders in my Spanish class. The four didn’t really know each other, and I really only knew them from class and didn’t know their families. However, the more I interacted with them at school, the more I wondered if I wrote them into a story if they’d read it.

Harley

The inspiration for Harley came from a student that went to church with me. I knew his family, and he was open about what they enjoyed or didn’t enjoy. Although the physical description of Harley is from that student, Harley really is a blend of the student and my own son.

The B&B is from a dream my husband and I have to one day run one. The photography that Harley’s dad does is because my husband is a photographer. Harley’s mom is probably more characteristically me.

Will

During study hall, the other student sat quietly and drew. He didn’t say much. While in Spanish class, he brought me to tears when he brought in a shell from a WWII ship. All I really knew about him was he had a kind heart and what he looked like. So, Will’s character evolved based on that.

It wasn’t until later that I realized that the inspiration for Will had very kind, and humorous, parents who are involved in his life. Whereas, Will in the books has very unengaged parents.

Chase

The inspiration for Chase came from an eighth grader who embodied the stereotypical Oregon boy. He was raised on a farm up the river, went hunting and fishing, and his dad logged. His roots showed in how he dressed and talked. However, he also seemed to get put down for his heritage. So, I wanted to honor the basis of life here in our area–hunting, fishing, and logging. In so doing, I created Chase’s dad–the hard-working, get-up-early logger.

Cherise

The inspiration for Cherise was a very talkative girl in my Spanish class. She worked with the student who inspired Chase. It wasn’t until about half-way through the semester that the kids tried to tell me that the student never spoke in any of her other classes. I couldn’t believe it! She proved to me she could go a whole class period without saying a word. However, Cherise has the same characteristics I saw in this student while she was in my class. Her love for her dog comes into play later in the series, and I received permission to add him into book three. 

The Cover

You’ve seen the cover, but I’m so excited about it. You see, I got to go out with three of those students to do the photo session for the stock photos. I was given permission from their parents to use them on the cover! So, we have Will, Harley, and Chase (from left to right). Unfortunately, the student who inspired Cherise had moved away and couldn’t make it back for the session.

What people are saying about the book

One Amazon reviewer gave the book five stars.

“An Unexpected Adventure, for me, turned into an unexpected delight. Kandi Wyatt manages to mix reality and fantasy in perfect proportions in this tale.”

Where to get your copy

Today the book is live on all the outlets! Unfortunately, amazon has not linked the paperback and the kindle edition so there will be two different links. 

Purchase your ebook here                             Purchase your paperback here

Featured Author, A. J. Bakke

Two summers ago, I had the privilege of making a trip to the midwest, and blogged about my journey. The roadtrip started though with a day in Pioneer Courtyard Square in Portland, Oregon, with two other authors, S. Smith and A. J. Bakke. Sharing a pop-up 10’x10′ canvas was great fun. A. J. Bakke has a short story in the anthology as well as other books.

A. J. Bakke’s favorite things to do are horseback riding, reading, and writing books. She writes almost every morning with a big cup of coffee nearby and one or more cats piled on her. Cats are attracted to magical people, after all. Pumpkin is probably my personal favorite to see pictures of.

Pumpkin is the one reading the book with A. J.

Cosmic Cravings involves characters from her Worlds Akilter Series. Bree the mouse-mage is obsessed with chocolate covered coffee beans, but when she is relocated to the world of Deart by a demigod, she discovers that chocolate doesn’t exist there. The horror! Despite her immense powers, she’s not that great with magic, so her attempts to get back to Earth cause a few problems, but might also lead to helping a child in trouble.

You can find more of A. J. Bakke’s stuff at: ajbakke.com and https://www.facebook.com/ajbakke/

Mythical Doorways Anthology

Eleven Tales of Magical, Mysterious, Mythical Doorways!

Step through portals and into adventure as the authors of the Fellowship of Fantasy take you on another journey into fantastic worlds. Travel through time, space, and realities to encounter monsters, mechanical foxes, and the Fates themselves. You’ll fly with dragons, save implausible beasts, and perhaps find your true home. Choose your path wisely, for dangers lurk in the lands beyond.

In the third anthology from the Fellowship of Fantasy, eleven authors promise you journeys into fairy lands hidden within the modern world, futuristic universities, and lands of ancient myth. So what are you waiting for? Cross through our Doorways for the adventure of a lifetime!

Purchase your copy:

Download the ebook (free to download starting tomorrow March 27^th) at your favorite digital store: https://www.books2read.com/u/bxq70e

You can share your review on Goodreads.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39286425-mythical-doorways

Facebook celebration

Fellowship of Fantasy is celebrating their third short story anthology release, Mythical Doorways!

Whether they open onto new worlds or just new opportunities, doorways allow us to step through and uncover great adventures, discoveries, and risks.

Where will these Mythical Doorways take you?

Grab your favorite drink and snack on March 29th at 8 PM EST (7 PM CST and 5 PM PST) and be prepared for a fun time of chatting with multiple authors, games, and giveaways!

Be sure to mark “going” so you can get notifications. Go ahead and head over to Facebook before you forget. Then come back here to enter the giveaway!

Giveaway

Yep, as if everything else wasn’t enough, there’s a giveaway, too!

The Fellowship of Fantasy and Deep Magic E-Zine have joined together to offer you an awesome paperback giveaway! Dive into eleven new worlds by entering to win a paperback of Mythical Doorways! (US only.)

About Deep Magic E-Zine: The name Deep Magic pays homage to C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia. Deep Magic is a quarterly e-zine dedicated to creating a safe place for minds to wander in the worlds and universe of SFF. We want all who visit to feel welcome and confident that they will encounter professionally written fiction of the highest quality that is safe for all to read.

You can go to Deep Magic E-zine’s website to learn more about them.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out the other blog posts:

Tuesday, March 27^th

• Author Spotlight: A. J. Bakke – Kandi J Wyatt—Where Fantasy and Reality Meet
• Interview: Katy Huth Jones – Dragonpen Press
• Interview: Laurie Lucking – Fearless Words in Fantasy Worlds
• Book Spotlight – Antrim Cycle
• Author Spotlight: Bokerah Brumley – Life is a Four-Letter Word: Encouragement for the Journey
• Book Spotlight – Deeply Shallow
• Book Review – Blooming with Books
• Review & Interview: Lauren Lynch — Fairies, Fantasy, and Faith

Wednesday, March 28^th

• Book Spotlight – Dolphin18cb
• Interview: Arthur Daigle – Heather Hadyen – Author of Science Fiction and Fantasy
• Review & Author Spotlight: H.L. Burke – Reality Reflected
• Interview: D.G. Driver – So Few Books
• Interview: H.L. Burke – Keturah’s Korner
• Interview: Bokerah Bromley – Supervise SF

Thursday, March 29^th

• Book Review – Lands Uncharted
• Interview: J.M. Hackman – Liv K. Fisher
• Interview: Jenelle Schmidt – Lu’s Reviews Take Two
• Interview: Savannah Jezowski – Unicorn Quester
• MYTHICAL DOORWAYS FACEBOOK PARTY

Plot:

Tania, an ordinary 9-year-old, washes ashore after being swept overboard on a family vacation. She finds herself in a wooded area with little people her size. To her surprise, she discovers they’re much older than herself and definitely not human. These new friends soon become her only way to find her way back to her parents. They trek through forests, across streams, up and over mountains, and along beaches. The elements conspire against them and in the end Tania almost gives up hope of seeing her family again.

The reality:

When I first wrote Journey from Skioria, my daughter was 9-years-old. I traveled from Langlois, Oregon to Gold Beach, Oregon once a week. My mind wandered to what it would be like for a kid to hike that without roads. Everything in the journey has a basis in reality–from the mountain and beach at the base, to the quick engulfing fog, to the landslide that hinders their passage.

Anyone who’s visited the Oregon Coast or even the Northern California Coast knows the forests grow thick and tall. To an average observer these forests contain evergreen trees and that’s it, but at a closer look, you’ll discover more at least on the Southern Oregon Coast.

Myrtlewood:

Typical myrtlewood tree in Southern Oregon.

Unlike most evergreens, this is not a conifer. Instead it grows in a coloring book round shape with large flat oval leaves. These leaves shift from the deep green to a yellow color and fall off, but unlike maples, oaks, and other deciduous trees, they don’t change at the same time. Besides the shape of the tree and its leaves myrtlewood can be identified by its pungent odor. The hardwood comes in a variety of colors from blond to gray depending on the soil (according to myrtlewoodgallery.com) The travelers encounter myrtlewood at the base of the mountain and discuss its uses in carpentry work.

You can enter to win a myrtlewood bookmark and necklace by going to my facebook page and commenting or sharing the pinned post.

Huckleberry:

In our area two types of huckleberry bushes grow rampant–red and black. The red huckleberries usually taste sweeter and have a lighter green leaf. The black ones tend to be tarter and can grow up to ten feet tall. It’s these that I had in mind when I created Terra.

Rhododendron:

Even my friends on the East Coast know this shrub for yards, but my neighbors know two kinds of rhododendrons–the shrub and the wild ones. Wild rhododendron entwine their way through the evergreens, huckleberries, and myrtlewood to find their way to sunshine. In late winter their color pops and explodes in the most unexpected of places often above the roofline of houses. With this in mind Avary came into being.

The book:

Journey from Skioria is available on all outlets. Remember it’s a middle grade fantasy. That means it was written for younger kids or for parents to read to younger kids. That doesn’t mean adults won’t enjoy it, but it’s not the action-packed adventure like Dragon’s Future or the Harry Potter series. Just like with siblings, each book is unique.

Make sure to grab your ecopy before Friday, September 8 when the price jumps from 99 cents to $2.99.

Purchase Now