Hi folks! Where has time gone? Why do I feel like it was just yesterday that I was finishing this story? How is it already October and my book is meeting the world?
I know y’all don’t have the answer anymore than I do, but I wanted to throw them out there. Time really does fly!
And it’s release day, y’all!
My fourth book just met the world!
FOURTH!
I am so extremely blessed and honored by the audience that I have, and just thank the Lord for the ability to write and publish stories for His glory!
So, what’s the story with my latest release? I’m glad you asked!
Of Shadows & Snow came about because Beyond the Bookery had the Fairytale Frenzy anthologies going on and I wanted to write a story for it! I planned out a Snow Queen retelling which I dubbed A Prince of Ice & Snow (super creative, I know), which was about a brother and sister and their friend, the friend gets taken by the Snow Queen and you know the plot from there. This was back in 2024…then a week or so later the world was turned upside down in my neck of the woods by Hurricane Helene. Two hours east of us is where flooding hit and to bring it home, the storm was originally projected to hit the area I live in, but shifted in the last few hours.
Yeah, so my focus became raising money for relief efforts, gathering supplies, and praying. I ran two fundraisers and just didn’t have time to think about a short story.
Yet, apparently the Lord wanted me to write a fairytale retelling because in 2025 Beyond the Bookery announced the A Twist of Tales MAP (Multi-Author Publication)! And I jumped on the opportunity! I’m pretty sure I was the first one to sign up and I dragged Jaidie into it with me, Rissy was too busy getting engaged. XD
And now, here we are…months later at the release day for a story I thought might never become reality because I set it aside. For A Twist of Tales I revamped my original idea, kept most things the same but it was a genderbent retelling so the sister became the one kidnapped and the Snow Queen became a male character and the story kept unfolding…the funny thing is my original idea had Koa as fantasy human group I’d dubbed the Vagrg, who were gypsies, but they also had the ability to become wolves. Nothing weird, but since BTB required non-magical and an animal companion, you get Luja, who is a fox, instead!
Koa does, however, still get a nod toward that original idea with his surname. 😉
Anyway, the story changed in some ways…and stayed the same in others. I had a lot of fun switching things around and plotting a new course for the story and I can’t wait for all of you to meet the characters!
For now, enjoy some bookish information!
Book Info:
Title – Of Shadows & Snow
Series – A Twist of Tales
Genre – New Adult Fantasy/Fairytale Retelling
Blurb:
A broken man, a kidnapped princess, treachery buried under the snow.
Five years have passed since Koa arrived in Everhart half dead, and the horrors and secrets tangled in his past still haunt him. He wants to start over and leave his past far behind, but a strange lingering illness won’t let him forget that everyone he once loved is gone because of him.
When Snow Griffin riders from the neighboring kingdom of Narsford kidnap Princess Emalyn, the girl who rescued him five years ago, Koa comes to a startling realization—the riders meant to take him. His past has caught up to him, and if he doesn’t face it head on he will lose Emalyn forever.
In order to reach Narsford, Koa teams up with Emalyn’s brother, Prince Gaelen. Together they must traverse the twisting forest of Lost Man’s Bane, scale the impenetrable Nars Range, and cross the fissure-riddled surface of the Glass Lake if they ever hope to reach her in time. But treachery is afoot and evil grows between the shadows and snow.
This book is part of A Twist of Tales, a series of nonmagical Christian genderbent fairy tale retellings with epic adventures and animal companions.
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Conclusion:
Thank you all for your support, encouragement, and even just friendship throughout all my writing endeavors. I appreciate all of you so, so, so, so, so much! So, who’s excited for Of Shadows & Snow!????
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