Books and Banter: Linda M. Crate ~ guest post and her novel ~ Corvids & Magic

TITLE: Corvids & Magic

RELEASE DATE: June 5, 2017

AUTHOR: Linda M. Crate

CATEGORIES: Fantasy/Paranormal/Supernatural

PAGE COUNT: 502

ISBN: 978-1544853017

IMPRINT: Chimera

BOOK PAGE: http://ravenswoodpublishing.com/bookpages/corvidsandmagic.html

KEYWORDS: Vampire, Faerie, Witches, Dark Magic, Light Magic, Elves Dwarves, Dragons

ONE LINER:

A displaced king and queen try to find their way home as Atriel faces the biggest chaos they’ve ever known.

SYNOPSIS:

Paige is the daughter of an elven man driven mad and a star child that took the form of a woman. When her father nearly kills her she seeks asylum and refuge with the king and queen of Atriel.

Her friend, Lezienne, knows more than she’s letting on but refuses to speak of who brought the shadow dancers into Atriel even after she is confronted by Paige. Despite the fact that Lezienne nearly died, she refuses to tell anyone who brought this plague to Atriel.

Queen Orchid and King Creon are baffled by shadow dancers an ancient evil that has never been seen before in Atriel brought about by a wicked man who seeks to take Atriel’s throne by force.

Miasha (Matilda's evil sister) comes to cause havoc with this all going on, and a displaced people led by their King and Queen try to find their home.

GUEST POST:

I try to keep things realistic despite the fact that it's a fiction narrative because I feel every good fantasy tale has a touch of realism to it. So I think it's only natural that sometimes bad things happen to good people for seemingly no reason.

As always it is an ensemble piece centered around Atriel and Lucille even if she isn't always the main focus.

Book four takes place after the events in Dragons & Magic. Corvids & Magic was inspired by an idea I had about a girl whose father was driven mad by something outside of his control.

Her mother being dead and her father having attempted to have murdered her she seeks refuge with the King and Queen of Atriel.

Queen Orchid knowing what it's like to be orphaned and alone offers to let Paige stay in her castle.

Paige is grateful for this until her best friend Lezienne is attacked. She starts to think that she brings chaos and destruction everywhere she goes.

As the book developed it also became about a displaced people that were trying to find their home - they happened to be people with some of the features of magpies, ravens, and crows which gave birth to the title Corvids & Magic.

These people were driven from their homeland by enemy forces, but they yearn more than anything to go back to the place that they know as home.

In a show of good faith they decide to help Atriel as they battle not only the wicked vampire Philippe, but the evil sister of Matilda: Miasha.

Lucille and Florian, of course, are dragged into the middle of this fray; as always, despite Ian's dislike of getting involved in situations like these. Lucille, however, has a bit of a hero complex and cannot stand the idea of Atriel being destroyed so she always throws herself out there to defend her country.

Florian, as always, insists upon joining her because what is a king without his queen, after all?

Syn, Morgan, Byrant, and Padma all return to the fray as well.

This book was a lot of fun to write because the characters all played off one another so well.

I think one of my favorite characters introduced in this novel was Tyvern, who is a healer but also a defender of goodness.

This was an important story in the whole Magic Series saga because it revealed the true characters of the king and queen, and how they're always willing to help those in need no matter what trouble it may cause them.

It also showed the true character of Cadarius which proves to be a little less than sterling. It shows his descent into darkness after his wife was proven to be a traitor to goodness.

In addition to this, it also helped Lucille grow into her role as a healer and defender of Atriel as she is the one that rescues Princess Cadalia when Philippe decides to kidnap her for his own nefarious reasons.

AUTHOR BIO:

Linda M. Crate is a Pennsylvanian native born in Pittsburgh yet raised in the rural town of Conneautville. Her poetry, short stories, articles, and reviews have been published in a myriad of magazines both online and in print. Recently her two chapbooks A Mermaid Crashing Into Dawn (Fowlpox Press - June 2013) and Less Than A Man (The Camel Saloon - January 2014) were published. Her fantasy novel Blood & Magic was published in March 2015. The second novel of this series Dragons & Magic was published in October 2015. Her third poetry collection If Tomorrow Never Comes (Scars Publication - August 2016) was recently published. Her poetry collection Sing Your Own Song is forthcoming through Barometric Pressures Series.

AUTHOR LINKS:

http://bloodandmagic.blogspot.com/
http://www.twitter.com/thysilverdoe
https://www.facebook.com/Linda-M-Crate-129813357119547/
https://www.instagram.com/authorlindamcrate/, http://thysilverdoe.deviantart.com/