The Magic in Fire ~ Genre: Fantasy Anthology ~ with stories by Victoria Young, Dragonness Wyverna, A. H. Serrano, L. R. Huseboe, Kieran McKiel, A. A. Warne, R. A. Darlinge, Aörali Eden, B. R. Storm, Ilona Krueger, Serena Dawson, Michelle Crow, and J. T. Moriarty

*** 12 MAGICAL TALES IN ONE MASSIVE FANTASY COLLECTION ***

Twelve stories – Thirteen authors.
One theme – The Magic in Fire.

FEATURING IN THIS ANTHOLOGY:

Victoria Young – The Doll Boutique
There’s nothing healthy about a tan – Melinda had heard the warnings and frankly, being stuck in a cramped white coffin was not her idea of fun. But when she wakes from the solarium bed in a dusty prison cell, Melinda realises she’s gotten herself into a tighter spot than she expected.

Dragonness Wyverna – Fire Under Water
Humans have come to the desert, and with them comes death. The oasis has been an indestructible black rock and shelter for the Desharihn fire sprites for generations. But when a band of humans arrive to mine the rock, it is up to Fia, the last Rahar sprite, to save the tribe from the humans’ immutable greed.

A. H. Serrano – Conviction by Fire
Blessed with the power of fire, Lhii Fuéra’s duty is to protect, but in the aftermath of a murder, she’s the one placed on trial. As the daughter of a great general, Lhii soon realizes that justice matters little among the powerful, and she’s faced with a choice: Become the victim or blame the victim.

L. R. Huseboe – Flames of Green
Jaer and his Knight Commander Kae, wander the thick forest in search of information about their missing spy. What they found was a battle against their century-long enemy, the Shaedyn. Will they prevail or face the same unknown fate?

Kieran McKiel – Hummingbird
Far from home and missing his love, Marco is fighting a war to end all wars. When hope seems lost, a strange entity appears with an offer to help him survive.

A. A. Warne – The Masters of Fire
The Masters of Fire were once a powerful brotherhood, but now only two of their brothers remain in the free world. Will they be strong enough to liberate their kin from the clutches of the Mad King? Or will an uncomfortable truth unravel their master plan?

B. R. Storm – The Harbinger
Since the beginning of Earth, Watcher has been tethered to immortality, waiting for the final soul to depart. The day finally comes and Watcher prepares for rest, but he’s confronted by the bringer of apocalyptic carnage.

Ilona Krueger – Song of my Soul
Always the realist, Felicity does not entertain anything that is unscientifically based. Her clinical assertions leave no room for magic and imagination. It is said, however, that Pride goes before a fall. And fall, she does. Is there salvation from the pit? Does she rise from the ashes? Is there hope for a new understanding?

Serena Dawson – A Spark of Courage
Prince Zabriel’s fire magic is weak, but Princess Maniela’s will to defy their cruel father is strong. Zabriel agrees to help his sister, and she leads them into a battle that will determine the fate and future of their kingdom.

Michelle Crow – The Flame
When Momma Courtney shows up on Prudence’s doorstep and draws magical wards to protect the house from an impending attack; Prudence’s reality is thrown into chaos as she discovers she’s the last Flame Keeper. Now with the entire village’s lives in her hands, can she save them from the body-snatching Ifrits with her untrained powers?

J. T. Moriarty – Petals of Autumn
As the legendary dragon, Flallemin, sets its sights on Goblin Birchwoods, Wedina has an impossible challenge: train the entire tribe. While there are plenty of shields, there’s only one sword and Wedina knows it’ll take more than might to deal with the hungry dragon.

ALSO FEATURING:

R. A. Darlinge & Aörali Eden – Fated Shadows

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Can you, for those who don’t know you already, tell something about yourself and how you became an author?

Adryanna – I wrote and illustrated my first story when I was seven. It was called “Panda’s Hat,” and one of the main characters died. If that doesn’t say something about how I write now… Anyway! I continued writing slice-of-life stories until I discovered a love for reading fantasy. That’s when I shifted gears and began writing more fantasy stories. I was fifteen when I wrote the novel I swore would be the first one I published. And I published that novel in October.

Amanda – I love everything about fantasy. In fact, I live more inside my head then I do in real life, so it was natural that I’d end up becoming a writer. That way I can harness the weird part about me. As a child I was always creating art but when I became a mother, I felt that my art practice was just too much, so I fell into writing. It’s clean, easy to put aside when I need to attend to my children, and then jump back in when I could. So I’ve been writing for over ten years now.

Brandon – I discovered I wanted to write stories since the fifth grade. I started this endeavor by stepping a toe over copyright infringement with small blurbs about The Legend of Zelda franchise. No project was entirely completed and no money was made, so perhaps maybe not. I didn’t get my inspiration to seek more original material until two years later. I was wholeheartedly enthralled by the imaginative brain of Stephen King. The Stand truly lit the match for me. By seventeen, I’d written two-and-three-quarters books and already moved back from Canada to the United States after discovering my father. I grew displeased with my immature work and discarded them to the depths of a portable harddrive during my last year of high school. Life distracted me from then until October 2017. Drunk on anger and gin, I found myself in need of cathartic self-therapy. Lo and behold, the need to write reemerged, and The Infinity Series was born.

Brittany – I recently discovered that I’ve been writing stories since I learned to put pencil to paper…I suppose I let life take over for several years and forgot about a childhood passion. In 2015, out of curiosity and desperation, I started tossing my hat into the freelance ghostwriting ring. After I landed my first contract, a 50k bad boy romance that had a three-week turnaround (oh, the story was bad!), I was hooked! Since then, I’ve co-written a novel, had three—soon to be four—-short stories published, ghostwritten countless novellas for clients, and am working on an absurd number of stories and ideas.

Debi – I wrote (and illustrated) a story when I was eight years old, and when I showed it to my mom, she told me I should be an author when I grow up. It hadn’t yet occured to me that people actually wrote books for a living, and my mind was blown by the revelation. I wrote another little story, illustrated it, and entered it in the State Fair. It got champion in its division. That was my “sign” that I was meant to be an author. I didn’t stop writing after that; I wrote “books” to commemorate my friends moving out of state, I wrote “books” to give my friends super powers, and I wrote “books” to prove my sister’s boyfriend didn’t deserve her. Finally, I started writing for myself, telling the stories I wanted to tell, and I just couldn’t stop.

Ilona – Words are fascinating. Stories are fascinating. I have always been thrilled with reading about other people and places and times. Pens, pencils and paper always held a fascination for me. And what does one do with these?  The natural follow on is writing, another way to explore and create. It’s wonderful to be able to project one’s imagination into other worlds and life circumstances. I had penfriends from an early age, dabbled with poetry and enjoyed writing compositions.  School was never a punishment for me: it was opportunity to learn, to research and to think.

Jay – Hi, I’m that excitable little geek who loved scifi and fantasy as a kid, but always knew a better way the story could have ended. To that end I became an author, because I wanted to show everyone what my ideas were! In year 2 I wrote my first story about pirates. In year 10 computers I was so thoroughly bored my stories would write themselves and entertain me. I’ve always got plenty of ideas bubbling around, and luckily can remember a great deal of them, so eventually enough ideas coagulate into a story length something-or-other, which is exactly how The Full Life of a Robot came to be. The “Leaves of Autumn” story came to me as a way to use magic and fire in a unique way. Magic means fantasy means Goblins, and not nasty ones but good ones. And fire means dragons, so we had our goodies and baddies, but we needed a way for the wimp to beat the giant, for David to beat Goliath. Coming up with that story element, and finally having my Eureka! moment really makes writing worthwhile for me, and it’s what I look for in every story I write. If a piece doesn’t have at least one “this will make or break the story” moment, I don’t feel like I’m doing my job.

Kieran – I’ve just always had an active imagination and a love for storytelling, so the spark has always been there. Initially it was just writing generic fantasy for the fun of it, but now that I’m getting a bit older, it’s become a form of catharsis, as well, a really helpful form of escapism. Sometimes you just need to leave reality for a while and empty yourself out on a page.

Laura – I’ve been writing since I was 13, since I was always a bit bored in school and needed something to do to pass the time. I grew to love writing at such a young age as it let me explore the worlds in my head. It wasn’t until last year that I was given the chance to be a part of the Anotholy with Amanda and a few of the others here. I am so honored and excited to be a part of this again.

Serena –

The funny thing is, I’ve wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember. I do remember reading a career advice column in a magazine, it was listing ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ but all the ‘cons’ of being an author looked positive to me, like “lots of time spent alone.” Lol. So I was like, what part of this is negative?

I have a distinct memory of narrating what I was doing in third person, like; “Serena strode across the room to the door, opening it with a forceful jerk.” I realised what I was doing, laughed at myself and then decided it was a sign I had a writer’s brain!

I was homeschooled and grew up rurally so my childhood was quite different to most people’s.

When not working raising calves, my sister and I would explore the countryside on our ponies. I also spent a lot of time at the beach as a child or playing in our stream. Water always fascinated me. Exploring up streams and rivers is something I still love.

Although I loved some aspects of that life, such as the freedom to explore and go horse riding, it could sometimes be lonely and boring, despite having four siblings. However, the isolation helped develop my imagination, something I’m very thankful for.

Reading fiction was an important part of my childhood. It taught me things no one else could, and helped me through difficult times. I learnt to be brave, despite being a generally fearful and anxious kid, thanks to living through the stories of so many protagonists. I learnt a lot about relationships and taking responsibility for my emotions through the writing of Jane Austen. Her mix of emotional intelligence and stoicism is something I still turn to for comfort and wisdom.

Sometime too far back for me to pinpoint, I decided, ‘if books can be all this for me, then my stories can be “this” for someone else.’ To entertain is an achievement, but to go beyond that; to inspire, to transform, to give hope to the hopeless, is my dream.

I started writing my main WIP, a fantasy trilogy, when I was desperately bored while breastfeeding. I picked up a pen and some paper, started writing longhand, and out walked the first characters into the forest that is one of the main settings of my book. it was almost like all I had to do was open the door and there they were…

Vicky – I am drawn to stories the way I am to music. They both share an infinite potential for evoking emotion, hijacking the imagination and uncovering universal truths. There’s nothing more powerful and I am an absolute sucker for a crescendo. To me, the potential to have that kind of an impact, even upon one single reader, in the whole of my life, makes storytelling the most rewarding and exciting venture. I’ve been brewing my ideas and writing for myself all of my life, though it has always played a side role. My literature-based undergrad was more for writing than it was my teaching degree. I’ve done well in a number of writing competitions but never taken it further. Well, I guess I will now. Let’s see where the future takes me. Plus, you know, I’ve had Amanda – AA Warne – poking and prodding me for a good decade now. It’s time.