Bride of the Midnight King

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Bride of the Midnight King is a fairy tale fantasy with a dash of the paranormal. This is a novella set in a fabulous fairy tale land where humans and vampires co-exist. Bride of the Midnight King is based on one of the most beloved fairy tales of all time, melding the romantic/classic Cinderella story and a richly textured vampire mythology to create something unique and fantastical.
And like all the best fairy tales, the story begins with ...

Once upon a time...

There was a land called Eindar, and those who lived there called it “home,” but those who lived beyond its borders called it “The Divided Kingdom” because it was a place where humans and vampires shared the land but divided the day’s hours into sunlight and shadow, and there were only a few whose lives were lived in both realms.
Eindar had once been ruled by a royal house of humans, but that era ended when the last human king—Lorant the Third—took a vampire wife and died, leaving the kingdom in her care. Queen Isix abdicated in favor of her son Adraxus, and the sons of his line had occupied the throne of the Shadow Palace ever since.

Enjoy a good Cinderella story? Fashionista is Free this week!

Last year I kicked off a series of bite-size, modern retellings of fairy tales. Eventually there will be ten, including Hunter's Kiss (due out in two weeks), a retelling of Snow White, Hero's Kiss (a retelling of Beauty and the Beast), and The Unknown Road (East of the Sun, West of the Moon).

I have a soft spot for this book. Like Bride of the Midnight King, the heroine has an intriguing relationship with her youngest sister, one of the stepsisters. When I write little sisters, I tend to think of my own who was a complicated person I loved dearly, even when she drove me crazy. I miss her and she often shows up in my fiction in various guises.

Fashionista takes place in Chicago, a city one of my best friends now calls home. I had a good time playing around with the fairy tale and if you like that sort of thing, you might like this book. (Did I mention it's free for the next five days?) And if you like the book, would you say a few nice words about it?  Thanks.

In praise of Kinuko Y. Craft

Artwork: © Kinuko. Y. Craft, All Rights Reserved,

  www.kycraft.com

The first piece of Kinuko Y. Craft's work I ever saw was this beautiful, strange illustration of a leopard woman drinking from a pool. Or at least that's what it seems to be to me. I wish I knew more. (The painting is called "The Transformation of Angarred" and I don't know anything about the story it's based on.) It immediately spoke to me, taking me to a place beyond reality and I wanted to write a story to match it. Craft calls herself a "storyteller," and it's true. Even if you don't know the story that she's given life in her art, A story suggets itself to you.

Kinuko Y. Craft's beautifully illustrated hardcover retelling of Beauty and the Beast (written by Mahlon F. Craft, Kinuko's husband, an artist/photographer) arrives from Harper Collins this July. You can pre-order it here and you should, because it looks exquisite. And while you're there, you should pick up a copy of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, their previous collaboration,  as well.On her site, you can buy signed posters she created for the Dallas Opera House. They're a bargain for their beauty and this one is going to be my birthday present to myself:

Artwork: © Kinuko. Y. Craft, All Rights Reserved,

  www.kycraft.com

TBR: Jeannie Lin's classic steampunkfairy tale retelling 'The Warlord and the Nightingale"

I love fairy tales and love reading modern versions and re-imagined versions. I especially enjoy it when writers work with material that's not as well known. (I love "Beauty and the Beast" and "Cinderella," but they're not the only fairy tales out there, you know?)
Jeanie Lin writes beautifully and this lush story is set in the universe of her "Gunpowder Chronicles," steapunk tales set during the Opium Wars. It is a retelling of "The Emperor and the Nightingale," and you will enjoy it.

Learn more about Jeannie Lin here.