Once Upon a Time by Yasmine Galenorn

Once upon a time…

How I’ve always loved those words. In childhood, they captivated me. By the time I was three years old I knew I wanted to be writing “Once upon a time…” for people to read. It was a long route between there and here, but for the past thirteen years I’ve been writing books, and people have been reading them, and though the career isn’t quite what I pictured, it’s everything I could want.

So, I’m here to talk about my new series. You see, I have a very active urban fantasy series that is ongoing: the Otherworld series, and it has seven books out and will have, at the least, twelve books. I love that series…but…about a year and a half ago, I began to envision another world—a different world than the one I was writing. This world was darker and, if possible, more magical. It was a world cloaked in shadows and mist, and there was something about an evil Fae queen, and the main character would be a witch who controlled the wind and was searching for her love, a Fae Prince named Grieve, who had been captured by the evil Fae queen.

My publisher liked the idea, I got a contract for the new series, and as I began to explore the world, I realized that—like all of my work—the books weren’t going to be as simple as they had sounded. For one thing: the Indigo Court Fae were vampiric—they’d had a major skirmish with a group of vampires in the past, and it led to them becoming a hybrid race, far more ruthless and dangerous than either their dark Fae or vampire heritages. For another: Cicely’s lover, Grieve, is now part of the Indigo Court, and so he has a dual nature now that he must attempt to control. Not only that, but apparently Cicely and Grieve were connected in a past life and that memory has come back to haunt them. And then there’s the question of Cicely’s mysterious heritage—and the owl that lurks in the woodland near her home….

As always happens for me, the world took over and ran with the book. And I chased along, attempting to keep up. And now I’m in love with my new world, even while still loving the one I’ve been writing about for several years. Sometimes I feel a little like I’m cheating on my Otherworld series, but then I decide that it keeps my writing fresh to alternate between the two.

And so I introduce you to Night Myst—book one of the Indigo Court Series. Be sure to carry a flashlight with you as you journey into the story, for the night is long and dark, and take a sweater or jacket—the snow is thick and the winter, harsh. And you might want to watch for vampires and magical spiders along the way. Good journeys, and I’ll see you in the pages!

Oh, and my publisher will be giving away three copies of Bone Magic, book 7 in my Otherworld series, to commenters here. Leave me a comment (play nice, now), and I’ll pick three winners the day after this goes up and announce them on my personal blog on 6/26.

_____________________________________________________________________

New York Times bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn writes urban fantasy for Berkley: both the bestselling Otherworld/Sisters of the Moon Series for Berkley and the upcoming Indigo Court urban fantasy series.  In the past, she wrote mysteries for Berkley Prime Crime, and nonfiction metaphysical books.  Her books have hit the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists numerous times.

Yasmine has been in the Craft for over 30 years, is a shamanic witch, and describes her life as a blend of teacups and tattoos.  She lives in Bellevue, WA, with her husband Samwise and their cats.  Yasmine can be reached via her website, twitter, and her blog.