The Chronicles of Amiya
Fairytale Nouveau is the creative retelling of forgotten stories combined with the Classics, fables, and myths.
A Message from Soquel
My favorite beta-reader
Adelaide Jayne, age 5
I started writing these retellings in the 80s as a teen when my best friend gifted me the kingdom of Amiya. Thanks, Lady Estella H-M! The stories are a reimagining of my favorite obscure fairytales woven together by members of the House of Agheo, a minor royal family, as the series protagonists. It's a set of stand-alone books that can be read in any order as they focus on a different sibling/ fairytale mash-up and any overlap of plots are actually just bonus scenes.
As one might hope, I have vastly improved in both talent and craft in the last thirty years. The series is in the revision stage at present, with several already complete. I plan to do a rapid release with Imperial DreamWorks imprint once they've all been professionally edited and beautiful artwork including maps and heraldry designed. The biggest factors are, of course, time and money. I'd love to add several volumes of short stories set in the same fantasy world. QUEEN FOR ALL SEASONS is my heart book. I've been waiting to tell this story since I was twelve. I love it and hope you will too.
The Taming of the Shrew
Book One
Queen For All Seasons
After having her vanity wounded, High Princess Tarakanova insults her older sister's suitors at the engagement banquet. Her father rashly decrees that he will marry Tarakanova to the first beggar at the door. Thus she finds herself married to Atrejo, a lowborn musician. Although she insists it's a mistake, their marriage is binding and she must journey across the distant mountains to his village in the kingdom of Epicha. When Tarakanova learns that the village is near the palace of one of her father's allies, she formulates a plan to have Atrejo hung for kidnapping her. Can she condemn an innocent man to death in order to get her life back?
Psyche & Cupid
Book Two
The Whisper of Shadows
Princess Debrielle is the serene and frail middle daughter in the House of Agheo, rulers of the demi-kingdom of Epicha. When her mother Queen Madeloni falls ill Debrielle accompanies her to the capital city of Tarscor to assist in the healing rituals. But things go wrong and Debrielle's life is placed in peril. After the court physician administers a mysterious elixir she continually encounters an eidolon based on her girlish fantasies of love. Only she can see this silent shadow man. She hears him whisper to her in her dreams. Is it delirium or is she being courted by a shadow? A retelling of East of the Sun West of the Moon, and Psyche and Cupid with some Shakespeare thrown in for for flavor.
The Firebird
Book Three
Dark Wings Dance
What do you get when you twist together The Firebird and Scarborough Fair with a dash of A Midsummer Night's Dream? Prince Gaetane of the demi-kingdom of Epicha has loved Lady Panthea since childhood. After her cruel father sends her as a token hostage for an alliance with the demi-kingdom of Jothumalle, Gaetane undertakes a quest to rescue her from a desert fortress on the far side of the Amiyan continent. To reach her he must pass through the haunted ruins of Huziertecsh, the dark forest, the maze of canyons, and survive the tasks set to him by her captor. But Gaetane's job looks effortless in comparison to what Panthea must undertake to save them both.
Book Four
The Far Fields of Fortune
This tale is a retelling of Princess on the Glass Hill and Vasilisa the Beautiful and a dash of Much Ado About Nothing. This book features the final two siblings in the House of Agheo, arrogant and entitled Princess Erondalyn and overindulged Princess Sabrah who are both tasked with making marriages that result in powerful alliances for the demi-kingdom of Epicha. What happens when along with the noble men some thieves, pirates, and farm boys come wooing? Just another reason why masked balls are a bad idea!
The Princess on the Glass Hill