Thoughts in Progress: Magic Harvest (+ Giveaway)

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Magic Harvest (+ Giveaway)

Magic Harvest
Mary Karlik
Published by: Ink Monster LLC
Publication date: September 18th 2018
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

Young fae girls are disappearing.
     Layla has never belonged to the fairy realm – at least, half of her hasn’t. She’s never known anyone with human blood, not even her father. When she was three, the dragon Fauth attacked the fairy festival, murdering her fae mum & stepfather. Frankly, some fairies think she should’ve been eaten too.
     As she grew, despite being called names like “fuman” for being a half-blood, she’s discovered that being half-human isn’t terrible. She may lack magic, but she is immune to iron sickness, and she can wield a sword with elven skill.
Magic in the human world is disastrous.
     Sixteen years later, when Layla’s half-sister is kidnapped and taken through a portal to the forbidden human realm, Layla rushes to the rescue. She’s older and stronger, and she’s not about to let her last living family member be taken from her without a fight.
Only someone who belongs to both worlds can find the truth.
     The portal spits her out in the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, but neither her sister or the kidnapper are anywhere to be found. Stuck in a world she only knows from school books, Layla forges unlikely alliances to find her sister. As she becomes tangled in the dark world of fairy trafficking, magic harvesting, and murder, Layla will have to find the strength within if she is to survive and save her sister.

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An excerpt for your reading pleasure.

He picked up his cap and twirled it on his finger. “What do I know about you so far? Let’s see. You can change from human size to wee in the blink of an eye, and change back just as fast. So why not change and break out of the cage?” He winked and smiled. “Unless the cage would change with you. That’s it, isn’t it?” He dropped the cap on the table and leaned forward. “Why haven’t you used your magic?”

If he figured out she didn’t have magic, then her only bluff was up. She might not have been as afraid of him as she had been at first, but she didn’t trust him either. And her fey-sized weapons would be almost useless if she had to fight him.

If she could get out of the cage and human-size, then her weapons would come in very handy. She wouldn’t hurt him, just make him return her to the street where he’d found her so she could continue her search for Esme.

She took a breath and stepped forward.

His eyes widened. “Are you ready to speak?”

She nodded.

His eyes practically sparked with excitement. “Let’s start easy. What’s your name and what are you?”

She wasn’t in a position to bargain, but she had to try. “I’ll answer your questions if you answer mine.”

A slow smile spread across his face. “Fair enough. You start.”

“My name is Layla and I’m a fairy—we are also called fey.”

“Layla.” He sat back and folded his arms across his chest. “And you’re a fairy. A fairy like a fairytale fairy?”

“Aye, a fairy. Don’t know about the fairytale part.” She leaned against the bars. “And you are?”

He pulled a small case from his pocket and flipped it open to reveal an identification card. “Specialist Crime Division Officer Ian Cameron.”

She grabbed the bars and shoved her face close. No use in mucking around. “Well, Specialist Officer Ian Cameron, what have you done with my sister?”

Author Mary Karlik

Mary Karlik has always been a dreamer. When she was a teen, she read The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, and then sat in every wardrobe in her Nanna’s home, trying to open the door to Narnia. She didn’t find it, but she did discover her voice as an author: one filled with her young adult self, and grounded in her roots as a Texan and her Scottish heritage, nourished by obscure Scottish folklore.
You can find her Texas roots in her YA contemporary romance Hickville series , which has been described as “100% solid storytelling,” and begins with Welcome to Hickville High, a “lovely story about growing up.”

She digs deep into her Scottish roots – there is magic there, she just knows it – for the forthcoming YA epic fantasy Fairy Trafficking series, beginning with Magic Harvest.
She makes her home in the beautiful Sangre de Cristo mountains of Northern New Mexico where she is a certified professional ski instructor, but she also loves visiting Scotland where she is currently studying Scottish Gaelic at the University of Highlands and Islands in Skye. Mary also earned her MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University, has a B.S. degree from Texas A&M University, and is a Registered Nurse.

Mary currently serves as the President of the Young Adult Chapter of Romance Writers of America and looks forward to raising a glass or two of gin and tonic with her fellow writers every year at RWA’s national convention.