Katherine Harbour's Blog, page 10

Writing Update

I'm working on 4 fantasy books. So for those of you who are interested, here are the descriptions:)

THE NIGHT KINGDOM: A Gothic fantasy. Four young people--a seamstress whose mother was a pirate; a soldier without a memory; a prince who believes in science over the supernatural; and an aristocrat whose family has a shady past and who works as an apothecary, exorcist, and spiritualist--unite against a mysterious criminal organization with supernatural origins. Inspired by the characters of Sherlock Holmes.

A NOVEMBER HAUNTING: As children, Phoenix and her friends encountered evil in the garden of an abandoned plantation. When Phoenix returns to her hometown as a teen, she and her friends discover that what they encountered weren't ghosts, but two monstrous lovers--one from English folklore and the other from Greek mythology. Set in the south in the 1970s.

TATTERSLEEVES: In a world inspired by Revolutionary era America, Darien is seventeen, and has been raised by her two aunts in isolation. She learns she is heir to the murdered Ragged King of Brittanica. Hunted by killers, she is forced to flee into the forest accompanied only by three boys with criminal pasts and a hunter raised in the forest--a forest rumored to be inhabited by witches and devils.

UNTITLED: Inspired by the silent film Les Vampires (Irma Vep), this dark fantasy is set in a big city, where a young woman learns the city's shadow side is haunted by an urban-mythical and dangerous cabal of young criminals.

The Edge of Everything by Jeff Giles

The Edge of Everything
Zoe lives in Montana with her mother and her little brother, Jonah, in an isolated place, and it's winter. Zoe lost her father in a caving accident. One night, searching for her little brother, she crosses paths with a murderer and is saved by a superhuman young man she calls X. X is from the Lowlands, basically Hell, and is a bounty hunter tasked to bring evildoers to justice. Life gets complicated when the cruel lords of the Lowlands become jealous of X's freedom and his and Zoe's budding love.
I loved Zoe and the relationship she has with her little brother. X's relationship with a terrifying mother figure from the Lowlands was also exceptional. The characters and the weirdness of the story made this dark fantasy for me.

The Night Sister by Jennifer McMahon

The Night Sister
I love creepy mysteries. This is the story, told in three separate time frames (1950s, 1980s, and present day), of three young girls who discovered a dark secret at a motel in the 1980s. One of the girls, now an adult, visits her pregnant sister after their friend Amy murders her family and commits suicide. Amy's family owned the Tower Motel--the story of Amy's mother Rose and her sister Sylvie is significant and heartbreaking in the 1950s.
With its notes of the uncanny and the murder mystery, this story kept me turning pages up until its unexpected ending.

The Casquette Girls by Alys Arden

The Casquette Girls
Adele returns to New Orleans after being sent to her aloof, Parisian mother due to a hurricane that ravaged the city. Adele has a great relationship with her bartender/artist father and they struggle to return to their former lives.
Adele soon learns that not all is as it should be in storm-wracked New Orleans, which is still without power and half-deserted. It's an eerie place, with its antique buildings and spooky history. Then Adele learns about an ancestor with ties to the monsters who now haunt the New Orleans quarter where she lives and a whole new family history is revealed.
While the monsters are traditional (and fascinating), the story isn't. It's like an intricate puzzle box. The cast of eccentric characters and authentic New Orleans atmosphere made for a story that I lost myself in for days.

Spellbook of the Lost and Found by Moira Fowley-Doyle

Spellbook of the Lost and Found
Told from three different points of view--Hazel, Olive, and Laurel being the main protagonists--this contemporary fantasy set in Ireland reminded me of Alice Hoffman's tales. When two separate groups of friends find a spellbook which promises to bring back lost things, Laurel and her two friends use it to find the pages from someone's diary gone missing and instead meet a mysterious and strange boy named Jude. Olive and her best friend Rose meet two runaways. When they find the spellbook, they cast the same spell to find lost things--which results in hundreds of lost objects appearing near their town.
With its believable teenage characters, a touch of magic realism, and themes of family and friendship, this urban fantasy is for anyone who enjoyed Maggie Stiefvater's or Melissa Marr's books.

Odd & True by Cat Winters

Odd & True
A tale of two sisters set in America in the early 1900s. Odette is the eldest, protective of Trudchen, who has polio, but doesn't let that limit her. Raised on her sister's stories about their family being a family of monster hunters, Tru believes those stories.
When Odd leaves on her own adventure, Tru remains with their aunt, who is taking care of them. One day, Odd returns to bring Tru with her on a quest, and Tru learns that some of her sister's tales were altered.
Odd and Tru is a fairy tale about two courageous girls, family secrets, and the Jersey Devil, with fascinating historical details. It's heartbreaking at times, and surprising, and I loved the perfect ending.

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire

Down Among the Sticks and Bones
A dark fairy tale about two sisters, Jack and Jill, who, when they're children, find their way into a sinister world ruled by a magnetic man called The Master and a weary scientist. Jack is the beauty and Jill is the tomboy and both girls transform into what they want to be in a land on moors surrounded by seas and forests containing terrifying beings. The sisters' rivalry becomes a breathtaking and poignant journey as they mature in this world. It's a beautiful and eerie tale of sisterhood with touches of horror. A Wrinkle in Time for anyone who loves Neil Gaiman and Caitlin Kiernan.

The Beast is an Animal by Peternelle van Arsdale

The Beast Is an Animal
Set in a world similar to Colonial America and its puritans, this dark fantasy has truly creepy touches.
Teenage Alys losses, not only her parents, but her entire village, to two monsters who look like twin girls. They're called the soul eaters. When she and other child survivors are taken in by a neighboring village of ultra-religious people, they are practically shunned and used as slaves. Then the soul eaters begin circling. And Alys realizes they spared her for a reason.
Then she meets the Beast in the forest (a fabulous twist).
Alys is soon forced to flee and is taken in by the Travelers, gypsies and free-thinkers. She meets a charming boy who's also been adopted.
A twisty dark fairy tale with echoes of The Ring and The Witch and Sheri S. Tepper's older fantasies.

Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero

Meddling Kids
A horror mystery with elements of Scooby Doo, Lovecraft, and Cabin in the Woods.
The Blyton Summer Detective Club Agency were a group of kids who solved mysteries, but one mystery haunts them as damaged young adults. Andrea is a drifter with anger issues. Kerri is a star student who has failed at life and works in a bar. Nate is now in a mental hospital. Peter committed suicide and haunts Nate. And, of course, there's Kerri's intelligent (non-verbal) dog, Tim.
Something happened in the old Deboen house, something more than the crook in a monster costume they became famous for catching as kids. When they return to Blyton to delve into the past, they open a door into the supernatural. There's an unexpected twist, gruesome creatures, a classic villain, and an atmosphere of horror and Buffy-like intrigue that made this a fun and suspenseful read.

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue
Monty is a lord in the 1800s and is about to embark on a grand tour of Europe with his brainy sister Felicity and his best friend and fellow aristocrat, Percy.
The tour falls apart and becomes an adventure and a desperate attempt to retrieve an alchemical device that might save one of the three from a devastating condition and fate in a sanatorium. The French court, racial injustice, pirates, Venice, parental abuse, and unrequited love make for a fabulous narrative.
The three young protagonists learn to become heroes. Every character has a story. The romance is epic. A perfect read for anyone who likes a dash of history and romance with their adventure and Jane Austen.