Hi Everybody!

It's been a wildly busy time for me. I'm completed my first contemporary fantasy, The Grimoire. It will be the first book in a series called The Foreseers, which is an international coven of witches with a history stretching back thousands of years. What's particularly fun for me in this project is that my husband Eric has partnered with me on all the research. While we were in graduate school at Yale Eric was the teaching assistant for a political science course titled Intelligence and Covert Operations more commonly referred to as "Spies and Lies." We took his knowledge of the intelligence community and international political economy and used it in creating The Foreseers organization. The missions and functions of The Foreseers mirror the real-life functioning of the intelligence community.

Once we were rolling on creating this secret world (the first book is set in Virginia), we decided we needed orders of magical creatures to be aligned with The Foreseers or their magical enemies and maybe a few species being recruited by both sides! Thus we researched various cultures and mythologies around the globe looking for similarities between creatures appearing in multiple cultures across history. Thus, we were able to create magical creatures which are known throughout history and thus can function in various cells around the world. We spent over six months "world building." Our date nights were pretty exciting. Anyone overhearing us was probably a bit confused hearing about secret missions, spells, and griffin attacks!

In The Grimoire Gemma Morrin has a lot to deal with.  First, there’s her growing reputation at school as a nerd, while her twin sister Ciara is the most popular girl in their grade and insists Gemma can be, too.  Unfortunately, Ciara is also the witch most likely to create disaster whenever she waves a wand.  Sixteen year old Gemma is totally stressing about cleaning up her sister’s catastrophes while keeping their practice of witchcraft secret.  When a member of her ancestral coven shows up at her door begging her to hide a grimoire central to the coven’s power, she agrees to use her unique ability to alter perceptions to hide the grimoire from the dark wizard Cathaoir, but only long enough for the coven to come up with a permanent plan. 

Cathaoir discovers that Gemma has the grimoire and begins a campaign of escalating attacks on her loved ones using Elementals, magical creatures created by witches and wizards.  On top of being attacked by griffins and minotaurs while struggling to keep her family safe, Gemma has to do the last thing she ever dreamed of — discourage Drew, the non-magical boy she’s crazy about, from being anywhere near her.  It’s the only way to keep him safe.  Drew, on the other hand, loves two things — a mystery to be solved and Gemma — and keeping him clear of danger proves impossible.

Eric and I have had a wonderful time with The Grimoire, combining magic, action, intrigue and, of course, a touch of romance. Stay tuned for a release date for The Grimoire and the next book in The Foreseers series.

My best to all,