Authorpreneur Dashboard – Megan Haskell
Pixie Tamer
Science Fiction & Fantasy
It’s Nuriel “Rie” Lhethannien’s twenty-fifth nameday. She should be celebrating her rise to maturity, not sweating in the training hall. But life isn’t fair, and humans aren’t equal to the elves, at least not in the High Court.
Book Bubbles from Pixie Tamer
The Pixies
The pixies are the most misunderstood of the fae creatures in the Sanyare Universe. They are predatory and brutally carnivorous, and they speak a language that's completely unintelligible to the greater fae (the elves and sidhe), but they're not stupid, and they're not cruel. Unlike the elves of the high court, Rie is able to see beyond their "pest" status and find the good in them. She understands what it feels like to be ostracized by those in power. As a result, the pixies become valuable allies, as you'll see in the novel, Sanyare: The Last Descendant.
Sanyare: The Last Descendant
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Trained as an elite fighter and educated in the ways of the elves, Nuriel "Rie" Lhéthannien has worked decades to be accepted into the High Court messenger service. It's a simple enough occupation, but in a realm where humans are treated as little better than slaves, it's a position she'll do anything to protect. On a routine delivery in the Human Realm, Rie is attacked by assassins from the enemy Shadow Realm and framed as a traitor. Facing execution at the hand of an unmerciful king, she evades capture and crosses the portal into enemy lands to prove her innocence. Surprising allies arise from the shadows, assisting her search and uncovering secrets she didn't know she kept. With the risk of discovery lurking at every turn, Rie must use every weapon in her arsenal to uncover the truth behind the attack. If she fails, death will be the least of her worries. Featuring a lowly human caught between two great faerie realms, a dark elf prince with unnatural fire magic, a blood sidhe merchant’s son with ambitions beyond business, and a mischievous swarm of pixies, Sanyare: The Last Descendant is a New Adult coming of age adventure you won't want to put down.
Book Bubbles from Sanyare: The Last Descendant
Fantasy Based in Mythology - the Longma
They say legends are based in truth, so what would the world's mythological creatures be like in reality? In SANYARE, I decided to base the greater and lesser fae on actual myths and legends from cultures around the world. One of these comes in the form of Turant, a longma who is Prince Daenor's friend and steed. The longma is a creature of Chinese myth. It's a winged horse with dragon scales and is usually pictured with long dragon whiskers. They are often associated with Chinese royalty or great sage-rulers. In the world of SANYARE, all of the fae creatures have influenced the Human Realm (Earth) in some way. The longma, though direct from Chinese folklore, has comparable creatures in many cultures, including the Kirin in Japan and the Hippocampus in Greece. So, if you're playing along, you'll understand that though the humans gave up magic centuries ago, our worlds are not so far apart, after all.
Blood Sidhe (Vampire) Biology
Braegan is a blood sidhe, my term for vampire. We meet the blood sidhe early in SANYARE, but this is the first time we see how they feed. I envisioned the vampires as a bit of a cross between human, snake, and cat. Obviously, they appear human - a camouflage for hunting - but unlike many of the vampire legends, I didn't want their fangs to always be visible. Instead, they snap down from the tops of their mouths and their bottom jaw dislocates when they feed, just like a venomous snake. This allows them to open their mouth far wider than a human, fully latching onto the throat (or really any body part) of their victim. Lastly, the claws are retractable like a cat, and thicker than human nails. This gives them natural close combat weapons.
Enchanted Blades
I had so much fun creating Rie's imaginary knives. They're based off of the Maginus-Nasmyth khukuri design by Jay Fisher. I looked up the mystical properties of stones and minerals, as well as the meanings of the old norse runes, to create blades that would help Rie in her quest. Every piece of these blades has a purpose in the story!
