MELISSA K. MAGNER
author
about the author
Melissa K. Magner began writing as a child and never stopped. Inspired by her late grandmother, Patricia M. Kaspar, she writes fantasy novels infused with elements of science fiction, horror, and mystery. She has found freedom in the indie world, crafting unconventional stories about heroines who come into their own power and find love through family, friendship, and self-discovery. Her work has received critical acclaim from IndieReader, Readers’ Favorite, and the BookLife Prize by Publishers Weekly.
At only nineteen, Marina Oliver has lost everything. After an accident took her parents’ lives and left her drowning in grief, she finds fleeting comfort in her recurring dreams of ocean waves. But when the waves come for her while she’s awake, Marina falls through the cracks of her world and into Elsudra, a realm torn apart by war and ruled by a dictator who seeks to control the source of its magic. Elsudrans call it the Omnia, and it has latched onto her. Forced into hiding and harboring a power she neither wants nor understands, Marina fights against her fate, despite being told she should’ve chosen it herself. When she begins showing inclinations toward the Omnia’s power, however, she can’t help but wonder why someone like her—plagued by internal storms and guilt—would’ve been tasked with such an extreme burden. The more she fights for home, the more intense her dreams grow, and with them, looming threats that force her to confront the darkness both around and within her.
Summers in Tennessee are unfamiliar to fifteen-year-old Rosella Gill, who spent her life growing up in Oregon. But after a traumatic event with her mother that left their family in shambles, Rosella doesn’t plan on seeing her old home again any time soon. Together with her mother and seven-year-old sister Hettie, Rosella finds herself ripped from her old life as they move in with her aunt. Though she doesn’t mind Tennessee, the town they live in is rural and stagnant. Things get surprisingly more interesting, however, when she and Hettie come across a well hidden in a nearby forest and a staircase that descends into it. Underneath, they find a moonlit lake and a forest with trees boasting intricate carvings of children’s faces. Above it all shines an underground moon, which grows a little fuller every time they return. After meeting a man with a haunted past, Rosella begins to realize that the world is not as innocent as it seems, and it has a particular target: her sister.
Things are quiet in the morning, especially in an unassuming town like Aledale. When sixteen-year-old Jan (often referred to as “Jinx”) and her best friend Shelley attempt to catch low tide early in the morning at the local cove, Jan uncovers a little box with a mermaid carved into the lid, adorned with shining emerald eyes and a mysterious message and locket inside. After putting the necklace on, Jan begins to experience painful and unsettling episodes that leave her floundering for an explanation. Accompanied with the unrelenting desire to keep the locket close, Jan drags Shelley on a search for clues as to whom the necklace and box belong to. As they fall further into the intricate web spun by the people trying to get back what they claim is theirs, Jan and Shelley learn about a peculiar legend and why what they found needs to fall into the right hands. But not all hands are the right ones, and not all secrets can be kept. After all, some things are predestined to be jinxed.
