Welcome to Realm Explorers! In this weekly series, we visit a variety of unique worlds created by talented science fiction and fantasy authors. Enjoy your travels! And don’t forget to read to the bottom of the post to find out more about each author and see how to purchase the featured book. (In this case, you can get it for free!)
Author’s name: Alex McGilvery
Title of book and/or series: Tales of Ever After (an anthology)
Brief summary of the story: A Week After Midnight is a follow up of the classic Cinderella. What happens when the farm girl moves into the palace? The prince is shy, and the magic has worn off, or has it?
Brief description of the world or location you created for this story: The story is set in a fairy tale land, but it has problems with drought and taxes. I have a fair number of fairy tale stories, so imagine it connecting with Snow White’s land over to the west, and mountains with trolls to the north. While I don’t name it in the story, I think of it as Charmant, a Kingdom of Prince Charmings I created decades ago.
If we were to visit Charmant as tourists, what would you recommend that we see or do there?
The palace is always interesting, but there are also local craftspeople who would love to show you the work they do. After all, someone needs to pay for all that luxury.
What dangers should we avoid in Charmant?
While the evil witches live to the west, one should be careful when buying apples from old crones, you never know. And if you get lost in the woods, neither gingerbread houses nor porridge are recommended for consumption.
What role, if any, does magic or the supernatural play in the lives of people in Charmant? If there is magic, please give some examples of what it involves or how it’s used.
Magic is mostly the province of the nobles, with the occasional exception for seventh sons. The people of Faerie who have maintained the enchantments for generations are getting bored, so they might get silly and confuse the stories, there is nothing quite like the Frog Prince and the Seven Giants. Good thing his name was Jack.
Tell us about any sports, games, or activities that are available for entertainment in Charmant?
While one can count on royal balls for one reason or another, the regular folk are busy farming and working, but do find time to poke fun at the royals while drinking a pint or two at the inn.
What is the political or government structure in Charmant? Who is in charge there at the moment, and what kind of leader is he/she?
Being a magic Kingdom, the government is nominally a monarchy, but as in most places the bureaucracy does all the real work. A wise ruler lets them get on with the day to day business and concentrates on doing what royals do best, which is alternately befriended and annoying the Faerie.
Author Autobiography: Alex is an author and editor. He’s been writing books for decades, but only started publishing in the last ten years. He now has 16 books in print. He writes in genres from fantasy to horror to thriller to steampunk to contemporary fiction. He has a free collection of fairy tales and other stories.
Where, and in what formats, can we purchase your book(s)?
All my books are available in all formats in most ebook retailers. With the ISBN on the book sample page at https://alexmcgilvery.com one can order a print book from a bookstore. Here is the landing page to take you to the retailer of your choice. https://www.books2read.com/ap/x2o0ZR/Alex-McGilvery
Where can readers connect with you online?
On alexmcgilvery.com you can read samples of all my books as well as some of the short stories he’s written over the years. You can also connect through my facebook page www.facebook.com-/Author.AlexMcGilvery.
“A Week After Midnight” is a short story in the Fellowship of Fantasy anthology Tales of Ever After, which is available for FREE! Find out more below.
Rescue a princess, meet a mermaid, win your reward.
The authors of the Fellowship of Fantasy tackle fairy tales from once upon a time to happily ever after. Explore twists on old tales and brand new magical stories. Meet feisty mermaids, friendly lampposts, and heroes who just might be monsters themselves.
This fourth anthology from the Fellowship of Fantasy will lead you on a quest for entertainment and storm the castle of your imagination. So make a wish and enter the deep dark woods to find stories that will make you laugh, shiver, and maybe even fall in love.
I hope you all enjoyed the trip to Charmant. Questions about the world or the book? Ask them in the comments and the author will get back to you!
Click here to read other posts in the Realm Explorers series.
Please join us again next Monday for a trip to another world in next week’s edition of Realm Explorers!Are you an author of a sci-fi or fantasy novel that takes place in another world? Click here to find out about having it featured on Realm Explorers!
-Annie Douglass Lima
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Author Autobiography: 