The Girl Who Watched for Elves: Audiobook

The Girl Who Watched For Elves, A Fairy Tale Short has been rendered into Audiobook format on Google Play! 

Stay tuned for the release of other Audiobooks in the Once Upon A Time Today collection: 

Dreaming of the Sea

The Tree Hugger

and

I am Lilly Dane

Kirkus Reviews War & Grace

The short & sweet conclusion:

"Melia remains an engrossing protagonist ... Garrett’s prose is, once again, lyrical and serene ... A stirring, satisfying ending to an epic, otherworldly series."—Kirkus Reviews

The full Kirkus Review:

WAR & GRACE

Pub Date: March 20th, 2018

ISBN: 978-0-9907691-4-9

Page count: 690pp

BOOK REVIEW

In this conclusion to a YA fantasy trilogy, the inhabitants of an enchanted realm face the impending— and foretold—battle between Dark and Light.

Half-faerie Melia Albiana is the chosen vessel for the entity Umbra. Umbra seeks the utter destruction of the Whole, which comprises all known worlds, including the mortal one. Surprisingly, Melia fought for the opportunity to be a vessel. The Grey Council, rulers of the enchanted world, has decided that Umbra’s incarnation is a necessity. For years, his presence in a realm called the Void has maintained a balance in the birth and death of mortal souls. But his rapid growth is now a potential danger, and the Whole can only evolve if he is no longer in the Void. Melia has about a year before Umbra incarnates, but she can still feel his presence and fears that he will ultimately take control. This makes her reluctant to marry her love, Ryder. Meanwhile, Melia’s cousin, Lilliane, princess of Illialei in the enchanted world, blames Melia for the death of the man she loved. The princess wants to stop Umbra’s incarnation, as Melia could use the entity’s power to unseat Lilliane’s royal family. That’s just what Melia plans on doing, in revenge for all the innocent blood the Illialei queens have spilled. This all seems to be leading to the prophesied Dark and Light confrontation, which Melia is prepared to fight, so long as Ryder is by her side. But then she faces a personal crisis after she’s understandably shaken by Ryder’s sudden arrest: Lilliane abducts one of Melia’s loved ones.

Though the final book in Garrett’s (Half Mortal, 2015, etc.) series dives right into the story, new readers (or ones who have perhaps forgotten details of previous novels) won’t at all be lost. The author pushes the narrative forward with subtle but lucid reminders of preceding events, and comprehensive glossaries of characters and places are included at the book’s end. Melia remains an engrossing protagonist while epitomizing the conflicting nature of the characters. For example, in order to challenge the sinister Lilliane, she becomes the embodiment of another, possibly worse evil. Other players are equally intriguing and often tormented. Melia’s older half-faerie sister, Melusine, like their mother, fell in love with a mortal who had broken the faerie troth by witnessing her transformation. Surprisingly, Lilliane is an appealing character despite her unequivocal status as a villain. Her retaliation against a ship’s cook who disrespects her is cruel but also innovative and darkly humorous. The forthcoming battle as well as Umbra’s arrival gives the story an overall sense of dread and quite a few somber moments. But tension is lessened by Melia and Ryder’s romance, which is endearingly strong even if it may be doomed. There are likewise instances of understated humor; Lilliane believes a dragon sighting is “rather fantastical,” as the beasts prefer drier climates. Garrett’s prose is, once again, lyrical and serene: “Her gaze returned to the moons, one white and one pale purple. She stared for hours, in silent communion with the Whole itself.”

A stirring, satisfying ending to an epic, otherworldly series. — Kirkus Reviews

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In a time when the Realm of Faerie and Planet Earth exist in symbiotic union, the epic journey of a young half-faerie woman will transform the future of both worlds ...

My name is Melia Albiana and I stand on the edge of the abyss.

Before I leap, I exhale a breath out of time.

The beauty of the Whole unfurls before me—its intricacy, its complexity, its endurance, its mystery, its majesty.

I am filled with awe.

The universal awareness passes and I am left with the poverty of my personal legacy.

I will die young.

I will die broken.

I will die grief-stricken.

I will die lonely.

And I will die a monster.

I will also die consumed by love.

Whimsical and edgy, Daughter of Light is an epic fantasy with an intriguing cosmology and well-developed characters for readers of all ages.

The First Day of Spring 2018: War & Grace Release

Over the next few months, I'll be continuing my posts on the Daughter of Light trilogy and its prequel Isolt's Enchantment, but this week I want to post some content about the 10-year (plus) journey I took in arriving at this date of the release of the final installment.

Today, I'll keep things very simple and simply post the Acknowledgments for War & Grace:

The Daughter of Light trilogy is inspired by my beloved grandmother and the transformative effect she had on my life. It is equally inspired by my husband. He has been with me every step of the way since its inception. My grandmother was a gardener, connected to the earth. I didn’t realize until she passed the door she’d opened for me to the natural world. My husband is my heart. These works are from him as much as they are from me because they wouldn’t have existed without his contributions, whether it was finessing a plot point, the technicalities of publishing software, or creating the gorgeous covers.

Rachmi Febrianty, Sheila of Frostbite Publishing, and Brenda Ayala were early readers who stuck with the series through its various incarnations through the end. THANK YOU! Each of your contributions were SIGNIFICANT. In particular, Rachmi insisted on the maps early on and always pressed on details, Sheila pushed for the Black Magic Island dragons to not disappear from the story (as they did in early drafts), and Brenda demanded in the most gracious way that Melia be and grow into a worthy heroine.

Like many (most?) (all?) contemporary fantasy authors, I read Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia as a child and the major Tolkien works (The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings) as a young teen. It’s common knowledge that Tolkien and Lewis were friends, professional colleagues and that they both professed a personal faith in Christianity which influenced their respective works.

The Lord of the Rings was a huge and direct inspiration for Daughter of Light, but—of course!—changes had to be made. Who wants to retell The Lord of the Rings when it’s already been told so well?

What were the designed changes (made over a decade ago) in Daughter of Light?

1. The protagonist along with a multitude of other major characters are female.
2. While Tolkien’s cosmology pre-dates contemporary history, the Realm of Faerie and the rest of the enchanted world in Daughter of Light exist parallel to the mortal world. There's a (quantum) exchange of energy between the two.
3. The Primal Essence, the Parallel of Shadows, and the Void in Daughter of Light are quantum realms.
4. Language, style of dress, the attitudes and experiences of the characters in Daughter of Light travel much closer to modernity.

Thus, Daughter of Light explores and relies on the newer ideas of quantum mechanics and how reality forms. QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT is at the heart of the story … “quantum entanglement … predicts that changing one particle instantaneously changes the other — even if they are on opposite sides of the galaxy, 100,000 light-years apart.”

While developing the arc of Melia's journey I documented my research on spirituality in the Sunburned blog series on my website. The three most DIRECT contributions came from: Julian of Norwich (I'd never even heard of her before I began this project!) and her theology of love; Kiran Trace and her shared of experience for her own personal spiritual awakening; and John Mark Stroud's vision of a regenerated Planet Earth.

Finally, thank you to the readers. May we all seek and find expressions of mundane, mystical and transformational love in our everyday lives.

Sincerely,
Heidi Garrett

Amazon E-book | Amazon Paperback | Barnes & Noble (coming soon!) | Apple | Google Play | kobo

In a time when the Realm of Faerie and Planet Earth exist in symbiotic union, the epic journey of a young half-faerie woman will transform the future of both worlds ...

My name is Melia Albiana and I stand on the edge of the abyss.

Before I leap, I exhale a breath out of time.

The beauty of the Whole unfurls before me—its intricacy, its complexity, its endurance, its mystery, its majesty.

I am filled with awe.

The universal awareness passes and I am left with the poverty of my personal legacy.

I will die young.

I will die broken.

I will die grief-stricken.

I will die lonely.

And I will die a monster.

I will also die consumed by love.

Whimsical and edgy, Daughter of Light is an epic fantasy with an intriguing cosmology and well-developed characters for readers of all ages.

On Writing War & Grace: Video Update #5

Pre-Order War & Grace!

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In a time when the Realm of Faerie and Planet Earth exist in symbiotic union, the epic journey of a young half-faerie woman will transform the future of both worlds ...

My name is Melia Albiana and I stand on the edge of the abyss.

Before I leap, I exhale a breath out of time.

The beauty of the Whole unfurls before me—its intricacy, its complexity, its endurance, its mystery, its majesty.

I am filled with awe.

The universal awareness passes and I am left with the poverty of my personal legacy.

I will die young.

I will die broken.

I will die grief-stricken.

I will die lonely.

And I will die a monster.

I will also die consumed by love.

Whimsical and edgy, Daughter of Light is an epic fantasy with an intriguing cosmology and well-developed characters for readers of all ages.

Release Day!

These arrived today! And they have been a long time coming. I'm so thrilled to announce the release of the second book in the Daughter of Light fantasy trilogy, Half Mortal.

As a young girl, I was completely unaware that several of my favorite authors were men: J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and Stephen King. However, as I grew older, I came to realize: WAIT A MINUTE! Where are those female heroes? Now, we have a lot more stories with females front and center. AWESOME! I am proud to add the story told in Daughter of Light to that growing class of fantasy works.

I fell completely in love with Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings. I became obsessed with studying how the books were edited for the big screen. The screenwriters did an amazing job. (I'm not discussing The Hobbit!) So when I set out to write the story that would become Daughter of Light, almost a decade ago, I wanted to create something epic along the lines of LOTR. And I wanted to make it more contemporary. And I wanted to make it about women. Check. Check. Check.

Melia takes an amazing journey in Half Mortal. The challenges and adventures she faces in this second installment deepen and strengthen both her identity and her relationships with the people she loves and cares about. She grows far beyond the young half-faerie that she was in the opening pages of Half Faerie.

So, if you haven't begun reading, you can pick up a copy of Isolt's Enchantment. The short novel, introducing the young priest from Idonne and the historic events that lead up to Melia's story, is free!

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And if you want to keep reading, or share a gift with a friend or loved one, you can pick up a copy of Half Faerie.

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Apple

B&N
Goodreads

GooglePlay

Kobo

If you've been reading all along, then you can continue with the next installment of Melia's fearless journey and epic transformation in Half Mortal now!

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Goodreads

GooglePlay

Kobo

Once Upon a Time Today — New Release & Freebies

I’m excited to announce the release of the 4th Once Upon a Time Today novella.  I Am Lily Dane, A Horrific Fairy Tale is a retelling of Han’s Christian Andersen’s “The Shadow”. Early readers have said it’s “twisted and awesome” and “disturbing and beautiful.”

I Am Lily Dane

Amazon | Apple | B&N | GooglePlay | Kobo

Other news: The three short stories that serve as a prelude to the collection, as well as the bundling of the three stories, The Girl Who Believed in Fairy Tales are now FREE on Amazon, Apple, GooglePlay, and Kobo. AND, for at least the rest of March, the first novella in the collection, Beautiful Beautiful, will be FREE.

Beautiful Beautiful

Amazon | Apple | GooglePlay | Kobo

The Girl Who Believed in Fairy Tales (Three Short Stories)

Amazon | Apple | GooglePlay | Kobo

The Girl Who Watched for Elves*

GooglePlay | Kobo |Scribd

The Girl Who Dreamed of Red Shoes*

GooglePlay | Kobo

The Girl Who Couldn't Sing*

GooglePlay | Kobo

*If you'd like to help make this free on Amazon, please report a price match!

The rest of the novellas in the Once Upon a Time Today collection are now available wherever you find your reads. Each story has been enhanced, thanks to editor Vince Dickinson, and updated with an Author’s Note about how I retold the original tale.

Dreaming of the Sea

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The Tree Hugger

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Once Upon a Time Today is a collection of modern fairy tale retellings for those who have already left home.

Photo Credit

Win a Horrific Fairy Tale!

Sixteen-year-old Daisy Wright shimmers through life in bright-colored tennis shoes and Salvation Army dresses, always a half-size too large. She sweeps loops of her dirty-blonde hair into a rat’s nest of spirals and braids. Her cherry-vanilla lip gloss accents the natural smudges beneath her eyes and the chipped nail polish on her fingernails never matches.

Daisy’s only treasure is an iPod. Between every class, the buds burrow into her ears.

Lily recognizes her classmate’s messy magnetism as a look she can never pull off. Perhaps she’ll eat Daisy’s soul instead. — Excerpt from I Am Lily Dane

Win A Print Edition!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

I Am Lily Dane

by Heidi Garrett

Giveaway ends March 04, 2015.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Susan's Book Bag

Cupcakes & Kisses will be here on December 2nd!!!!! And Susan at The Book Bag has already read the book and interviewed me and Billie. It's Our First Ever Author interview!!! So don't miss it, because it will make you smile... (Pretty sure!)

Our First Ever Author Interview

Susan Share's Her Thoughts on Cupcakes & Kisses

Dia de los Muertos

Years ago, when I lived in El Paso, Texas I fell in love with many things... the desert, the moon hanging over the Franklin mountains, the abundance of roses, and the view of Mexico while driving I-10 to work every morning. But one of the things I carried with me when I left was the celebration of Dia De Los Muertos. From the moment, I saw the colorful art in curio shops and the mall and my friends' homes I was intrigued by a day to honor the dead. I'd already lost my mother and three of my grandparents. To discover there was a heritage of celebrating the dearly departed with festivals, food, music, dance, and vividly painted skulls and crafts drowning in flowers heartened and revivified me. Honoring the dead, celebrating their life, and being grateful they were part of mine, made for a deeper healer. One that returned me fully restored to a life, that up until then, I'd been a bit ambivalent about living.

So it's not all that surprising to me that when I decided to write a horrific fairy tale for Halloween, it transformed into something utterly different. One that celebrates November 1st. Dia de Los Muertos. The Day of the Dead.

I Am Lily Dane, a contemporary retelling of Han's Christian Andersen's "The Shadow", is coming soon.

I Am Lily Dane by Heidi Garret

I'm so excited! Guess what is coming in February 2014?

ABOUT I Am Lily Dane:

Lily Dane is a bright light. A spiritually barren, consuming flame, she befriends girls whose inner lives are rich with dreams and compelling desire. Their unapologetic souls fascinate her. However, Lily’s interest in her peers isn’t friendly, she’s obsessed with the machinations of crushing their spirits.

Lily also has a shadow who is sentient. A freak of nature? An abomination? Who knows? But Lily’s shadow is consumed with stopping the emotional and psychological devastation its host always leaves in her wake.

I Am Lily Dane, A Horrific Fairy Tale is a psychologically dark retelling of Han’s Christian Andersen’s “The Shadow".

Once Upon a Time Today

Pre-Order The Tree Hugger for $0.99

Release Date: August 26th, 2014

Genre: Dystopian Fairy Tale
Pre-Order at Amazon | Goodreads

ABOUT The Tree Hugger:

Born and raised in the Free Territories, Magnolia Lee Winthrop, prefers the company of trees and nature to spending time with most people. Although she’s not much of a talker, she’s got plenty of strong opinions about life and how it should be lived, just like her mother and grandmother.

After the settlement’s forest farm is burnt to the ground, Magnolia’s life can never be the same. To cope with her grief, she’ll have to leave behind everything she’s ever known and loved for a hard journey through a foreign, paved, and abandoned world.

The Tree Hugger is a dystopian retelling of Han’s Christian Andersen’s “The Dryad.”

The Girl Who Believed in Fairy Tales is a prelude to the Once Upon a Time Today collection and includes the three short stories:

"The Girl Who Watched for Elves"
"The Girl Who Dreamed of Red Shoes"
"The Girl Who Couldn't Sing"

Novellas in the Once Upon a Time Today collection:

Beautiful Beautiful
Dreaming of the Sea
The Tree Hugger

The Unsung Heroes

Half Faerie is now available!

Daughter of Light

As I've been preparing for this release, I've been remembering when the story was born, oh so many years ago. The original premise was to tell how the "real story" of several fairy tale characters' lives in the enchanted world dramatically differed from the tales and stories that swirled around them in the mortal world. However, the plotting and world building became something of a nightmare, so I decided to scale it back and focus on a single fairy tale character. The two finalists were The Myrtle Faerie and Melusine. Melusine won out. There was just something about her dysfunctional family that I loved. Also, as a middle child, when I read:

The fates of the younger daughters are not important to the story, but that of Melusine--the eldest and leader--is...

I immediately imagined Melusine getting all the press in the mortal world while her two younger sisters battled it out as the unsung heroes in the enchanted world.

Plus, what was up with Pressina and that curse?!?!? What kind of mother would do that to her child? What would drive her? Compel her? Justify her actions? Could there be any justification?

Image via pinterest fairypunk.tmblr.com

Those were the questions I set out to answer when I created Melia's world, the world of a young half-faerie, half-mortal who must step up when the world around her threatens to implode...

Half Faerie is Coming on July 31st!

Genre: Fairy Tale Fantasy

Release Date: July 31, 2014

ABOUT Half Faerie:

Melia is an eighteen-year-old half-faerie, half-mortal who longs to fly like the full-blood faeries. She also yearns for a life that’s truly her own, which might prove more difficult than sprouting wings. Her faerie mother practices black magic and her mortal father plots to bring war to the enchanted world. No matter how she tries to distance herself from them, Melia can’t seem to escape their long shadow. After the half-faerie is accused of acting as her father’s spy, her best friend advises a trip to the Illustrator, a mysterious woman who paints intricate body art. The woman marks Melia’s forehead with a plain blotch. She claims it will call a green-eyed stranger from distant lands to the half-faerie’s side. Spooked rather than comforted, Melia dismisses the woman’s words. Rather, she travels to the mortal world to confront her father.

The fallout from her visit destroys what's left of their already fractured family. Melia’s mother is unforgiving. The punishment she metes out will leave her middle daughter torn between guilt and ecstasy, challenge the bonds between three sisters, and complicate Melia's relationship with the green-eyed stranger. The half-faerie is sucked deeper into the vortex of her family’s dark history when the youngest sister pursues their parents' damning legacy. Melia and the green-eyed stranger must stop her—or risk the rise of Faerie’s darkest queen.

Daughter of Light is a spinoff of the 14th century French fairy tale, Melusine. A high fantasy with fairy tale elements, it's great for readers who enjoy fairy tales retold. The variety of female characters, layered story, and intriguing cosmology make it a great read for young adult and older readers.

Daughter of Light

The Girl Who Believed in Fairy Tales is Available!

Heather Baker believes in fairy tales, and she turns to their timeless wisdom whenever life gets difficult. Again and again, the playfulness, symbolism, and deeper meaning in fairy tales have filled Heather with hope, nurtured her spirit, and fired her imagination. Sometimes touching, and sometimes humorous, these loosely biographical tales capture three transformative experiences in her life.

In The Girl Who Watched for Elves, Heather takes a poignant journey through her past with a tarot reader and awakens to a sense life's magic

In The Girl Who Dreamed of Red Shoes, she grapples with desire and creates a life imbued with meaning in

In The Girl Who Couldn't Sing, she follows her heart until she finds her place in the world

The Girl Who Believed in Fairy Tales is a prelude to the Once Upon a Time Today, a collection of modern fairy tale retellings for those who have already left home.

~ EXCERPT ~

That night the young woman dreamed of wastelands.

She wandered the scorched landscape in awe. Her mansion was obliterated, and gray skies promised nothing but hail storms. Yet, whatever had caused such a leveling sparked unrepentant ecstasy within her.

Far away, a line of trees—the forbidden forest—promised chthonic shelter. She marveled at her lack of sorrow, fear, and trepidation; it was the first night, in a long, long time, she was not of two parts.

The atom of her psyche had split, and a neutron—something key—had been released.

Dreaming of the Sea is Now Available!

ABOUT Dreaming of the Sea:

Years ago when her mother traded her to the Sea Witch for a love potion, she became the witch’s apprentice. Now Gia Chantal must find her own apprentice. If she doesn’t, the Devil won’t take her soul when she dies, and she’ll spend eternity tormented for every spiritual crime she’s ever committed. However, it’s the 21st century, and Gia doesn’t know where to begin when it comes to finding her replacement. She’ll turn to social media mastermind Cole—an exiled mer prince—to help her.

Ten-year-old, Miriam, an orphan with visionary tendencies, sought refuge in a convent to escape a life on the streets. Now a young woman, the walls and rules that have kept her safe for over a decade feel constricting. When she comes across the ad to be the wealthy Gia’s caretaker, she’s never wanted anything more in her life… until she meets Cole.

Dreaming of the Sea is a retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid. In the original tale, after falling in love with a human prince, the little mermaid yearns to win his love—and gain an immortal soul—thus her bargain with the sea witch…

In this contemporary retelling, after refusing to heed a merman's warnings, a young woman will make a different kind of bargain with the Sea Witch...

~ EXCERPT ~

She was seven years old when the first mermaid came to their lair—a devastating encounter never to be forgotten. Gertrude had never fathomed herself as hideous, until she gawked at the mermaid’s silky hair, smooth complexion, and glimmering fins. In a blink, happy oblivion deserted the sea witch’s apprentice.

After the young girl took the potion that would transform her fins into human legs, Gertrude was full of questions for Beulah.

“Why are we so ugly?” she asked.

“Witches must be fierce creatures.” Beulah nodded towards the graceful form of the retreating mermaid. “Who would be afraid of something like that?”

She had a point, but Gertrude had already decided the mermaid’s beauty was another kind of spell. Everything and everyone stopped to stare at her. Certainly, the power to garner such attention was no small thing. Gertrude began to wonder: If her hair was smooth and flowing, not snake-like, and her complexion was fair, not pocked and scarred; if her form was comely, not in the shape of a blob with crooked hands and teeth protruding… perhaps her mother wouldn’t have traded her in the first place.

It set Gertrude to dreaming.

Beulah, who’d been enticed into her apprenticeship by promises of power when she was a young, impoverished girl whacked Gertrude on the side of the head. “Be grateful for what you’ve got.” She smashed a handful of fried sea beetles into her mouth. “There’s lots of girls who’d be glad to take your place. Your mother did you a favor bringing you to me early on. You’ve got lots of time to study and develop your cunning. By the time I’m gone, you’ll be one of the most powerful sea witches there ever was.”

Gertrude wished the thought made her more happy. “Why did the mermaid want to trade her shining fins for a pair of legs?” she asked. “I could understand it better, if she had a black snake tail like you and me.”

Beulah cuffed her again. “Nothing’s wrong with our tails, girl.”

By now, the back of Gertrude’s head and her jaw smarted. “But why did she want legs?”

“She’s fallen in love with some human. Folks fall in love, they’re willing to sacrifice everything.” Beulah let out a belch. It came out as a yellow-green gaseous cloud that hung in the water between her and Gertrude. “If you ask me, the mermaid wanted to make the trade because she’s stupid.”

“But she gave you her beautiful voice. What are you going to do with it?”

“The day will come when its best use will become clear to me. Until then—” Beulah ran her finger over a pile of bottles filled with rays of fluorescent gold, blue, green, and pink. “I’ll just be hoarding it, because I don’t like to let go of anything. You never know when it might come in handy.”

Once Upon a Time Today