Vampires, Witches, and Me Oh My!: Guest Post: Welcome to Kingdom City by Selah Janel

Hey Everyone,

Today we have Selah Janel making another stop at the blog today. Please make her feel welcome and get ready to read about an awesome new series she's rocking with the first book called Olde School. If you love fairy tales and fantasy gone a little off kilter, you'll love this book.

I’d like to think that I know exactly what to say when talking about a title, but Olde School is one of those that is so detailed, rich, and beautifully weird, that it’s hard for me to pick a place to start. It’s one of those books that combines a lot of my loves in the world of stories: fairy and folk tales, archetypes, fantasy, turning genres on their heads, heroes, and humor. Truth be told, this book is probably the most me out of all my published releases so far. Whether it’s because of the silliness, the blending of genres, or because I finally feel ready to start shedding my inhibitions and show the stories in my head and heart to the world, I am so in love and at home with Kingdom City, it almost makes me forget how hard I worked to write this book.

But what is Olde School? I’ve said before that it has elements of the old stories, paranormal bits, some horror, a lot of the fantastic, and even a new take on urban fantasy…but what does that even mean?

Kingdom City is the biggest city in The Land (not to be confused with The Other Land, The Other Other Land, and The Other Land That Isn’t Those Other Lands). It’s set in a world where the stories that we know as fairy tales were once part of history, of sorts. It’s a world where trolls, goblins, brownies, elves, humans, ogres, pixies, and all the rest coexist and strive to make their way in the world.

Oh, and by the way, there’s no magic. They also have what we’d consider modern technology (for the most part). Trolls use laptops and are business owners. Goblins make good lawyers. Princes tend to go for doctors and CEOs as much or more than princesses. Kingdom City has a university, arenas for concerts, sports teams and everything else that you’d expect, just all done with a fantasy/folklore twist. The city’s making a move toward more of a democratic process, but there are still those partial to a monarchy and making appearances in court. The old stories are used mostly as movie fodder and marketing, though the story of King Thadd the Dreamer who founded the city and got humans and creatures to work together still inspires the residents.

Though those residents are all types of beings, they all have hopes, dreams, occupations, and daily irritations – just like the rest of us. Paddlelump Stonemonger is a troll who just wants to have a successful bridge business. Unfortunately, he’s a little naïve and a little too nice-looking for a troll, something his older, more cynical friends are always quick to remind him of. Between that, his mysterious human maid Nobody (who has an agenda of her own), and a battle with the pixie Lord Mayor Addlebaum and ogre Sheriff Yargle Grimclaw over the ownership of the land his bridge is on, he’s having quite a time. He has well-meaning friends, though. Ippick and Uljah are trolls who haunt the local diner and offer advice and much ribbing. Flora is a feisty human waitress who guards her heart close, but is always ready to help a friend. Together, they’re willing to help Paddlelump tackle all the challenges in front of him, along with Clyde, a very special, very unusual bird, who may or may not be more than he seems.

And then they find out that magic really does exist, and has since the beginning of time. They also quickly realize that the reason no one knows this fact is because it’s a completely horrific thing to know about.

So can these typical personalities in atypical characters band together and fight something bigger than themselves in a world that’s strange and familiar all at once?

Well, you’ll have to read the book and wander the streets of Kingdom City for yourself to see. While you’re there, be sure to order the house special from Trip Trap’s and check out whatever sequel in the Rumplestiltskin horror franchise is playing at the local cinema. Feel free to meander through the common market, and be sure to go to the palace to gawk at the downtown district. The residents are friendly, no matter what form they come in, so there’s no need to worry about who you might encounter! There’s only one thing, and it’s probably nothing, really…just be sure to stay away from the woods at nightfall.

Amazon Links for Olde School

Print Version

http://www.amazon.com/Olde-School-Selah-Janel/dp/1937929655

Kindle Version

http://www.amazon.com/Olde-School-Kingdom-City-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00J4UGVIM

About the Author: Selah Janel has been blessed with a giant imagination and a love of story since she was little and convinced that fairies lived in the nearby state park or vampires hid in the abandoned barns outside of town. Learning to read and being encouraged by those around her only made things worse. Her work ranges from e-books to traditional print, and she prefers to write every genre at once rather than choose just one. The stories “Holly and Ivy”, “The Other Man”, and “Mooner” are available online through Mocha Memoirs Press. Her work has also been included in The MacGuffin, The Realm Beyond, Stories for Children Magazine, The Big Bad: an Anthology of Evil, Thunder on the Battlefield: Sorcery, The Grotesquerie, and the short story collection Lost in the Shadows, co-written with S.H. Roddey. She likes her music to rock, her vampires lethal, her fairies to play mind games, and her princesses to have adventures and hold their own.

Author Links:

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/authorSJ

Twitter:

@selahjanel

Website:

http://selahjanel.wordpress.com/

Book Synopsis Olde School: Kingdom City has moved into the modern era. Run by a lord mayor and city council (though still under the influence of the High King of The Land), it proudly embraces a blend of progress and tradition. Trolls, ogres, and other Folk walk the streets with humans, but are more likely to be entrepreneurs than cause trouble. Princesses still want to be rescued, but they now frequent online dating services to encourage lords, royals, and politicians to win their favor. The old stories are around, but everyone knows they’re just fodder for the next movie franchise. Everyone knows there’s no such thing as magic. It's all old superstition and harmless tradition.

Bookish, timid, and more likely to carry a laptop than a weapon, Paddlelump Stonemonger is quickly coming to wish he'd never put a toll bridge over Crescent Ravine. While his success has brought him lots of gold, it's also brought him unwanted attention from the Lord Mayor. Adding to his frustration, Padd’s oldest friends give him a hard time when his new maid seems inept at best and conniving at worst. When a shepherd warns Paddlelump of strange noises coming from Thadd Forest, he doesn't think much of it. Unfortunately for him, the history of his land goes back further than anyone can imagine. Before long he'll realize that he should have paid attention to the old tales and carried a club.

Darkness threatens to overwhelm not only Paddlelump, but the entire realm. With a little luck, a strange bird, a feisty waitress, and some sturdy friends, maybe, just maybe, Padd will survive to eat another meal at Trip Trap's diner. It's enough to make the troll want to crawl under his bridge, if he can manage to keep it out of the clutches of greedy politicians.

Olde School if Book One of The Kingdom City Chronicles