Urban Fantasy
Date Published: 3/4/2014
Average family. Average job. Average existential crisis.After thirty boring years, nothing about Cora Riley’s life has measured up to her childhood dreams of being truly extraordinary. It’s too bad that the night she decides to seek out her specialness she crashes on a rural highway.Cora wakes in the clutches of the Mistress of the underworld who sets her a seemingly impossible quest. If she wants a second chance at life, Cora must find her way through the dozen heavens and return to the castle in three days.With the help of an unusual guardian angel named Jack and a little boy named Xavier, Cora navigates the afterlife doorfield and quickly learns that gods and monsters are very real indeed. Terrifying and tempting obstacles litter her path; only the power of belief – in the Otherworld, in her companions, and in herself – will return her to the land of the living.
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EXCERPT
Once upon a time, there was a chubby little girl with red hair and freckles who thought the world was a magical place where anything was possible. Her daddy taught her to believe in faeries and to see what's really there. Her mommy taught her that everyone has something special about them and that she could grow up to be whatever she wanted. She played outside with her friends, did well in her studies, and daydreamed whenever she got the chance. She was strong and fierce and trusted that everything would work out fine even if she didn't know how.Everything did not work out fine.As she changed from little girl to grown woman, the world also changed. The magic gradually drained out of her life. Faeries were for children. Lovers consumed her thoughts. Career choices loomed. And when Death knocked at her mother's door, she decided not to leave her small town. Her dreams of traveling the globe to experience the vast riches of life evaporated.The woman settled down with a suitor who wanted the things she knew she should want. He bought her flowers, had a good job, and was loved by her parents. He made sure she never wanted for anything. They planned a life together. She grew comfortable in their love and in the soothing routine of their life.Then one day, the woman realized that she'd let thirty years slip past. None of her childhood dreams had come true. She wasn't the special star she'd always believed she'd be. Her life had become monotonous and painfully average. She wondered where the magic had gone and if it was too late to find it. The more she noticed that it was missing, the sadder she became, and the further she drew into herself.Her lover didn't understand. When she asked him for help, he selfishly turned away and rejected her. Now she would have to face the world alone. To her surprise, this didn't upset her as much as she thought it would. He was a good man but not good enough. Perhaps things would work out fine, after all.And so she packed her things and drove away from her home in search of the missing magic. She didn't know where the road would take her, who she would meet along the way, or if she would find what she was looking for. All she knew was that the time had long passed for her to have an adventure.She never expected to die. She never expected to fail her quest before she even began. She never expected to forget her own story.
Ellie Di Julio
Her first novel, Inkchanger, could easily be considered Forgotten Relics #0, and as such, rewards readers of the rest of the series, sort of like watching Thor before The Avengers. Her second novel, Time & Again with Kyeli Smith, has nothing to do with super powers or secret agents but is very cool nonetheless.
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