Five
Elemental Enmity book 1
by Christie Rich
Rayla Tate’s life is about to turn vertical…again. As if it wasn’t bad enough her mother disappeared under questionable circumstances leaving Rayla to be raised by her aunt in a horrendously small town. Her overprotective guardian is determined to ruin Rayla’s life. She refuses to let Rayla out of her sight or out of the state. Provincial living might be what her aunt demands of her purposely sheltered niece; but, Rayla has other ideas. In a desperate attempt to follow her dreams she flees the safety of her home and runs away to college with her best friend toward a bright future in the art world.
However, excitement over her newfound freedom turns into terror when she is chased by a mysterious stranger on her way to school. When his motorcycle suddenly morphs into a fire-breathing pegasus, Rayla questions her sanity. Worse, the man riding next to her stirs a burning desire in her soul she has never known or could have ever imagined. Using all the will she owns, she manages to resist the compulsion she feels; yet, as he disappears into the night, she is certain he hasn't gone far.
Rayla quickly dismisses the encounter to her overactive imagination. She is determined to settle into her new life, yet the images and feelings of that night still haunt her. To make matters worse, her aunt seems to be in on the act, insisting that Rayla will soon be hunted by a pack of fae lords for a power over the elements she never knew she possessed—a power that could change the world. Quicker than she ever thought possible, she finds herself surrounded by stunning men that all seem determined to win her heart. Why does she feel drawn to each one of them? More importantly, what dark power do they hold over her? Rayla must quickly learn to fend off these beautiful and seductive pursuers using whatever means necessary or find herself lost to the fae world forever.
Purchase Five:
Five (Book 1 in the Elemental Emnity Series) is free on Smashwords and Barnes & Noble, so go grab your copy and enter the giveaway for your chance to win Book 2 & 3!
Finding Magic by Christie Rich
I remember discovering magic when I was a child. From an early age I was obsessed with fairies and princesses, unicorns, and dragons…anything that transported me to another place, another time, another dimension. Growing up, I loved to play outside, to imagine myself as anything and everything fantasy related, and back then my imagination was boundless.
During summer vacations when I was a little girl, my favorite cousin and I would play Indian Princesses in the desert hills behind her small home in Central Heights, Arizona. I took pride in the Native American ancestry that we shared, imagining being swept off my feet by a tall, dark, and handsome stranger that would whisk me away to his castle where we would live happily ever after. Sometimes he was a rogue cowboy and other times he was from a rival tribe. It didn’t really matter because the hero always got the girl (me, grins) and the couple would live happily ever after. It also didn’t matter that cowboys historically didn’t have castles, or for that matter, did tribal chieftains. What mattered was the experience of being carried away into a riveting story.
Stories are amazing. They can transport us to another time, another place. I remember reading a few stories as a child. Some were so captivating, I couldn’t put them down like the Boxcar Children Mysteries. I loved imagining where they lived. Some of the images still are with me today. There was Narnia, and Nancy Drew. I loved mysteries back then, it seems.
As I grew up, magic faded further and further into the distance. My new reality of being an adult set in and pretty soon I found I didn’t have time for books. I was too busy with school and work and being a mother. I was too busy for books…until I discovered my love for reading again. I didn’t realize it, but creativity was what fueled my soul back on those Arizona hills. It was what made the mundane bearable when I found myself stuck doing chores or other things that I didn’t enjoy as much as sprinting across an open field to see what was in a copse of trees, secretly wishing I’d uncover an entrance to a magical fairy-land in the gnarled branches of an ancient oak.
Inspiration started for me in the Southwestern desert, but I have come to realize that it is everywhere. It’s listening to the chatter of a small child who thinks she’s alone, watching a couple stroll down the street, hand in hand, especially if they are older, or witnessing a soft summer breeze set an aspen to shimmering in the sun’s rays. It is in every particle of light that illuminates a perfect, blazing sunset. Even though inspiration is everywhere, it can often be hard to find, especially if we are struggling to just get by every day.
For me, more than any other form of entertainment, books have the ability to move me. Where else could I hope to become an elf setting off on a great adventure, a robber running from the law, or a dancer taking the stage for the first time? What I’ve discovered as an adult is words are magic. They have the ability to transport a reader anywhere they might desire to be. The best part is reading doesn’t come with jetlag.
Within the pages of books, whether electronic or in paper, are the words that can spark our imaginations again. Unfortunately, I let life get in the way of my love for story for a very long time…longer than I want to admit here. I moved on to movies and TV to fill my needs for story. They can. There are movies and shows that are inspiring, but what we see is someone else’s vision. We don’t get to visualize that tall, dark and handsome stranger. Someone else tells us how he looks. I think it’s fun to see the way readers envision my characters. Their pick is usually different than mine, and that is a good thing. It means that through my words the reader was able to conjure a character. How fun is that? It’s also amazingly humbling and rewarding as an author to know you inspired someone with words.
For me, writing is even more amazing than reading. Being able to meet a character for the first time and discover their story is riveting. As a writer, I get a slightly different view that the reader does. I get to see a story unfold and discover the mystery. In a way, I feel like Sherlock Holmes uncovering the ins and outs of the human mind. The amazing part is that within the pages of a book, anything is possible. We are only limited to the bounds of our imagination. The best part of writing for me is I feel like a kid again exploring new worlds. Through words I’ve found that creative spark that went missing all that time ago.
You might be wondering if I ever found that fairytale ending I dreamed about as a kid. Maybe not in the traditional sense. I still have to live in the real world. I did find my tall, dark and handsome prince, but life by its very nature is hard and relationships are harder. Even so, piece-by-piece I am capturing the all elusive happily-ever-after.
I’ve looked for happiness in many places, but I am finding it in the one place that I didn’t expect: inside of me. Nothing makes me happier than being true to myself, and writing has become my truest form of expression. Some might quail at the thought of staring down the blank page with the ever present blinking cursor, but for me that little flashing line is a call to explore the unknown. And the one thing I’m certain of when I start a book, whether reading or writing, is the possibilities are endless, and that, my friends, is magic.
Christie Rich
I grew up daydreaming about fairytales, and my love for discovering new worlds has never died. I am not one of those writers who always knew I would write. I thought that was what other people did until one day a few years ago, I took a challenge from a friend and typed my first words. My journey has been wonderful, and I cannot imagine a day where I would ever give up writing now. My love for reading is what fueled my imagination in the first place and still does. When I am not writing or reading, I am enjoying family time with my husband and two children. We live in a quiet community under the Wellsville mountains in Utah, and I am so thankful for the rich life I have been blessed with.
Where to find Christie:
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Cherie's imagination extends far beyond her Illinois roots through her love of books and reading. The discipline of her career as a Network Technician provides an opposing mindset for her fictional stories. Cherie combines her fascination of all things mythical with her passion for writing to weave together middle grade and young adult stories. 
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