Of course Elena and Lucas’s journey is far from over, and I’m so grateful to the many people who have helped me get started and are continuing to walk with me as I see their adventures through.
My little family—now one person larger than it was when I wrote the last word of the first draft of Voice of Power—you bear the biggest burden of my authorly abstraction. I appreciate having you in my life more than I can say, even if it sometimes seems like I’m somewhere else entirely.
My beta reader pool expanded for this book since doing something new required more back up than ever. So I’m more than grateful to both my normal, faithful group of betas: Rachel, Greg, Priya, Ber, and Katie, but also to the newcomers I roped in: Marina, Cheri, Kristi, and Casey. They read and reread versions and were excellent sounding boards for both the characters and plot.
Getting this book finished required shutting myself away in my office far too intensively, and it made a world of difference to have colleagues right there beside me—even if they were only present in a virtual sense. Kitty, Kenley, Shari, Aya, Brittany, Diana, and Marina—it’s so much easier to try something new with such awesome cheerleaders spurring me on. Thanks for all the chats, laughs, and gifs.
My editors have all followed me into my new genre for which I am utterly grateful. Thank you Mary, Dad, and Deborah for not running as fast as you could in the other direction! I couldn’t have produced this book without your input and assistance.
My cover designer, Karri, also deserves praise for not just her skill but her unending patience as I dithered back and forth about what I wanted for my covers now that I was branching away from fairy tales. Thanks for walking the journey with me and never once even hinting I should make up my mind.
Rebecca is new to my team, but I could not be happier to have her on board as my map illustrator. She did an incredible job in a ridiculously short time frame and never showed anything but graciousness and talent as she did it. Thanks for coming to my rescue!
And perhaps I should have started this time with the thank you to my readers—both old and new. You’re the reason I do this, and the reason I get to expand out to explore entirely new worlds from within my imagination. I am grateful for you every day.
And to God, whose voice is the first and only true source of power—thank you for giving us words and creativity and the chance to explore what we can do with them. May we always choose to follow in your footsteps and speak life rather than death.
About the Author
Melanie Cellier grew up on a staple diet of books, books and more books. And although she got older, she never stopped loving children’s and young adult novels.
She always wanted to write one herself, but it took three careers and three different continents before she actually managed it.
She now feels incredibly fortunate to spend her time writing from her home in Adelaide, Australia where she keeps an eye out for koalas in her backyard. Her staple diet hasn’t changed much, although she’s added choc mint Rooibos tea and Chicken Crimpies to the list.
She writes young adult fantasy including her Spoken Mage series, and her Four Kingdoms and Beyond the Four Kingdoms series which are made up of linked stand-alone stories that retell classic fairy tales.
Also by Melanie Cellier
The Four Kingdoms
The Princess Companion: A Retelling of The Princess and the Pea (Book One)
The Princess Fugitive: A Reimagining of Little Red Riding Hood (Book Two)
Happily Every Afters: A Reimagining of Snow White and Rose Red (Novella)
The Princess Pact: A Twist on Rumpelstiltskin (Book Three)
A Midwinter's Wedding: A Retelling of The Frog Prince (Novella)
The Princess Game: A Reimagining of Sleeping Beauty (Book Four)
The Princess Search: A Retelling of The Ugly Duckling (Book Five)
Beyond the Four Kingdoms
A Dance of Silver and Shadow: A Retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses (Book One)
A Tale of Beauty and Beast: A Retelling of Beauty and the Beast (Book Two)
A Crown of Snow and Ice: A Retelling of The Snow Queen (Book Three)
A Dream of Ebony and White: A Retelling of Snow White (Book Four)
A Captive of Wing and Feather: A Retelling of The Swan Princess (Book Five) Coming in 2019
A Princess of Wind and Wave: A Retelling of The Little Mermaid (Book Six) Coming in 2019
Voice of Power (The Spoken Mage Book 1) Page 28