To be Published in Thrones of Desire

I found out a few weeks ago from editor Mitzi Szereto that I'm going to be one of the authors of the fantasy short story anthology Thrones of Desire! I'm afraid I cannot post the cover art here because, although warranted by the erotic theme of the anthology, the cover is not...G-rated. However, for the illustrative purpose of this blog post, here is an alternative image I decided to use, a painting by Josephine Wall, which I feel, although not representative of my Snow Queen character, captures the essence of my story, Key to the Queen's Elixir.

Polar Princess,  by Josephine Wall, painted in acrylics

 Key to the Queen's Elixir is the tale of a snow queen who lives alone in eternal winter and kills every intruder who dares to enter her realm. One intruder, a feverish and weakened knight, dares to step into her world on a quest for an elixir to heal an epidemic that is killing the children in his hometown. Although the snow queen sentences the knight to death, she discovers that he wears a familiar silver key around his neck. This key he wears convinces the queen to delay his death and question his identity.

Way back when I had my story posted on Deviantart to garner feedback (it is no longer up there, now that I have been accepted into the anthology), here are some of the reviews I was proud to receive. I hope this means that future readers will enjoy my story as well!

~A-Shadow-Rose Nov 22, 2011

<sub>I absolutely LOVE this! This is such a beautiful story. The ending nearly brought me to tears; it reminded me of the original Little Mermaid, how Ariel turned to foam in the sea and wash washed away...

I loved when things got hot and heavy. ^^ I'm too young, but that was intense. XD Don't worry, I'm not getting any funny ideas. It was beautifully written in my perspective.

Very well done!</sub> 

 

*tanafeyroyale Nov 13, 2011

Love it, love it, love it! It had such a sad ending, but sometimes that makes the best story.

 

~NyaHime Nov 9, 2011

this is really nicely written :3 bit like a fairy tale for adults ^^ its a bit sad ending, but when you think about it, its just the perfect one for them... its a bit like the original little mermaid, not the disney-fied one where everyone lives happily ever after. job well done <3

Here is the list of all of the wonderful contributors. A lot of them have been published multiple times. I feel so honored to see my name here with them.

 Hot as a Dragon’s Blood – Eric Del Carlo
Of High Renown – Janine Ashbless
At the Sorcerer’s Command – Kim Knox
Silver – Anna Meadows
In the Kingdom of Roz – Madeline Moore
Key to the Queen’s Elixir – Jo Wu (it's me! Hehe!)
Here There Be Dragons – Ashley Lister
Flesh and Stone – Sacchi Green
Saints and Heroes – M. H. Crane
Escape – Mitzi Szereto
Eyekeeper – Aurelia T. Evans
The Widow’s Man – Nyla Nox
Jericho – Megan Arkenberg
The Last Sacrifice – Zander Vyne

If you want to view the cover art, here is the book available for pre-order on Barnesandnoble.com. Rated PG-13 for nudity. Don't say I didn't warn you!

And, to bring this post to a conclusion, here is a beautiful wintry song called "The White Queen" by one of my favorite neoclassical bands, Nox Arcana, from their album Winter's Eve.