Born and raised in Calgary, Alberta Melanie has been in love with medieval fantasy all of her life. Dreams of magic, dragons, maidens, and knights have enthralled her since a young age.
Medieval literature university classes were among her favourites, as was art history from the medieval to the classical periods. Together, along with her excitement of reading anything written about the medieval period, Melanie has gained a realistic view of the medieval age, and how to tweak it into something new.
Action, peril, strategy, and determination fill her books. Determination for life, for friends, and for doing what no one else dares to do.
On the side, Melanie has strong interests in design, photography, and horse jumping. If you read carefully, you might notice tidbits only an artist or horse owner would know.
"Take him and run." The last words of Jake's mother urged him to save his brother Louie. Jake and Louie get thrown into the outside world, where Jake learns his skill with a sword can save their lives, and Louie, gifted with elemental magic, soon learns his magic is part of something much bigger: a world of spirits that wage a war of their own.Elemental Links: Book One of the Steel and Magic series is a story of brotherly trust and devotion, along with some quirky characters in the mix. With the dark corners of the world against them, Jake and Louie must flee across Elabrium. Nowhere is safe.The necrom are after Louie. They only way the necrom can increase their numbers is to capture and possess more adepts. After centuries of the necrom pillaging, adepts are scarce. The necrom want Louie and won't stop until they capture him.The brothers have nowhere to go except for Maldra; the last stronghold before the necrom settlement. For centuries, necrom have picked Maldra apart, ensnaring adepts and converting them to their nefarious cause. The people of Maldra are wary, keeping their loved ones close and city walls guarded.To protect him and Jake, Louie must evoke the fifth element: the element of spirits. With three seraphs on his side, Louie wields magic more powerful than ever before. Even so, his and Jake's journey to Maldra is perilous. They keep to the shadows, away from watchful eyes as they overcome challenges and face creatures they never knew existed.Along their way, they meet Cassie; a fiery brunette with more secrets than Jake and Louie signed on for. The boys' unlikely friendship with her turns their run-and-hide strategy on its heels.Now, instead of fleeing, Jake and Louie charge headlong down a path to challenge the core of the necrom itself. Their new target is Dretlon Valley; the necroms' settlement in the crook of the Dusk Mountains. But they won't be alone.In Maldra, they meet the audacious Troy; a commoner who has risen to the prestige of a knight. Alongside Troy comes his best friend, Shane; a dark noble with catlike grace and steadfast loyalty.