Hi, I’m Kendra. You might know me from my monthly column, Delayed Reactions, where I talk about the classics that helped build the science fiction and fantasy genre. I’ve also been reviewing science fiction and fantasy here on Speculative Chic for a whole year now.
While I love talking about other people’s books, my main passion has been writing my own, and I’m really excited to share the cover of my first book with y’all! Below you’ll find a bit about me, the book, and the cover designer.
Books have been my escape for as long as I can remember. But when I was twenty-one, a scoliosis surgery left me with an incomplete spinal cord injury, and while I was in the hospital learning how to walk again, I realized that all the heroic characters in my favorite books could run and jump and swing a sword. I never saw any that looked and walked like me.
In By Wingéd Chair I wanted to tell a story about a fantasy heroine who didn’t move like all the other fantasy heroines and yet still managed to save the day. As you can imagine, it’s a very personal story for me, but I also hope it’s a personal story for anyone who’s ever felt just a little helpless.
If you’re interested in Merry’s journey, By Wingéd Chair comes out November 26 and is available for preorder right now, with a paperback option coming soon.
From the Back Cover:
Rolling around in the worst fashion accessory ever…
Seventeen-year-old Merry has mucked up another chance to get into the University of Magecraft, so she doesn’t have time to deal with shape-changing creatures bent on stealing memories from the people of Woodshire. That’s her father’s job. But when an outlaw mage mistakes her for a damsel in distress on a drenched train platform, she’s dragged into a fight with the monsters and a sheriff mad enough to use them.
She’d never admit it out loud but the mage is actually kind of fun to work with — when she doesn’t want to run him over with her chair. And he’s exactly the ally she needs when the monsters go after her father’s memories. But with bad guys who can look like friends and friends who look like outlaws, Merry has to decide who to trust and whether returning the stolen memories of those she cares about most is worth giving up her chance to finally earn respect as a mage.
“A wildly original and magical twist on the Robin Hood narrative, Kendra Merritt’s By Wingéd Chair is packed to the spokes with complex characters, wry humor, and flawless world building. Recommended for fans of The Princess Bride, and the books of Cassandra Clare, Kevin Hearne, and the later Harry Potter novels. Simply brilliant.”
~Darby Karchut, best-selling author of Del Toro Moon and Finn Finnegan
About the Designer, Kim Killion of The Killion Group:
With 2,000+ clients, publishing houses and agencies to represent, we at The Killion Group are more than qualified to be an integral part of your team. Not only are we staffed with top notch designers, we are traditionally published and indie-published authors as well. We know the industry from edit to publish and everything in between.
Kimberly Killion, our fearless leader, has nearly 25 years of experience in marketing, communications, and design. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts, a Certificate in Web Design, and she is an ACE. What’s an ACE, you ask? An Adobe Certified Expert. In addition to the paperwork, she also taught Graphic/Web Design at a technical college in St. Louis for over a decade. The majority of our designers were trained by Kimberly and have been with us for nearly 5 years. Oh, and she’s also the photographer for our sister site www.HotDamnStock.com
Aside from being the Head Honcho, the Grand Poobah, the Queen of Everything at The Killion Group, Kimberly is also a RITA® nominated, award-winning author. She published traditionally with Kensington Publishing in 2008 and has now joined the vast majority of authors in the Indie world.
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