Here Lyeth
Author: Johanna Frank
Series: A Lifeline Fantasy Novel
Publication date: November 1st 2024
Genres: Fantasy, Supernatural
A small-scale supernatural fantasy on big, real-life values. A story of rewiring unworthiness and searching for a place to belong. Pre-order your copy today for an extraordinary, heartwarming read that is sure to unearth you. Release date, November 1, 2024.
Answers are buried beneath a grave marker. Only it happens to be her own.
Something was missing. It was easy for Lexxie to bury that niggling sense, she had all the love and protection a young woman needed. But when the man she thought to be her father spilled a fever-pitched confession—that she’d been taken from her real family as an infant—her content and isolated life ended.
STIRRING… EXTRAORDINARY… UPLIFTING…
Angry and heartbroken, Lexxie left the people she loved on a mere hint—her true father lived in Vereiteln Dorf, two villages over. Once there, she’s drawn to an unconsecrated graveyard. Since answers don’t come easy from the locals, she’s forced to make many assumptions and patch puzzling pieces together. But the more she does, the more her presence in this superstitious village becomes a threat, and the more she gives credence to a voice coming from a pit of ashes. The perils of a noose amid a 1688 witch hunt lay heavy on her shoulders.
Years earlier, in the same village, young Meginhardt succumbs to a vicious attack. Ethereal beings take him on a time-traveling journey to shake away the lad’s deeply rooted struggles of unworthiness.
But when Meginhardt learns that some woman named Lexxie is the chosen one to carry forward his father’s line of descendants, he throws away all he’s been shown. Fits of jealousy ensue—a dream shattered. It should have been him. He becomes frantic to ensure the demise of this undeserving woman. In apparitional form, he delivers Lexxie a message, face to face.
Her future lyeth in his words.
-The standalone background story to the Prologue in The Gatekeeper’s Descendants
-Book length approximately 90,000 words
-Recommended for Young Adults (14+) and up
-An edifying story involving feelings of unworthiness and a need to belong
-A small-scale fantasy representing the outskirts of heavenMore from the author:
The Gatekeeper’s Descendants, a standalone family drama involving bullying and grief
Jophiel’s Secret, a standalone adventure involving unforgiveness and grief
an excerpt
The oil lamp flickered and went out, plunging their small farmstead into darkness. He was used to the dingy gray, but then strange balls of light appeared, floating around the room like glowing dust motes. That gnaw in his belly told him something big was about to happen.
Cry me a mercy, what’s goin’ on?
He jerked his arm to dodge a splatter of hot fat but didn’t dare to look. More sizzling drops were likely to follow. He snuck a fist wipe across his nose and scratched an eyelid, then stayed. Nothing.
A smell hit him, like charred meat, harsh and foul. He checked his arms. All clear. Had to be Pa.
Moments like this were rare. A pause in the middle of correction? Unheard of. Meginhardt scrambled to his feet. Pa was frozen, not a single muscle moving. Even the fat slithering down the man’s arm like a snake now seemed to hang in midair. Perfect chance to escape. A good slapping of searing iron like that would do some serious ruin, especially across the noggin, far more than he’d endured before. He barreled for the door, intending to make a run through the turnip rows, then disappear into the wall of cornstalks. A full night of hiding, staying out of sight, always worked to calm the devil in Pa.
But as he reached the threshold, something pulled at him, something unnatural.
Pa still hadn’t moved. Standing there like a statue, locked in a moment of time.
“Pa? Why aren’t ya moving? Ya teaching me someth’n again?” He held tight to the doorframe, eyeing the skillet, still a threat, as curiosity and stubborn loyalty took control.
Silence. Nothing.
Was this some kind of clay-brained trick?
about the author
Not proud to admit, I’ve struggled with authority and routine since I can remember. A feisty red-headed child, I’ve barrelled my fist through windowpanes, ran away numerous times (to a bowling alley of all places), and even once, used a water pistol on my high school science teacher (right in his face, it was a dare). I actually managed to attain a master’s degree in business (though, really didn’t use it much). Instead, I preferred weekday evening classes in theology and weekend scribbling sessions of fantasy fiction. Losing a beloved teenage daughter to cancer snapped me to attention, then another (the second, a dear step-daughter) really did me in. Besides relishing the dearness of my husband and our other three children and their families, I write fantasy fiction with meaning. My mantra (which I made up of course) …because even a little heavenly imagination can loosen the chains of life. – Johanna Frank
“Frank, one of Canada’s emerging authors in spiritual fantasy, walks a fine line between general fantasy and faith-based fiction. Her work aims to innovate and transcend traditional boundaries, catering to a hungry market of curious readers who don’t want to be preached to but are open to exploring spiritual themes through fantasy.” – Sheri Hoyte, Reader Views
a giveaway
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