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Splintered Realms
Author: L.A. Myles
Series: Doorways, #1
Publication date: July 20th 2024
Genres: Fantasy, New Adult
College is everything art student Taylen dreamed it would be. But her first trip home doesn’t end with her mom’s homemade brownies. Instead, she’s hurled into a strange medieval land where a woman without family has no say. Desperate to get back to her world, she’ll have to find others she can trust if she hopes to find a way home.
But trust isn’t easy to find. Surrounded by accusations of espionage, kidnapping, murder, and refusing to become chattel, Taylen discovers she has the unique ability to see the doorways between realms. Leaving the Realm of Men behind, she enters the land of the fae-like Ays Shee. They can get her home, but first she must help them solve the mystery of what’s dissolving the barrier between realms before it rips the world apart, and Taylen with it.
an excerpt
Sometime in the night a loud noise woke Taylen.
All but two of the candles had burned out. She picked up a lit one before crossing to her door and cracking it open. Every other torch was lit against the dark. In the dim light, the hallway appeared empty. The shutters behind her creaked and stuttered in their struggle against the wind. Perhaps it was the noise of the shutters that’d woken her. A glimpse of movement caught her eye, and she slipped into the corridor.
A pair of legs stretched out on the floor, blocking her path a few dozen feet from her door. As she drew closer, her candle illuminated a man lying unconscious in the darkest part of the hallway. Taylen knelt beside him and searched for a pulse. It was weak, and his breathing thin.
“Help! Someone please, help.” Her cries were rewarded with the thump of running feet.
She checked the man’s pulse again. It was stronger, but he hadn’t stirred. The footfalls neared, and she turned her head toward them. Opening her mouth to explain, she stiffened, her gaze locking on a pointy object hovering inches from her face. She stopped breathing.
“Quiet,” a man barked.
She snapped her mouth shut. Her gaze traveled up the long shiny blade to the hilt then to the cloaked figure holding it. The man was tall, lean, and dressed in black except for a charcoal-colored cloak. The hood was drawn close around his head, sending his face into shadow. The candle she’d set beside her reflected off his sword and dimly illuminated the contours of a strong, angular man’s face.
The thud of boots echoed behind him. He edged himself against the wall, keeping the sword pointed at her. She remained kneeling, not daring to move. Her heart hammered in her chest as four figures dashed down the hall toward her. They were dressed similar to the man with the sword.
“He is not there,” one of them whispered.
The man with the sword swore.
“Where is Feeahc Lorcan Turloc?” he demanded in a harsh whisper, his attention on her.
Fee-ahc? She shook her head. Her heart was pounding so loud, she was certain he could hear it. Her body trembled. She held herself immobile through sheer force of will. If she passed out and fell in the wrong direction… The sword hovered so close to her face she could sneeze on it.
L.A. is a fantasy fiction author. She scribes epic fantasies filled with adventure, mythical creatures, struggle, and the magic that can come from strong friendships, especially between females. Characters going through proverbial hell as they come into their personal power resonate the most with her and are what she writes.
For her, stories always arrive first as a single clear snapshot. Usually, the image is of a pivotal moment. After that, it’s like a portal has opened and L.A. is the conduit the story flows through, as opposed to the conductor of the tale. It often makes writing as exciting as reading.
After decades of migrating from one US coast to another and then abroad, L.A. has settled in the Pacific Northwest, U.S.A. with a couple of high-powered kids, a husband, two cats, chickens, and a flock of wild turkeys that have decided to make the family’s property theirs.
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