The Shaman's Bones
Migratory Farmers: Book 1
Fierce animal gods, omens in the stars, and a quest to find a very special set of bones
When Yolenda is made an ambassador in her caravan of migratory farmers, it's a dream come true—until a trade in a village on the equator goes terribly wrong. The skies foretell trouble, the spirit animals are angry, and shadow monsters prowl the night. Worst of all, Yolenda is supposed to fix everything. To do so, she'll need the bones to summon the greatest spirit animal of all.
Yolenda isn't alone. She has the help of the resentful young man whose life she’s ruined, a gorgeous bone collector obsessed with corpses, a nanny-turned-sleuth, and a very attractive blasphemer who hates the spirits even more than Yolenda does.
She'd rather be alone. Or stealing glances at the broad-shouldered, brown-eyed blasphemer.
No, she'd rather be alone. Maybe.
Stitching Power
Migratory Farmers: Book 2
A fierce war, an upset guild, and a quest to find the god of sewing.
After a year adventuring the world with migratory farmers who grow specialty crops, Anyo has enough currency to pay for his dream—until folk in the far north attack his caravan. His earnings destroyed, and now grounded in a war-struck lowland, Anyo will do anything to raise the funds for his escape.
Including working in a women's-only magical sewing guild. What could go wrong? Anyo's boss only wants him fired, violence is escalating, and the regional god is missing. He had better unlock the secrets of sewing magic if he wants to escape the lowland before it goes up in flames.
He isn't alone. He has the help of his best friend and her questionable new pet, a failed spy, and the seamstress who hates him most of all.
His odds aren't good. Especially when it grows harder and harder to stay away from the seamstress.
Or maybe his odds are nothing without her.
I love Antonio Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, about Earth's four seasons. Each concerto expresses the distinct beauty of a different time of year. I took it, examined it, and broke it! I designed Serendipity, a world with no seasons, and researched what that world would look like. Some plants, such as apples and wheat, cannot reproduce without seasons. Without seasons, soil would grow poor. Animals wouldn't migrate. Bugs and disease would run rampant in wet, warm regions. The best place to call home would be somewhere hot and dry, such as the desert oasis featured in The Shaman's Bones. Conversely, Stitching Power was inspired by the stories my mother used to tell me of when she worked in a sewing factory, back when they were stateside. Gritty women and sewing needles at their best!
Not at all! Okay, just a little. They're about migratory farmers, the best adventurers in the world. In each book, they explore a new settlement (or a few) on their caravan's route and have adventures with new magic. Every novel promises magic, adventure, and a happily-ever-after romance.
In whatever order you'd like to! You'll enjoy reoccurring characters most from book to book by reading them in order, but every novel is a standalone adventure with a romance, magic, and a happy ending.
Do you mean the shadow monsters that possess people? Or the animal deities that fight them off? Or are we talking about the dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and extinct-as-we-know-them mega fauna? Just read The Shaman's Bones. I promise you a Tasmanian tiger.
Well, I couldn't CALL it that, since Tasmania doesn't exist in the world Serendipity. Read The Shaman's Bones, chapter 15. Really. I'll throw in a Tasmanian devil, too. Hint: both are marsupials.
Book 3 in the Migratory Farmers series, The Aluminum Ziggurat, releases in 2025. Look forward to Inona and Petrovich getting into major trouble involving an enchanted chain, a gang, and the god of aluminum making!