The Book Sprite: {Blog Tour & Guest Post} Fairyeater by Pam Halter

Hello, lovely Spirits! Today, I'm delighted to feature author Pam Halter and a peek at Fairyeater, her debut YA release!

About the Book

Book I of The Fairy Guardian Chronicles

A fairy-eating witch.

An awakening dark lord.

A teenage savior.

And time is running out.

All fifteen-year-old Akeela has ever wanted is an ordinary family who will love her. But the only mother she has ever known is the old hag, Krezma, who berates her night and day. Why did the old woman even take her in?

But Krezma knows her charge is no ordinary child. She can see the auras surrounding living things and can communicate with fairies. And the birthmark on her palm reveals a secret Krezma must hold close for the child's safety.

A secret that the witch, Tzmet, hunts for night and day, drying and eating fairies for the power they contain. When Akeela discovers her fate lies in being the next Fairy Guardian, all hope for an ordinary life dissipates like the dreams they were. She must protect the fairies from the witch -- and an even darker power that threatens them all.

Akeela is unwillingly thrust into an adventure that will not end until she decides to accept her fate and give up on her dream.

Maybe even her life.

Amazon // Publisher // Goodreads

Guest Post: Researching Fairies

Now, I'm proud to present Pam Halter on researching fairies!

Writers must answer all sorts of questions before starting to write a story. It always leads into research, which we either love or hate. Me, I love research! I have to keep a check on myself, though, because it’s real easy to go from one interesting thing to another, and before you know it, you’ve spent three hours reading about rocks when you were first researching flowers. Haha!

So, when I decided to develop the story, I searched for books about fairies. I wanted to use them, but I also wanted to be original. I found this fabulous book, Good Faeries, Bad Faeries (Brian Froud) which is loaded with incredible artwork and also lots of description of all sorts of fey creatures.

The book itself is unique, half of it is devoted to "good" fey, then you turn it upside down to read about the "bad" fey. And yeah, the bad ones tend to be comfortable in their skin. Literally.

I read the WHOLE thing -- every word. And I decided on fairies of the four elements, although I did add an element with the Moondancers, who are fairies of the Spirit Realm.

Here's a little of what I found on the four elements:

The Earth Element

These fairies live deep in the earth, in rocks and roots, in hills and barrows, in caves, quarries and mine shafts. They are known to be able to swim through solid earth as easily as fish can swim through water.

Tree spirits are rooted in the earth elements, as are all brownies, goblins and pixies, who make their home among tree roots.

Earth fairies are a spiritual force of nature, reflecting its power, its moods and its cycles.

Water Fairies

Water spirits can be found in lakes, rivers, pools, springs, wells, fountains, raindrops, teardrops and the ocean's edge. They especially love running water in the form of bubbling springs and waterfalls -- but any running water can prove to be the particular haunt of fairies. Crossing over or through running water is a well-known method of entering their realm.

Fire Fairies

Fire fairies come with a variety of names and shapes: salamanders, fire feys, fire drakes, drakes, drachen, and draks. They travel through the air as burning sparks or fiery streaks of intense light. When they pass they leave an unpleasant odor of sulfur behind. Fire fairies make excellent workers in a farmyard, workshop, kennel or stable. They will bring wealth to their masters, collecting gifts and gold from the world. But these fairies are volatile by nature, demanding prompt and proper gratitude.

Air Fairies

Air is the element of all winged fairies, whose energies are subtle, quick and fluid. Winged fairies are creatures of aspiration and transcendence, flying between the worlds, between heaven and earth, between the body and soul.

All storms and winds are associated with air spirits, from the gentle breezes caused by fairy puffs on the isle of Man to the great destructive powers of Arabic monsoons caused by and angry jinn.

Whirlwinds are sometimes made by the passing of whole troops of fairies.

I decided to not use any other name but fairy, and I tweaked the information so I could give each element group a job.

Here are the basics:

Earth fairies bless and keep the earth and plants. They can disguise themselves as bees and butterflies.

Water fairies bless and keep water pure. Their disguise is dragonflies.

Fire fairies live in flames (even in candles) or glowing embers, and are messengers. They can appear as a shower of sparks.

Air fairies are invisible. They bring fresh air and form whirlwinds, and if they desire, they appear as hummingbirds. Although it's rare they do so.

In Fairyeater, the power of the earth fairies is most important. When Riss'aird's ashes were scattered after the spell backfired, they settled into the ground. To prevent him from regenerating, the earth fairies sow goodness into the ground, keeping them unformed and asleep. This is why Tzmet targets them first by poisoning the Earth Fountain. She wants to diminish their power so her father can regenerate.

Fairy purists may protest, but I enjoyed deciding what I wanted my fairies to do in the story.

Oh my goodness, Fairyeater sounds so unique and immersive! I can't wait to read it, Pam! 😍

About the Author

Pam Halter has been a children's book author since 1995. The first book in her Willoughby and Friends series, Willoughby and the Terribly Itchy Itch, won the 2018 Realm Award in the children's category, and she also received a Reader's Choice Award in 2015 for her short story, Tick Tock, in the Realmscapes anthology. Fairyeater is her first fantasy novel. She lives in south Jersey, deep in farmland, and enjoys long walks on country roads where she discovers fairy homes, emerging dragons, and trees eating wood gnomes.