Mande Matthews is the author of the ShadowLight Saga. While attending a performing arts college for writing and arranging, Mande discovered Joseph Cambell's Masks of God series. Her desire to understand humanity through myth and legend mingled with her love of fantasy fiction, birthing her life-long quest to create original new worlds for readers. A hermit at heart, Mande recedes into the realms of imagination where she occasionally surfaces to face the real world aided by her minions: a husband who plays the dog drum (the belly of their border collie), and a menagerie of furred, feathered and mostly magical friends.

Website: http://www.mandematthews.com
Twitter: MandeMatthews

• @CarlyleL @KnightTrilogy Hi sweetie! How's it going? Miss you!
• READERS: Do you realize how important YOUR voice is? http://t.co/hYuwSBZM

Blog: http://www.mandematthews.com/blog

adventure    arthurian legends    celtic    dreams    druids    epic    epic fantasy    fantasy    fantasy fiction    female warrior    female warriors    heroes    heroines    king arthur    lancelot    lancelot fantasy    legends    magic    medieval romance guinevere    mythology    new worlds    norse mythology    romance    secondary world    sword play    teen    warriors    womens fantasy    womens fantasy arthurian   

• Barefoot Heroine: A Mayne Attraction Short Story on Dec. 10, 2011
  
  Feel good author, Ann Mauren, spins a different take on the events from her debut novel, In the Spotlight, by telling scenes from Ash’s point of view. (Ash is a central love interest for Ellery Mayne’s in the “Mayne Attraction” series). Mauren’s ability to see the story through the eyes of another character, while retaining the integrity of the original events, yet create and entirely fresh and engaging tale is nothing less than masterful. What I find particularly endearing about Mauren’s writing is that with every word she writes, every character she breathes life into, every scene she reveals, there’s a sense of wonder and innocence, mixed up with originality and quirkiness that hits the core of my happy center like no other writer I’ve ever encountered. Mauren’s books are like indulging in a decedent three layer chocolate fudge cake—every forkful rewards your senses with richly sweet goodness that keeps you satisfied for days.
  
• Tentative Tourist: A Mayne Attraction Short Story on Dec. 23, 2012
  
  In a screenplay, that pivotal first moment when romantic characters meet is called the “cute meet.” I believe Miss Mauren has newly defined this moment as the charming, innocent, and endearingly unexpected meet. The Tentative Tourist gives us a glimpse into the past—that special and defining moment when Grayson Gregory and Ellery Mayne first meet. Not only do we see Gray’s point of view for the first time, but we see a moment in their history that is only hinted at in book one, “In the Spotlight.” Mauren’s charm is in her ability to take the smallest gestures and actions and turn them into, not only pivotal, but endearing moments for the reader to cherish. She deftly adds real-to-life details that let you dissolve right into the story and exist with the characters—a rare, and true talent. If you’re a Mayne Attraction, this read is a must. If you’re new to Miss Mauren’s stories, this short story will give you a taste of her wit and charm, which exists in every story she publishes.