The Skinwalkers Apprentice
by Claribel Ortega
“Welcome to The Empire State, where banshees, witches, and skinwalkers wait…”Margo Pennyfeather is being hunted. The 16-year-old witch has always been an outcast, in her home back in England, and now in the village of East Hampton New York where her family has settled. No one but her family has ever cared for Margo, but now the most important witch in the magic world wants her as an apprentice, giving her a chance to bring her family out of poverty.
Before long, Margo realizes things aren’t what they seem, least of all, what kind of witch she really is. Now, the young witch must face a terrifying monster on her own, and the reverberations will reach farther than she could have ever imagined.
More than three hundred years later, in 1984 Emerald Kipp is a high school senior in New York City. A troubled teen with a rebellious streak, Emerald can’t seem to figure out what to do with her life, and unfortunately for her, “witch” isn’t one of the available career choices in her guidance counselor’s office. As she struggles to figure herself out, Emerald is faced with the threat of being stuck in school and missing her final summer with her three best friends. Her last year of high school is turning out to be the worst yet, and Emerald thinks it can’t possibly get any worse. Unfortunately for her, she’s dead wrong.
And there’s something else, something far more sinister stirring in Emerald’s world, and she’ll have to believe in herself if she wants to get through it alive.
Two witches, three hundred years apart, one inescapable fate.The Skinwalker’s Apprentice is a prequel to the upcoming novel, Emerald Kipp and The Riddle of The Timekeeper, a terrifying magical scavenger hunt through the gritty streets of 1980’s New York City.
The Empire Witch
Series Breakdown
A lot of people ask me how many will be in the series/what the series is about. I wanted to explain what The Empire Witch Series is and give a summary of the books so far plus the upcoming title in the series – Emerald Kipp & The Riddle of The Timekeeper (Book One).
So if you like witches, magic, the eighties please proceed!
The Empire Witch Series follows the story of Emerald Kipp, a young, pink haired witch living in 1980′s New York City. The series features diverse characters, a running soundtrack of new wave, pop, rock and rap from the era, and incorporates little known real life New York City residents into the narrative such as the so-called “Witch Of East Broadway” Henrietta Snowden and John Votta, the real life Timekeeper. Although set in a magical alternative NYC, the book also deals with issues of teen identity, mental health and delinquency.
Emerald Kipp & The Riddle of The Timekeeper
(Book One of The Empire Witch Series)
When her family and friends begin to disappear, Emerald Kipp is thrown head first into the witching world she was never allowed to be a part of. Her only clue into their disappearance comes from a small black box, with a message from the past:
Find the The Timekeeper, solve the riddle.
The teenaged witch must now rely on Dr. Toad, a rotund witch doctor who had already almost killed her once, her finicky cat Cashmere who she’s just learned could talk, and an underground network of witches throughout New York City who made a vow years before to help her on her journey.
As if the treacherous riddle wasn’t enough, along the way Emerald learns the people she’s trusted her whole life aren’t who they seem to be, and what’s worse, a fearsome enemy is hunting for a witch who can control time. Unfortunately, Emerald has just discovered that she can do just that.
Emerald’s never been good at anything except getting into trouble, but now it’s up to her to solve the riddle and uncover a mystery that goes farther back than she’d ever imagined. And she might just find, that she’s a lot more than the troubled loser she thought she was.
Emerald Kipp & The Riddle of The Timekeeper coming Fall 2014 from Winslet Press.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Claribel Ortega is a graduate of the SUNY Purchase journalism program, and got her start writing for the school’s Independent Newspaper. There, she quickly rose the ranks from editing the student’s often times hilarious ads and ramblings on the back page of the paper to staff and feature writer.
After graduation, Claribel worked as a reporter for The Rivertowns Enterprise, a local paper in lower Westchester County, New York. As a reporter, she enjoyed going to board of education meetings and texting the town mayors about the line at Starbucks.
Claribel lives in New York with her boyfriend, her suspiciously intelligent yorkie Pancho Villa and is surrounded by an impenetrable fort of books.
“The Skinwalker’s Apprentice” is her first book.
1 comments:
Thank you so much for being a part of my blog tour!
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