Enchanted Forests
Enchanted Anthologies, a series of fantasy charity anthologies (book 2)
Fantasy (YA appropriate content)
Authors:
Astrid V.J.
Alice Ivinya
Jennifer Kropf
Lyndsey Hall
N.D.T. Casale
Donna White
Xander Cross
Elena Shelest
Sky Sommers
Ben Lang
Blurb:
If you go down to the woods today…
You’d better not go alone…
Discover the secret world between the trees where fairies, unicorns and even monsters dwell. Take a stroll through enchanted woods and dance with pixies and dryads by the light of the stars. Escape Baba Yaga and fall in love with a prince in disguise. Taste the fruit at the goblin market and be whisked away on a magical adventure.
Among ancient trees, find beauty, danger and adventure in these enchanting short stories by award-winning, best-selling, and up-and-coming fantasy authors.
Enchanted Forests is fully illustrated by the talented Elena Shelest.
All profits from this anthology will be donated to Rainforest Foundation who support indigenous and traditional peoples of the world’s rainforests in their efforts to protect their environment and fulfill their rights.
Goodreads / Universal buy link
Guest Post: 4 Fun Facts About the Anthology
1. In 2020 we came together when Alice Ivinya put together Enchanted Waters, a charity anthology raising monies for Ocean, a charity working to protect our oceans and keep fishing sustainable. After publishing Enchanted Waters in 2021, we’d enjoyed working together so much and had many other charities we wanted to support, so we decided to turn this into a series of anthologies, inviting some new authors to join us. In 2022 we release Enchanted Forests, and are already starting work on Enchanted Flames, die to release in June 2023.
2. The most fun about working on this project has been the group effort. Mostly, writing is such an individual activity, but for these anthologies we’ve really learned to work together. We all beta read each others’ stories and provide feedback. And everyone on the team has offered some amazing skills.
3. Elena Shelest isn’t just a talented writer of historical fiction with a touch of magical realism, she’s an incredible illustrator as well. Both Enchanted Waters and Enchanted Forests feature beautiful artworks by this most incredible woman!
4. This anthology really brings a range of different styles, and each story encompasses a unique approach to forests. From the dystopian future in Xander Cross’s Pingguo and the Dead Forest, through the magical mangroves of Ben Lang’s The Lucky Tortoise, on to the nineteenth century vibe of Lyndsey Hall’s fae portal fantasy, and Alice Ivinya’s magical dwarvish forest adventure in Gems of Fae and Foolery, there is a little something for everyone here.
About An Author:
Award-winning and USA Today Bestselling Author, Astrid V.J. was born in South Africa. She is a trained social anthropologist and certified transformational life coach. She currently resides in Sweden with her husband and their two children. In early childhood, she showed an interest in reading and languages–interests which her family encouraged. Astrid started writing her first novel at age 12 and now writes fantasy in a variety of genres, exploring her passion for cultures and languages. When she isn’t writing, Astrid likes to read, take walks in nature, play silly games with her children, do embroidery, and play music.
Astrid writes transformation fiction: incorporating transformation principles in novels, rather than writing another self-help book. She loves exploring the human capacity for transformation and potential to achieve success in the face of adversity. Astrid is interested in minority group questions, considerations on social standards of beauty and the negative consequences these have, and would like to make the fantasy genre accessible to people of non-white, non-Christian backgrounds. Astrid feels the fantasy genre has become too restrictive with limited representations of race, ethnicity and culture. She seeks to explore other paths on this writing journey, incorporating her background in anthropology and psychology to create engaging experiences, which also provide food for thought on the diverse topics she finds most important. These include: racism, minority rights, cultural diversity, culture change, intolerance, humanity’s environmental impact, the representation of people on the autism spectrum among the general populace, the human capacity for transformation, and much more.
