Really, you could call this post “An author worth rereading.”

Grace Draven has a gift for creating vivid worlds. From the falling towers and fragrant orange groves of Neith to the Redan and its mind-bending horrors, her worlds are visceral and compelling. For me, her stories are not just words on a page but rather windows into those engaging and immersive worlds. The imperfect and relatable characters often have a life of their own, and it is easy to imagine them and the worlds they inhabit continuing on even after the stories end and those windows close.

Gaslight Hades is perhaps one of my favorites. Set in an alternate Victorian England, it is a story of impossible second chances and enduring love… and also airships, Lovecraftian horrors, and alchemical magic. The story is not a long one, but the world is extremely interesting and one I would love to explore further.

As in all her stories, this one is filled with fantastic imagery. The rain of white petals drifting down from the sky to fall on the grave of Lenore’s father, the crippled airships hanging, helpless, above seething waters, the gaping maws of the horrifics looming above them. These pictures, and many more, come easily to my mind’s eye. The scenes stayed with me, drawing me back into the world long after the story was finished.

Also, at this time of year, I feel it would be remiss if I didn’t mention the story, Sunday’s Child. It is a Christmas story, of sorts, with a dollop of Norse mythology, Saint Nicholas of Myra, an exiled elf, and a single mother with an autistic child.

The story itself is a short, sweet love story, but the portrayal of Claire’s son, Jake, is what really draws me to it. Anyone who has read my “About Me” page knows that my daughter is on the spectrum. Had she not been in my life the stories that live in my head would have probably never made it down on paper. I surely would have never published my Stolen Away series.  

That being said, I have recently noticed an uptick of stories with characters either on the spectrum or that allude to them being on the spectrum. Mostly, this a wonderful thing to see, but often times I feel it doesn’t paint a full picture. I appreciated how Sunday’s Child differed from the majority of the other stories I have come across. I saw in Jake aspects of many of the children and adults I have known who are on the spectrum, including my daughter. And, I freely admit there were moments in the story that brought tears to my eyes, and not for the reasons you might think. Not to mention that Claire, Jake’s mother, was a very relatable character for me.

I have read Grace’s Master of Crows series, her Wraith Kings series, Entreat Me, and Wyvern many times, but come this time of year, I always find myself taking a moment to reread Sunday’s Child.

Wishing all of you a wonderful holiday season and a joyous, prosperous New Year.