Escape the Vale

by Jess Russell

Aubrey's mysterious appearance in the Vale as an infant caused an uproar within the town. In a place where no outsider had come in hundreds of years, she created a wide-spread panic. But the panic an infant caused is nothing compared to the fear that is created seventeen years later, when another stranger made his way through the cursed mountains that surround the town, looking for the lost Princess of Galena. Curiosity overflowed Aubrey as she wondered if she could be the one he was looking for and what would happen if she was? How would they get out of the Vale and what lies in the world beyond its walls?

249 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 30, 2012

About the author

Born in upstate NY, Jess Russell has been writing since the fifth grade. Her first story was written about a giant fish named Fred, who let her ride on his back across lake Ontario to Niagara Falls. The following year, her Halloween story entitled, "The Ghost in the Graveyard" won the award for best story in the class. After that, writing became the one thing her confidence excelled in.

Jess wrote all through out high school, and began writing poetry when she was fourteen. A stint of depression, and time spent in the hospital at age fifteen, helped fuel her writing, using it as her own personal therapy. Suffering with social anxiety, and feeling unable to fit in, Jess spent most of her high school years secluding herself from others, watching from a distance. This helped her to understand how people interacted with each other, and created characters out of them in her mind. Her love of music pushed her into the major at junior college, but soon realized she was a much better writer.

In 2005, Jess gave birth to a son, Dylan, and moved to Binghamton NY with his father when Dylan was six months old. The next three years were filled with highs and lows, happiness and sorrow, but she came out the other side stronger, and even more inspired.

Jess now resides in a small town near Rochester, NY, with her husband, son, step-son, and three cats, Taz, Meatball, and Sierra.