This is a young adult fantasy novel that focuses on the triumphs and pains of friendship, family ties, and self-discovery. Although there is some romance with side characters, this story focuses on platonic relationships. There is no spice other than one very brief closed-door scene.
There are a few scenes that may cause reader discomfort. They are:
– A direct allusion to a time when a close family member took their own life
– Invented curse words, primarily “rot”, are used occasionally
– The above-mentioned closed-door spice scene
– Occasional violence and gore
– Death and grief

These moments heighten the story stakes and emotional journeys of the characters, and are handled with care with a teen and young adult audience in mind.
If you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to ask me!

This an illustrated novel, not a graphic novel. You can think of it as a full length novel – it’s 441+ pages long, and not far off from the word count of Return of the King – that also includes illustrations throughout. What makes an illustrated novel different from a graphic novel is that the story is told primary through the text. The art and images serve to enrich your experience of the story. The Rooted and the Winged features 43 illustrations before every chapter that are drawn in the style of faerie scribes, as through they were pulled from the ancient libraries of the fae for you to view. As well as 5 unique chapter headers, one representing each point of view character, and illustrated section breakers.

Yes I do! I’m been playing with ideas for an adult dark fantasy series. While The Rooted and the Winged takes place in a magical forest of fae, this book will dive below to explore the depths of the underworld. All I’ll tell you for now is that the protagonist is a lady who has endured so much pain that she seeks a legendary elixir that will take away her emotions forever. The elixir is buried in the deepest recesses of the underworld. And her guide into this shadowy realm of the dead is a skeleton horse with pale blue flaming eyes.

Windweaver Press is my publishing company. In the future I have plans to expand my press and work with other like-minded fantasy authors to publish them. At the moment though, I am closed and not taking requests.

I read across a variety of genres and am continually looking for books with characters that feel real, with personalities that leap off the page, and books that challenge how I think and what I believe. One of my favorite books, The Idiot by Dostoevsky, gripped me so intensely that I threw it on the floor while in a public hallway. Because the character made a decision that made me SO ANGRY, but it also was the perfect conclusion to the themes it had been building, and I still think about that book almost every day.

My current top favorite books are Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky, The Passion by Jeanette Winterson., At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald, Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis.

Instagram and Tiktok is where you’re most likely to find me posting my art and fun videos about my books. I also have a Facebook page, and a YouTube channel that I’m going to be putting a lot more care into soon. If you want to chat about faeries or art or writing or anything else, send me a message on any of those platforms, or send me an email at samantha@windweaverpress.com.