The Land of Darkness by C. S. Lakin - Review Coming Soon!

A new fairy tale in the Gates of Heaven series 
explores the heart of darkness
Book three in Lakin's series for adults delves deep into mystery as her characters hunt for clues to a mystical bridge, a rare tree with leaves for healing, and an enigmatic promise...

Already highly acclaimed and taking the forefront in allegorical fantasy, The Gates of Heaven series, written by prolific author and copyeditor C. S. Lakin, weaves a rich, compelling fantasy world in which characters embark on dark troubled journeys both outward and inward.

Lakin continues her collection of Fairy tales with The Land of Darkness which follows the story of two characters--Jadiel, a twelve-year-old girl sent out under threat by her wicked stepmother to find leaves of an elusive tree, and Callen, a woodworking apprentice obsessed with finding a strange, evocative bridge with odd lettering scrolled upon it. They join in their quests, as their objectives overlap, unknowingly beginning a perilous and mystifying undertaking that leads them to the forbidden Land of Darkness, where they must face the greatest dangers of all--what lies in their hearts.

"Fairy tales have long taught us concepts like right and wrong, good and evil," Lakin, the author of eleven books says. "But I want to explore a bit deeper, search out the darker corners of our hearts to face our fears and conquer--which has always been the task of fairy tales."

Each book in the series tells a unique fairy tale in a different locale and featuring different characters, although people and places overlap. Each of the seven proposed novels feature a different "sacred site"--a gate of heaven that was established ages ago to prevent evil from gaining a stronghold in the world of men. The sites, though, have been desecrated, abandoned, and have fallen into disrepair, allowing evil to flourish. The overarching story weaves through all the books to culminate in the final novel, which will draw in characters from all six prior 

books.

Check out More on the Gates of Heaven Series!

About the Author

I grew up in the Big Orange, when there were still orange groves in the Los Angeles basin. My first novel, A Rip in the Redwood Curtain, was picked up by the first agent who read it, Ben Kamsler -- Elmor Leonard's agent at the time.

While running a bed and breakfast inn, raising two daughters, and breeding dozens of pygmy goats, I wrote another two novels. One--Innocent Little Crimes--made the top 100 in the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel contest, with Publisher's Weekly calling it "a page-turning thrill-ride that will have readers holding their breaths the whole way through." Ten years later, I decided to start writing novels again, and in 2006 wrote my first fantasy book, now published with AMG/Living Ink Publishers. I has since written seven more novels, five of which have been contracted for publication.

I currently work as a freelance copyeditor and writing coach, and also teach workshops on writing at confereces. I belong to numerous writing and editing groups, and occasionally guest blog and contribute articles on websites that focus on the craft of writing.