This fabulous rendition of Aleks from the Zaria Fierce is by Tommy. Thank you so much for sending to me and letting me share it with everyone. I admire it on my desk every time I sit down to write.

Fierce Middle Grade Fantasy Reads
This fabulous rendition of Aleks from the Zaria Fierce is by Tommy. Thank you so much for sending to me and letting me share it with everyone. I admire it on my desk every time I sit down to write.
Hi Fiercelings,
Did you miss the midnight party for Aleks Mickelsen and the Call of the White Raven? Now you can watch the replay. Thank you so much to everybody who came and participated and to my lovely and talented cohosts – Tommy and Michele Carpenter. You are all amazing and made my night. Happy book birthday to Aleks (again ?)
Games are also posted here for your enjoyment. How many can you complete? They’re tough but doable! Good luck!!
Word Scramble:
Word Search:
Crossword:
Congratulations to Davita, Nate, Tommy, Gus for winning at book bingo. Thanks everyone for playing.
I can’t wait to meet up with everyone again at the next release. It is tentatively scheduled for late December 2018. What would you like to do or talk about? Let me know in the comments.
Don’t forget to leave reviews on the books! They help so much and mean the world.
Greetings Fiercelings!
Come find me at Brenda’s website, Log Cabin Library, to get the score on why it is better to be an author than a fairy overlord in the Zaria Fierce Series. It’s a fun post and I can tell you that Grimkell, Ytorm, and Cornelia don’t agree with me.
What say you? Would you rather be an author or a fairy overlord?
Thank you everyone for voting on the cover design for Aleks Mickelsen and the Call of the White Raven. The overwhelming victor with 81% of the votes, was this beauty:
Some of your responses to the survey:
Very tough to choose. I finally went for the more purple background, but both covers work.
Keira: Tell me about it! I loved both and that’s why I needed everyone’s help to pick the best cover.
I like the more vibrant colors.
Keira: Me too 🙂 The beautiful colors in the cover illustration just begged for something to match it.
It seems to match the color scheme of the other books better.
Keira: Thank you so much. I thought it did too.
I like the background color and it seems more in line with the scheme with the rest of the books
Keira: I really liked how different elements in the background popped with these colors.
Option A, being green and light, washes out several of the background details and the white Raven is also less noticeable. Additionally, if the background is meant to be mountainous, the darker color fits better thematically.
Keira: It’s actually ice! The icy background represents a new character in the books, while also tying in thematically with Aleks’ previous book cover which featured crystals.
On the not chosen cover:
I like the color scheme better it’s brighter and easier to read the title.
Keira: That was one of the reasons I really liked that option. I also thought the greens would tie in well with book two in the series which has a lot of blues and teals.
Looks nice in line with the others. It’s earthy and beautiful.
Keira: Thank you. I thought it fit with the earthy colors that were pulled in through the other covers as well.
Many thanks again for your participation Fiercelings! Your input has been a huge help.
In other news, the pre-order for Aleks Mickelsen and the Call of the White Raven is live. Be sure to go and grab your copy. The next adventure arrives April 6, 2018.
Fiercelings, come and join me for the online midnight release party on April 5.
We’re going to have a blast together!
Until next time – happy readings!
Hello Fiercelings!
I’m excited to share with you my first ever podcast interview. I had a blast hanging out with Jocqueline Protho of The Audio Flow for her podcast Bookin’ Around Town. Join us as we discuss the Zaria Fierce Series -> naming Zaria Fierce, diversity in the series, Aleks Mickelsen’s changeling status, illustrations, audio book creation, and more. Listen, like, and share!
Listen to “Bookin’ Around Town with Keira Gillett”
Until next time – happy readings/listenings!
Hi my fiercelings!
I got a fun video the other day from Nathan, in which he asked me questions about the Zaria Fierce Series. It’s been a blast to answer them! I hope you enjoy. 😀
P.S. – The dragon names are on page 291 of book 3: Zaria Fierce and the Dragon Keeper’s Golden Shoes.
If you have questions of your own that you’d like to submit, feel free to e-mail them to me at [email protected] I would love to hear from you!
Hello my fiercelings!
Boy, are you ever in for a treat. You’re going to love it.
From the amazingly talented Michele Carpenter, I give you the live action book trailer for Aleks Mickelsen and the Twice-Lost Fairy Well.
Isn’t it phenomenal? I’m so excited I could pop!
Thank you to the wonderfully talented individuals who helped to create this new aspect of my world. I’m thrilled to pieces and can’t express in words how much this means to me.
Thank you everyone who came out last Saturday for my book reading at the Suntree Viera Library! It was so nice to run into new and longtime fans. Some fun things I got to try out this time was my new table display for my book business cards, my new banner, and my Seriously Fierce scale necklaces. What do you think? Aren’t they fabulous?
If you missed the event, here’s a recap and rewind. You can watch my reading of chapter two from the book here:
Audience: Do you work with Eoghan Kerrigan, as if he was like a police artist, so that this is actually what you’re imagining when you’re writing?
Me: I wouldn’t say he works like he’s a police artist. He doesn’t pick my brain to quite that extent. He gets documents (and the book itself) that have all the characters pulled out so that he has their descriptions. For the especially important characters, we do a series of mock-ups, and I pick the ones that feel more like my character. In that way we do what you’re talking about.
So if it’s a hooked nose, or a sharp pointed nose… he knows the details of how they’re described. He’ll take the information and interpret it. It’s as fun for me to see how what I’m saying from my mind and how I’m picturing it to how he interprets it. Some of them are really close, and some are so much better than how I pictured. They’re fabulous and I love working with him.
Audience: Good, good, because when you’re reading you’re always picturing in your mind, and if you got the illustrations as a visual clue for what they look like, instead of us going off on a tangent. It’s nice to know what they look like.
Me: What’s also fun that gives you another dimension of how the characters look is if you hear the audio book and how Michele’s does it, because she interprets how the voices are going to sound. In this book, there’s a bunch of trolls, and she has to go back and remember how the returning trolls sound. They were described as having voices, deep, and guttural, and grumbling, and so she has a variety of voices.
Now we have teenage trolls this time, who are all about the same age as the kids. There’s older trolls, conniving trolls, silly trolls, so they all have a variety of sounds and when she whips them out one right after the other, “I’m like how do you do that?” because it’s hard enough for me to do even Nori’s voice, and she’s not a troll, but a high pitched female.
Audience: So you have to remember which voice you’re doing?
Me: Yes, but she does a fabulous job with them and I feel it gives you a different dimension to how you picture the characters too. If a troll talks like this (deep) you’re going to picture him very (muscular) versus talking like this “Hello” (higher pitched). She also does the brownie voices and they get very squeaky, so you kind of get an idea of height and breadth simply based on how she does the voices. It’s really cool actually.
Audience: Who is Svein?
Me: He’s… well, I don’t want to say a throwaway character, because you never know when someone comes back, but he’s a character who’s just hanging around by the airport, when the kids go up and fly, and he knew Geirr. So he’s kind of like a copilot and tour guide. He’s like the older representative to convey to the inspectors and everybody at the scene after the crash that Geirr is an excellent pilot and knows what he’s doing. He’s there to be a witness to say that the plane didn’t crash because Geirr is a bad pilot, but to say the plane crashed because of something else, which is important because otherwise poor Geirr might never fly again.
I’ll wrap up by saying thank you again to everyone for making it out to see me. I had a blast!
I’m over at Rosemary’s book blog, Mom Read It, discussing the adoption themes which can be found within my series. Adoption is an important topic to me because my two younger sisters are adopted from China. Before I even started the book series, I knew I wanted to portray a positive adoption outlook between adoptive parents and adoptees in my books.
For those who know me and my family, they can see little facets of my siblings, my parents, and myself in the way certain characters interact. Merry for instance is very much a representation of my mother. The nightly tea parties, which are seen in Zaria Fierce and the Enchanted Drakeland Sword, are something she did with one of my sisters before my sister went off to college.
To read more about this topic and how adoption affects Zaria Fierce and Aleks Mickelsen in similar, but different ways, head over there for a deeper look. Be sure to leave a comment while you’re there because one lucky winner will get a Fierce Scale necklace from me, in the color of their choosing. Will you pick a color that reminds you of a dragon like Fritjof, a winter-wyvern like Norwick, or a river-troll like Bjarke? So many fun options!
Rosemary also had some wonderful things to say about the fourth book in the Zaria Fierce Series. Here’s a sneak peek:
I have wanted to know more about Aleks since I first read that he was a changeling – and that his grandmother is, too! Readers won’t be disappointed; we learn more about Aleks’ origin here, and I love the inner conflict raging with Aleks as he realizes that there is no black and white situation: he initially thinks it’s not a big deal at all to give up his fey gifts, but learns that not only can his ability to find things be a huge help, he learns that his fey side is very much a part of him. Don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone? Aleks may just have to learn that lesson that hard way.
You can read the full review for Aleks Mickelsen and the Twice-Lost Fairy Well on her blog. Thanks, Rosemary!
In case you missed it, I did an author interview with book blogger Kathy of The Novelty of Life.
Here’s a sneak peek of what we talked about:
Kathy: Why did you decide to switch the main character from Zaria to Aleks?
Keira: Zaria fought her dragon. Plus, I knew there was a story to tell in Niffleheim, which brings me to Aleks. His character arc always intrigued me and I wanted to explore it more…
Read the rest of the interview here, be sure to leave a comment on her site because someone is going to win a Fierce Scale Necklace. The winner gets to choose their color – will you pick one that reminds you a dragon in the series like Koll, a winter-wyvern like Norwick, or a river-troll like Olaf?
Hi Everyone,
I’m so excited to share with you these two fabulous book crafts for the Zaria Fierce Series. Today you’ll get learn how to make different colored slime to represent characters from the books, and you’ll learn how to create you’re own Kettupeli board game, which is from the second book in the series.
Learn to make colorful slime in this video made by Michele Carpenter, narrator of the Zaria Fierce Series, and her kids. There’s orange slime for Aleks Mickelsen, purple with gold glitter slime for Zaria Fierce, green slime for trolls, and white and silver glitter slime for white ravens.
Ingredients:
The ratios are loose. Normally Michele and her kids just wing it. It’s best if you mix the glue, food coloring, and other ingredients all together before adding the liquid starch. Liquid starch should always be last, except before glitter. Glitter can go in at the end.
Which is your favorite slime? Leave a comment below!
Watch the video for a quick overview of creating the game. You’ll see the finish layout and see how it’s all put together. It’s pretty simple, but a lot of fun!
You’ll need:
All these materials can be found in a craft store or down a craft aisle at a big box store.
Pegs:
Instructions on how to play the game can be found within book two of the Zaria Fierce Series, Zaria Fierce and the Enchanted Drakeland Sword.
Happy crafting! I’d love to see your creations – be sure to e-mail me pictures or tag me on social media!
Michele Carpenter and I had an absolute blast hosting the live event midnight release party on Facebook for Aleks Mickelsen and the Twice-Lost Fairy Well. We had lots of comments as we went which was so much fun! Thank you guys for making it so special. If you missed it you can watch the replay here:
There’s still some time to enter the scavenger hunt contest. Be sure you take the time to do so! The winner gets a signed copy of Aleks Mickelsen and the Twice-Lost Fairy Well. Contest closes 7/9/17 at 10 PM EST. This contest is open internationally, and your entry can be posted to Instagram or the Zaria Fierce FB page with the hashtag #zariafierceparty
It should look something like this:
Good luck! As for the other prize, the Zaria Fierce necklace, congratulations again to Megan for winning the Zaria Fierce book bingo!
The book is now available in e-book and print with the audio book soon to follow. Thank you again everyone who came out and joined Michele and I. We were so excited and thrilled to celebrate Aleks with you. I look forward to your thoughts on Aleks. Enjoy and happy readings!