WaterMage Rising

Welcome!

Hello, lovely readers, and welcome to my latest novel! WaterMage Rising is a rewrite of my Harry Potter fanfiction, Breaking With the Past, into an original story in preparation for the Wattys 2023.

First, I want to give a huge shout-out of gratitude to the BootCamp Mentors program, and especially my amazing mentor! Without their submission process and the amazing feedback and guidance I've received during this time of preparation and unpacking the new Wattys categories and rules, I might not have made this leap of faith to undertake this rewrite. As it stands, while fem!Snape Selena holds a special place in my heart, I'm falling in love with the new ideas and new directions that Selena Mendelson's story in WaterMage Rising can take us.

Come dive into Selena's Mageworld, a world of elemental magic, where her society is deeply polarized between the staunchly isolationist and those willing to breach the barrier of secrecy that has always existed between themselves and the nonmagical world.

Selena Mendelson, a sharp-tongued, ambitious student whose social skills are lacking despite the efforts of her ex-best friend Olivia, dreams of forging a career in spellcraft and potions. If her career takes her to the other side of the country from her authoritarian, dark-leaning father's influence, all the better. However, her father has other plans for her. He is already pushing to recruit her to work for the government in his department, the Defense Bureau. His boss, Bryce Cunningham, has ambitions to become Supreme Mage at the next election, potentially leaving her father next in line to head the department. Cunningham promises an era of greater prosperity and openness, where unions between those with magic and those without are no longer forbidden. However, his true plans are far more sinister.

When Selena's uncle, who also works for the Defense Bureau, freezes to death in front of her by a curse, she vows to investigate and avenge his murder. Worse, Selena discovers records in her father's study that reveal others have died of similar curses, and all of the victims have wronged her father in some way. Her father may even have murdered her uncle to keep this information, and information about a special project at work, from coming to light. When Selena asks her father to join him on his business cruise as a cover for her investigation, he refuses, leaving her no choice but to sneak onboard a magical cruise ship, the Augury of the Seas.

Selena comes face to face with Cunningham as her magical prowess attracts his notice, forcing her to decide her course in life.

As Selena begins to uncover the truth, what she finds chills her to the core. Cunningham marks his devotees with an oath mark on the lapel pin they wear. Should any employee disobey orders or reveal Cunningham's secrets, the pin freezes that person from the inside. The pin binds them to carry out his ultimate plan when his new policy of openness toward the nonmagical world inevitably fails — gathering four ancient relics that, once united, will release some sort of dark creature.

To stop Cunningham from unleashing the dark creature, Selena must reluctantly team up with Adam McAllister, a family ally who, no matter how charming or handsome he may be, might actually be on Cunningham's side. As they work together to solve the clues leading them to the relics at the ship's ports of call, their mutual attraction grows. They must also team up with Olivia, who hates her, but who is an expert on dark creatures. When Olivia contracts a draining curse during the ship's artifact exhibit, the race is on not only to save Olivia's life, but to locate and destroy the relics before Cunningham can summon the dark creature that will purge the world of anyone with nonmagical lineage.

I hope you enjoy this new version of Selena's story! As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts and constructive feedback!

<3, Lora

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Awards:

2nd place for Best first chapter, Pool Party Mini Awards 7/7/2023