Guest Post (and a Giveaway!): Alyssa Roat & Mordizan

Please join me in welcoming Alyssa Roat back to the blog today to share some behind-the-scenes facts about her new young adult fantasy, Mordizan!

MORDIZAN by Alyssa Roat
SERIES: The Wraithwood Trilogy #2
GENRE: Inspirational Young Adult Fantasy
PUBLISHER: Mountain Brook Ink
RELEASE DATE: March 4, 2022
PAGES: 366

The bane of Mordred, the son of Mordizan, and a millennia-old prophecy—together they may provide what Brinnie needs to defeat the world of magic’s greatest threat.

More than a year has passed since Brinnie left Wraithwood, never expecting to see it again. But when Mordred captures her sister, she is thrust back into the world of magic. She flees to Wraithwood, where she learns of a prophecy located in the dark wizard capital of Mordizan that
reveals the identity of “Mordred’s bane,” something that could destroy Mordred for good.

Brinnie agrees to a rendezvous with Mordred to exchange herself for her sister, going undercover at Mordizan as a spy to find the prophecy and Mordred’s bane. There, she weaves a complicated web of secrets, lies, and tenuous friendships. She makes an unexpected ally in Marcus Vorath, son of the Master of Mordizan, who fears the implications of Mordred’s growing power. But in Mordizan, friends and foes may be one and the same.

In the midst of court intrigue, battle, ominous new depths to her power, and searching for Mordred’s bane, Brinnie struggles to draw the lines. How far is she willing to go to destroy Mordred? And how much of herself is she willing to give up along the way?

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behind-the-scenes facts about Mordizan

by Alyssa Roat, author of Mordizan

Hi, Carrie, and thanks so much for having me on the blog!

I’m so excited to be releasing book two of The Wraithwood Trilogy, Mordizan. In honor of a book filled with secrets and spies, I thought it might be fun to share some behind-the-scenes “secrets” with readers about the book! So, here are my Top 5 behind-the-scenes facts about the YA fantasy Mordizan.

1. I wrote the first draft at age eighteen.

It’s been through plenty of drafts and edits since then, but I started the first draft of Mordizan during my last semester of high school and finished it after turning eighteen in my first semester of college. At the time, I had no idea if a publisher would ever want The Wraithwood Trilogy, but I loved the story too much not to write it.

2. I was partially inspired by the BBC’s

While writing book one, Wraithwood, I watched the BBC’s TV series Merlin and realized what the story had been missing—Arthurian legend. The legend became a major part of the plot, and this series wouldn’t exist without it. Thanks to the Arthurian elements, the concept of Wraithwood grew from a whimsical book for children into a series for young adults.

3. Mordizan almost never existed.

Like I said, I started Wraithwood intending to write a short book for children. But as the story grew, I realized it had become much more. I began plotting the trilogy.

4. Parts of the story reflected my own college experience.

As I wrote about my main character, Brinnie, infiltrating an enemy fortress and seeking to assimilate into a city and culture different from anything she had known, I was finding my own way at a college across the country from the home I’d lived in my entire life.

5. A minor character sprang into a major role and surprised me by changing the direction of the story.

In Mordizan, I thought I had everything plotted out, until a character appeared and just…wouldn’t go away. He wove his way into the very fabric of the story, influencing key turning points and becoming one of the story’s most important characters—both to the plot and to Brinnie. See if you can figure out who by reading Mordizan. 😉

Alyssa Roat grew up in Tucson, Arizona, but her heart is in Great Britain. She is a multi-published author and has worked in a wide variety of roles within the publishing industry as an agent, editor, writer, and publicist. Her name is a pun, which means you can learn more about her at www.alyssawrote.com or on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook as @alyssawrote.

Alyssa Roat is offering a print copy of Wraithwood and Mordizan – OR ebook copies of both books & a $10 Amazon gift card – to one of my readers! (US only for print copies. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.) This giveaway is subject to Reading Is My SuperPower’s giveaway policies which can be found here. Enter via the Rafflecopter form below.

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What about you? What makes you want to read Mordizan by Alyssa Roat?