The Fairy Godmother (Five Hundred Kingdoms Series #1) »

Mercedes was born in Chicago on June 24, 1950. The very next day the Korean War was declared. It is hoped that there is no connection between the two events.

She was raised mostly in the northwestern corner of Indiana, attending grade school and high school in Highland, Indiana. She graduated from Purdue University in 1972 with a Bachelors of Science in biology. This, she soon learned, along with a paper hat and a name tag will qualify you to ask "would you like fries with that?" at a variety of fast-food locations.

After spending time in jobs ranging from artist's model to lab technician at the Mosquito Genetics Project to short-order cook, she took training and became a computer programmer. About this time she discovered science fiction conventions and the Society for Creative Anachronism, and began attending functions of both, more often in costume than not.

Mercedes had always written from her early teens, and developed this hobby by writing fan fiction for various amateur magazines. In the 1980s she took a job programming computers for a major airline, and as a consequence moved to Oklahoma, where she continued to write. At this time she met both Marion Zimmer Bradley (author of The Mists of Avalon) and .C. J. Cherryh, both of whom helped mentor her from the ranks of the amateur into those of the professional writers.

In 1985 her first book was published. In 1990 she met artist Larry Dixon at a small science fiction convention in Meridian, Mississippi, on a television interview organized by the convention. They began working together from that time on, and were married in Las Vegas at the Excalibur chapel by Merlin the Magician (aka the ReverendDuckworth) in 1992.

They moved to their current home, the "second weirdest house in Oklahoma" also in 1992. She obtained her wildlife rehabilitators license and began rehabbing birds of prey; so far her patients have ranged from a hummingbird to a great blue heron, but most are American kestrels, red-tailed hawks, barred owls and great horned owls. She has many pet parrots, the smallest of which is a hand-raised peach-faced lovebird, and the largest of which is a blue-and-gold macaw.

Mercedes has over 50 books in print, and some of her foreign editions can be found in Russian, Czech, Polish, French, Italian and Japanese.

She has continued her hobby of costuming, although now she costumes Barbies and porcelain dolls as the characters from her books, usually sending these items to charity auctions with autographed copies of the relevant books. She also does art needlework and beadwork, sometimes combining these hobbies with her doll-making, usually sending these as gifts or to charity auctions, as well. She always has several of these projects going at any one time, because they give her the opportunity to think about her stories while her hands are busy. Her current projects are a planned series of "Gothic Fairy" dolls with hair of colors not found in nature.

A night owl by nature, Mercedes is generally found at the keyboard between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.

From the bestselling author of the Heralds of Valdemar series comes an enchanting new novel.

In the land of Five Hundred Kingdoms, if you can't carry out your legendary role, life is no fairy tale . . .

Elena Klovis was supposed to be her kingdom's Cinderella -- until an accident of fate left her with a completely inappropriate prince! Determined not to remain with her stepfamily, Elena set out to get a new job -- and ended up becoming the Fairy Godmother for the land.

But "Breaking with Tradition" was no easy matter. True, she didn't have to sleep in the chimney, but she had to deal with arrogant, stuffed-shirt princes who kept trying to rise above their place in the tale. In fact, one of them was so ornery that Elena could do nothing but change him into a donkey.

Still, her practical nature couldn't let him roam the country, so she brought the donkey -- er, the prince! -- home to her cottage to teach him some lessons. All the while keeping in mind that breaking with tradition can land everyone into a kettle of fish -- sometimes literally!

And so begins a whole new tale . . .

Mercedes Lackey is the prolific and popular author of over fifty novels (many of which are part of her acclaimed Heralds of Valdemar series) and she fully intends on passing Isaac Asimov's total of 100 titles before too long. Her hardcover novels have reached the extended New York Times bestseller lists and the USA TODAY lists.

Mercedes Lackey was born in Chicago, Illinois, and attended Purdue University. She is also a professional lyricist and a licensed wild bird rehabilitator. Misty (as she is known to friends and fans alike) lives in Oklahoma with her husband and collaborator, artist Larry Dixon. When not leafing through countless well-thumbed tomes of folklore, or pounding plotlines out on one of her many keyboards, Misty can be found tending to the many birds in her aviary (at last count, the couple have 10 parrots, four cockatoos, two macaws, three African grays, one blue-streaked lory and a peach-faced lovebird).

And if Misty is puzzling over where a manuscript will lead next, she lets her imagination roam free while keeping her hands busy with detailed needlework. In addition to making elaborate doll costumes, Misty indulges in crewel work, counted cross-stitch, intricate beadwork and beadweaving. Many of the items she makes are donated to charity for use in fund-raising auctions.

In 2003, six books bearing Mercedes Lackey's name hit the bookshelves, and right now, she's knee-deep in honing plot twists for all the titles she plans on releasing in 2004 and 2005.

Publishers Weekly

The prolific Lackey (the Valdemar series) draws on the darker, Brothers Grimm side of fairy lore for her enchanting tale, the first title under a new Harlequin imprint to spotlight romantic fantasy. In the land of the Five Hundred Kingdoms, the Tradition, that ineffable magic, holds the promise of happily-ever-after for all deserving young maidens and courteous princes charming. But the Tradition also leads some in its thrall to pain, suffering and gruesome death. Feisty 19-year-old Elena Klovis seems destined to be an Ella of the Cinders (Cinderella), at the mercy of her wicked stepmother and greedy stepsisters. To escape their clutches, Elena tries to get work as a maidservant, but her fairy godmother, Madame Bella, has other plans for her. Elena becomes Madame Bella's apprentice, doing her best, among other challenges, to ensure that evil does not subvert Tradition. The only problem is that fairy godmothers are not themselves allowed to fall in love. It's up to Elena, who has vowed to reform a wayward prince, to tease out the threads of a new Tradition. Lackey has created an intelligent, self-possessed heroine with whom many readers will identify. (Jan.) Forecast: Romantic fantasy has been one of the fastest-growing subgenres, and Luna will keep up the momentum with new novels by Catherine Asaro and Sarah Zettel in February and March, respectively. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.