Lyndi Alexander, welcome to Romance Lives Forever. I’m Kayelle Allen, author and owner of this blog. Happy to have you here! Please tell us about your book.

The Elf Queen by Lyndi Alexander

Genre: Fantasy
Book heat level (based on movie ratings): PG
At her friend’s coaxing, Jelani tries on a glass slipper left lying on the sidewalk. When she steps into the shoe, it shatters, cutting her foot. As blood trickles to the pavement and mingles with the broken glass, dozens of two-inch high creatures emerge and then scurry away into the shadows. Soon she is approached by two mysterious and handsome men claiming to be elves who need her help to rescue their queen. More revelations come, threatening to unravel the life of this sassy barista from Missoula, Montana. Jelani must learn to accept that elves are real and living in the forests of the Bitterroot Mountains.
What species/races of people are in your book?
Humans and elves

Language and Culture

In the culture of your story world, what is different from ours?
Sadly, it is what makes them the same that becomes more important. Jealousy, strife and bad family dynamics are behind the schism which led to the state of the elven world at the time this story takes place. Brother against sister, sons against fathers—the clan must wrestle with these before they can move forward.
What special laws are important to your story world?
The clan comes from a place of connection to the land (which is why the elves will work openly with ELF, the Earth Liberation Front, considered ecoterrorists by the FBI). They draw strength and energy from earth centers, and return it to the earth once they are gone. Years past, they had a balanced symbiosis with the land, and they must return to this balance if they are to survive.

Story Setting

Describe one of the worlds where your story takes place.
The Clan Elves of the Bitterroot live side by side with the people and animals of the northwest Montana lands. Most of the time they pass unnoticed, as do their homes, wrought by magic in the forest, up in the trees, like gossamer floors and walls, because the human world moves so quickly and remains self-absorbed. Once a mage of the clan teaches a human how to “see what is right in front of them, then this shadowy world can be seen.
What makes this world unique?
Their needs are not great, so they can generate everything they need with their own magic. For example, when mage Daven Talvi constructs a home for Jelani inside a large tree trunk, she finds that space is different inside a spelled place. Her nerdy friends compare it to the Tardis—much bigger on the inside than outside.
Tell us about the age of the culture in your story, i.e., are the people part of an ancient civilization, a newly formed group within an established culture, pioneer colonists, etc.
The civilization goes back to the time of the Native Americans. In those earliest days, elves and humans had much the same way of life and they honored the same things. As humans “matured”, the two cultures grew apart, and the elves began keeping to themselves and moving deeper into the forests. This is why the older forests are cherished grounds for them.
What food or drink is available to your characters?
Whatever they can find in the woods, of course. But as the elves interact with the humans in the story, they do get to experience some more unusual fare like coffee and eggs with brains.

Character Physiology

What are the physical characteristics of the race/species of your main characters?
They appear very much as humans. In fact, until they use their powers, one might see them as anyone else who blends into the background.
What physical differences exist in the way your characters communicate (i.e., telepathy, empathic abilities, etc.) with each other?
The elves are telepathic with others of their own kind. Each elf also has a certain specialty power that helps them contribute to the clan, i.e. ability to control water, fire, wind, etc.

Sharing World Building Expertise

Please give us three tips you find helpful when creating a story world:
Being able to visualize your setting provides myriad details you can use to make the narrative strong. I visited the area north of Missoula several times in order to secure these details—the deep forests, the gray mountains, the waterways of the area. Even the odd tree formations at the Montana Vortex came in useful in The Elf Guardian.
Don’t hold back on your details. They are what make your story come to life.
Think about the language differences for time, for food, etc. Even on our own planet we don’t all use meters or inches—wouldn’t those of a different world have different words for such things? Then you have to use them in a way that it’s clear what they mean to someone reading in American English.
When you researched for your story setting, what kinds of things did you learn?
When I wrote this book, it was the first time I’d ever learned about ecoterrorism. Strangely, this brand of terrorist is trying to save the forests by preventing development of old forest lands. Some are fairly harmless, like those who sit in trees to keep loggers from taking them down. Others put spikes in trees to deter loggers from using their equipment. Others, more violent in nature, actually blow things up to get their message across.
What things should writers avoid when building a science fiction world?
Making it too ordinary.

Where to buy The Elf Queen

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/1936381036/
Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/elf-queen-lyndi-alexander/1100074888?ean=9781538030219
iBooks https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/elf-queen-lyndi-alexander/1100074888?ean=9781538030219
Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-elf-queen
Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/byseries/5283

Lyndi Alexander Social Media

Lyndi Alexander always dreamed of faraway worlds and interesting alien contacts. She lives as a post-modern hippie in Asheville, North Carolina, a single mother of her last child of seven, a daughter on the autism spectrum, finding that every day feels a lot like first contact with a new species.
Website https://lyndialexander.wordpress.com/the-clan-elves-of-the-bitterroot-series/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/lyndialexander13/
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4185290.Lyndi_Alexander
Amazon Author Pagehttps://www.amazon.com/Lyndi-Alexander/e/B005GDYPU2