A Village of Lumby author is making strides in the fantasy world.

Katrina (K.M.) Lapointe鈥檚 Awakening Arorus, the first in the series The Clan Destayy Chronicles, marks the stay-at-home mother and Charles Bloom Secondary grad鈥檚 debut on the scene.

鈥�Awakening Arorus, in the beginning, was because of my love of reading. I mean, I get into a book and it鈥檚 a relaxing escape from the every day,鈥� Lapointe said. 鈥淚 remember ever since I was learning to read I loved stories and when I got into my teens I鈥檝e always known that I wanted to write an adventure that hopefully one day, I could share with the world.鈥�

Lapointe鈥檚 novel follows lead heroine Neko Norston who finds an odd glowing stone in her mother鈥檚 jewelry box. Norston is then transported to an alternate realm full of magical intrigue: the land of Arorus. But her鈥檚 is not the only powerful stone in Arorus.

Norston faces rebels, kings and magical entities as she fights to return to the modern world.

鈥淭he idea for the book itself was from reading all sorts of fantasy books,鈥� Lapointe said. 鈥淚 will say watching anime really inspired me to write an epic adventure because in an anime you can actually watch a story unfold and that鈥檚 how I wrote this book: picturing it as a movie in my mind.鈥�

Lapointe said she intends to turn The Clan Destayy Chronicles into a three or four part series.

鈥淭he very first scraps of this book started when I was still in high school in Grade 10, but I didn鈥檛 really get serious with the book until 2014 when I finished the first rough draft,鈥� Lapointe said.

鈥淢y hope is to write this series and keep going, writing many more books for people to read and enjoy.鈥�

Lapointe, who studied through The Writer鈥檚 Institute and received diplomas in breaking into print and shape write and sell your novel, has always found writing to be her muse.

鈥淭o be honest I have always been a bit of an ambivert and so I didn鈥檛 have a ton of close friends. I was that shy girl hiding in the back of the classroom, so I think, writing for me, is and has always been a way to express myself,鈥� Lapointe said. 鈥淚 feel at peace when I get onto a computer and just let myself get immersed in the adventure that unfolds.鈥�

When she isn鈥檛 writing, Lapointe said she spends time with her husband, daughter, two cats and two dogs, reading, watching Netflix and scenic photography. In the summer, Lapointe is out in the bush near Sugar Lake with the family for camping, hiking, biking and paddleboarding.

Regardless of where she is, however, Lapointe is an author through-and-through. And she hopes to share her love with readers and writers alike.

鈥淲ell, at the risk of sounding clich茅, I want to tell all the aspiring authors out there to never give up if writing a book is what you want to do,鈥� Lapointe said. 鈥淲rite that sucker and the heck with all the cynics.鈥�

Awakening Arorus, published by Victoria鈥檚 Tellwell Talent, is available as an eBook through , and .

parker.crook@vernonmorningstar.com
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