Highlighting the best independent publications in fiction and non-fiction. Your new favorite author is right here.

M.K. Theodoratus

KayM. K. Theodoratus’ life has always centered in some world of make-believe or other – from having an imaginary playmate from the time she could talk to acting out comic book stories in the back yard. Oh, Theodoratus did the usual things like going to college, getting married, having kids, and working … but fantasy, mostly reading it, was always part of her life. Now she amuses herself by writing fantasy.

An “early writer”, Theodoratus wrote her first novel in the sixth grade when the teacher asked for a short story for an English assignment. She got an incomplete Nancy Drew pastiche which Theodoratus completed the next summer. This led to a story-writing addiction in her teen years. She gave up writing in college in favor of anthropology and geography — which turned out to be a great help in world-building now.

Theodoratus has enjoyed several writing careers. She mostly sold freelanced short non-fiction — consumer info, humor, history, and self-help articles. Fiction writing fell by the wayside though she managed to complete a few “confessions” between chores.

Now she amuses herself writing about the problems the Far Isles Half-Elven have with genetic drift and exploring the fate of demons in Andor after the portals were closed. Most of her published work are short stories and novellas, which make great reading for short trips and passing time while waiting. Theodoratus does have nine+ novels in various stages of completion: five set in her Half-Elven world. Reviewers say nice things about her writing, including they are innovative and are realistic.

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Troublesome Neighbors (Fantasy/Paranormal)

Troublesome neighborsThe Lady Renna, the holder of Ren Creek, wants nothing more than to weave beautiful fabrics in peace after the end of the Far Isles Half-Elven Rebellion. But trouble comes looking for her.

Lord Gorsfeld, her powerful neighbor wants her lands so he can control the confluence of three main rivers of the Marches. When Renna refuses his suit, Gorsfeld’s men attack her villages. Renna is caught between her duty to protect her people and Gorsfeld’s plots to rule the Marches.

Renna must find a way to protect her people, her pet pig, and get even, all on her own terms. The conflict will take all her elvish skills if her people are to survive and prosper.

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Taking Vengeance (Fantasy/Paranormal)

VengeanceFighting and chaos are no strangers to Mariah. Four hundred years after the Half-Elven Rebellion, turmoil has worn her down. But she must face her problems alone. Ashton, her ring-mate, has gone spying on their southern enemies. She fights with Linden, the ruler and Ashton’s brother and her former lover, constantly. Tired of the bickering, she seeks a peaceful life as a healer, but she cares too much for the fate of the Marches to stay out of politics.

When sea raiders attack her daughter’s family, Mariah falls apart from the stress. Ashton feels her distress and uses his elf magic to return to the Marches. As her anger rises, he urges her to go hunting for vengeance against the killers. Only they discover a strange new magic that threatens all they hold dear. Can they convince Linden there’s a problem?

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The Ghost in the Closet (Paranormal/Short Story)

The Ghost in the ClosetOver the years, Dumdie Swartz has developed many weird habits to hide the fact she sees ghosts. When her boss fired her because he thought her trances were mini-strokes, Dumdie becomes homeless, just another old lady living in her car.

Being homeless isn’t Dumdie’s biggest problem. When she finds a room at a private shelter, Dumdie discovers the ghost of the previous owner haunts her room, a ghost with a problem of her own. Her will is lost, and the shelter’s existence is threatened. Dumdie must conquer her fear of upsetting people if she’s to find the will and save the shelter for herself and the other ladies.

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The Ghostcrow: A Tale of Andor(Short Story/Fantasy/Horror/Paranormal)

the ghostcrowSeeing ghosts has plagued Dumdie Swartz since early childhood.

Afraid that ghost guts might stick to her if she stepped through them, thirteen-year-old Dumdie Swartz still cringes when she encounters them.

Her strange attempts to avoid spirits create a lonely life.

Her sisters constantly mock her strange behavior, her parents are clueless, and her social life is zero. Dumdie finds solace working in a shared garden with her elderly neighbor, Mr. Carson. When teens from her high school steal pumpkins from his garden, Mr. Carson is hurt during the theft, and later, dies.

Dumdie’s life takes a dark turn.

She learns there are stranger things than ghosts, when she senses something evil living in Kyle, one of the boys who had raided the pumpkin patch. Kyle bullies Dumdie to scare her into silence. The more Kyle threatens her, the clearer she perceives the evil thing possessing him. Dumdie finds support in an unlikely group of girls who befriend her when she helps them with their costumes for the Pumpkin festival. During the festival, Dumdie’s fears explode when the thing possessing Kyle decides it wants to possess her.

This supernatural short story is the prequel to The Ghost in the Closet. Read about Dumdie, young and old.

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Doom Comes for a Sold Soul (Paranormal/Horror/Short Story)

doom comesDemons are coming to take Dr. Allsdipp, a Nobel Prize Winner, away. But he doesn’t want to go.

Down and out reporter, Grant Highgrim desires to be a journalist again are on the line. If he can’t interview the reclusive Dr. Henry Allsdipp, the oldest man alive, he’ll remain just another ad sheet layout designer. But he shows up at the nursing home on a day when a legion of beetle-demons come to collect the Ignoble Nobel Prize Winner’s soul. Even though bugs creep him out, he must find a way to save, the cantankerous geezer and his self-respect.

Read a short story set in M. K. Theodoratus’ World of Andor.

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Noticing Jamilla (Short Story/Fantasy/Paranormal)

Noticing JamillaCassy Mae thought she left danger behind when she moved from the Santos Francisco slums to live in a small mountain town with her grandmother, only to learn her GrammyJo worked magic which her mother had taught her to fear and hate.

Docket’s Diggings at first seemed a paradise in spite of her grandmother’s herbal juju. Then the strange, but rich, Lydia Markhem and her niece, Jamilla, moved to town, spreading a strange malaise wherever they went. Cassy Mae spends her senior year trying to avoid her grandmother’s magic and a stalker who thirsts for to acquire Cassy’s own magic.

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Crossings: A Tale of Andor(Short Story/Fantasy/Horror/Paranormal)

crossings a tale of andorSlight of stature and lacking magic, old Ebe must prove he has the heart to defend his mountain home from invading demons when they kill his mentor.

Once Crossings was a tranquil town nestled in the foothills of the Sierras—a place Ebe Brown thought was a paradise. His peaceful life is shattered when strangers appear to raise guard dogs.

A group of dog farmers led by a brawny trainer, Rabler, takes up residence and establishes a questionable business raising guard dogs. Sinister events begin to occur almost immediately after their arrival. Ebe Brown, a lifelong resident, suspects Rabler and his henchmen are not what they seem to be on the surface. When Ebe’s dog disappears, he confronts the outsiders and his suspicions deepen, but local law enforcement turns a blind eye on the dog-farmers’ menacing behavior and their disturbing presence. The townsfolk are alone in their fight.

Ebe reaches out to the old leader of the magic working hill folk for help. Nance, a tough as nails herb woman, is determined to set things right again, one way or another. Unfortunately, Rabler and his crew have other plans. Their threats fail when Nance refuses to back down, and all hell breaks loose. When Nance is killed, Ebe is filled with remorse for failing to save her.

This suspense-filled novella reaches a cataclysmic end when Ebe fights to save his self-respect and the people of Crossings.

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