Anne Marie Lutz is the author of the fantasy novel Black Tide and its sequel, Sword of Jashan. She has worked as an office manager and an operations analyst, but never forgot she really wanted to write. Anne Marie was raised in the Youngstown area. She currently lives in central Ohio with her family.
Jaena, a young priest, travels to isolated villages, blessing births and singing the souls of the departed to her goddess. In one village she finds Wiel, a boy with the rare mage talent known as taylen that is linked to a fatal illness. Jaena takes Wiel to the city to try to save his life. Too late, she discovers she has delivered Wiel into the hands of the Mage Defender, who rules by stealing the magic – and the lives – of children.Desperate to right the wrong she has done, Jaena races for aid to save Wiel and destroy the Mage Defender. At stake are the lives of the last remaining taylenor as well as Jaena’s own survival – and the destruction of an ancient scourge that has reawakened to threaten all the people of Cassahn.
BLACK TIDE: COLOR MAGE BOOK ONE
Lord Callo, the bastard son of the King’s sister, leaves his holdings in the midst of the contempt of his friends. He joins Healer Kirian as she flees for her life from the anger of a Collared Lord. Together they journey to Ha’las–an enemy island ruled by the ku’an, feared and despised psychic mages. There, Callo learns of his true heritage–and finds that great power is his birthright. All he has to do is sacrifice everything he has ever stood for. Can he keep Kirian safe in a land where women are kept hidden and restricted? Can he even protect her from his own dangerous magery? Why are the Kings of two nations seeking to use him as a tool for their own political ends?
Callo’s skin felt sunburned, and there was an acrid odor in the air. He looked around in the dusk and saw that he stood at the center of a blackened ring. He held his fingers up in front of his face and saw that they were blistered, the fingertips cracked and reddened. The wild magery had escaped his control and burned everything around him. He was fortunate he had not set the mountaintop ablaze. * * * The walls Callo has maintained all his life to guard against his dangerous power are failing. Uncontrolled, his magic threatens his sanity and the safety of all those around him—even Kirian, who could be forced away by Callo’s misuse of his power. Fighting with his own abilities, Callo still resolves to protect the young heir from the intrigues of the King. And Ander himself must decide whom to trust, as he becomes the target of an assassin.
