“Harry Potter meets Da Vinci Code”… that’s how reviewers and critics have described this middle-grade magical tale, the first book in a spellbinding series.
ARCHIBALD FINCH AND THE LOST WITCHES (Book 1)
by Michel Guyon
illustrated by Zina Kostich
Andrews McMeel, September 2021
From myths and legends 500 years old, comes a fantastic adventure, even though Archibald was not looking for one… Exploring his grandma’s creepy manor, he just stumbled upon an ancient terrestrial globe, which turns out to be much more than an old relic. When he unlocks the storm trapped inside, Archibald gets whisked into the unknown, a mysterious land where a battle born in the Middle Ages is still unfolding. In the world of Lemurea, mostly forest, home to small wonders and great scares, it’s light versus darkness, magic versus fire… witches versus dragons. But not any kind of witches, an army of young girls, lost in time. And not your usual dragons, but the most intriguing creatures, half human, half beast. Through this unforgettable journey, Archibald will learn the true meaning of courage, friendship and tolerance. Meanwhile, left behind, his sister Hailee sets out on a quest across London to find out what happened to him, uncovering a dark secret and going through her own coming of age odyssey. Two stories, two plot threads, running parallel but tightly intertwined. Two worlds, on a perilous collision course…
Michel Guyon was born in France, in a small medieval town perched on a rock, surrounded by high walls, with the remains of an ancient fortress at its heart. That’s where the author had his first brush with ancient myths, puzzling legends, and dark tales of the Middle Ages. While his childhood fed his fertile imagination, his travels as an investigative journalist for newspapers and magazines, from Bosnia to Afghanistan, were crucial in shaping his view of the world. He also published several books for children and young adults—not to mention his communication work for the European Space Agency, where he was tasked to make space exploration less opaque to the public. A fervent advocate of learning via entertainment, he always strives to shed light on important subject matters—in this case, Women’s rights, wars, and the future of our planet. That logic was key to the making of Archibald Finch, a magic potion mixing science with science fiction, fantasy with actual events, and fictional heroes with historic characters. Giving life to the most fantastic beasts and the most captivating story was indeed an opportunity to dig deep into the roots of witch-hunting, and explore one of the darkest episodes of Human History—of course with the right dose of humor. Today, Michel spends his life between Los Angeles and New York, where he also works as a photographer, mainly for the Movie industry.
In her forest-veiled pagan village, Évike is the only woman without power, making her an outcast clearly abandoned by the gods. The villagers blame her corrupted bloodline—her father was a Yehuli man, one of the much-loathed servants of the fanatical king. When soldiers arrive from the Holy Order of Woodsmen to claim a pagan girl for the king’s blood sacrifice, Évike is betrayed by her fellow villagers and surrendered. But when monsters attack the Woodsmen and their captive en route, slaughtering everyone but Évike and the cold, one-eyed captain, they have no choice but to rely on each other. Except he’s no ordinary Woodsman—he’s the disgraced prince, Gáspár Bárány, whose father needs pagan magic to consolidate his power. Gáspár fears that his cruelly zealous brother plans to seize the throne and instigate a violent reign that would damn the pagans and the Yehuli alike. As the son of a reviled foreign queen, Gáspár understands what it’s like to be an outcast, and he and Évike make a tenuous pact to stop his brother. As their mission takes them from the bitter northern tundra to the smog-choked capital, their mutual loathing slowly turns to affection, bound by a shared history of alienation and oppression. However, trust can easily turn to betrayal, and as Évike reconnects with her estranged father and discovers her own hidden magic, she and Gáspár need to decide whose side they’re on, and what they’re willing to give up for a nation that never cared for them at all.
Adelle and Connie have been best friends for years, united by their love of a little known novel called 
Eight strangers looking for enlightenment from an ancient spiritual teacher are trapped in a cave high in the mountains on their way to his temple. One of his acolytes directs them to each tell a story that the group can learn from as they wait out the horrible snowstorm that rages outside the cave’s entrance. One by one the travelers each share a story that, unbeknownst to them, is actually a morality tale representing one of the aspects of final enlightenment as taught in Buddhism. As the wind howls through the night, they tell symbolic stories of horror, dystopia, high adventure, cyberpunk, and urban fantasy. Each story is a spoke on the symbolic Dharma wheel, and each interlocking tale gets the travelers closer to their true destiny—unveiling the future of the entire human race.
Danica Waterhouse is a fully modern witch—daughter, granddaughter, cousin, and co-owner of the Fix-It Witches, a magical tech repair shop. After a messy breakup that included way too much family « feedback, » Danica made a pact with her cousin: they’ll keep their hearts protected and have fun, without involving any of the overly opinionated Waterhouse matriarchs. Danica is more than a little exhausted navigating a long-standing family feud where Gram thinks the only good mundane is a dead one and Danica’s mother weaves floral crowns for anyone who crosses her path. Three blocks down from the Fix-It Witches, Titus Winnaker, owner of Sugar Daddy’s bakery, has family trouble of his own. After a tragic loss, all he’s got left is his sister, the bakery, and a lifetime of terrible luck in love. Sure, business is sweet, but he can’t seem to shake the romantic curse that’s left him past thirty and still a virgin. He’s decided he’s doomed to be forever alone. Until he meets Danica Waterhouse. The sparks are instant, their attraction irresistible. For him, she’s the one. To her, he’s a firebomb thrown in the middle of a family war. Can a modern witch find love with an old-fashioned mundane who refuses to settle for anything less than forever? 
BOSS WITCH (Book 2), April 2022: A modern witch finds herself accidentally falling for a witch hunter determined to make a name for himself in her small Midwestern town.