Welcome J.F. Jenkins and her Vala Series!

Welcome fellow Astraea Press author, J.F. Jenkins! Her books are available at Astraea Press, Amazon and most other retailers.

Take it away, J.F.!

With everyone going back to school, I thought it might be fun to write about my fictional school of fantasy: The Vala School and Seminary.

When most people think of magical schools, they envision Harry Potter. Vala does not fall into that category of schools. If anything, Vala is more like Professor Charles Xavier’s School for the Gifted in the X-Men universe created by Marvel Comics. I’m sure some of you have seen the movies even if you haven’t read the actual comics themselves.

At Vala, the whole purpose of the school isn’t to become an expert in magic. That’s a part of it, sure, but it’s supposed to be a safe place to learn for students who have extraordinary gifts. They learn to control their abilities, their magic, so that they can enter into the “real world” without accidentally blowing someone up or turning someone into a frog. And of course they learn the essentials: Math, History, Science, and more!

So what does a typical student at Vala’s schedule look like?

½ Essential General subject learning.
¼ Private mentoring in their specific field of magic.
¼ Lessons in magical history and politics.

Because not only is there the rules of the real world to deal with, but also those of the magical one. There is a unique system of government, hidden countries even, dedicated solely to creatures of myth and legend. Creatures who fill the halls of Vala.

The school is also a boarding school and acts as a college for students who still want to continue on to take on fields in the magical world. Pretty cool huh? Just be sure to make nice with your fellow classmates, because it’s never a good idea to make a witch angry. Just ask Cheyenne, the heroine of “Vala: Agendas”. She would know all about that one.

The Vala series has three books out now (of 5 or 6, still working on the last couple, hehe). Each details the conspiracy of the gods through the eyes of a different student, and the roles each play.

Book One, Agendas:

Cheyenne Loveless was just a boring sixteen-year-old girl. Then Denver Collins bit her and everything changed. Her plants start talking to her, she finds out she’s a Nymph, and a witch and the angel of death show up at her doorstep to take her away to the prestigious Vala School and Seminary. Oh, and she has no choice in the matter.

All she wants to do is blend in and return to being invisible, but the more time that passes, the harder that becomes. Plus she’s a daughter of the Divine, an exclusive secret society which rules the world of myth, and discovers she is a key ingredient to an ancient covenant created before she was born. A covenant that will reshape the order of the world.

Adjusting to a new school is difficult enough, but adding on everyone else’s hidden agendas is the icing on the cake. Cheyenne must learn to see through the lies in order to find her place — and possibly even love — in this new world.

Book Two, Heritage:

Jewl Dite has always struggled with her heritage. Being the daughter of the goddess of love, she questions everything about the emotion. Which is a bummer because she’s head over heels for Anj Willam, and thinks the feelings are mutual. It’s hard to be sure though when she has magic that has been known to bewitch men into devoting themselves to her. Somehow they’re able to strike a balance in their dysfunctional on-again, off-again relationship however.

This balance is disrupted however when a strange boy named Teague enters her life and brings along with him a group of demons. Demons who want to make a deal with her in exchange for the safety of everyone she loves.

Now to protect those she holds most dear, Jewl must rely on the magic she’s been trying so desperately to avoid. But at what cost? Will the boy she loves accept this dark secret, or will she lose him forever?

Book Three, Appointed:

Identical twins Anj and Zes Willam have always been considered odd, even in a world where myth is real. Their magic is powerful and intense, as well as their secrets. None more so than Anj, who has the biggest secret of them all.

He’s a Fate, and he’s not allowed to tell anyone about what he sees or else the consequences will be great. Which is unfortunate, because it’s been causing a rift between him, his girlfriend Jewl, and his brother. Even more unfortunate because the demons some how have learned about his gift and have made him their next target.