Press Kit

🐝Keeper of Sorrows description (very short):
On a ravaged planet dependent on the sole surviving bee species on a remote isle, whoever wins the competition to rule them as Keeper, rules the world. When the next Keeper goes missing, her sister must not only face her fear of bees while braving a haunted fortress to find her, but face the reigning Keeper, who’s guarding the darkest secret of all.

🐝Keeper of Sorrows description (short): On a planet stripped of wind, entire ecosystems lie in ashes, leaving humans to the mercy of the sole surviving bee species on a remote isle. Whoever wins the competition to rule the bees, rules the world.

When her sister Lenita wins the bid to become Keeper, Naokah’s jealousy razes their relationship. The induction ceremony is looming, and Naokah is faced with regret. Willing to atone at any cost, she arrives on the gloomy Isle of Bees. But Lenita is gone.

To find her, Naokah will not only have to compete against ruthless envoys, but face her debilitating fear of bees. As she braves the eerie fortress with sprawling wings of hives, malice stalks her in the darkness and visions untether her from reality. But when the envoys start disappearing and dying, it’s a race against her fraying sanity to confront the reigning Keeper – who’s guarding the darkest secret of all.

🐝Keeper of Sorrows description (longer):
Whoever rules the bees, rules the world.

Long ago, a jealous god stole the wind from his sister’s world, plunging her into chaos. The sun scalded the equator, unleashing the Razing: a smoldering chasm brimming with vicious beasts. For humans to survive, pollination became a concentrated priority worldwide. As entire ecosystems lie in ashes, one species of bee survives on the remote Isle of Abelha, where they are guarded as the most precious creatures alive.

Naokah had harsh words for her older sister Lenita when she won the bid for Keepership just like she’s always won everything. Now that Lenita’s induction as Keeper has come, Naokah’s eager to apologize and rebuild their relationship. But when she arrives, she learns Lenita has gone missing. Now, not only must she face her debilitating fear of bees to find her sister, but also compete to take the Keepership in her stead.

But the Citadel on Abelha houses more than just bees. As she braves the eerie fortress with sprawling wings of hives, malice stalks her in the darkness and visions untether her from reality. But when the envoys start disappearing and dying, it’s a race against her fraying sanity to confront the reigning Keeper – who’s guarding the darkest secret of all.

Will Naokah find her sister before she falls to the same fate?

🗡️Author biography (short):
A former soldier, Rachel deployed to Iraq (OND) and Afghanistan (OEF) before finding her voice in dark fantasy. When she’s not writing, she’s likely enjoying a local brew—be it coffee or booze, and reading to her plants or irritating her Austin neighbors as she attempts to play the bagpipes.

🗡️Author biography (long):
Growing up, Rachel wanted to be Sir William Wallace, James Horner, or Stephen King.

Unfortunately, the U.S. Army doesn’t issue claymore swords, and she’s painfully tone deaf (just ask her bagpipe instructor, who tries not to wince as she plays), so that left writing—a campaign that would wage on for a quarter century, leaving Rachel bruised, bloody, and downright defeated.

She’s been a soldier, maid, door-to-door bookseller, Fikes Family Farm field hand–thanks Pops!–leasing agent, baker, journalist, pageant queen/director, wiper of butt sweat (tanning salon), seller of overpriced lingerie at Victoria’s Secret, and dejected Wal-Mart cashier. All of which she either strategically retreated or succumbed to her injuries.

Eventually, with skin thicker than chain mail, a shield of resolve, and the reckless, indefatigable hope of a warrior poet, Rachel finally fought her way into publishing. *lobs claymore sword she found on eBay; Horner’s Braveheart theme amplifies

After quite the adventure, Rachel takes refuge in her hobbit hole in Austin, Texas, squirreling away all the coffee, whisky, and plants she can get her paws on, and teaching ESL to the most amazing students in the world. But since teaching and writing don’t pay the bills, she often sells her body to clinical trials. In fact, this book was written in one such research facility, where she was a lab rat for thirty-three days. The side effects weren’t too terrible either. She just wears long skirts now to hide her tail.

Connect with her on IG @rachel_fikes or rachelfikes.com