Hey Dreamers!
535 Words
Hey Dreamers,
I'm so excited to be sharing my new serial novel Hollow Hills Academy: Love and War with you. It is a spin off that takes place in the same world as The Royals of Coleum, and some of the key players from that serial do make an appearance. But it can be read and enjoyed on its own. Royals of Coleum was such a fun experience for me because I got to create a whole country, its history, and talk about social commentary in between romance and drama complete with ball gowns. Because I enjoyed it so much, I intend on continuing on with his universe.
Hollow Hills Academy: Love and War is set in an alternate history reality. In this world, royalty plays a much more important part in society. The United Kingdom does not exist, but is broken up into tiny, separate countries each ruled by their own monarchs and parliament. Russia is also still an autocracy, which means the monarchs have absolute power and is ruled by Tsars.
Hollow Hills Academy: Love and War takes place in the nation of Wales. Wales actually had kings up until 1063. England managed to overtake countries like Scotland, Ireland, and Wales creating what is known as The United Kingdom. Hollow Hills Academy takes place in what I imagine Wales to be with its own, independent monarchy.
The Capital is a place called Owain, and one of the major cities is called Pendragon after King Arthur. Neither of these places are real, but never having been to Wales I had to create my own. Penelope Peters, the main heroine in the story, does live in a real place though.
Hay-on-wye is a town noted for having bookshelves in its streets. It is a readers dream and it seemed appropriate to have a girl who wanted to be a writer live there. At the heart of the story is the conflict left over from Coleum. A lost country, a fallen monarchy, and people scrambling to find homes. Refugees.
I wrote Royals of Coleum to talk about issues I had with today's society. Where people are more obsessed with what Meghan Markle is wearing then actual public policy, and the reality that comes with a social structure where monarchy is involved. People only focus on the glitz and glamour of royalty, they forget the human aspect at its core: a power struggle, an imbalance of control.
So while I want people to enjoy the romance of these stories, it felt important for me to add the social commentary aspect to it. So if it seems I'm getting bogged down in details, there is a reason and a purpose for that. These are not fairy tales at the end of the day, I just wanted to do my best to say something about the world while entertaining it as well.
Using royals was the perfect way to talk about issues that were important to me, so I hope you read it, enjoy, and think. Hollow Hills Academy: Love and War comes out September 1st, 2019.
Until then, be sure to follow me on i********: @cambriacovell90 to check out fanart, playlists, and excerpts.
Love n' stars,
Cambria Covell
- Writer
