Zydeco Queen and the Creole Fairy Courts

When Francine is a little girl, she'll do just about anything for her papa.

But as Francine grows older, she and Papa start fighting about everything–school, fiddling, and boys.

Then the others come calling, the fairies from no tale Francine has ever read. They ask her to come fiddle at their court, promising magic and all the music she wants.

Francine gladly goes with them.

When war starts between the two Creole fairy courts, the Seelie and the Unseelie, Francine finds she's fighting her papa again.

Can Francine and her papa lay aside their differences? Or will they keep fighting until beauty and kindness is drained out of all the worlds?

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Leah Cutter's first novel, "Paper Mage" (Roc, 2003), is set in China, during the T'ang dynasty, around 837 A.D. Her second novel, "Caves of Buda" (Roc, 2004), is set in Budapest, with many different time periods, including pre-Christian Hungarian mythology, Roman magic, World War II, and 1957, when the Russians came back to Hungary. Her third novel, "The Jaguar and the Wolf" (Roc, 2005), is set in the Yucatan peninsula, around 1000 A.D., and explores what would have happened if the Vikings had met the Mayans.

Leah Cutter's fourth novel, "Clockwork Kingdom" (Knotted Road Press, 2012), is a young adult contemporary fantasy, with bloodthirsty steampunk fairies determined to take over the world.

Her short fiction includes fantasy, science fiction, and horror, and has been published in anthologies and on the web.

Praise for "Paper Mage":

"An enchanting novel, skillfully rooted in Chinese history and myth…mythical, unusual, and thoroughly convincing." —Terri Windling, Editor of "The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror"

"A magical world as solid and believable as our own." —Cecilia Dart-Thorton

"An exceptional tale by an exceptional writer…It doesn't get any better than this." —Dennis L. McKiernan