Mercedes Lackey is a full-time writer and has published numerous novels and works of short fiction, including the best-selling Heralds of Valdemar series. She is also a professional lyricist and a licensed wild bird rehabilitator.

NOW IN PAPERBACK following hardcover releaseCROSS SELL with hardcover of The Silver Bullets of Annie OakleyBOOK FIFTEEN of Lackey's beloved Elemental Masters seriesBESTSELLING SERIES: Many Elemental Masters novels have appeared on the B&N and Locus bestseller listsNEW SETTING: After fourteen books, Lackey has written the first retelling set in America, in the coal-mining mountains of TennesseeFAIRYTALE RETELLING: This rich retelling combines Russian fairy tale "The Queen of the Copper Mountain" with the folk song JoleneSALES BOOST: Sales for the series saw a significant jump when Lackey began the previous Sherlock Holmes arc of novels

Now in paperback, the beloved Elemental Masters series moves to America for the first time in a rich retelling of The Queen of the Copper Mountain, set against the backdrop of Tennessee coal country.

Anna May Jones is the daughter of a coal miner, but a sickly constitution has kept her confined to the house for most of her life. Hoping to improve her daughter s health and lessen the burden on their family Anna's mother sends her to live with her Aunt Jinny, a witchy-woman and an Elemental Master, in a holler outside of Ducktown.
 
As she settles into her new life, Anna learns new skills at Aunt Jinny s side and discovers that she, too, has a gift for Elemental magic that Jinny calls the Glory . She also receives lessons from a mysterious and bewitching woman named Jolene, who assures her that, with time, Anna could become even more powerful than her aunt.
 
But with Anna s increasing power comes increasing notice. Billie McDaran, the foreman of the Ducktown mine, begins to take an interest in Anna and her abilities even though Anna has already fallen in love with a young man with a talent for stonecarving.
 
If she wants to preserve the life she has come to love, Anna must use her newfound powers to oppose the foreman and protect those around her.