Courtney Lillard has written a dark fantasy book for young adults, The Shadow’s Grasp, that launches The Dark Angel series. Coura, the talented but conflicted young mage at the center of the story, is graduating from the Magic Arts Academy with little idea of what her future will hold. She is at a crossroads, and the only one who really understands her, her mentor Byron, doesn’t know the deep secret hiding inside her—and neither does Coura until it’s too late and she must make a difficult decision. Armed with sword work and dark magic she grew up studying, Coura is thrown into the part she was fated to play between the angels and long-forgotten demons.

Published by Infusionmedia earlier this year, The Shadow’s Grasp has some twists along its journey, characters that young adult (and adult) fantasy fans will enjoy getting to know, and a world that encompasses dark and light magic, angels and demons, as well as some swordplay.

Author Courtney Lillard unboxing “The Shadow’s Grasp.”

“I like to use the classic fantasy elements,” Courtney says. “My stories are for myself first and foremost: If I can capture a reader’s attention and entertain them until the last page, then I’ve succeeded in my duty as a writer.”

As we worked with Courtney to publish her book, we developed the 6 × 9 design to appeal to younger readers of fantasy. We used the typeface KC Darthaniel, an “edgy” medievalesque font, for the title and chapter treatments, GT Super Text for the body text (one of our favorites), and Founders Grotesk Text for the running footer and other elements. The cover art, which includes an allusion to the dramatic ending of the book, was done by artist Isaiah McVay. The 220-page book was printed in high-resolution print-on-demand.

The Shadow’s Grasp is available through Amazon and other online retailers.

About the Author

Courtney Lillard was born and raised in Appleton, Wisconsin, where she was the third of five children. She went to college in Illinois in 2012 and earned her BA and MA in communication studies before moving to Lincoln, Nebraska, where she and her husband, Darren, live. After graduating in 2018, Lillard began writing The Dark Angel series and is currently working on publishing the second book.

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