Gems - Facts and Fiction

​​In my Gem Powers Series, Lana Grayson, a young gemologist, delves into gemstone folklore and is fascinated to learn that people once believed that gems had amazing powers. According to her books, gems could protect the user from danger, signal the presence of poison, and even turn the wearer invisible.
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Centuries ago, it was common to wear amulets and talismans made of semi-precious or precious gems. Today, gem folklore exists, but you're not likely to read about any of the more farfetched powers. Instead, you'll read about physical and emotional healing properties. While researching this topic, I discovered a vast number of obscure and interesting gems.
 
In the opening of Beyond the Forest, Lana has learned to tap deeply into gems' energy, but so far she's only mastered gems with rather mundane powers. When she discovers the gnome world and learns that taking gems from our world there amplifies their abilities, and that their native gems have incredible powers, her curiosity lands her in the middle of dangerous adventures with far-reaching effects.

By the end of the Gem Powers Series, Lana and her human allies have changed the course of gnome history, and the focus of the story shifts to what lies ahead for the gnomes. A spinoff series, the Gem Lore Series, begins a new story arc with predominantly gnome viewpoint characters, but humans from the original series do make appearances. The second series concentrates on native gems, and since I’m not limited to the folklore ascribed to real gems, I can create anything I like. Some gems have benevolent powers and others have dangerous abilities. In our own world, gems always have beneficial properties, so the gnome world is quite different in that respect.
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I've enjoyed creating a magic system based on gems. Many readers have commented that it was fun to learn about gemstone folklore, and they'll never look at their jewelry in quite the same way as before.

​Myths and Mentors, book two in the Gem Lore Series, was just released in paperback on Amazon with the eBook to follow on October 24, 2018. The first book in the series, Wards and Wonders, is available now in eBook and paperback. ​