Greetings, Aenya fans!
It’s been a long while since my last update . . . and for good reason. I have been working for the past month, hammering away at my keyboard for 8-10 hour shifts, to get the latest Aenya release into your hands! And I think the results speak for themselves. My beta readers tell me this is my most accomplished novel to date, and I can’t wait to share it with you guys.
Books have a life all their own. What you plan on writing is almost never what ends up on the page. Sure, you can establish the locations and plan out scenarios, but you never quite know what your characters are going to do. What happens and how it happens is always a mystery, and therein lies the magic. This is how The Feral Girl, which started out as a Kindle e-book exclusive I was going to sell for $2 or so, became a full-fledged, 350-page tome. It’s still a bit short compared to my other two Aenya books, but a far cry from the pulp Amazon KDP is infamous for, and the story it tells is much smaller in scale, a more personal and emotional journey. The no. 3, I am told, is a magical number, and with a total of THREE titles under my belt (I’ve written many more that’ll never see the light of day), I can now include a “books in the series” page in all my upcoming releases.
The Feral Girl is a harrowing tale of survival in the harshest of pre-historic environments (think Naked & Afraid meets Jurassic Park). Serving as a standalone adventure and a prequel to Ages of Aenya, the story explores Thelana’s early, idyllic life in Ilmarinen while following her 200-day trek through a land of dinosaurs, halfmen, and killer wasps (to name just a few terrible things). If you love early pulp serials like Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan of the Apes (sans the racism) and The Land That Time Forgot, you will adore this book! I also draw heavily from Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain, William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, and Ernest Hemmingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. The Feral Girl showcases some phenomenal new artwork as well, from Heather Zanitsch and Alexey Lipatov, including a two-page layout (below) that truly captures the spirit of the story.
The level of excitement surrounding The Feral Girl is greater than I anticipated. As a lark, I offered a pre-release special edition bundle on my website for $50, which includes the book, a poster, and a 1″ figurine, and my supplies ran out months ago!
Book Signing and Release Date: May 28th
Now to the point! I will be attending my second signing at Cypress Cove in Florida, where you can meet me, stock up on free bookmarks, and be the first to pick up the long-awaited third in the series, The Feral Girl. Can’t get there? Too shy? Never fear! Order your copy directly from www.nickalimonos.com. While you’re there, you can explore the science, history, and poetry of Aenya (if you haven’t already)— there’s even an INTERACTIVE map!
Until then, my friends, farewell and good journey.
The Art of Storytelling 
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