Nethermost Regained

My education in fantasy writing comes from a M.A. from McMaster University, Canada, with a thesis specialty in the fairy tale. As an artist, I have had formal training from Sheridan School of Fine Arts, Oakville, ON, and have operated my own fine art business for more than twenty years now. I am also a member of The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators." NANCY GUILD BENDALL writes and paints from her studio at the edge of a small village near Toronto Canada, looking all the while for fairies at the top of the garden.

COLOUR EDITIONSomewhere deep beneath the massive root system of our northern Canadian forest lies the continent of Nethermost, floating on a pool of liquid gold - Nethermost, an underground realm, home to magical and non-magical folk, a prosperous society with a consistently temperate climate, secreted on Earth's second layer under unexplored wilderness - until four decades ago.
Now it is a Nethermost has been brought to its knees, many of its citizens exiled, its climate in ruins. What remains it is a disarray of miserable survivors living with exile and misery. It is a realm virtually destroyed by the disappointed younger brother of Nethermost's rightful Swayer, Nicola.
Eighteen year old Cait O'Quinn knows nothing of the continent Nethermost, let alone of its grim plight. Raised in virtual captivity at the edge of nowhere Canada, she is self-deprecating and unsure. After being convinced that the fate of Nethermost rests on her uneasy shoulders, Cait's panic is palpable - "I'm just a stupid girl of little significance, leading a very dull life on a very small bump in the road. What do you want from me?"