Lita Burke

Welcome to Lita’s castle here in the Northern Realms. Step into her magical laboratory and see what’s on the slab.

Lita has reached the midpoint of the draft for her next story, Dreadful Poetry.

In this Clockpunk Wizard tale, an elf prince’s son teams up with a disgraced wizardling to clear their names with the Magic Guild.

This story is about Kadmeion and Bright in their college days, and the odd circumstances of how they met. Both are in big trouble, and as a result, Wizard Morton of the Agatha University of Magical Arts and Sciences introduces the boys. The elder wizard gives them an impossible task, with an absurd deadline, and horribly inadequate resources for the two college boys. Even worse, they face the most difficult challenge of their college days: pass a course called Dreadful Poetry, before madness and a court hearing ruin their futures.

Bright’s lifelong absent magical ability comes to him, and his lack of experience with magic craft causes a swath of destruction. His enchantments leave as quickly as they arrived, but the aftermath puts him in dire circumstances with the Magic Guild.

Wizard’s Madness is a sickness that all wizardlings must survive before they can graduate. Kadmeion’s case is especially bothersome. Not only does it hamper his ability to work meaningful spells, it is quite fun.

Kadmeion’s madness compels him to perfect enchantments that produce beautiful, but useless butterflies. The sickness makes the wizardling seek out the tiny magical things in the world, instead of fixing the big mess he is in.

Things get worse. Kadmeion develops a fondness for coffee, but for the wrong reasons. Above all, his bout of Wizard’s Madness sends the wizardling off at inconvenient times on misguided searches for his mysterious Auntie Em.

If successful despite these distractions, the lads regain more than their reputation. If they fail, then Kadmeion and Bright will languish the rest of their days in a magician’s prison.

Read the Dreadful Poetry back cover blurb.