Synopsis:
After the disaster in Europe, Darlena’s starting to get desperate. She knows the only way to defeat Hecate and the other crazy Red Gods is by banding together with other Witches, but is it any wonder she has a hard time trusting them?
With Izzy’s support, Darlena begins making fragile strides toward repairing the mess she made, but she just can’t catch a break. As chaos runs rampant around her, Darlena begins to think that things would be better if she’d never become a Red Witch in the first place. But there’s no way to change the past…is there?
The final book in the Red Magic series brings Darlena face to face with impossible odds, and a terrifying choice.
by Jen McConnel
I love creating characters, and I love the way that my characters become like real people in my mind. My husband and I often joke about what it would be like if the characters from one of my books ran into the characters from another (our favorite running gag was picturing all my love interests together in one room, complaining about their girls), and it’s not a stretch to say that each of my characters inhabits a space in my mind (and heart) long after I finish a book. The characters in the Red Magic series are no different, and I’m excited to introduce you to some of my favorites.
Darlena Agara: The 16-year-old protagonist of the series is passionate, headstrong, and insanely powerful, and I love her to pieces. Lena isn’t always easy to get along with, and the more she’s hurt, the harsher she becomes, but at the core, she’s a person who feels everything deeply and fights loyally for the people she loves.
Justin: Lena’s on-again, off-again ex has a heart of gold, but sometimes, he’s not the most forgiving when he feels like he’s been mistreated. He’s a good guy, but even as the series wraps up in Triumph, it’s pretty obvious that he still has some growing up to do.
Persephone: There are lots of goddesses (and gods) who pop up in this series, but through it all, Persephone was probably my favorite to write. She’s a voice of calm in the midst of the chaos, and even if she’s not as powerful as some of the other characters, she has the same intense loyalty that Lena possesses, although Persephone is considerably less explosive. Still, she’s not a goddess to be trifled with, and Lena would really be lost without her support.
Mysterious Red God #2: There are a number of new characters introduced in Triumph, and I really don’t want to give too much away, but in this third book, we meet a second Red god who I totally adore. In early drafts, he started as a villain, but by the end of the book, he’d morphed into something totally different, and I can’t wait for you to meet him.
Without too many spoilers, there’s a glimpse into the characters of the Red Magic series. I hope you love them as much as I do, and I can’t wait to hear what you think now that the series is complete!
Jen McConnel first began writing poetry as a child. Since then, her words have appeared in a variety of magazines and journals, including Sagewoman, PanGaia, and The Storyteller (where she won the people’s choice 3rd place award for her poem, “Luna”).
She is also a former reviewer for Voices of Youth Advocates (VOYA), and a proud member of SCBWI, NCWN, and SCWW.
A Michigander by birth, she now lives and writes in the beautiful state of North Carolina. She's a graduate of Western Michigan University, and she also earned her MS in Library Science at Clarion University of Pennsylvania.
When she isn't crafting worlds of fiction, she teaches writing composition at a community college. Once upon a time, she was a middle school teacher, a librarian, and a bookseller, but those are stories for another time.
