About the Book

Book: The Locket’s Revenge (Chronicles of the Undersea Realm Book 2)

Author: L. E. Richmond

Genre: YA Fantasy (Little Mermaid Retelling)

Release date: October 22, 2024

A Trinket Could Unleash a Tempest

Locklyn Adair thought that finding the Sea Enchantress would lift her family’s curse. But the ramifications of her desire for a tail reach further than she could ever have dreamed. Now the entire Undersea Realm is in peril, as Circe, armed with the locket capable of controlling the Loch Ness monster, journeys to the North Sea in pursuit of revenge.

Darin Aalto’s specialty is tracking down treasure. When it looks as though a magical locket has fallen into evil hands, he joins Locklyn and her crew on an expedition to recover it, hoping to find a key to his past identity along the way. Despite having no memory of the Mermaid leading the quest, he wonders if she was more than a friend all along.

As a vengeful enchantress, fiery monster, and impending war threaten the Undersea Realm, Locklyn and Darin must decide what they are willing to sacrifice in order to stop the locket’s revenge.

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About the Author

L.E. Richmond was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest by an American writing teacher and a German bookseller. Her childhood largely consisted of imagining stories for her Playmobil

characters and checking out as many books from the library as would fit on six library cards. Now she spends her time chasing three little Muggles, reading aloud to the hazel-eyed young man who has her heart, and attempting to transfer the stories in her head into words for others. Her passion is for words and stories that thrill the soul, and she is endlessly amazed by the One who not only used words to bring this world into being but also crafted the most epic story of all time.

More from L.E.

Somebody is going to die. But they didn’t at first.

Minor spoiler alert, a character is going to die near the end of The Locket’s Revenge. But in my first draft of this story, this person didn’t die. It wasn’t until I was going back through and trying to flesh out the book a bit that I realized that this character needed to die. My family knows that I am a discovery writer, but they still laughed when I told them how so-and-so squeaked through alive on the first draft, but the death sentence came in the second one. To me, this is actually one of the most fun things about being a discovery writer. During the drafting process, I get to experience the story for the first time, just like any reader. Most of the time, I don’t actually know what is going to happen next. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Author Interview

Can you tell us a little bit about what readers can expect from your books?

I absolutely love a good retelling. Lore of all kinds has always gripped me, so readers can usually expect my books to be retellings - in some way, shape or form - of a classic story. Other than that, you can expect memorable characters, romance, found family, banter, and bittersweet endings. My faith in Jesus threads through all my stories, but often in less than obvious ways, since my goal is to craft tales so compelling that they make readers think, “There has to be more.”

What book made you fall in love with reading?

Reading has been a part of my life for so long that I can’t even remember. But the book that made me fall in love with fairy tale retellings was Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine.

Can you share 5 random facts about this book?

There are smith eels who live in fire rivers.
Sister dynamics play a large role.
There is a scene with the Northern Lights.
Darin fulfills his vow.
There is more than one villain.

What was the inspiration behind it?

Besides its connection to The Little Mermaid, one of the biggest inspirations for The Locket’s Revenge actually came from the movie The Vow. I can’t exactly say which part inspired me without giving away the ending of the book, but there was a heavy influence.

What was the most challenging part of bringing this book to life? 

I am a pantser so I never know exactly how long my books are going to be. But when I first finished The Locket’s Revenge, it was almost 20k words shorter than I had expected. With the story arc complete, I needed to figure out how to add loops and subplots without having to rewrite everything I already had.

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. Before you go, where can readers keep up with what’s next?

The best way to connect with me is through my monthly email newsletter The SCOBY, which always has a section on writing and bookish news. I love hearing from readers and respond to every email I receive (sometimes months late, but I do respond 😊) The social media platform I am most active on is Instagram, which is where I share book recommendations, glimpses of my life as a writer mom, and funny reels about all things bookish.