I love a release party! Get ready for my first YA fantasy, Gwen Iver and Pendragon’s Puzzle, from Curious Corvid Publishing releasing this week, June 20! And, the icing on the cake, I received my first book award for my new novel. Gwen Iver and Pendragon’s Puzzle was honored with the Golden Wizard Children’s Book Award for 2024.

The Golden Wizard Book Prize is renowned as the top children’s book awards program globally committed to supporting talented authors who possess the ability to weave words into spells, creating stories that inspire and uplift young readers.

GWEN IVER & PENDRAGON’S PUZZLE takes you to the town of Camelot Cove, a quiet village on the shores of Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Most people know it as a fishing town, but this sleepy little community has a secret. Camelot Cove is the home of the Fae—magical beings from myth and legend. From mermaids, dryads, and centaurs to ogres, elves, and dwarves, the community is a mixture of humans and Fae. They were brought together in this out-of-the-way place by the wizard Merlin and the mysterious Lady of the Lake under the protection of the Pendragon.

The power of the Pendragon has passed from generation to generation through the descendants of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. That power now waits to be passed to the next descendant to continue the legacy as the protector of the Fae.

Gwen Iver is a fifteen-year-old girl starting her first day of high school. Surrounded by friends and facing off against her rivals, including Morgan Moor and her infamous Dreadmoor Gang, Gwen’s idyllic life is about to be turned upside-down. She begins a journey into a magical world of infinite possibilities when she attempts to unlock PENDRAGON’S PUZZLE.

Thank you to Ravven White and Curious Corvid Publishing for their continued support of this independent author. I am so happy to have a voice through their love, advice, and editing. I also want to thank the art students and teachers at my alma mater, Phillipsburg High School, for contributing to the art of my novel. It was inspiring to work with these talented artists. Lastly, I dedicated this book to my great nieces and nephews, the future readers that inspired me to write this story. My family is the reason I continue on my journey as an author. I could not do this without them.

You can pre-order your copy of Gwen Iver and Pendragon’s Puzzle at Curious Corvid Publishing Shop or grab a signed copy at one of my many book signing events this summer. I hope to see you there.

Mark Piggott is an award-winning independent author of several fantasy/steampunk novels and short stories. A 23-year U.S. Navy veteran, his stories will take you from the shores of eternal Avalon to a dystopian steampunk future and other fantastic worlds as he weaves through a myriad of flights of fancy in his tales.

The Forever Avalon fantasy book series—including Forever Avalon, The Dark Tides, and The Outlander War—are available online at Amazon and other booksellers. His fantasy steampunk novel, The Last Magus: A Clockwork Heart, is available through Lulu and other booksellers.

Cross over The River of Souls in a fantasy novella, take flight in the steampunk historical fiction, Corsair and the Sky Pirates, and the saga continues in The Last Magus: Dragonfire and Steel from Curious Corvid Publishing. His first YA fantasy, Gwen Iver and Pendragon’s Puzzle, and The Prometheus Engine: Book Four of the Forever Avalon Series are coming soon from Curious Corvid. Stay tuned for new fantastic stories from the imagination of Mark Piggott.