BEGUILED
Advance Praise for BEGUILED
“Clever and scintillating, Beguiled is full of my favorite things: a fascinating world that dazzles with high stakes and myths, unexpected twists, and a resolute heroine to root for. Cyla Panin has woven a masterpiece whose magic lingers long after the last page.”
Rebecca Ross, internationally bestselling author of A River Enchanted—
“Cyla Panin has crafted an immersive, original fantasy steeped in Celtic folklore, with a brave heroine whose struggle for independence and self-worth is utterly compelling.”
Lyndall Clipstone, author of Lakesedge and Forestfall
BEGUILED Short Pitch:
A dark and enthralling story about a young woman who makes a deal with a spirit to try and gain her independence—and the twisted price she has to pay for it.
Synopsis:
Ella is a 17-year-old weaver whose entire livelihood depends on her loom. She dreams of opening her own shop, but when her father died in debtor’s prison, she had to support herself by taking whatever clients she could get. In order to buy her supplies she goes into debt of her own, and when her loom breaks, Ella realizes she needs more help than a repairperson can give her. She, like everyone, has heard about the old washerwoman spirit called the Bean-Nighe who will grant any one wish—for a price.
But Ella is desperate, so she asks the Bean-Nighe to fix her loom. And it works. The loom is fixed, and she creates beautiful pieces she could have never imagined before. All she has to do is feed the loom a drop of blood each time she weaves—a small price to pay for such magnificent silks. And when she brings two bolts to a rich client, she meets a mysterious young man named Callum and bargains for an invitation to his exclusive party. At that party, he’s so mesmerized by her talent, he offers Ella a place to live and patronage for her art. It seems like Ella’s fortune is finally turning for the better . . . until she begins to notice the loom taking more from her than she offered.
As she becomes entangled in the lives of the city’s rich, swept into Callum’s allure, and trapped by the Bean-Nighe’s magic, Ella must figure out a way to secure her future while she still has a future at all.
Content Warnings:
- Parent grief
- Some violence
Comp titles:
- House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland
- An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson
- Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Bashardoust, Melissa
Selling Points:
AUTHOR BACKLIST: Stalking Shadows received lovely blurbs from Sam Taylor (We Are the Fire), Jessica S. Olson (Sing Me Forgotten), and Ashley Shuttleworth (A Dark and Hollow Star). Kirkus Reviews also called it “both beautiful and brutal.”
POPULAR CATEGORY: Dark, twisty fantasy novels like The Beautifuland The Folk of Air trilogy are doing well in the market, and this book’s combination of lush romance, mischievous fae folk, and deadly secrets are perfect for readers looking for their next Gothic tale.
ROOTED IN TRUTH: Panin based her story in real Celtic mythology like the Bean-Nighe—but she’s reimagined it in a way that makes the stories feel fresh and sparkling.
Author Photo
Bios
Short:
Cyla Panin lives in Calgary, Alberta, with her husband and two sons. Her debut novel, Stalking Shadows, was called “both beautiful and brutal” by Kirkus Reviews. She has a bachelor of arts in English with a concentration in creative writing from Mount Royal University.
Long:
Cyla Panin is a YA Author who prefers to look at the world through a dusting of magic.
After spending most of her childhood wanting to escape into the wonderful worlds her favourite authors created, she’s now using her own words to craft magical places. When not writing, Cyla can be found playing dinosaurs with her two young boys, watching swashbuckling and/or period TV shows with her husband, and, of course, reading.
Her YA debut, STALKING SHADOWS released with Amulet, Abrams Fall 2021. Her second YA fantasy, BEGUILED, releases August 23, 2022. She is represented by Eva Scalzo at Speilburg Literary Agency.
High Res Cover:
Media Kit for STALKING SHADOWS
Advanced praise for STALKING SHADOWS:
Panin’s debut features rich, complex teen characters, all fighting to be understood within the limits of their small, closed-minded town. A fairy-tale retelling that’s both beautiful and brutal.
Kirkus Reviews
STALKING SHADOWS has everything I love in a story: a fierce heroine, a
gorgeously spooky atmosphere, and a perfectly Gothic aesthetic. With perfume magic, snowy forests, a brooding lord, and a girl who becomes a beast, this is a retelling the way retellings should be done – fresh and vivid, comparable to Angela Carter’s work.
– Lyndall Clipstone, author of upcoming LAKESEDGE
STALKING SHADOWS short pitch:
STALKING SHADOWS is a feminist, gothic retelling of Beauty and the Beast, where Marie must select her sister’s victims to protect her, but when a child turns up dead she’s forced to break the curse or face who’s really become a monster.
Synopsis:
Seventeen-year-old Marie mixes perfumes to sell on market day in her small eighteenth century French town. She wants to make enough to save a dowry for her sister, Ama, in hopes of Ama marrying well and Marie living in the level of freedom afforded only to spinster aunts. But her perfumes are more than sweet scents in cheap, cut glass bottles: A certain few are laced with death. Marie laces the perfume delicately—not with poison but with a hint of honeysuckle she’s trained her sister to respond to.
Marie marks her victim, and Ama attacks. But she doesn’t attack as a girl. She kills as a beast. Marking Ama’s victims controls the damage to keep suspicion at bay. But when a small boy turns up dead one morning, Marie is forced to acknowledge she might be losing control of Ama. And if she can’t control her, she’ll have to cure her. Marie knows the only place she’ll find the cure is in the mansion where Ama was cursed in the first place, home of Lord Sebastien LaClaire. But once she gets into the mansion, she discovers dark secrets hidden away—secrets of the curse, of Lord Sebastien . . . and of herself.
Content warnings:
- Gore
- Murder, death
- Mentally abusive parent
- Mentions of alcohol abuse
Comp titles:
- Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin
- House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig
- The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller
- Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
Themes:
- Morality
- Family loyalty and dues
- Agency and choice
- Addiction
- Poverty
- Mental health
Selling points:
POPULAR CATEGORY: Dark, twisty fantasy novels like The Beautiful and A Curse So Dark and Lonely are doing well in the market, and with the resurgence of the Twilight series, paranormal romance is on the rise as well.
MONSTERS AND MORE: Part-sister story, part-monster story, this novel navigates morality and what it means to decide for yourself what’s right and what’s wrong. The beast and the killings in the story is also based on a real historical monster––the Beast of Gévaudan––which is still unexplained to this day.
TALE AS OLD AS TIME: A haunting Gothic retelling of Beauty and the Beast that includes nods to fans of the original story.
Downloadable media kit.
Author photo:
Bios:
Short
Cyla Panin is a YA Author who prefers to look at the world through a dusting of magic. Her YA debut, STALKING SHADOWS will be out with Amulet, Abrams Fall 2021. She is represented by Eva Scalzo at Speilburg Literary Agency.
Long
Cyla Panin is a YA Author who prefers to look at the world through a dusting of magic.
After spending most of her childhood wanting to escape into the wonderful worlds her favourite authors created, she’s now using her own words to craft magical places. When not writing, Cyla can be found playing dinosaurs with her two young boys, watching swashbuckling and/or period TV shows with her husband, and, of course, reading.
Her YA debut, STALKING SHADOWS will be out with Amulet, Abrams Fall 2021. She is represented by Eva Scalzo at Speilburg Literary Agency.
Image resources:
High-res cover image:
