Easley Native Releases New Novel

Easley native, Laurie Y. Elrod, releases her debut novel, “Blackridge, Book One of the So’ladiun.” First in a fast-paced, action-packed epic fantasy series, “Blackridge” transcends the norm for the genre and appeals to booklovers of all audiences. It is a gripping story of courage and faith in one’s self with reviewers giving the book four and five stars claiming

“Blackridge” is exciting and full of mystery, love, and intrigue, that keeps the reader wrapped in the story until the very end.

The book starts off with a bang when Elhrin Caddoch, a young teen with rare magical abilities, witnesses a horrific battle between her mentor, Master Magician Gryphon Idwyr, and strange beasts never before seen or heard of in her country. The battle rages back and forth across a river, with Master Gryph decimating their numbers by powerful magical attacks.

Unfortunately, Master Gryph falls victim to a stray arrow and is mortally wounded. But before he takes his last breath, he manages to instruct Elhrin to take a pendant she did not know he possessed from around his neck, demanding that she keep it safe. 

Not understanding why he had emphatically insisted on her having the pendant or what had happened to the remaining beasts that had mysteriously disappeared after the attack, Elhrin has no other choice but to continue with her daily life in their small village of Glimmerdale feeling lost and without purpose. The winter months pass and, after Elhrin is given another strange gift on her eighteenth birthday by Master Gryph’s widow, a book that had once belonged to Master Gryph and many Master Magicians before him, Elhrin begins to have dreams of her late mentor--strange, realistic dreams that feel like he is right beside her, talking to her as if he had never passed those many months before.

And to make matters all the more strange, he is telling her the unimaginable--the impossible, that she and only she can stop an impending war . . . from a god. At first, Elhrin passes her strange dreams off as her wishing he was still alive, finding it hard to believe that a god was actively trying to destroy her country, but when events start unfolding that confirm the dream’s contents, she begins to waiver.

Wondering if her dreams were not just the imaginings of her mind, but were real, and her mentor was talking to her from beyond the barriers separating the dead from the living, Elhrin is now faced with the ultimate decision--believe the dreams and follow her teacher’s instruction which means almost certain death, or ignore the dreams and leave her country’s fate in the capable hands of her King and his army.

Laurie Y. Elrod, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ray Youngblood, was born in Easley and is a graduate of Easley High School. She went on to further her education at nearby Anderson College, earning her Associates and then Bachelor’s Degree in Business.

Over the years, Laurie has held a myriad of jobs in the retail, communications, and legal fields, but being creative is her true passion.

While devoting herself fully to raising two funny and imaginative children, Laurie always thought about jotting down a story here and there, but it wasn’t until she had a significant dream that had the audacity to not finish before she awoke.

Staring at the ceiling, she wondered what would have happened next had she been given the opportunity to finish the dream, and heard a tiny little voice that told her to write it down. She decided to do just that, and the rest of the story wrote itself--and continues to unfold to this day.

“Blackridge, Book One of the So’ladiun” can be purchased from most online retailers such as Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com in both print and eBook formats.

More information about Laurie Y. Elrod and her books can be found on her website: www.laurieyelrod.com.