The Changeling Returns - Book Tour and Giveaway

​Being a fairy princess isn't all it's cracked up to be.

The Changeling Returns
by C.R. Merrill
Genre: YA Contemporary Fantasy

I hate being the new girl every school year. This time, the ‘queen bee’ of Parfrey’s Glen High School has decided I’m the enemy. Her mistake. Because like it or not—and it’s definitely not—I have powers, dark powers. I’ve tried to deny them, but they are getting stronger…

Fay Smith was three years old when she was kidnapped by the two queens of the Unseelie Court. For twelve years, she’s been moved from city to city to avoid suspicion, wanting nothing more than to belong somewhere and be normal. But she can’t remember anything about her real life, real home, or real family.

Soon she’ll be called to cast off her mortality and become a dark fey like her captors, serving on one of the three thrones of the Unseelie Court, trapped in an eternal power struggle with Mab and Titania. To escape, Fay will have to control her change from human to fey and defeat the two queens.

But she’s going to need help, which means she’ll have to make a truce and establish ‘frenemy’ status with the girl who hates her.


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​ I must never let myself forget that Tania and Mabel aren’t just strong. They’re powerful. They’re more like mountains than hurricanes. Something that has been around forever and can’t be moved. If they want something big, they can wait centuries until the rest of the world gives up fighting. But if it’s small, like a person’s freedom, it only takes them a blink, or a twitch of the pinky and they’ll have you.
And for some reason, they wanted me. I can’t remember the details, but I know I was little when it happened. Maybe three or four. I was either too young or too stupid to get the whole “stranger danger” thing. Did a rosy-cheeked granny offer me some candy? That’s Mab’s gig, being sweet and old and harmless, right before dropping the hammer. One stupid Starlight Mint from her would have been enough to catch a little kid.
Rule 1
Don’t eat or drink in the company of fairies. Just don’t. One bite and you’ll be trapped like a bug in a jar.
Or did I go with a pretty lady who smiled at me at a mall? That’s Tania’s trick, being too pretty to resist. She could have held out her hand, and I would have followed her without looking back.
Rule 2
Don’t go into the light. Or the water.
The Folk love to trick travelers. Usually, they don’t even bother to appear in physical form. All they have to do is find a person who’s a little bit lost, throw up a glamour and a couple of fairy lights, and sit around to watch the fun. If you’re lucky, they only make your life a little bit worse.
The Folk think that bitch of a Fey who figured out how to enchant a GPS is hysterical. Talented too, since she had to overpower the tech to do it. No one has owned up to it, but I think it was probably Mab. It’s her style.
But even Mab thinks twice about laughing at Jenny Greenteeth and the rest of the water hags. Air spirits need to breathe just as much as we do. But Jenny and her kin have gills like fish, and they are none too particular about who they drag under, if you catch sight of them and are dumb enough to lean over the water.
Or maybe, when I was taken, it wasn’t my fault at all. Maybe my mother was tired of having to take care of a snot-nosed little girl and wished on the wrong star. Because there are lucky ones and unlucky ones. And you never know, when you make those wishes, who might be listening.
Rule 3
Be careful what you wish for.
If you wish for something, and a fairy hears you, they’ll grant the wish in the worst possible way. If you trade with them, you’ll get dandelions, not gold, and elm leaves instead of dollars. The same goes for sleeping with them. Go to bed with a pretty girl and wake up with a little less of your soul than you had when you laid down. Maybe not enough to miss. But if Tania held on to any one man long enough, she would suck him dry.
People always want something for nothing. Fairies give just the opposite. But, like I was saying, I have no idea how I ended up here, and not as particle in some nuclear family with a mini-van and a house in the ‘burbs. Either I was too little to remember, or they’ve enchanted the details right out of my head. But I’m pretty sure my name isn’t really Fay. To have that name and then get taken by the fairies would show Alanis Morissette what irony really means.
Most likely, somebody broke one of the big three rules, and I paid the consequences. But sometimes, late at night when I’m lying in bed listening to the night songs, I worry that it wasn’t a mistake. Maybe my parents just didn’t want me. Maybe they took me, and my real family just went on with their lives as if I’d never been part of it.
That’s why I don’t look back. Maybe my parents had me and gave me away. Maybe, like Tania says, they just didn’t care. I don’t want to know. Because, maybe, just this once, she’d be telling the truth. And what would be the point? No one from my life before could help me, even if they wanted to. Mab and Titania, the two most powerful fairies in the Unseelie Court have taken me as their daughter.
When the Fair Folk have a changeling, it’s usually as a pet or a slave. But they’ve been tending me like mortals tend a garden, funneling power into me, turning me into something not quite normal. It’s the sort of magic that only works when you get a human baby and work on it for twelve years or so. That’s a blink of an eye to them. But to me? It feels like forever.
I hate what they’ve done to me. And I hate them. Whatever they want from me in the future, it won’t be good.

Christine Merrill wanted to be a writer for as long as she can remember. During a stint as a stay-at-home-mother, she decided it was time to "write that book." She could set her own hours and would never have to wear pantyhose to work! It was a slow start but she slogged onward and seven years later, she got the thrill of seeing her first book hit the bookstores. Christine lives in Wisconsin with her family.


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What inspired you to write this book?
I went to a place called Parfrey’s Glen when I was in college, and it was the most magical place I’d ever been. Really beautiful. And I always thought, if there were woodland spirits, or fairies, they’d want to live there.
And then, years later, I got this idea for a disaffected teen girl, who is dealing with all the usual problems of life, but also has magical abilities that are more a hindrance than a help, because she just wants to feel normal, as we all do at that age.

What can we expect from you in the future?
A sequel to The Changeling Returns, sometime in the first quarter of 2024. I really want to go on with this story. I need to get Fay back to her parents, and to find out what happens when she walks in that door for the first time.
Also more Regency romances, since I’m not done with those yet. I have one called A Duke for the Penniless Widow, coming out in January.

Do you have any “side stories” about the characters?
I suspect there is a lot about Fay’s past that I haven’t written yet, but probably know (in the back of my mind). That will come out as flashbacks in later work.

Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in The Changeling Returns?
First is my heroine, Fay Smith who is a snarky fifteen-year-old who was kidnapped at three and raised by evil fairies. Mab is the original fairy queen and pretends to be grandmotherly but is not. Titania is younger, and is a more glamourous fairy, but has a cold heart.
Fay has a kind of boyfriend, named Ben. At least, he wants to be her boyfriend. I feel sorry for the guy, as Fay is not an easy person to get to know.
Then, there is the resident mean girl, Meagan King, who has a story all her own.

How did you come up with the concept and characters for the book?
It started with the setting, which is a magical, beautiful place in Wisconsin with high stone walls and a beautiful little waterfall. I made up a town near it and declared that the center of magic in Wisconsin.
It’s also kind of near House on the Rock, which Neil Gaiman made the center of magic in American Gods.
But anyway, I started with the Glen, then I kind of heard the voice of my inner teenager, Fay, the part of me that never grew up and never fit in. I gave her a good reason to be an outsider, which is something I think appeals to all of us at one time or another.

Where did you come up with the names in the story?
For everyone other than Fay, I just went with what was on the top on my head. But Fay Smith is Fay because that’s like fey, or fairy which is what she is as well as who she is. And Smith is there to piss off the real fairies, because they hate iron, and smiths work with that.
Fay named herself. She has kind of an attitude.

What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
I tried something I usually don’t do and wrote it as a serial on Kindle Vella. That was a disaster, as no one read it. But I wrote an episode a day for a month, which forced me to write most of the book in chapter order, which is something I usually don’t do. It gave me a strict daily goal, which was also good.
But it was something different, it was really fun and it brought some joy back to writing that has been kind of hit and miss. It brought me out of a partial burnout.

Tell us about your main characters- what makes them tick?
I think it all comes down to wanting to fit in, and wanting what we don’t have. Fay has magical powers, which you would think should make her happy. But she wants an ordinary life, like Meagan has.
Meagan, in some ways, got everything that a girl could want, but she’s missing one key thing. She also is worried about earning her parents love, so she’s overachieving.
So, basically, its wanting that drives them, having a goal.

How did you come up with the title of your first novel?
The title of my first novel actually started out as Secrets of All Hearts, which is a line from the Anglican wedding ceremony. But the publishers changed it to The Inconvenient Duchess. That happens a lot with traditionally published books. You don’t always get to pick your title.

Who designed your book covers?
This one was done by Killion Publishing. Some of my other self-published covers are done by Jean at Staral Ink. And Harlequin does their own covers.

If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
I am pretty happy with this one. I’d have made it longer, if anything, but I wanted to limit myself to this one episode in her life to start out with.

Did you learn anything during the writing of your recent book?
I think the big thing I learned was that writing can still be fun. I was in kind of a slump before picking this story up. I’d written about half of it a few years ago, and thought I’d finish it just to clean up an unfinished project. But every day I went back to it, it was like a special treat. I surprised myself a couple of times with plot twists and just had fun, from start to finish.
I hope some of that carries through to the reader.

If your book was made into a film, who would you like to play the lead?
This is a hard questing, especially since Fay is still young and, by the time I finish typing, actresses I can think of are outgrowing the role. But I think Mckenna Grace from Ghostbusters Afterlife would be good.

Anything specific you want to tell your readers?
Just that I love each and every one of them. It’s nice just to know that my work is being read. And I really enjoy getting reviews and ratings, even if they aren’t all five stars. I love honest opinions.

How did you come up with name of this book?
This book started out being named The Changeling, because that’s what Fay is. But then, a TV series based on a novel with the same name came out just as I was about to release it. So, I changed it to The Changeling Returns, because that is also what she does in this story. It’s about homecoming.

What is your favorite part of this book and why?
I think, the scene with the chocolate chip cookies. I burned the edges of them in memory of a girl scout leader I had as a kid who was one of those women who had to volunteer for everything and be everything to everyone. She’d never have given us storebought cookies, because that would not have been perfect enough. She was a real sixties housewife.
But the cookies were always burnt on the edges. That little bit of imperfection intrigued me, even as a girl. I am a slacker and always have been. I used to look at that and think, ‘Just give it up, woman. We’ll like you anyway.’
It was a very untraditional thing of me to think, and probably the first sign that I was going to be a rebel.

If you could spend time with a character from your book whom would it be? And what would you do during that day?
I would definitely go with Fay and ask her to come to my house and talk to my pets for me. I am pretty sure I know what they are thinking, but she can actually talk to them, and I’d like verification. Maybe she could discuss litter box training with my cat, Mayhem.

Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?
All from my imagination. Although I will admit that each one is a little bit me, as well. I like being able to act out all these different parts during my workday and then I’m able to go back and be myself afterwards.
Except, this time I based Fearless the cat off my own cat Mayhem. When he came to me as a kitten, he was so young he still had blue eyes. He also had plenty of attitude.

Do your characters seem to hijack the story or do you feel like you have the reigns of the story?
I definitely let the characters do whatever they want. I get some of my best ideas by just letting my imaginary friends have full run of the story. If I do that. Things pop into my head that I never would have come up with by grinding away with a plot firmly in sight.

Convince us why you feel your book is a must read.
Because I really like my heroine, Fay, and I want other people to meet her. I like writing about her, and I want to do more of it.

Have you written any other books that are not published?
I’ve written tons of books that have been published. Somewhere between thirty and forty at this point. But unpublished? I have a few old manuscripts that aren’t good enough, and a few stories started that I need to finish. I want to do a sequel to Need to Know, and a sequel to the Changeling Returns is definitely coming in the next six months.

If your book had a candle, what scent would it be?
Probably something woodsy, like the scent of Parfrey’s Glen. So, fresh pine and foliage with a hint of fresh running water.

What did you edit out of this book?
This book, I really didn’t leave anything out that I’d written. I do have ideas for the sequel, though. I am really interested in what happens when Fay goes home, and I know that there are adventures in store for her using the magic she’s already been given.

Is there a writer which brain you would love to pick for advice? Who would that be and why?
If I have an author who’s brain I wanted to pick, I’ve been lucky enough to get in touch with them and pick that brain! My two favorites are Jennifer Cruise, who was always generous with writing instruction and advice, and the late Terry Pratchett who I met several times, and who was always willing to talk about writing.

Fun Facts/Behind the Scenes/Did You Know?'-type tidbits about the author, the book or the writing process of the book.
I haven’t really mentioned my pets, who are really important to me. I have a cat named Mayhem, who is kind of a jerk, but I love him. And our dog is named Mischief. She’s a standard poodle who gets groomed to have a fuzz ball on her tail which makes the cat crazy when she wags it.

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