Marcus Moutra, the author of The Fairy Squad Princesses, a five-part series. The second edition of book one, The Fairy Squad Princesses: A Magical Awakening was released earlier this year, with a new cover.
Synopsis The Fairy Squad Princesses: A Magical Awakening
It is finally freshmen year! Serena, Crystal, Ivy, and Kristy are officially high
school girls! The besties reunite with their longtime guy friends who are now
sophomores. After school, the group decides to go check out the new Fruitlicious
Smoothies store's grand opening. Unfortunately, they aren't prepared for what happens
next! The teens come face to face with four malevolent witches who call themselves the
Vortex, and their two tag-a-longs: a spiky-haired warlock and a big green smelly ogre. In
the midst of nearly being destroyed, a mysterious woman emerges and saves Serena and her friends. Who was that woman? Why were those evil troublemakers on Earth? Well, what are you waiting for! Open the book and begin the magical journey.
What is the purpose of The Fairy Squad Princesses?
"I want readers to escape from the real world as they read this book series. There is a lot going on in the world and I know we all can use some escapism," Moutra states.
What can readers expect from this book series, other than strong female characters, magic and of course, fairy princesses...
"I want little kids, especially young girls, to realize that they can be just as strong- shoot- even stronger than the boys. The damsels in distress era were centuries ago."
The Inspiration
Inspiration for his stories started at the young age of five, when he fell in love with cartoons and animes like Scooby-Doo, Sailor Moon, Winx Club, and the OG Dragon Ball Z. Each of these played a key roll into developing his voice as an author.
The Struggle is REAL
Writing a book is not the hard part, at least that is what author Moutra says. "Once you get over the self-doubt and publish your first book, you realize not to care about negative reviews."
"You can't please everyone. Even famous authors who are bestsellers have negative reviews," Moutra explains.
"The hard part," Moutra says, "is actually marketing."
"I have yet to find a marketing strategy that has gotten me tons of readers. Not to mention, I unfortunately have gone viral on social media but with posts that have nothing to do with my books."
What People are Saying
While Moutra may struggle with book sales, his reviews are nothing but great with a 4.6 out of 5 ranking on Amazon. Look at what some readers think!
"Teenage girls will love this book because it has all the things in it they love. Fairies, magic, adventure and boys..."
"Loved it! Very good book with a good backstory that shows the characters transform into fairy princesses..."
"These two forces (good and evil) were pitted against each other in a fascinating, imaginative way..."
What was the most inspiring part of your journey creating this book?
Moutra states, "The conversations I have with the readers who personally reached out to tell me how much they’ve enjoyed reading the book series," is one of the best experiences he has had as an author.
"I’ll never forget when fellow YouTuber and Twitch user, Winxer (that’s a fan of Winx Club) Lavender Aurora told me that reading the first book had inspired her to go back into writing her own magical girl book," Moutra continued.
"She also said the book was like a little slice of Heaven."
Squad Fairies, the fans of the book series, can get merchandise from the official fspmerch.com website. The best sellers include the classic pullover hoodies and the mug with the logo design.
Moutra credits his friend and prior editor, Scotty McCoy for helping him edited his books when they first launched and for teaching him how to format his own books for print.
"I was also one of his guests on his amazing Podcast and YouTube channel, Slasher Scotty."
"Last but certainly not least, the person who believes in me even when there are days I don’t believe in myself: my partner, my love, my best friend, Edward."
You can find the Fairy Squad Princesses series on Amazon, Barns and Nobel, google books and Apple books. Keep reading for a sneak peak into this Magically Fantastic story!
Expert from Chapter 1: A Magical Awakening:
“Hey, I thought the grand opening was today?” asked Crystal.
“Yeah, maybe it was canceled,” Josh said while looking around at the empty strip mall.
“No, I don’t think so; something’s telling me we should go inside Fruitlicious Smoothies and see what’s going on,” said Serena.
“Me too! It’s like I’m getting a strange vibe,” said Ivy, as she agreed.
“Well, let’s go inside,” said Roux.
“Hush ladies! I am sensing we have visitors,” said Ices.
“Wait! Do you guys feel that?” asked Bruce and Mectrics.
“Fairy magic!” shouted the Vortex.
“It looks like our cover has been blown.” Storm pouted.
“Well, it doesn’t matter. We’ll ambush them when they walk through the door,” said Ices.
“Umm, hey! Is anyone in here?” Serena asked.
“Yeah, the sign said open, but I guess that was a mistake,” said Crystal.
“Yeah, let’s get out of here. Something just doesn’t seem right,” Kristy said.
Suddenly, the door flew shut behind the curious teens and the lights went out. Then, the grunts and moaning sounds began. They sounded like the type of grunts and moans that zombies would make during a zombie apocalypse. It was like something out of The Walking Dead.
“Whoever’s doing all this, cut it out! It isn’t funny!” Serena shouted.
“Ugh! I can’t see anything. It is too dark. Luckily, I always keep my favorite pink mini lipstick on me.” Crystal smiled as she unzipped her purse to pull out her lipstick.
“Really, Crystal? Pink lipstick!” Josh stated as he shook his head.
“Hush! It isn’t just a lipstick; it’s also a mini flashlight. Now let’s see who’s playing the joke on us. Oh, my stilettos!” Crystal gasped as she used her pink mini lipstick-flashlight to spot the noise makers.
“AHHHHHHHH! Zombies!” Everyone screamed.
“Wait, zombies aren’t real!” exclaimed Serena.
“Maybe it’s just a joke.” Ivy said with hope.
“I don’t think so. They don’t make that kind of makeup in Hollywood!” said Crystal.
“Well, do you want to stick around and find out!” Max yelled.
“No!” exclaimed Max’s friends in agreement that it was time to leave the smoothie shop.
“Okay then! Let’s get out of here!”
“Uh-oh! The door is stuck!” Brock shouted as he kept jerking the handle.
“What are we going to do? They’re getting closer!” Crystal cried.
“No, stop!” shouted Kristy.
Instantly, the zombified humans stopped. As the zombies drew nearer, it was like time itself had heard Kristy’s scream for help.
“Kristy, how did you do that?” Roux asked.
“I don’t know, but I doubt whatever I did is going to last long!”
“Ha-ha! Where do you fairies and pretty boy toys think you’re going?” Storm asked.
“Yeah, they were only the opening act,” said Jewels.
“It’s time for the showstopper, ladies,” said Ices, as she grinned.
“Fairies? What in the world are you lunatics talking about?” asked Serena.
“We’re not loony! We’re the Vortex!” Ices shouted.
“Ices, time to show these losers what’s up,” said Storm.
Ices, who was wearing her crown that was made of ice and her snowflake diamond earrings, stated, “But of course. HECTIC ICE SPIRALS!” as she attacked!
“Duck!” yelled Max as he and his friends dodged the attack.
“Your turn, Storm!”
“HUH! TORNADO!” yelled Storm; the witch with poofy, curly pink and black hair.
“AHHHHHHHH!” screamed Serena and her friends as they tried to take shelter under a table.
“Hey, she blew the door down. Let’s get going!” yelled Crystal.
Jewels, with her patented necklace that had the letter “J” on it, exclaimed, “How rude! We weren’t finished introducing ourselves!”
“Don’t worry Jewels, I’ve got this! HUH! FIREBALLS!” shouted Zoe; the witch with full neon green hair.
“Watch out!” yelled Max, as he and his friends barely avoided the flames.
“Hey Zoe, be careful. I wouldn’t want you to burn them to death without me getting a chance to blast them,” said Jewels.
“Hey, what about us!” shouted Mectrics and Bruce.
“STATIC SHOCK!” Mectrics attacked.
“EARTHQUAKE SMASH! And enough with this disguise!” Bruce had reverted into his true form.
“Ugh! Whoever you are, I’ve had enough of playing Dodge Spell Attacks with you creeps. We aren’t about to let you destroy our planet!” shouted Serena.
“Ha, you’ve got some spunk for a fairy. Too bad spunk isn’t enough to defeat me. ICE SHARDS!” yelled Ices.
“Serena! No!” screamed Max.
Max pushed Serena out of the way of Ices’ Ice Shards attack. But the razor-sharp shards were about to strike Max and there wasn’t anything his companions could do to save him. Suddenly, a mysterious figure in a white cloak appeared in front of Max. She used her powers to force Ices’ attack back at her.
“What the? AHHHHHHHH!” Ices screamed as her attack backfired.
“Who is that!” Storm shouted.
“BLIND US!” screeched the unknown woman.
“AHHHHHHH! My eyes!” the villains all yelled together.
Ices and her crew were temporarily blinded by the unknown woman.
“Hey, thanks for the save. By the way, love your cloak!” Crystal squealed.
“Yeah, thanks, but who are you?” Serena asked.
“No time to explain! You four girls need to hurry, take these rings, and shout fairy power transform,” said the woman in the cloak.
“Can I get the ring in a different color? It doesn’t go with my outfit.” Crystal asked with an unsatisfied look on her face.
“Crystal!” her friends yelled.
“Well, dang. Never mind, sheesh.”
“FAIRY POWER TRANSFORM!” Serena and her girls shouted.
In a blink of an eye and a shimmer of bright light, Serena, Crystal, Ivy, and Kristy transformed into fairies.
Serena became the Fairy of Hearts. She was dressed in a beautiful sparkling turquoise outfit. She wore pink heart-shaped diamond earrings, a beautiful turquoise tiara with a heart diamond in the middle; which rested upon her luscious light-brown hair and a matching choker. Her wings were pink and had white hearts on them.
Crystal was the Fairy of Sunlight and was dressed in a stunning yellow-gold outfit. She had shimmering blonde hair. Her golden-yellow tiara had a sun diamond in the middle. She, too, had a pair of sun-shaped yellow and orange earrings with a choker to match. Her wings were made of fire, but fortunately, the fire was contained inside each wing.
Ivy was the Fairy of Nature, and her color scheme was of a delicate red rose. Her wings were made of deep green vines with a pinkish red hue on the inside. Her tiara was dark green with a red rose diamond in the middle, which rested on her beautiful and flowing dark-brown hair.
Kristy was the Fairy of Time and she wore faded light-green; if it were any lighter, it’d have been white as snow. She had circular titanium wings and her earrings were spherical and resembled clocks. She had beautiful red hair as if she were a Little Mermaid instead of a fairy with a matching tiara and choker sitting upon her fiery red hair, resembling the meaning of time. The diamond in the middle of her tiara was a glistening silver with numbers engraved on it.
The guys were astonished at the girls’ transformations. They were gorgeous, had butterfly-like wings, but they were also powerful and ready to defend themselves. Well, they had no choice, since the mysterious woman who had helped them before had disappeared.
You can find these incredible books on Amazon, at Barns and Nobel and other retailers.