New Book on the Horizon...

Ever look up at those carved beasts, those monsters that guard their building and watch people pass by? What if they came to life as an amalgamation of the creatures they were carved to be? Some may have a craving for human flesh; some may admire humans and wish to be one.

What if they could think, speak, destroy... fall in love?

Author Jill K. Sayre's new book, Grotesque, is a modern story inspired by Cyrano de Bergerac and Beauty and the Beast. Ryonac ("Ryon") is a grotesque affixed to a building, along with six gargoyle comrades comprised of dragon, human, and animal parts. They are uniquely able to think and communicate with each other through a mental thread telepathically. But when Ryon falls in love with a human from afar, Madeleine, a beautiful high school sophomore, the 16-year-old human part of him is doomed to pine for her eternally…

...until the day the gargoyles' building is renovated, and their removal causes them to magically become real versions of their carved selves. Creatures made of green scales, fur, wings, claws, and hooves, they hide in the shadows, following their ruthless wolf-dragon-human leader, Geidhuce, who plans to commandeer the town with no regard for human life, threatening Madeleine's safety.

All Ryon wants is to be near the girl he loves, but she can never see what he looks like, a living condor-dragon-human monster. So, he tricks her suitor, a gullible schoolmate named Chris, into romance by proxy, feeding Chris the words of love Ryon wishes to say to Madeleine himself.

But as the day arrives for Geidhuce and his gang of living gargoyles to take over Gascony, killing people as they go, Ryon must sacrifice to stop the evil fiends. Even if he never sees Madeleine again, he knows that sometimes true love means giving up a dream.