The Girl Who Chose

The Chess Raven Chronicles

"They said I was the one. They made me their queen. The truth is. I was the last resort. But I'm not done yet. I may be alone, but I have learnt one thing: I am the one I've been waiting for. "

My destiny lies in Venice. But where, exactly? In the promises and charms of Prince Victor of House Grigio? In a deal struck with the sisterhood of mermaids who swim the canals? In the ice blue eyes of the one who cannot be mine? Or in the friend whose forgotten past changes everything? I am Chess Raven. I am the girl who chose.

The Girl Who Chose is the second book in a thrilling, coming of age, fantasy series which explores themes of responsibility, female power and self belief. It's written by husband and wife team, Kasey Edwards and Christopher Scanlon under the pen name Violet Grace.

"We set our to write a page-turning rollicking ride with heart. We want our readers to come away feeling inspired, powerful and unafraid."

Kasey Edwards spent over a decade climbing the corporate ladder as a management consultant until she woke up one morning and realised she didn't want to go to work. Ever again. This inspired her to write her first book Thirty Something and Over It (Random House, 2009). After it become an international bestseller she decided to continue writing. She has now published four additional books: Thirty Something and The Clock is Ticking (Random House, 2011), OMG! That's Not My Husband (Carlton Books, 2011), OMG! That's Not My Child (Carlton books, 2011), Guilt Trip (Black Inc, May 2017).

Read by over 10 million people worldwide, she writes a weekly column for Fairfax's Daily Life, and for other publications in Australia, the UK and US such as the Huffington Post, The Age, The Herald Sun, The Sydney Morning Herald, Grazia, the Daily Mail, Girlfriend Magazine and Best Magazine.

Christopher Scanlon has over 10 years experience as an editor and freelance writer. His work has been published in The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, The Aus t ral ian, Courier-Mail, The Canber r a Times, Crikey, Business Spectator, The Monthly, Overland and Arena Magazine. Between 1999–2009 he served as both a co-editor and the online editor of the highly regarded Arena Magazine.

Christopher holds a PhD in Politics from Monash University and is currently Academic Director of Swinburne University of Technology's Curriculum Accelerator.

Books 2: The Girl Who Chose
Black Inc, Nero
Authors: Kasey Edwards and Christopher Scanlon under the pen name Violet Grace
RRP: $19

Interview with Kasey Edwards

Question: What originally inspired the story of The Chess Raven Chronicles?

Kasey Edwards: Our two daughters, Violet and Ivy Grace inspired us to write the series. We wanted to create a hero who lives life on her own terms.

Girls are constantly told by the world that they are never enough. We wanted our girls to know that they don't have to accept what the world tells them.

But rather than just tell them, we decided to show them through an action adventure story featuring fairies and unicorns rather than (another) boring lecture from their parents!


Question: What is the best part about writing with your husband, Christopher Scanlon?

Kasey Edwards: We love having a joint project that we can dream about and create together. Given it's fantasy, when we don't agree, the disagreements tend be a bit weird. I mean, who knows how Fae magic actually works? (I do, as it happens.)


Question: What do you enjoy most about developing the character of Chess Raven?

Kasey Edwards: Chess has become so real to me I feel like I am living her life with her. I feel what she feels and learn that she learns. I spread my wings and I fly with her.


Question: What message do you hope The Chess Raven Chronicles spreads to young women?

Kasey Edwards: Chess Raven is a hacker who discovers her mother was Queen of the Fae and her father was a brilliant physicist who can simulate magic. In The Girl Who Fell Chess discovers that she " and she alone " has the power to unlock a mysterious vessel in the Victorian and Albert museum in London but first she must stop waiting for other people to save her. She is the one she's been waiting for.

In The Girl Who Chose, Chess goes to Venice in search of the truth about her family. She meets up with mermaids who swim the canals and she must decipher the true meaning of the Voynich Manuscript " a real manuscript that has never been decoded. Nobody knows who wrote it, what it's about or even what language it's written in. In this book, Chess learns what love is. Not just romantic love, but love from friends and family. Chess comes to realise that love, real love, doesn't clip your wings, real love encourages you to fly.


Interview by Brooke Hunter

Books 2: The Girl Who Chose Black Inc, Nero
Authors: Kasey Edwards and Christopher Scanlon under the pen name Violet Grace
RRP: $19