Frances Ellen writes YA fantasy stories full of magic and adventure, action and jeopardy, sacrifice and betrayal, deep bonds of friendship, and a light touch of romance. Her first series describes a world where humans with exceptional affinities for specific traits, the Affinites, led by a magical elite known as the Asters, protect humans from the ever-present threat from Dark Kings. The Asters are a diverse group of teenagers, magically and culturally, whose adventures take them to all parts of the world, both above and below ground, filling a gap in the YA fantasy genre that Frances wanted to read but couldn't find. The idea for the Asters first came to Frances on holiday aged 15; building the legend, history, characters and events of the Astersphere, in her head and on notes, consumed her spare time ever since. In 2021, the Aster Prequel Novella trilogy to the main series was first published. Frances is currently working on the novels in the multi-book Asters Original Series, with the first expected to release in summer 2022. Follow [...] and #theasterseries on social media, and sign up to Frances' newsletter through her website, [...], for title and cover reveals, advance notice of ARC's and pricing deals, free content, developments in the Astersphere, and updates to the progress of the next books in the series. Frances Ellen is a Dutch-English native. She graduated from the University of Amsterdam with a degree in English Literature and from London Middlesex University with a Master's in Novel Writing. Next to writing, Frances trains guide dogs for the blind. Her dream is to support herself with her writing so she has the time to foster and train more guide dogs on the side. She currently lives in Amsterdam with her flatmate.