Kingsley, Kaza

PERSONAL:

Born in Cleveland, OH. Hobbies and other interests: Traveling, movies.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Cincinnati, OH. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer, artist, and singer.

WRITINGS:

Erec Rex: The Dragon's Eye (novel), illustrated by Melvyn Grant, Firelight Press (Cincinnati, OH), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

In her first fantasy novel, Erec Rex: The Dragon's Eye, Kaza Kingsley tells the story of young Erec Rex, who finds a secret door in Grand Central Station that leads to a magical world. Erec is out to save his kidnapped mother whom he can see and speak to anytime he wants through a pair of magic eyeglasses. In the process of trying to rescue his mother and discover the real villains, Erec and his friend Bethany find themselves participating in a series of contests that will decide who will be the rulers of three magical kingdoms. "Entertaining magics and magical gear, along with polished vignettes from Grant, animate familiar fantasy tropes in this seriocomic debut," reported a Kirkus Reviews contributor. Other reviewers also had praise for the novel. A contributor to the Watcher Web site, for instance, called it "an entertaining book" and added: "The characters are riveting." On the Fantasy Novel Review Web site, Sherryl King-Wilds referred to Erec Rex as "a fun, fascinating book that makes you want to chill out for a while and just read." Like several other critics, King-Wilds also acknowledged the book's debt to the extremely successful "Harry Potter" fantasy series by J.K. Rowling. Nevertheless, King-Wilds pointed out that "the Harry Potter books may have inspired Kaza Kingsley in writing The Dragon's Eye, but this book bloody well stands on its own!"

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Kirkus Reviews, October 1, 2006, review of Erec Rex: The Dragon's Eye, p. 1017.

ONLINE

Erec Rex Web site,http://www.erecrex.com (April 19, 2007).

Fantasy Novel Review,http://www.fantasynovelreview.com/ (April 19, 2007), Sherryl King-Wilds, review of Erec Rex.

Watcher,http://www.readthewatcher.org/ (April 19, 2007), review of Eric Rex.