• Finalist for Canada Reads
• Winner of an Indie Foreword Award
• Winner of an Independent Publisher Award 

“This inventive take on the Arthurian myth is a testament to story ― the wisdom inherent in old stories, and the power that lies in reimagining what they could be.”

― Amanda Leduc, author of The Centaur’s Wife

“Arthurian knights vie for power at a university in a contemporary Vancouver where queer and genderqueer students must contend with magic and murder among the faculty. Richly imagined and lushly written, The Winter Knight gives us intriguing characters, a compelling story, and a vivid sense of a beautiful and complex city colonized by invasive myths and ancient dread.”

― A.M. Dellamonica, author of Child of a Hidden Sea

“A charming story of mythological figures in the modern day. Battis’s prose breathes new life into ancient folklore.”

― Zabé Ellor, author of Silk Fire

“Authentic portrayals of queer, trans, and disabled characters along with a delightful mash-up of modern Vancouver, college life, and Arthurian legends become an immersive story of trying to be in control of your own path, no matter your past.”

― Library Journal starred review

“Weaving endearing queer coming-of-age threads throughout the mythically grounded mystery, this satisfying re-imagining delivers.”

― Publisher’s Weekly review

“Old friends wear new faces in this lively, funny, heartbreaking tour of a modern city peopled by stories.  The Winter Knight will take you kindly by the hand, and leave you believing in courage, compassion, and a world we might be able to see, if we just turn our heads at the right moment.  A worthy reimagining.”

― Kate Heartfield, author of The Embroidered Book

“The Winter Knight is a fast-paced urban fairy tale and mystery with queer and trans heroes, forcing the reader to wonder, who gets to become a fairy tale legend?  And why can’t we rewrite antiquated ones?”

― HuffPost

“Fallen knights, conniving runesmiths, and witches are pulled into the investigation while Wayne and Hildie struggle to find out the truth.  The Winter Knight is fast-paced with queer and trans heroes, and [the romance] is a decidedly slow burn.”

― Buzzfeed

“Readers in search of queer and autistic representation in fantasy will…savour the heart of the tale:  people defying expectations–including, at times, their own–to rewrite their stories and forge their own happy endings.”

― Booklist

“This is such a fresh interpretation of Arthurian legend, with rich character diversity and a super entertaining plot.”

― Margaret Kingsbury, Buzzfeed News

“The Winter Knight is soft like the fur of the Questing Beast–softness that has hard, powerful muscle underneath it; softness that comes with teeth.”

― Every Book A Doorway

“If Neil Gaiman, Leigh Bardugo, and Megan Milks sat down to write a contemporary fantasy novel set in Vancouver.”

         ― Mosaic Books, Kelowna

“There’s a lot of painfully apt, recognizable moments in Wayne’s arc, and a lot of thoughtfulness in how they’re portrayed.”

        ― Ada Hoffman, Autistic Book Party

“A multi-layered book that delivers on many levels…[along] with the resonance and depth lent by evoking echoes of legend, the book also delivers character development and an intriguing plot.”

― Lisa Timpf, The Miramachi Reader

“I loved this book. It gave me back my Arthurian legends, but this time with queer, trans, neurodivergent, and disabled characters at the centre.”

― Lindsay Hobbs, Topaz Literary

Occult Special Investigator

The Occult Special Investigator Series follows Detective Tess Corday as she deals with supernatural crime in the city of Vancouver.  Tess and her telepathic partner, Derrick, form a chosen family of necromancers, vampires, and demons as they try to balance their personal lives with the dangers of their profession.  While most paranormal fiction is set in the United States, the OSI series explores Vancouver and the surrounding Fraser Valley in British Columbia, Canada.  The series blends diverse romance with procedural crime and urban fantasy.

Read about the OSI Series on the Penguin site

Click on each book cover to reveal more details

Parallel Parks

This series is set in the Canadian prairies, and combines elements of both epic and urban fantasy.  It explores the lives and perspectives of four grad students who play a dangerous game involving Wascana Park, in Regina, Saskatchewan.  The urban park grants them access to another world, in which they can play out their fantasies as heroes (and villains).  But when they take on a mission for a mysterious empress, they find themselves blurring the line between fantasy and reality, “park life” and their “real” lives.  It’s more than a magical role-playing game.  It’s Parallel Parks, and these heroes will either triumph, or be lost forever.

Academic Titles