About Me
Welcome to My Worlds
Welcome to Furlitian Tales & Other Stories, where we celebrate the power of storytelling. Discover new worlds and characters, expand your horizons, and experience the magic of books, and stories told from beyond the human point of view. Our main characters range from cats to trees to aliens and beyond! Pick up your copy and join the adventures!
Unleash Your Imagination with Furlitian Tales & Other Stories
My Journey
Marie J. Spinella-Phillips
Born in 1957, in Huntington, on Long Island, I have been driven by an insatiable love of writing, art, and the sciences since very early childhood. My love of animals and nature fueled my desire to write, always appearing as stories from the non-human point of view. I invented my very first character at six years old, creating picture books with a tree as the main protagonist. I included, on the inside covers, my very own publishing logo, complete with rainbow and shining sun!
Silly me! Not realizing, as a young child, seeing the sun and rainbow in the same part of the sky is an atmospheric impossibility!
In college, I majored in Art and Earth Sciences, where inspiration fired my vivid imagination, planting the seeds for my Furlites of Aroriel novels, driving me into the unique and futuristic world of Fantasy/Science Fiction.
Over the years, I developed THE FURLITES OF ARORIEL stories. I wrote during breaks at work, at night at home, in any bit of spare time I found, honing the complex world of this alien family saga. The third volume of this trilogy, EYES IN THE DARK, nears completion, and should be published soon!
Buying a home and marrying my High School beau never stopped the steady, but slow evolution of this epic tale. Other hobbies such as showing, collecting, gardening, photography, customizing model horses, integrated well with my drive to complete my books, spawning THE SECRET LIFE OF MODEL HORSES.
The passing of my first Maine Coon cat, a dapper tuxedo named Demon, affected me deeply and influenced my writing. This charismatic cat appears in EARTH-BRED, MATISSIA-BORN, as a special genetically altered feline character, who like his real life counterpart, steals the show. He also influenced a character in a short story in THE WHITE DRAGONS OF SUVWILUR & OTHER TALES.
Meanwhile, as I used my second big Maine Coon, my dear Khan, as a character in another tale, Khan became seriously ill. While battling Khan's insidious disease, I completed KHAN:A MAINE COON, which took on deeper impact far beyond my intended feline fantasy yarn. One of the most difficult books I have ever written.
In OLD GENT, I returned to the roots of my writing life, penning this semi-fictional biography about a beloved Norway Spruce tree, showing his long life, as only I can, from the tree’s point of view. This grand old tree meant much to us, and even after two decades, is missed.
All her cats, past and present, put their stamp on characters in EARTH-BRED MATISSIA-BORN, EYES IN THE DARK, and other Furlitian Tales such as CURSE OF KORIS, as well as KHAN: A MAINE COON, and in a short story in THE WHITE DRAGONS OF SUVWILUR & OTHER TALES.
Owned by four cats, three of which are Maine Coon cats, my husband and I live in the rolling hills of northwestern Connecticut.
Photo: 2012, me and my 25 lb red tabby Maine Coon, Kai, who passed in 2015.
New Book NEARING COMPLETION
Discover the destiny of Clan Darius in EYES IN THE DARK
In The Furlites of Aroriel: Eyes in the Dark, this book takes you on a journey through space and time.
The second mission of the Sunpyne, to retrieve the Sleeper ship launched 225 years ago, proved to be far more difficult than expected. Commander Geupetus and his crew discover the critical importance of this unexpected turn of events when a wormhole throws both ships into an astonishing revelation and situation. Geupetus and his crew know they must not fail at the task handed to them by the Universe.
To my Agent and Mentor
In Memoriam and Thanks
In Memory of David Ayscue, my friend and mentor. (1953-2010)
I treasure everything you taught me, and all you did to help me on my writing journey.
This review of my THE FURLITES OF ARORIEL series is from my mentor, friend, editor, and Literary Agent, David Ayscue, who passed away Sept of 2010. Thanks for everything, David. You are missed!
Author-Marie J. S. Phillips
David’s Review;
The author describes these books as “an alien family saga.” These tales are suitable for science fiction readers who enjoy reading stories from the alien point of view. This book fits the niche that includes Robert Sawyer’s FAR-SEER, Lisanne Norman’s SHOLAN ALLIANCE series, and David Brin’s Trilogy which included INFINITY’S SHORE. Her books are not exactly like any of the above, but probably most like Robert Sawyer’s FAR-SEER, and its sequels. In his books, human involvement with the Quintaglios is zero, whereas the characters in ON MATISSIA WINGS have some contact with humanity. This brief contact forever changes the Furlitian people in more ways than they ever imagined possible.
Human bias generally assumes most sentient civilized alien life must be humanoid or primate-based, which may not be the reality at all. With a twist on an old theme, the author stresses in subtle ways through Furlitian culture, how real freedom and personal responsibility can help any society produce good people, without any strict taboos, religious fanaticism, and overbearing governments. I have also compared it to E. R. Eddings, though this author’s books are far more science fiction than fantasy – once you accept the premise, of course, of a world where primates never evolved, and where furred dinosaurs became the dominant species … who now have a space program … which leads them to … our world.
The illustrations -- a mix of freehand artwork, real photos, and computer-generated graphics -- include detailed hand drawings of her characters. In ON MATISSIA WINGS, the six plates, plus the cover are integral to the book. Who knows better what a Furlite looks like than their creator?
The sequel, EARTH-BRED; MATISSIA-BORN, is, perhaps, an even better story.
There is a third book in this series, EYES IN THE DARK which is as yet unfinished. The world is fully realized; the depth of characterization is … epic, wondrous, and, frankly, I think this author is a great storyteller.
Reminiscent in some respects of Military SF, in the tradition of Heinlein and Asimov, told from the point of view of the aliens -- they are PEOPLE, with their own culture, and … they are better people than we are.
Remarkable books, deserving of publication, I think, or I would not have done all that I have done to help this author realize her dream of seeing her own trilogy for sale in bookstores everywhere.
