by Ezabelle Janssen, Senior Staff Writer

MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST (GG) — From the Mississippi Coast to Japan, Germany, and California’s Central Valley, Cortney S. Lamar has spent years seeing the world from different corners. Now, she is inviting readers into one of her own. 

Her debut novel, Legends from the Ashes: Book One, published July 14th by Chaos and Ink Books, LLC, transports readers into an empire of animal shifters, ancient magic, and mythological beasts. The story follows Zyanya, a young woman who becomes an outsider after she fails to receive an animal spirit, which every citizen discovers at 13. 

Inspired by Aztec mythology, the 360-page fantasy blends ancient culture with a world Lamar created. Lamar said she has long been fascinated by Mexican, and particularly Aztec, mythology and wanted to use that interest as the foundation for her own story. “I’m Mexican American,” Lamar said. “Mexican mythology has always been very interesting to me, especially the Aztec stuff.” 

In the novel, that fascination becomes Tamoanchan, an empire where citizens receive an animal spirit, or hualli, and can shift into that animal—except Zyanya, who receives nothing. The one thing meant to define her instead sets her apart. Zyanya must rely on her own strength and determination to save her world. 

Lamar wanted that distinction to be central to Zyanya’s journey. That independent spirit also mirrors Lamar’s approach to the novel’s mythology. 

While she wanted to honor the culture, she never intended to write a historical textbook. Instead, her goal was to spark curiosity. 

She pointed to Riordan’s Percy Jackson books as an example of adapting mythology into fiction while encouraging readers to explore the original stories themselves. “The way that he writes the gods, that’s not how the gods really were written,” Lamar said. “He took a lot of liberties and everything, which is kind of what I did as well. 

For Lamar, that balance was important. The mythology gave her a foundation: “Even though it’s fiction, and I can make the world my own, I did want to try to stay as true to that time period as I could,” but the world of Legends from the Ashes belongs to her. “At the end of the day, it is a work of fiction… I just wanted to pique people’s interest in that mythology, in that region,” she said.

Lamar’s own life has taken her on an unforgettable journey. She moved to Mississippi in 2012 with her husband and sons, spending a decade there—including seven years with the City of Biloxi and some time with the Jackson County Board of Supervisors. 

Later, Lamar and her family moved overseas to Japan and Germany, spending four years traveling. Before that, she had rarely traveled outside the United States. Suddenly, the world became much bigger. “It was a really, really amazing experience,” she said. 

Those experiences, along with her Mexican-American heritage, inspired a story that looks back to mythology while moving forward into something new. 

But getting the story onto the page was nearly as long a journey as Zyanya’s in the novel. The first draft took approximately eight months. The rest of the process—editing, revising, and finding a publisher—stretched into four years. “It taught me a lot of patience,” Lamar giggled. “It was a very humbling experience.” 

When the book finally reached readers, Lamar said the feeling was more surreal than triumphant. “It’s four years of my life now out there for everybody to judge, basically,” she said. Still, excitement outweighs fear. “I know it’s not for everyone,” she said, “but if it sparks even one person’s interest in the culture, I’ve done my job.” 

The book has already begun making its way into readers’ hands, including right here on the Mississippi Coast. On August 1st, she held her first Coast book signing at the Markham Hotel in Gulfport. 

For this up-and-coming author, Legends from the Ashes is only the beginning. Lamar is already working on book two in the series. “I want to do the characters justice,” Lamar said. 

Her goal is to create something both new fantasy readers and longtime fans can enjoy. “I wanted something that my kids could read and that also my mom would enjoy as well,” she said. 

Legends from the Ashes: Book One is available through major booksellers. A sneak peek is at authorcortneyslamar.com. 

For Lamar, the novel represents four years of research, writing, editing, patience, and a lifetime of cultural curiosity. It’s inspired by her heritage, shaped by her travels, and built with her imagination.

Photo:  Cortney S. Lamar via Facebook