Luanne G. Smith Books In Order

Publication Order of Conspiracy Of Magic / Raven Sisters Books

Publication Order of The Order of the Seven Stars Books

Publication Order of The Vine Witch Books

Luanne G Smith is an American novelist best known for writing historical and fantasy fiction. She wrote “The Vine Witch,” a fantasy novel about revenge, witches, and wine set in France during the early years of the 20th century. Her second novel “The Glamourist” is the second novel in the Vine Witch series. Smith has said that she is lucky to live in the beautiful Rocky Mountains of Colorado, from where she writes her novels. She has asserted that it was reading Jean Craighead George’s “My Side of the Mountain” as a ten-year-old that got her hooked to reading and writing stories. She later went on to college and she graduated with a bachelor’s in Resource and Environment Management. She would then go on to work as a naturalist at a state park in Colorado where she had to work with painted turtles, bull snakes, and woodhouse toads among other reptiles. This perhaps explains why she made her lead character Elena a slimy toad, as she wanted to get her quirky expertise out of her head. When she is not writing, she loves to hike, garden, read and relax with a glass of wine.

Luanne has always loved writing stories and when she was a child she would write poems and short stories in her diary all the time. It was while he was in high school that she discovered her love for languages and began writing short fiction and poetry as she was seriously considering becoming an author. While she never did lose her love for writing and books, once she graduated from college she ended up doing all manner of jobs and only came back to writing when she had her first child. While working as an adult she was still reading a lot and asserted that she was most influenced by the masterful storytelling of Diana Gabaldon. Smith believes Gabaldon is the best at creating some of the most intriguing circumstances for her characters. She also loves the whimsical and wonderful stories of Neil Gaiman and the Shakespearean plays for their cleverness with description and word choice. She loves the piercingly sharp effect, the double entendres and the play of language that makes for excellent dialogue.

Luanne got her idea for “The Vine Witch” when she was watching a winemaking documentary from France. The documentary interviewed a famous wine maker that sold her wine for hundreds of dollars a bottle. The woman took a different approach to winemaking as compared to her male counterparts. They used cutting edge machinery and the latest science but she uses a more hands-on approach. She spoke of the importance of the phases of the moon and nurturing which resulted in the best grapes. She did sound like she was talking about using supernatural energy and Luanne thought it would make for a good witch story. The fantasy novel is set in the Belle Epoque period and Smith weaved in a lot of historical detail into the story. She asserts that she had to research the historical events, fashions, and vehicles of the time including the cheese and winemaking practices. She also studied a lot of herb lore, witch trials, and witchcraft. Smith manages to get a perfect balance of characterization, pacing, and world-building in addition to crafting a great slow-burn romance combined with action and a murder mystery. She writes three-dimensional characters that feel human and then writes nuanced rich prose to make for a worthwhile reading experience.

Smith’s debut novel “The Vine Witch” is a fantasy novel full of witchy folklore, magic though very light on spooky aspects. The lead in the novel is a vine witch that taps magic to produce the best vines and manufacture the best wine in France. She had been taught the art of magic from her grandmother when she was a child living in Chateau Renard in the premier wine-producing region on the country, the Chanceaux Valley. But then Bastien her fiancé makes a mess of things that causes Elena to be cursed for seven years. Once she breaks her curse she heads back to Chateau Renard her beloved home and arrives to find that her grandmother still works in the vineyard even though she has been away for many years. However, since she never had Elena’s support, she had been forced to sell the farm after she fell on hard times. The new landlord is Jean-Paul Martel, who has tried everything but still produces bitter nearly undrinkable wine. Using her abilities, she taps into the spirit world and learns that some very powerful witch had cursed the vines on her believed Chateau Renard. Elena manages to convince Jean-Paul to try out some magic though it is not that easy given that he is a man of science who does not believe in magic and witches. She vows to help find the witch that has cursed the farm and break her spell. She also vows to find her former fiancé and kill him as she thinks he was the one that had cursed her the first time around. She is going against a powerful coven of witches from a rival vineyard who are determined to ensure she never gets back her former life.

“The Glamourist” which is the second novel of the Vine Witch series by Louise G. Smith is a spellbinding narrative of redemption, self-discovery, and bloodlines. Yvette Lenoir had been abandoned in Paris at the beginning of the century. She had always desired to tap into her suppressed powers and unearth the secrets of her supernatural heritage. But her actions in order to survive have turned her into a fugitive. She now has a price on her head even as she believes she has supernatural powers as evidenced by a memento supposedly from her mother. To get to the bottom of the mystery of her heritage she seeks the help of a woman known for resolving the most arcane of supernatural riddles. The woman in question is Elena the vine witch that lives at Renard Chateau which has made a name for making the best wine in the valley. Even as does not have much information on her own heritage, Elena is ready to help a friend in need. Working with a bewitching black cat, the owner of a charming curio shop and a cunning thief, the two are determined to decode the mystery of Yvette’s bloodline. But they could just unleash restless magic that may give them powers they may not be able to handle.

3 Responses to “Luanne G. Smith”

1. Donna Macaulay: 1 year ago

   Will there be a 3rd book of the ravens spell loved it so much

   Reply
2. Lynn Faircloth: 2 years ago

   When will the second book of The Raven Spell be out? I enjoyed the first book and look forward to the second.

   Reply
   • Graeme: 2 years ago

     Hi Lynn,

     It’s currently scheduled for October 2022

     Reply