@nikkiauberkett

As a cultural anthropologist with a focused background in archaeology and global folklore, I weave real-world discoveries and intercultural theories into my fictional works. My current series, Song of the Sidhe, combines fantasy storytelling with "what if?" concepts, from the fae folk living in (and potentially having built) downtown Chicago to the mythological Fomorians existing within marginalized communities around the world. My debut novel, Prax, was a finalist in the 2022 Page Turner Book Awards and long-listed in the 2023 Page Turner Book Awards. Ithandryll was long-listed in the 2023 Page Turner Book Awards, received an Honorable Mention in the 2023 Readers' Favorite Book Awards, a 5-Star Review from Readers' Favorite, and a 5-Star Review from Midwest Book Review. I am also a graduate of the Institute for Children's Literature (back when "remote learning" was a typewriter and snail mail!), was a guest copy editor for The Irish Journal of Anthropology, and I have developmentally edited several fiction novels that went on to become award-winners and bestsellers in independent publishing. As of February 2025, I also have my own bylined column as an editorial book reviewer in Midwest Book Review. After living in downtown Chicago before, during, and after the pandemic, I entered my "Stars Hollow Phase" and relocated to a small village cluster in Iowa known as The Amana Colonies. I started an indie bookstore, BumbleBooks, which is currently a "pop-up situation" inside the village's new herbs & tea shop, Serenity Sage. On any given day, I can be found sipping handcrafted coffee, making book paper crafts, faceplanting on my laptop keyboard, and/or whispering to the kobolds who live in my home.