The Alternate World of Quelgheny

Thank you for visiting my site! I’m Gloria Harchar and I write all kinds of novels, but I keep returning to historical fantasy. Right now I have a trilogy called the Quelgheny Romances, published by Dorchester Love Spell, and I'm working on a fourth book, this time set in the Medieval era.

Quelgheny is in a musical realm that floats above Great Britain. The love of the Harmonics (which is what the pixies call humans) is what keeps Quelgheny flourishing and prosperous. The Maestro–who is the ruler of Quelgheny–sends Pixie agents down to Great Britain on missions to make sure certain couples fall in love. That’s Dulce on the mushroom. Click on the novels link to read more about each story. If you enjoy young adult, check out harchar.com.

My Background

I was born in Tulsa, OK and spent the majority of my childhood years in California after my dad was transferred there. He was an aerospace engineer.

My dad was awesome back then (and still is, btw!). He was the lead engineer on the Apollo 6. My mom was the one who encouraged me to imagine. She taught kindergarten, first and third grades during that time, (not all at the same time but in different years). We first lived in Canoga Park. Then, when I was about seven, we moved to Huntington Beach.

I remember we had an old dumb waiter for our laundry. I was fascinated with it. My imagination went wild. I could imagine all kinds of worlds hidden between the walls as the box traveled up and down between floors. I knew my dad had to run tests to see if stuff survived when the Apollo blasted into space–like inanimate objects, then monkeys, then the astronauts. I decided I would set up a similar experiment. First I would see if my doll survived. It did. Next I tried my dog. Poor Christopher was shaking like a leaf. I told him to sit. Stay. Thankfully he did, and he lived to see another day. So my test of living, breathing creatures passed. Then I tried to squeeze in, but I was too big.

What to do? That I had documented all these findings in my diary, to only be stymied at the final hour was unthinkable. Then I remembered my sister, who came about to my armpits and was three years younger than me. I begged and pleaded with her to take the journey. You see, I wanted a report of exactly what was happening. I wanted to make my scientific conclusions. Were their other planets? Planets with pixies, trolls, elves and other fantastical creatures? What were their planets like? What did they eat? How did they dress? No question that the creatures didn’t exist–at least, not in my mind.

With big, worried eyes, my sister finally agreed to take the plunge. As she sat scrunched in that little box, I grabbed her hands and said, “Remember you will be famous. You’ll get in the National Geographic, and I’ll be the one reporting your travels. So don’t close your eyes. Look all around and tell me exactly what you see.” She agreed, although she told me again how scared she was of the dark. I told her I would go if I could fit in. But I couldn’t because the spaceship (i.e., the dumb waiter) was too small. So it was up to her. I assured her I would be there when she reached the other side, which was downstairs in the utility room.

As soon as I pushed the button, I ran as fast as I could down the carpeted stairs and waited for the door to open. To my relief, my sister looked just the same.  Excited, tingles running up and down my spine, I asked her what she saw. Were there faeries? Little green martians? Creatures she didn’t know what to call? She said there wasn’t anything. Indignant, stunned, I asked her what she meant. She said, “I mean, it was just dark, and scary. I couldn’t see anything.”

That was when I realized that my imagination was so much more interesting than anything in true life. And that is when I started making up stories in my head, and telling them to my sister, then later writing them down. Writing stories is the best journey I could ever take!

In between writing, taking classes and workshops on writing, getting two degrees, becoming an internal auditor and later a teacher–I still continue my heart’s desire–that of writing books full of adventure, emotion, and character growth. And my daughter, Audrey, is now pursuing writing with me. We're working on a Steampunk series together with a post apocalyptic Victorian setting. Together we have so much fun creating our stories. Another great adventure!