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Mikel Wilson is releasing a new book as part of the Enchanted Elemental Empire Shared World.

The book titled “Flames of Betrayal” is the first installment of his series, The Red Dragon Series. 

The book is scheduled to come out later this month. Wilson said this shared “metaverse” has been an exciting project that he joined along with several others around the country and beyond.

“A couple of our people are out of the country, actually,” Wilson said. “We have people from Nevada, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia. We’re all over. There is no just set place where we all are. It’s all online. We all joined together to create something that would be special.”

Wilson was born and raised in Tuscaloosa and graduated from American Christian. However, Marengo County is now home to him.

“The people here have really embraced me as their own,” Wilson said. “I’ve been here since 2000 and I’ve been embraced as a member of the community. I love people here. Wonderful people. It’s a big difference between the city and here. There’s something I love about being in a small town where everyone waves at you going down the road and knows you by name.”

The summary on Amazon of Wilson’s new book states,” In the scorching halls of the prestigious Flame Gaiden Academy, Tamari, the fiery heir of the Ember Union, is broken by the physical and mental rigors of her training. Standing at the brink of madness, she struggles with fear, isolation, and has no choice but to face the paralyzing fear of her own failures, while teetering on the edge of sanity.”

Wilson said he’s had so many influences on his life. 

“Frankie Perretti, when I was a kid, got me into reading his Cooper Kids adventure books,” Wilson said. “JK Rowling and The Harry Potter series. I read it as a kid. My kids read it growing up. Colleen Hoover.”

Wilson also said he’s connected with other local authors. He hopes that others in the community will embrace those authors and other artists doing good work.

“I’m gonna give Jennifer Meigs from Demopolis a shout out right now. She’s a great local author,” Wilson said. “There’s a lot of people that are doing a lot of things that are positive for this and that. They are in the state, and they should be supported and could be supported.”

Wilson said he hopes to have a book signing around the time his book is released on July 29.