Category: fantasy

What mysteries will Caitlin find in the palm of a teen’s hand? #new #paranormal snippet #8sunday

Published on by Juli D. Revezzo1 Comment
What mysteries will Cait find in the palm of a teen’s hand? http://wp.me/p2NsIj-28f #newrelease in Antique Magic #paranormal @julidrevezzo [Tweet this!]

Welcome to yet another Weekend Writing Warriors.

And, yes, my friends, your eyes do not deceive you, the new Antique Magic novel, MOURNING DOVE LOCKET, is here! 🙂 So what are Caitlin and company up to this time? Here’s a little taste of the book in 8 lines. A little set up, a teenaged girl has come up to Caitlin in a thrift store and offered her a gold locket, now she’s checking with the mother to make certain she has permission to offer it…or that’s the plan, anyway, until the teen opens her mouth:

 

A woman of clear Hispanic descent stood [at a display], perusing [some] items. Caitlin approached her yet her daughter made the introductions. “Mom, she’ll give Abuela her necklace.” Continue reading “What mysteries will Caitlin find in the palm of a teen’s hand? #new #paranormal snippet #8sunday” →

Witch’s Cursed Cabin–new release paranormal romance By Marsha A. Moore

Published on by Juli D. Revezzo2 Comments

Fantasy author Marsha A. Moore stops by today on the release of her latest paranormal romance, in her series, Coon Hollow Coven Tales, to tell us a little bit about her new release,  WITCH’S CURSED CABIN. You know how much we love witches, around here, so I asked her to tell us a little about their her heroine’s newest adventure! Take it away, Marsha.

 

Would you dare to visit Coon Hollow Coven’s haunted carriage house?

by

Marsha A. Moore

Coon Hollow is the setting for Witch’s Cursed Cabin, the second of my series, Coon Hollow Coven Tales, and there are a lot of strange happenings going on down in the Hollow.

The Hollow is a fictitious small valley in southern Indiana, south of Bloomington. Somewhere in Brown County near Nashville and Bean Blossom, if you’re from around those parts. It’s Hoosier hill-country at its finest.

The coven was founded on strict rules of adherence to lifestyle and customs that existed at the time of the coven’s conception, in the mid-1930s. The rationale: to keep the transmission of witchcraft from one generation to the next as pure as possible. Members dress in styles of that period and drive long sleek Packards, Studebakers, and Nashes.

Coon Hollow’s coven members stay to themselves but sometimes need to do business in the nearby small town of Bentbone. When witches and townies mingle, all sorts of trouble and fun can happen.

Several times during the year, the coven puts on magical events open to the public as charity fundraisers for their schools and eldercare. Witch’s Cursed Cabin opens with the coven preparing for their annual Halloween haunted house. Real spiders are enchanted to drop onto guests’ faces. Bespelled live rats run the length of the halls, not stopping for human feet, legs, or other body parts. Ick! Floorboards randomly are set to give way and take selected guests to unknown destinations. Common bedroom objects, such as brushes, nightgowns, and toys, are empowered to chase guests. The scares are so real, people come from all over the state to see these attractions!

You’re invited to enjoy the thrills and magic at the coven’s haunted house, and while you’re in the Hollow, stay for the chilling Samhain celebration in Witch’s Cursed Cabin!

Thank you, Juli, for featuring my new release today on your blog!

 

Thank you, Marsha. Spiders dropping onto people’s faces? EEKK! Thanks for the warning. I think maybe I’ll try to find another path through the haunted house, this year. 😉 Want to check out Witch’s Cursed Cabin? Here’s the synopsis:

Witch's Cursed Cabin by Marsha A. Moore, paranormal witch fictionWitch’s Cursed Cabin
Coon Hollow Coven Tales
Book Two
Marsha A. Moore

Genre: Paranormal romance

Date of Publication: 4-27-16

Number of pages: 380
Word Count: 111,000

Cover Artist: Marsha A. Moore

Book Description:

Eager to be on her own away from home, twenty-year-old Aggie Anders accepts a relative’s invitation to live in Coon Hollow Coven. Although she’s a witch from a different coven, what locals say about the Hollow confuses her. How can witchcraft there live and breathe through souls of the dead?

Aggie’s new residence in this strange southern Indiana world is a deserted homestead cabin. The property’s carriage house serves as the coven’s haunted Halloween fundraiser. It’s a great opportunity for her to make new friends, especially with the coven’s sexy new High Priest Logan.

But living in the homestead also brings Aggie enemies. Outsiders aren’t welcome. A cantankerous, old neighbor tries to frighten her off by warning her that the homestead is cursed. Local witches who practice black magic attempt to use their evil to drive Aggie away and rid their coven of her unusual powers as a sun witch.
Determined to stay and fit in, Aggie discovers not only that the cabin is cursed, but she alone is destined to break the curse before moonrise on Samhain. If she fails, neither the living nor the dead will be safe.

Goodreads

Continue reading “Witch’s Cursed Cabin–new release paranormal romance By Marsha A. Moore” →

Interview with fantasy author Annie Lima Douglass

Published on by Juli D. Revezzo6 Comments

I had the pleasure recently to interview fantasy author Annie Lima Douglass about her latest novel, The Gladiator and the Guard, the second in her the Krillonian Chronicles series. Here’s what she has to say about it.

Hi Annie, thanks for being with us today! Your new series seems both dark, and intriguing. Could you start by telling us a bit about your current series and the world the books are set in?

2814e-annie2bdouglass2blimaAnnie Lima Douglass: The Gladiator and the Guard is the second book in the Krillonian Chronicles, the first one being The Collar and the Cavvarach. The stories take place in a world almost exactly like our own.  Although most aspects of the culture are just about what they are currently on Earth, a few sports are different, such as the martial art known as cavvara shil.  The main difference, however, is that slavery is legal there.

The Krillonian Empire rules much of the world.  An emperor, who is never named, governs from the capital city, Krillonia, on the continent known as Imperia.  Eight separate provinces (originally independent nations before they were conquered) can be found on nearby continents.  Each province, plus Imperia, is allowed to elect its own legislature and decide on many of its own laws, but the emperor reserves the right to veto any of them and make changes as he sees fit.  This seldom happens, however, and to most people the emperor is merely a vague and distant ceremonial figure.

The prevalence of slavery is probably what would stand out the most to visitors from Earth.  There are nearly as many slaves in the city of Jarreon, where both books take place, as free people. Many families own one or more slaves who do their housework and yardwork.  Businesses often own a large number of slaves, usually for manual labor, though some are trained for more complex tasks. Those who don’t own their own slaves may “hire in” one belonging to someone else.  The accepted rate for an hourly wage is two-thirds the amount that a free person would earn for equivalent labor (the money goes to the slave’s owner, of course).

eb20a-the2bcollar2band2bthe2bcavvarachHere’s the back-cover blurb for The Collar and the Cavvarach :

Bensin, a teenage slave and martial artist, is desperate to see his little sister freed. But only victory in the Krillonian Empire’s most prestigious tournament will allow him to secretly arrange for Ellie’s escape. Dangerous people are closing in on her, however, and Bensin is running out of time.  With his one hope fading quickly away, how can Bensin save Ellie from a life of slavery and abuse?

And the blurb for The Gladiator and the Guard :

Bensin, a teenage slave and martial artist, is just one victory away from freedom. But after he is accused of a crime he didn’t 5b4dd-the2bgladiator2band2bthe2bguardcommit, he is condemned to the violent life and early death of a gladiator. While his loved ones seek desperately for a way to rescue him, Bensin struggles to stay alive and forge an identity in an environment designed to strip it from him. When he infuriates the authorities with his choices, he knows he is running out of time. Can he stand against the cruelty of the arena system and seize his freedom before that system crushes him?

 

Tell us about the martial art in these books. What is involved in it? Did you have to do a lot of research for the action scenes?

Annie: The martial art is one I made up, called cavvara shil.  It is fought with a cavvarach, a weapon similar to a sword but with a steel hook protruding from partway down its top edge.  Competitors can strike at each other with their feet as well as with the blades.  You win in one of two ways: disarming your opponent (hooking or knocking their cavvarach out of their hands) or pinning their shoulders to the mat for five seconds.

Continue reading “Interview with fantasy author Annie Lima Douglass” →

Fantasy author Annie Lima Douglass Annie Douglass Lima discusses Gladiators

Published on by Juli D. Revezzo2 Comments

I’m excited to announce that my young adult action and adventure novel, The Gladiator and the Guard, is now available for purchase! This is the second book in the Krillonian Chronicles, sequel to The Collar and the Cavvarach. 



First Things First: a Little Information about Book 1: 

 

Bensin, a teenage slave and martial artist, is desperate to see his little sister freed. But only victory in the Krillonian Empire’s most prestigious tournament will allow him to secretly arrange for Ellie’s escape. Dangerous people are closing in on her, however, and Bensin is running out of time.  With his one hope fading quickly away, how can Bensin save Ellie from a life of slavery and abuse?

What is the Collar for, and What is a Cavvarach?


The story is set in a world very much like our own, with just a few major differences.  One is that slavery is legal there.  Slaves must wear metal collars that lock around their neck, making their enslaved status obvious to everyone.  Any slave attempting to escape faces the dilemma of how and where to illegally get their collar removed (a crime punishable by enslavement for the remover).  


Another difference is the popularity of a martial art called cavvara shil.  It is fought with a cavvarach (rhymes with “have a rack”), a weapon similar to a sword but with a steel hook protruding from partway down its top edge.  Competitors can strike at each other with their feet as well as with the blades.  You win in one of two ways: disarming your opponent (hooking or knocking their cavvarach out of their hands) or pinning their shoulders to the mat for five seconds.

Click here to order The Collar and the Cavvarach from Amazon 

for $2.99 a discounted price of just 99 cents through May 30th!

 

And now, The Gladiator and the Guard, with another awesome cover by the talented Jack Lin!

 

 

Bensin, a teenage slave and martial artist, is just one victory away from freedom. But after he is accused of a crime he didn’t commit, he is condemned to the violent life and early death of a gladiator. While his loved ones seek desperately for a way to rescue him, Bensin struggles to stay alive and forge an identity in an environment designed to strip it from him. When he infuriates the authorities with his choices, he knows he is running out of time. Can he stand against the cruelty of the arena system and seize his freedom before that system crushes him?

 

Click here to order The Gladiator and the Guard in Kindle format from Amazon 

for $2.99 a discounted price of just 99 cents through May 30th!



Author and Editor Rebecca Buchanan on ancient magic and pagan literature

Published on by Juli D. Revezzo

Our guest, Rebecca Buchanan, has been a feature in the pagan fiction community for a while, we are pleased to have read her latest release, a fine collection of ranging from fantasy to scifi to mythological retellings entitled A Witch Among Wolves.She is the editor of Eternal Haunted Summer. Her short stories, poems, and essays have been published in a number of different venues. When she is not editing EHS, she is also the Editor-in-Chief of Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the publishing arm of Neos Alexandria. She also blogs fairly regularly at BookMusings: (Re)Discovering Pagan Literature at PaganSquare and Gods Among the Stars: Paganism in Genre Fiction at Luna Station Quarterly. She recently took time out of her busy editing schedule for a little interview about the book.

Hi Rebecca, thanks for being here. I really enjoyed your anthology and I’m happy to have you here. Can you briefly describe the anthology?

Rebecca Buchanan: Thanks for inviting me! A Witch Among Wolves, and Other Pagan Tales is a collection of five of my short stories. Each is a different genre — science fiction, contemporary horror, a political tale, an eco-fable, and an urban fantasy — but all feature Pagan/polytheist themes. For instance, “Alexander’s Heart,” set in a far future ruled by the descendants of Antony and Cleopatra, follows the Captain of a solar barque and his crew as they try to safely deliver the Pythia of Delphi to a colony far from Earth. The title story, “A Witch Among Wolves,” stars a traditional Lithuanian ragana as she negotiates with a pack of shape-shifting wolves for access to their hidden valley.

My next anthology, A Serpent in the Throat, and Other Pagan Tales, also features a variety of genres, but each story contains strong Pagan/polytheist themes.

How long have you been a practicing pagan?

Rebecca: Oh, gosh …. Over twenty years. I started having serious problems with the Church in college, but continued to go through the motions. As soon as I set out on my own, though, I fully embraced Paganism: the altar, the festivals, the hymns to the Gods and Goddesses, the works.

Is there a particular mythology you’re found of?

Rebecca: Greek. Hands down, that is my favorite. I’ve always been most strongly drawn to those stories, so, when I finally embraced Paganism, I came out as Hellenic.I have a bit of a soft spot for Egyptian and Norse mythology, too, but Greek is definitely at the top.

Can you recall the first myth you read?

Rebecca: Not the first book, no, but I can recall several books which deeply affected me as a child. Augustus Caesar’s World by Genevieve Foster; The Enchanted World series from Time-Life; The Gods and Goddesses of Olympus by Aliki; The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles by Padraic Colum and Willy Pogany; Pagan Grace and Pagan Meditations by Ginette Paris; Pegasus by Marianna Mayer and KY Craft; The Trojan War by Olivia Coolidge; to name just a few.

buchanancover-copy_zpsdif0qtrw
cover art by Paula Arwen Owen

That seems a nice list, particularly for those who’d like to investigate the Greco-Roman pantheons themselves. What inspired you to write the stories in Witch Among Wolves?
Continue reading “Author and Editor Rebecca Buchanan on ancient magic and pagan literature” →

Pocket Full of Tinder (Noon Onyx #4) Newsletter Update – Last Chance!

Published on by Juli D. Revezzo

Sharing for fellow Fantasy author and friend Jill Archer.

JILL ARCHER

If all goes well with Mail Chimp, I’m going to be sending out my first quarterly newsletter this week. This is your last chance to sign up before it goes out! If you don’t, you’ll miss out on all the good stuff and will have to find one of the subscribers and beg them to share it with you. 😀

Newsletter

What’s going to be in the newsletter?

  • UPDATE: Pocket Full of Tinder
  • SNEAK PEEK: Frigore Luna, a new Haljan holiday
  • FIRST LOOK: Map of St. Luck’s
  • WHO SAID IT? Match the Quote to the Character
  • BE AN AMBASSADOR: 3 Awesome Things You Can Do
  • CONTEST: Fireball Laser Cut Wood Earrings or a $10 eGC

The update will give readers an idea of what to expect from book #4. I also share my draft back cover copy (still working on it; it may change; I’m worried…

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