Dropping in once again to add, I’ve added a few books to the Smashwords Summer Sale. You can find Murder Upon a Midnight Clear there for a discount:
Available at Amazon and elsewhere
Murder reminds Detective Helene Collias that crime doesn’t take holidays. And the last victim she expected to find in her case files this Christmas is the sister of her old flame, Sean Grant. Ordinarily, Helene’s psychic gifts give her an edge but this time, that gift has short-circuited. Could her lingering attraction to Sean be blurring her abilities, or is something more sinister at work?
Also, my historical romance novel House of Dark Envy is also available at Smashwords now:
Synopsis:
When Sarahjane attended a costume party, she didn’t expect to see her old beau whose lies labeled her a flirt in the eyes of London Society and who is now on the cusp of a world-changing discovery.
Has fate returned to grant Sarahjane and Felix their wishes, or terrorize them?
And also, my historical fantasy novel, Frigga’s Lost Army is free there, too,
Synopsis:
In 1943, Benjamin is just a grunt and Army cook—until he finds himself taken prisoner after the Battle of Tunisia. Transported to a POW camp in Italy, Benjamin encounters a woman bearing an uncanny resemblance to the goddess Frigga, and he wonders if he hasn’t become entangled in a battle between the natural and the supernatural—a battle for the present and the future.
Use the code SS100 at checkout to get this book for free.
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!]
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:
Do y’all remember the television show/movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Okay, I’m not going to ask what you thought of them, but the show does bring to mind the idea of hunting baddies of all ilk. (Of course my characters Caitlin and her friends are beginning to brush up on just that in my Antique Magic series) so…when I saw this article the other week about A group of teen girls performing exorcisms (while I completely disagree with their belief that Harry Potter instigates evil *sigh*), I couldn’t resist. 🙂 I had to share it with you.
Note the one girl wears black nail polish. I guess she didn’t get the message that at one time we were branded evil for doing so. 😉 Did I care at the time? Do I now? uh….no. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the article. Have a very…freaky Friday, my friends!
Today we have a treat for you, a fellow member of the Magic Appreciation Tour, Romantic fantasy author Nicolette Andrews has stopped by to talk about that favorite subject of most fantasy writers: Dreams. Welcome, Nicolette!
The Prophetic Meaning of Dreams
You awaken in a cold sweat you heart is beating against your rib cage and you fumble around in the dark for your significant other to reassure yourself that you are back in reality. Upon hearing the steady cadence of your loved one’s breathing, you settle in and drift back to sleep. This is the terrifying and urgent nature of our dreams. At times we all are woken from a nightmare of a loved one dying or even being chased by a masked murderer.
But what about our more mundane dreams, the ones where you are smoking cigarettes even though you’ve never touched them in your life or a dream where one color seems more vivid than any other that it leaves an impression on your waking self. Could our dreams hold a significant meaning to our everyday lives? Is our subconscious aware of something your conscious mind is not?
I am not a dream expert or a scientist, what I am is a fantasy writer with an active imagination. What would you do if your dreams came true? Imagine falling asleep at night and in your dream world you see in perfect clarity, your much hated boss getting canned for some shady dealings. You would wake the next morning refreshed and maybe a bit pleased. How surprised would you be if when coming into work the next day and you see your boss carrying a box of his things towards the elevator? How would you react?
In my novel, Diviner’s Prophecy, Maea is a woman born with the ability to see into both the past and future. That is until a spell is put upon her that stripped her of an identity and a past. Her powers are crippled and she was fight to regain her past and save her kingdom from an unknown destruction.
Unlike you and I, when Maea dreams she is looking into the future, seeing what may come to pass. What would you do with that kind of power? What if we already have that power lying dormant within us?
Take deja vu for example: where does that come from? What if our waking mind forgets what our sleeping minds have foretold?
Have you ever ran into someone at the market or the gas station and thought: I was just thinking about you but I cannot remember when. Perhaps the secrets to these questions, these feelings of premonition, lie in our subconscious, our dreaming minds. As I mentioned, I am not a scholar or a specialist; what I am a fantasy writer with a lot of time on her hands.
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Thank you to Juli for letting me take over her blog for today and if you would like to read more about prophetic dreams, check out my Romantic Fantasy Novel: Diviner’s Prophecy now on sale at Amazon, B&N and Smashwords. You can connect with me on my blog, on facebook and on twitter. And happy dreaming.
About Diviner’s Prophecy:
Maea is a diviner, the last of a once influential family of women who could see into the past and future through visions. Though she holds immense power, once sought after by kings, she is helpless. A spell has wiped away her past and crippled her abilities, leaving her dependent upon her foster mother and her companion. Maea wants to trust them but their evasive behavior in regards to her missing memories makes her wary. They claim an accident caused her memory loss. Maea, however, remembers the night the man took her life away. She suspects they are accomplices to the act and further believes they plan to use her in her their own political plottings.
At the royal court, the first diviner speaks to Maea through a vision and charges her with an immense task: to stop a catastrophe that threatens to destroy her, her kingdom and all life in the realm. She must navigate the dangerous waters of court intrigue where foes appear as friends and no one can be trusted. Is she plays the game right, she will regain her past and save her kingdom. If she fails, it means the destruction of every living thing.
About Nicolette:
Nicolette Andrews, a romantic fantasy author, lives in San Diego California with her husband and two daughters. Apart from a good book, with healthy doses of romance, fantasy, intrigue and mystery. She enjoys spending time with her two daughters and her husband. She can often be found enjoying the California sunshine but she is usually behind a computer screen working on her next novel.
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Thank you for being with us, Nicolette and best of luck with Diviner’s Prophecy, and all you do! Folks, I hope you enjoyed Nicolette’s chat. If you’d like to check her out you may do so at the links above.
Sorry I was so silent. Aside from being away at mom’s for the solstice, I had trouble signing into WP. *grr* (Isn’t “Save This Password” supposed to, you know, save your password and not redo your password?) Anyway, movies. I have a review to write up of The Hobbit–I’m still gestating it but in a word–wow! Also, I missed the ending of Once Upon A Time!
Again! (Note to family: do not call me on Sunday Nights, after 8PM or before 9PM unless it’s an emergency ! Grr!). *sigh*
Anyway, speaking of Tolkien, the Genre Underground is hosting a Tolkien Reading Appreciation day sale.
And featuring 20 fantasy novels in honor of the master of Fantasy! Organizer, fantasy author Christopher Kellen, author Karin Rita Gastreich, and several others are involved, along with…oh, yes that’s right. Me. 🙂
The balance between good and evil can be an art… or a curse.
Trevor and Caitlin were once happy newlyweds, profiting from Trevor’s art. Until Trevor inherits his brother’s house, and with it, his part of a family curse. Now, Caitlin will stop at nothing to save her beloved husband from insanity and suicide, even if it means she must embrace her destiny and become a witch.
And if you’d like a fantastic dark short story (so I’ve heard it’s fantastic. ;)) House of Cards also is involved in Tolkien Reading Day Sale.
A young nobleman escapes the Reign of Terror in 18th century France to find himself dragged into an even worse fate–a hellish underworld wherein he is cajoled and put on trial by a demon tribunal for crimes he never committed. Can he thwart his fate, one worse than the guillotine? Genre: Horror, Supernatural, Mythic. $.99
Author’s Notes: In this story, the hero faces a trickster who gives him three tarot-related riddles and puts him on trial for crimes he never committed.
You can see Christopher’s post and the list of participating authors here: http://www.genreunderground.com/?page_id=336
So…go poke around, check out some great stuff, and spread the word. ;)Meanwhile, I’ll be catching up on some writing work I must catch up on and hopefully getting that review up here soon. Meanwhile, Happy Monday!
Brighid, Goddess of the bards, Goddess of the Hearth.
From the lore, we know Brighid is one of the foremost goddesses of the Tuatha dé Dannan. Variously known as Brigid, Brighid, Brigantia, Bride, Brigandu, and by a myriad other spellings, She tends the fires of the Smithy, burned by those fires, She is yet beautiful.(1) She lends inspiration to the bards and poets, and heals the sick; cries for the dead and dying; sustains the family hearth fires. She has been greeted year after year, on February 1st-2nd*, the Usher to the springtides, all the life that springs forth with its return.
The Great Goddess of the Celts, She leant her name, even to several of their tribes, and it seems, to the Island of Great Britain itself. She was even revered by the Romans, as another form of Minerva.*
*I wrote that seven years ago on my first website. That’s all true of her but you know, I love her for more than that.
Yes, simply put, I love Brighid. When I first started studying paganism, lo many years ago, she was the first I found–or rather she found me. I was in school at the time, and naturally needed all the help I could get in the test department. 😉 I was also writing myself into Carpal Tunnel. Writing every minute I could, even when I was supposed to be taking notes. Out of that came many, many attempts at novels, but that’s a different story.
I picked up …gosh I don’t even remember now. I picked up a book of goddesses and found her correspondences. She was the Queen of the Tuatha dé Dannan, the Irish goddess of hearth, of blacksmiths and most importantly, bards. Bards=storytellers/writers in the ancient world, and so I couldn’t resist. Thus, come the next full moon, began my devotion to her.
To say my creativity went off the charts is an understatement. *shows overflowing box of computer disks* And believe me, when I need it, when I’m slacking, she thumps me and back I go to the pens. 🙂 I guess it’s paid off.
I’m not saying they were very good stories, but I was writing and I was happy. Something, whatever it was, she lit a fire under me (see what I did there?) and it’s been glowing ever since. She even (sorta side-like) worked her way into one of my novels (*ssh* You’ll see it some day!). I wanted to release it on her day, but…oh, well. Not this year. Well, to be honest, I have several characters in several novels named after her, and she always seems to turn up somewhere.
I have a little book on a charm bracelet that reminds me of her and triskele that I sometimes wear for her. I collect those sorts of things whenever I can. (Should I mention the ground bees that populate my backyard every spring? No…. she’s not keeping an eye on me, no…:) Though I’m not exactly the domestic goddess she is, she keeps me mindful not to walk out on a burning stove (or not to walk out for long).
However, her fire burns more in my pen (and keyboard) and heart than anywhere else, and I was lucky enough to be born in Her month (if not exactly on Her day) so I think it was fated love. Or the romantic in me likes to think so.
I’ve been dedicated to her for years. She’s the hearth mother of my stories, and she happily has her place in my “Family”. As to the early spring thing, I can totally deal with that. The area I’m in, spring “springs” before the actual date of spring…
(Say that three times fast!) Sad sufferers you can begin looking forward to shedding those winter blues. They’re almost over!
Since today is Imbolc, my beloved Brighid’s day, I couldn’t resist saying something about her, here.
Would you like to read a bit more about The goddess Brighid? Try:
And just for the crafty ones among my readers, I found this how-to on a beautiful Candle wreath for Imbolc.
* This article says the official date/time of Imbolc this year is February 3, at 10:57 AM
(RE: Pagan Blog Prompts)
Okay, well, I tried to think of what to write for this week’s prompt and I just couldn’t. The prompt picker’s suggestion to write about black magick seemed too outdated, irrelevant and honestly quite inflammatory. I mean, aren’t we, as modern pagans, always trying to get away from the stereotype that we practice such?
Except for maybe fodder for a good fictional bad guy, it’s not for me and not a topic I care to waste any time on. And that’s all I’m going to write about that silly subject. I’d rather write about my beloved, Bright Lady, Brighid :))
Bright blessings to all who take the time to read this! 🙂 Oh, and … All hail Brighid!
And also, my historical fantasy novel, Frigga’s Lost Army is free there, too,
Juli D. Revezzo, author of the Antique Magic series and more 