I’m a big fan of the supernatural, of the weird and wonderful. All my life I’ve read stories from the heroics of the Arthurian Legends, and the Victorian Gothic tales. Tales of ladies pining away for their lovers, or of men dying for lack of it. When it came time to write my debut paranormal romance novel from The Wild Rose Press, PASSION’S SACRED DANCE, I’d spent many years intrigued with mythology. The world of the Celtic myths especially fascinated me so it seemed natural to move it into these tales. Here too you see such themes”¦ Time and again someone is risking their life for love, or wasting away from it.
See, for instance the story of Etain, a goddess of the Tuatha dé Danann who has the misfortune to steal a woman’s divine husband. The woman hires a druid to turn Etain into a pool of water, a worm, then a fly in order to try to thwart the marriage, all to no avail. Etain is reborn and indeed, marries the god.
There’s also the story of Oengus’ fateful love, “The Dream of Oengus”. Oengus therein dreams of Caer Ibermeith, a beautiful and young (they’re always beautiful and young, aren’t they?) woman, Oengus falls in love with her. Unfortunately for him, his love is so great that he wastes away until he can have her in his marriage bed. 😉 Fate always seems to win out in these tales, for ill or good. I suppose the lesson is beware the love of the fae, for though fair as a spring day, you just might have an Ordeal to overcome in the end.
When writing my new paranormal romance novel PASSION’S SACRED DANCE, I worked similar themes into my heroes’, Aaron and Stacy’s, storyline. Stacy is brought up to believe she might one day be overseer of a massive battle. The stories tell her the entire world’s fate might lie in her hands. Her ancestors have faced similar things, or so the family tales say. But in this day and age, who would believe them? Even harder to believe a man might come to whom she’ll lose her heart for good. She’s not the kind of girl to go wasting away for love, after all. The Ordeal, her path in life, is the thing to live for, the Otherworldly lover just a side benefit.
So when Aaron walks in, she suspects, but she can hardly believe it. The stories were all true. Now what should she do?
What would you do? Would you want such a dubious responsibility if it meant finding your for all-time love?
Here’s an excerpt from PASSION’S SACRED DANCE:
Stacy threaded her arm through his, leading him to the lobby.
“I’ll put in a few calls and see what I can find about the diary. And if I have to, I’ll go to Raleigh and get it myself.”
“If you say so.” Aaron pushed his sleeves up and she stared at the mark on his forearm. A Celtic knot ring of entwined ravens, horses, and a dragon.
“Where did you get that?” she asked nodding to his arm.
Aaron looked down at the colorful tattoo. “Somewhere along the way. Why?”
A dreamy look entered her eyes, and her hand went to her back. “I’ve seen the design before.”
“You have?” More curious about what she was touching with her fingers, he couldn’t think of anything about tattoos and ancient stewards. What did she touch?
His own fingers itched to do the touching. He curled his hands into fists daring himself to behave. “Where?” She said nothing, admiring his tattoo. She ran her fingers across it. Aaron winced. “You have cold fingers!”
She yanked her hand away. “I’m sorry. It’s just so pretty.”
He took her hand and set it back to his tattoo. “Even prettier now.”
She smiled a crooked smile, but kept her attention on the mark. “They almost seem alive. The animals, I mean.”
There was something more to her curiosity than an aesthetic appreciation for the art. An inkling of one of Laurco’s boasts entered his mind, but he shook the memory off.
“It’s gorgeous.”
A lazy thread of desire snaked through him. “Much like you.”
She bit her lip and pulled her hand away.
Aaron took her hand again. “Enough research. What say we get some lunch?”
***
(In this excerpt, Stacy’s ancestor Ruth has come to show her, once and for all, what she’s facing)
A slow tremor shook Stacy’s body. “Why me?”
“Because you have the strength to see it done.”
“How? I’m no fighter. Not like Casandra or Lilly.”
“You needn’t be.”
Stacy gulped in a dry throat and glanced back to the battle. “How can I overcome this? Shouldn’t we be calling in,” laughter bubbled up, “the cavalry?”
The field became a modern asphalt-covered street.
A semi-truck barreled past, and a van. A small passenger car rolled to a stop. Tires screeched and a sports car barreled into the back of the passenger car, sent it careening into the tail of the van that plowed into the back of the semi-truck. In nearby lanes, more collisions. Main Street was a mess of tangled metal and screaming horns.
An alligator padded into the scene, rose up on two legs, and hissed at the truck driver as he slid down from his cab, cursing. Harbinger.
Stacy recognized it now for what it truly was.
Metal flew through the air, and severed the Harbinger’s head. The truck driver cursed as he ducked.
More Harbingers descended. Sharp implements seemed to come out of nowhere, severing their bodies.
Twisted steel stuck out of gullets, and wooden shafts pierced leathery hearts. Heads and limbs flew off.
Blood sluiced everywhere as the scene exploded into a nightmarish tableau of war. Stacy looked away. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a familiar face. No, it couldn’t be.
She thought she saw Aaron in the fray.
She turned to Ruth. “This war’s taking place, now?”
“No. These are just small preliminary skirmishes. But the main battle will begin soon, and to decide its outcome, they need the sacred ground.”
For a moment, behind Ruth’s head Stacy saw a flash of something metallic. She realized she indeed knew the answer, she knew why Aaron had shown her the diary. She shook her head. “I can’t be sure.”
“What has he told you?”
“Aaron? Enough for me to think he’s crazy.”
“Is he?” A smile played around Ruth’s lips. “And yet you know what he’s done for you and for the sacred ground.”
Again those words. Sacred ground. Her voice seemed to escape her, and she could only whisper, “You haven’t answered my question. How can we be positive where the sacred ground lies?”
Ruth sighed. “Stacy, come now, child. Don’t be so naïve. There’s little time left to indulge you. You know where it is. It’s where you fell in love with your warrior.”
She suddenly knew the answer. Beyond Ruth’s shoulder, the clouds formed into a lead plaque cut deep with elegantly scripted words: Bitter Thorn Grove History Center.
Stacy’s breath caught in her throat. “So I am like you, like Casandra.” She gulped. “Like Lilly?”
Ruth nodded. Stacy’s stomach lurched. She thought her knees might give out. “So what is Aaron?”
“Look.”
Ruth waved a hand to the scene, and Stacy did as she bid. Yes, definitely she saw Aaron in the melee. He slashed at a scaly beast, and then turned his attention on another man, tall, dark-haired, who battled with another beast. He shouted, “Laurco, are you well?”
“I’ve got this, Irishman!” The man thrust his short blade into the beast’s snout. The Harbinger jerked and wiggled in its death throes and dropped as the warrior extracted his weapon. Aaron nodded and turned to hack through the neck of another monster. Scales and blood flew everywhere. The Harbinger stumbled back and fell into the path of an oncoming car”¦.
Stacy watched Aaron parry the next beast, its sharp claws wrapping around his weapon. He wrenched it free, and thrust its tip into the beast’s eye. Stacy winced. “Lilly lost to Balor, didn’t she?”
She noticed something like snow hitting her ancestor’s shoulders, and she held out a hand, catching a snowflake. Ruth’s sweet soprano was soft as she answered. “Yes. And we cannot let it happen again”¦.”
Her voice small, she asked, “How do I stop it?”
Ruth shrugged. “You were born knowing the answer, Stacy. Give the Bright Lord’s knights what they need to succeed.”
She bit her lip. Knights. “Ruth, your diary said something about a man named Isaac.”
She nodded. “Yes?”
Stacy turned her gaze back to her ancestor. “Did you love him?”
A soft smile bloomed on Ruth’s face. “With all my heart. Nor has death changed that.”
Will Stacy find the same kind of love with Aaron? You’ll have to read for yourself to find out!
If you’d like to read more, PASSION’S SACRED DANCE is available for Kindle from Amazon and coming soon to The Wild Rose Press webstore and other venues. I hope you’ll check it out and enjoy the path Stacy has to face.
Would you like to know a little more about PASSION’S SACRED DANCE? Here’s the synopsis:
cover art by Kim Mendoza
Battling mounting debt, Stacy Macken is determined not to lose her historic art gallery. When Aaron Fielding appears and offers to help, she fights to keep the attraction sizzling between them from clouding her judgment. He may be her savior in disguise–but can she trust him?
Aaron intrigues her with tales of the Tuatha dé Danann, sworn warriors who protect humanity from the monsters seeking their destruction. If Aaron can prove what he claims, she would give up anything to help–even the gallery he claims is sacred ground. But with her property set to stage the next epic battle, she needs answers. An old family diary will confirm the ancient legend is true, if only they can find it in time.
If the battle is lost, the enemy will take control of Earth for the next five hundred years. Stacy and Aaron’s budding love might only complicate things.
Thanks to the Coffee Crew for including me in the Book Brew Event!
You can find out more about Juli, PASSION’S SACRED DANCE and the Harshad Wars series at her homepage: http://julidrevezzo.com/
Blog: http://julidrevezzo.com/blog
Like her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/JD-Revezzo/233193150037011
Follow her on:
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/111476709039805267272/posts
On Good Reads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5782712.Juli_D_Revezzo
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/jewelsraven/
Shelfari: http://www.shelfari.com/authors/a1002694572/Juli-D-Revezzo/
On Twitter: @julidrevezzo
***
References: The Dream of Oengus, Mary Jones’ Celtic Literature Collective.
0 Comments