The Charm of The Celts.
Thank you to Karenne for having me as a guest today. I want to tell you a little about the inspiration behind my fantasy romance series.
As I live in the UK, I naturally explored the local Celtic myths when I conceived my fantasy world for The Magic Knot fairies. I live in Devon, in the English West country. A short distance away is the county of Cornwall, an area with strong Celtic legends. The rolling countryside with its wooded valleys and mysterious lanes, its ancient houses and churches, and its megaliths and rugged coastline inspired me to base my fairy world there.
In each of the books in the series, I take my characters to a different place. In The Magic Knot, the characters go to Ireland””I had a wonderful time visiting Dublin and the Wicklow Mountains for research. In The Phoenix Charm, I send my characters to Wales to face the Welsh Fairy King, who is also King of the Underworld. In the third book (due out at the end of 2010), my hero ends up in Scotland trying to survive the machinations of the Unseelie and Seelie Scottish Fairy Courts. I visited Scotland in summer 2009 for research, and had a fantastic time exploring the countryside and visiting as many castles as I could cram into two weeks.
I wanted my fairy characters to be human sized, so I tweaked the existing mythology and made my Cornish piskies tall rather than small. (These are what we call pixies in most of England, but in Cornwall, they are called piskies.) The heroes of both the first two books in the series are Irish. I love the Irish accent. Combine that with dark hair and blue eyes and you have my sexy identical twin heroes. The Irish Tuatha Dè Danaan are a noble race of fairies, supposedly descended from Greek gods, so they were ideal for my story. Just to mix things up a little, I gave my heroes some leprechaun blood as well. The hero of The Magic Knot has the leprechaun touch of luck, while Michael, the hero of The Phoenix Charm, inherited his powers from his father. I won’t give away what his powers are as they are fundamental to the plot. (The title gives you a clue.)
Celtic mythology has provided the starting point for my fairy world, but I like to give the old myths a new spin and also introduce some ideas that are just my own. The character of Nightshade sprang from my imagination. He is a black vampiric fairy with wings and silver eyes. He is a major secondary character in the first two books of the series, and his own book, The Ruby Kiss, will be out at the end of 2010.
I also have a story in The Mammoth Book of Irish Romance due out any day now. In The Feast of Beauty, I took the mythology of the Irish sea god Lir and created my own world from the current myths.
I’ve also included some Norse Mythology in my fairy world, although that only comes in to the later stories. I have a novella set in the Norse gods’ kingdom of Asgard due out at the end of September 2010.
I love coming up with titles for my books, and I often think of the title before I start writing the story. The Magic Knot, The Phoenix Charm, and The Ruby Kiss refer to something magical that is relevant to the story. I’d love to hear some of your favorite book titles and why they appeal to you.
To read excerpts of The Magic Knot or The Phoenix Charm, please visit my website at www. helenscotttaylor.com.
If you have a few minutes to spare, I have a free short romantic fantasy story called Jack’s Garden at the Dorchester website.
The Phoenix Charm blurb.
He’s Pure Temptation.
Cordelia has sworn she’ll abstain from looking into Michael’s future””particularly when the image in the gilded smoke of her divination mirror shows him half naked. Yet she can’t resist watching the sexy rascal slowly running his hand down his ribs, over his abdomen, flicking open the button on his jeans with a little flourish like a magician performing a trick.
She’s Trying To Resist.
Respectable wise woman Cordelia restrains her secret water nymph sensuality with the Celtic symbols painted on her skin. But Michael’s powerful fairy glamour leaves her breathless, off balance, struggling for control. When Gwyn ap Nudd, the Welsh King of the Underworld, steals away Michael’s infant nephew, Cordelia must work with him to save the child. But how can she trust her instincts with Michael tempting her to explore the hidden elemental depths of her nature and insisting that she believe in the power of”¦The Phoenix Charm.
0 COMMENTS
Debbie Haupt
15 years agoHelen I love the fact that you visit the places where your Faries live and that you made them human size. Easier to fit in our world that way.
And I also love everything Celtic, I think I was born to the wrong ancestry. My blood’s German but my heart is Celtic.
Deb
Helen Scott Taylor
15 years agoHi Debbie,
There is some fascinating Germanic mythology, which seems to be bound up with Norse mythology. I’m thinking of going to Bavaria on vacation this summer!
Helen
Sarah keery
15 years agoI love the fact you’ve been to the places you write about. I can’t wait to read this 🙂
Helen Scott Taylor
15 years agoHi Sarah,
Part of the fun of coming up with the stories is visiting the locations, even if I don’t really need to. Sometimes once I’ve been to a place I realise I could have imagined it well enough to write about it.
Helen
hotcha1
15 years agoHI HELEN!
I HAVE NOT HAD THE CHANCE TO READ YOU BUT YOUR BOOKS SOUND AWESOM! 😛
hotcha1
15 years agoOOD LUCK EVERY ONE GOTTA GO FIND A 4 LEAF CLOVER! 😆
Tracey D
15 years agoHi, Helen.
I read the excerpts for The Magic Knot or The Phoenix Charm and just loved them. I can’t wait to start this series.
Thanks.
Amber Leigh Williams
15 years agoHi Helen – I love the premise of this series and the Phoenix cover is absolutely gorgeous! I can’t wait to read both The Phoenix Charm and The Magic Knot 🙂
Amber
Karen Michelle Nutt
15 years agoLove anything Celtic. I’ve been to Ireland and loved every moment we were there. Scotland is next on my list. Your tales sound wonderful. You had me hooked with Celtic mythology, but throw in a hero with dark hair, light eyes and an Irish accent–perfect! lol
I remember a few months back you posted on one of the yahoo groups about the THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF IRISH ROMANCE. I have that on my to wish list at Amazon. I’m in the U.S. I don’t think it’s available for us until Feb. 2010. I’ll have to check.
Good luck with your books. I enjoyed your blog.
Beverly
15 years agoI love a good romance ~ and I love anything written with Ireland and Scotland in mind. My husband and I celebrated our 25th anniversary by going to Ireland and Scotland and I loved, loved, loved it there! I would go back in a heartbeat. Now when I read stories with anything Ireland or Scotland in them, I can relate and it’s so exciting!!
Patricia K
15 years agoI have always loved anything to do with Ireland.It started with Merlin and King Arthur. The cover for The Phoenix Charm is great. I can’t wait for any new book to come out. But is always greater when it your book.
horseunicornkey@aol.com
Gail
15 years agoI finished reading The Magic Knot and loved it. It was a wonderful read and I look forward to reading the rest of the series. Can’t wait to Michael’s story and he’s a real character
annalisa
15 years agoHi Helen!
I loved reading the Magic Knot and am looking forward to reading The Phoenix Charm. It sounds wonderful! 🙂
Carol Thompson
15 years agoI think it is great the way you use the various mythologies and entwine them in your stories.
There are so many unknown stories wrapped up in mythology and they deserve to be brought to light.
More power to your pen and have a good 2010.
Carol
Hollie
15 years agoHi Helen,
sorry i missed you yesterday, i love both your books and can’t wait for more. especially as i know the areas you write about. cornwall is a wonderful place i should be down there next weekend
Hugs
Hollie
Helen Scott Taylor
15 years agoHi Hotcha,
Glad you like the sound of my books. Thanks for stopping by to read my guest blog.
Helen
Helen Scott Taylor
15 years agoHi Tracey,
I always like to post excerpts so readers can discover if they like the stories before they buy them. Glad you enjoyed them.
Helen
Helen Scott Taylor
15 years agoHi Amber,
Thank for stopping by to read my guest blog. I’m delighted you like the sound of the stories!
Helen
Helen Scott Taylor
15 years agoHi Karen,
I received my copy of The Mammoth Book of Irish Romance that I ordered from Amazon in the UK yesterday. It has a different publisher in the US, but should be available any day now. I am looking forward to reading all the other stories in the anthology. I love anything Irish and I think there’s a mix of magical and historical.
Helen
Helen Scott Taylor
15 years agoHi Beverley,
Your 25th anniversary trip sounds wonderful. My dh and I celebrated our 25th in 2008 and went to Marakesh for a week. That was fun and very different to anywhere I’d been before. I have a djinn character in The Phoenix Charm and my trip to Morocco helped me research him.
Helen
Helen Scott Taylor
15 years agoHi Patricia,
Thanks for stopping by to read my guest blog and for the kind words about my cover. So far the couples on both my book covers look like the heroes and heroines–so I think I’ve been lucky.
Helen
Helen Scott Taylor
15 years agoHi Gail,
Thank you for telling me how much you enjoyed The Magic Knot. Hearing comments like that makes all the hard work of writing the stories worth while.
I had a lot of fun writing Michael’s story. He can be a a rascal but he has a special place in my heart.
Helen
debbi
15 years agoFairies, good-looking men, what more can you ask for. Theperfect bubble bath and candlelight type of books!
Anna Shah Hoque
15 years agoHey Helen,
I loved your post…I’ve always been fascinated by mythology. Your books sound really rich and intricate in the details of the fae world. I haven’t had the opportunity to read your work as yet but your going on my To Read list. Your latest release promises to be a great read.
Happy Reading
Helen Scott Taylor
15 years agoHi Debbi,
I could use that as a tagline–bubble bath and candlelight books!
Helen
Helen Scott Taylor
15 years agoHi Anna,
My favorite part of writing is making up the fantasy worlds. Glad you enjoyed my post.
Helen
Helen Scott Taylor
15 years agoHi Hollie,
I didn’t see your comment before. I’m delighted you enjoyed both my books. Thank you so much for your lovely reviews.
Helen