Welcome to our special event celebrating Celtomania! We’re happy to welcome paranormal romance author Susan Hanniford Crowley to share in our event today.

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CTR: They say “everybody is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day,” so are you really part Celt ““that includes a group of nationalities and ethnic or tribal elements such as Irish, Scots, Welsh, Cornish, Breton and residents of various islands around Great Britain””or just a fellow traveler fascinated by these amazing people?

Susan: Actually I am part Irish, Scots, Welsh, and Breton and more.  I also married a man who is three quarters Irish with family in Ireland.  A big hello to everyone, including our cousins, the Sullivans on Beare Island (off the coast of Ireland).

CTR: Obviously you have written a book with Celtic inspiration so please tell us a bit about it. The ISBN and buy link is always good and maybe some background or “story behind the story’ to pique our reader’s interest. Of course the Celts have long been known as bards, poets and story tellers so maybe that figures in too, right? You can provide a blurb here also!

Susan:  My ebook WHEN LOVE SURVIVES published by Tease Publishing is about a young woman who is half elf and half leprechaun.  All my stories come from my dreams.  I’ve always wanted to write about a leprechaun in America and dreamed about Regina.  I figured the leprechauns came over, just as my grandparents did.  LOL.  Here is a little bit more about Regina who met her true love while working to rescue others.

MAGIC
Regina O’Malley is a college student who’s just discovered she’s magic. Today is the first day of her internship at a prominent brokerage house at the World Trade Center, and she’s late. She doesn’t know disaster is right around the corner.

LOVE
Gregor Vasiliev is a financial advisor at the World Trade Center. This shapeshifter hates the office coffee, and while on a donut run he gazes out the window of his favorite coffee shop. There in the street stands the lifemate he’s been searching for. If he doesn’t act now, he’ll lose her forever.

IT’S SEPTEMBER 11, 2001.

ISBN # 9781607670759, and it’s available at http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-whenlovesurvives-362921-143.html

CTR: What do you think is the special appeal of the Celts to modern readers? There seems to be a huge enthusiasm for those “kilty lads” as heroes 😉 and also for Celtic elements ranging from ancient to modern. I know some of the Celtic based spiritual paths such as Druidry are also gaining many new adherents. Do you think that is a result of, a driving force behind or just a parallel to the growing fandom for Celtic romances?

Susan:  I think it’s the longing of the transplanted Celtic people to go home.  If they can’t, they want to spread the culture in their literature, art, music, and cooking in their new home.  It keeps us all connected whether we’re across the pond or in the States.

CTR: Do you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and if so what do you and your friends or family do?

Susan:  We always celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.  Our large Irish-American family gets together and has corned beef and cabbage, great desserts, and just talk.

CTR:  If you could choose a Celtic people or place/event to visit, maybe by a time machine, where would you go and why?

Susan:  I would take a time machine to return to Ireland when there was a King of Ireland on the Hill of Tara.  I would have loved to hang out with the last Druids of Ireland and learn everything they knew about healing.  Years ago, I wrote a non-romance fantasy short story called “Cecropia” about a Druidess in the anthology Sword and Sorceress XV.  It’s still available in used editions through http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/b/marion-zimmer-bradley/sword-and-sorceress-xv.htm

CTR: Do you have a favorite Celtic-themed book (besides yours of course) and what do you especially love about it? A fave author who writes Celtic inspired stories?

Susan:  My favorite Celtic-themed author is Hannah Howell.  I don’t care if it’s her historical romances about warriors in kilts or her paranormal romances with vampires in kilts, I love, love, love, them!

CTR: It seems the Celts are all known for their music. The folk music store is rich and loved by many whether the Irish dance tunes and ballads, the Welsh choral tradition, the Scots airs and laments or the evocative music of Brittany. Do you have a favorite Celtic artist or album? Do you play some of that music when you are writing to enhance the creative process?

Susan:  I don’t usually listen to music as I write, unless it’s heavy metal for a battle scene.  My favorite song is “Into the West” by Annie Lennox of Scotland.  It’s in the movie “Return of the King” in the Lord of the Rings series, and it’s used when the elves leave Middle Earth and embark on a ship west to their sacred land.  “Going to the west” is an expression in Ireland that was originally used to mean someone had died.  When the immigrations of the Irish started, many of the families left in Ireland felt like their loved ones had died because they would never see them again.  Now it’s nothing to travel back across the “pond”, and see the cousins.  Since we are west of Ireland, I tend to believe we’re the sacred land the elves of Middle Earth meant, and that’s very cool.

CTR: Before we say farewell, please tell us where we can learn more about you and your books, how to find your blog, website, twitter or Facebook pages, etc.

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Susan:  The story of Regina continues in VAMPIRE IN THE BASEMENT.  To find out more about all my ebooks ranging from vampire and supernatural romances to steampunk romance, visit:

My website and personal blog:  http://www.susanhannifordcrowley.com

My publisher:  http://www.teasepublishingllc.com

My romance blog;  http://nightsofpassion.wordpress.com

My Twitter:  http://twitter.com/SHCrowley

My Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Susan-Hanniford-Crowley/629298868

My next appearances will be at the booksigning at Fiction Fest http://ctrwa.org/ignite-your-muse/

and on panels and at the booksignings at Authors After Dark http://www.authorsafterdark.net/

Both are great conferences that sell out fast, so check them out.

Thank you for having me, or as they say in Ireland, “Go raibh maith agaibh.

CTR: Erin go braugh and Scotland forever!  Thanks for sharing this happy event with us all. Go in peace and watch out for that green beer.