December | 2023 | Caroline Sciriha

I hope you’ve all found the time to relax with a good book over the holiday period. I’ve just finished Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary. Though most of the science was beyond me, it was an enjoyable read with an unexpected ending.

Moreover, I’m another step closer to publishing my second series, a sci-fi fantasy and I can finally reveal the cover for book one: Fire Dance. The graphic designer managed to mesh the elements I hoped to see on the cover – a suggestion of space and planets, a hint at the opening sequence in the book (Maia’s Summer Solstice dance by the monoliths of her temple), and of course an indication of the protagonist’s appearance and desire.

So, without further ado, this is the cover. Do you like it? Or hate it?

On to today’s fantasy creature…

L is for Lamia

The Lamia was once a beautiful queen of Libya who seduced or was seduced by Zeus.

When Zeus’s wife Hera found out, she killed the queen’s children and turned her into a monster with an upper body of a woman and the lower body of a serpent. This description originates from John Keats’ 1819 poem Lamia.

Following the transformation, perhaps out of madness, the Lamia became a vampire-like predator who drinks children’s blood and/or eats them. She also earned a reputation as a deadly seductress.

Thanks to Zeus, the Lamia has the power of prophecy and can take out her eyes and put them back in. This could be because the Lamia’s punishment also included insomnia and the inability to close her eyes.

References: https://monster.fandom.com/wiki/Lamia;

http://fantasy-faction.com/2013/fantastical-creatures-of-greek-mythology-the-lamia

Some self-promo!

the Hyllethan Gifts Trilogy: an epic fantasy

When sixteen-year-old Shael helps a mortally wounded messenger, he entrusts her with delivering to the queen three magical statuettes stolen from the Hyllethans, her country’s feared enemies. But Shael accidentally cuts her fingers while handling the statuettes and magic links her to them—any breakage or pressure on the clay is felt on her flesh. Shael’s fate is now inexorably tied to the Hyllethans, the statuettes, and the political turmoil in the land.

If you like magic, enemies to lovers, twists and turns, harrowing escapes and family drama, then you’ll enjoy The Hyllethan Gifts Trilogy.

Dawn of Purple and Grey, Days of Wind and Snow, and Night of Rites and Wraiths (The Hyllethan Gifts Trilogy) are available through Amazon as ebooks and paperbacks or as a Complete Series Box Set in ebook format.

Till next time,

Caroline

The graphic designer has started working on the cover for the new book. However, he’s suggested splitting the title to Fire Dance rather than Firedance as it fits better in the space. It does look better and bolder, so I think it’s a good decision though it was difficult to let go of the one-word title. What do you think? Should I have kept it?

I’m looking forward to seeing what the final version of the cover will be like and you can be sure that I’ll be sharing it here, too.

In the last newsletter I wrote about the protagonist – Maia. But what’s a protagonist without a love interest? Fire Dance centres around a tragic love triangle in the protagonist’s distant past which still has repercussions and echoes in her present life. The love of her life is Ryse, a prince from an enemy country, whom Maia was forced to marry to seal a treaty between their countries. Except in this novel, he’s more Sammy the pirate than prince…

To continue with what I started in the previous newsletter, this is part of Ryse’s character chart. Again I’ve had to leave a lot out so as not to reveal too much.

On to today’s fantasy creature…

L is for Lake Monsters

Who hasn’t heard of Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster? Yet Nessie is only the most famous of several monsters that live in deep and icy-cold lakes, swamps or other watery places around the world. Many eyewitnesses swear to have seen large, worm-like creatures with a horse or giraffe-like head which calls to mind a water dinosaur (the Plesiosaur).

The Loch Ness Monster is found in the Scottish Highlands in a 755-foot-deep lake which is 23 miles long. Nessie seems to be around 30 feet long as several humps have been seen above the water. It has small horns at the top of its head.

The first written account of a Nessie sighting dates back to 565 AD.

References: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Loch-Ness-monster-legendary-creature

Happy Holidays or Happy Christmas

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all a wonderful break shared with family and friends. Since the next newsletter would have been due on the weekend before Christmas, I’m re-scheduling it for the week after Christmas.

Some self-promo!