Today’s newsletter is going to be on the longer side as I’ve loads of news! First, I’d like to welcome fantasy author Cordia Pearson. I’ve known Cordia for years and I’m excited that she’s released her debut Iridesce in the last few days.
Book: IRIDESCE
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Author: Cordia Pearson
Hello Cordia, can you tell us something about your book?
Of course! This is the book’s blurb:
When your skin’s the wrong color, and eyes a hated shade of blue, life is one godsdamned battle after another.
All that’s kept me alive is the birthmark for which I was abandoned, the night of my birth—a Luna moth, symbol of the Mother Goddess, with its terrifying potential for magic.
I worship the fierce warrior who found and named me Thea. In a moon, I turn seventeen, and should he deem me worthy, will join his forces. Through service alone will I achieve citizenship and deflect the hate heaped upon me daily. Yet, my foster father’s mission to deny my desert people access to this country’s many resources troubles me.
A warrior mage I’ve never trusted swears we’ve known each other in other lifetimes. He sees a different path for me—one wherein I embrace the mystical destiny my birthmark portends.
Faced by this alarming possibility, I find myself asking: can I kill my own kind? Or will this mage, to whom I’m inexplicably drawn, convince me to give up a life of honor, for one of paradox?
Your cover is so striking. What are your thoughts behind this choice of design?
Quite simply, my cover artist is beyond compare.
Why did you choose this title for the book?
I sought titles reflecting each book’s theme in the series.
Tell me more about your protagonist? Why did you choose to write her?
Thea has been my obsession for more years than I care to count. Her story came to me in a dream that took me twenty pages to record.
Who is your favourite character in the book?
It’s a tossup. Kemu’s layers unfold slowly, which sustains the love between them. Rafi sprang to life, unplanned and a perfect foil for all the ‘you know what’ a writer heaves upon their protagonist.
What do you consider to be something fascinating about your work?
As an avid fantasy reader, I love magic arising from nature and the miraculous. Hope, justice, love and equality are my driving themes.
What are your plans for the future?
There are five books in the Day Without Dawn series. Luminesce will release 2024 and there’s a good chance Acquiesce may as well.
Who or what inspired you to write and why did you choose Fantasy?
I re-read Andre Norton’s books till their spines broke, never suspecting I’d follow her path. Apart from that,I was a horse crazed kid who became a horse obsessed Society of Master Saddlers Qualified Saddle Fitter and the breeder of the two time Grand Prix Pony Dressage Horse of the Year, Avatar’s Jazzman (also a Breyer Horse!) Horses are at the heart of my life and writing.
Thank you so much for joining me today. One last question: Where can readers find out more about you and your work?
Twitter: https://bit.ly/3EWJWc9
Insta: https://bit.ly/3aTtfDd
Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3tArLqV
Medium: https://bit.ly/3NRaQXK
About the Author:
Cordia Pearson lives on 80 acres in MN surrounded by a huge wildlife management area whose denizens visit often. Writing, riding her Morgan Horses, time in and on the water, yoga, dancing, gardening, and couldn’t ask for more. She writes about love, justice, and the exhilarating freedom of life on the back of a horse.
Link to book on Amazon: https://a.co/d/fhIe3rW
Update on Fire Dance
Now some news about my forthcoming release: I’ve received the edits for Fire Dance and I was happy to see there was little to change and update (apart from a number of missing commas! 😊), which means the book is ready for the final step: formatting. In the meantime, I’ve made the book available as an ARC (advanced reader copy) for anyone who’s interested in reviewing the book before its release. If you’d like to apply for the free copy, this is the application form:
Link to Google Form: https://forms.gle/mWaYmmvCxkbpY7f16
Or you can apply through Story Origin, where you can also read a sample before applying: https://storyoriginapp.com/reviewcopies/c510f544-ac6c-11ee-88fd-e38d8d619506
Blurb: What do you do when you’re tormented by someone else’s memories?
For seventeen years, Maia, a promising acolyte of the Goddess of Light, has hidden her abnormality to manifest flames over her skin. But after she performs in the temple’s Summer Solstice ceremony, the Emperor’s mysterious envoy, Lord Quei, approaches to say he knows about her secret ability. Even worse, Quei threatens to have her executed as a demon unless she joins him on a quest to recover lost coins, claiming they contain memories of their past lives on a distant, far more advanced world.
To avoid a death sentence, Maia must turn her back on her principles and resort to deceit and thievery. The truth might explain the strange wisps of memories that haunt her dreams. But it could also destroy her beliefs about the Goddess she reveres, the nature of the world she lives in, and her own identity.
Books and more books about… Dragons!
If you can’t get enough of reading fantasy books and love those that include dragons, I’ve great news. Click on the link below to see a list of fantasy books involving dragons. (The Hyllethan Gifts Trilogy books are there too 😊) And if you’re enrolled in KU, they are all FREE! Link: https://storyoriginapp.com/to/o4aeeTt
And finally, on to today’s fantasy creature…
L is for Lorelei
I first heard the name Lorelei when I followed a popular series called the Gilmore Girls, which I loved. But Lorelei is actually a beautiful siren who sends fishermen and sailors to their death by luring them onto rocks with her beautiful voice.
She is especially associated with the Rhine River because according to German legend she had once been a beautiful young girl who threw herself into the river when her lover betrayed her.
She was changed into a siren and takes her revenge by luring fishermen and sailors to their death.
Interestingly enough, a large rock on the banks of the Rhine River is named Lorelei. The rock produces an echo which could have given rise to the legend.
References: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lorelei-German-legend
https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Lorelei
Some self-promo!
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
Caroline Sciriha 