What a great couple of days. Copies of Fire Dance have arrived, and the cover, inside map and chapter layout look just great. (You can see me leaf through the pages here.)
And to make my week even better… another Fire Dance review was uploaded on Amazon and Goodreads. It has me grinning from ear to ear. I mean, who won’t be bowled over by a review that compares Fire Dance to From Blood and Ash and Fourth Wing, two of the hottest bestsellers of the moment. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CSGCFMBS
In case you haven’t heard me say anything about this book (hmm, I know, I know, but I’m thrilled at how it’s turned out) Fire Dance is a fantasy with a difference. It’s a fantasy adventure and a romance and has a smidgeon of science fiction, so technically it’s a science fantasy. You can read the blurb below.
A terrified girl with a deadly ability. A penniless soldier who loves her. A lord with the power of life and death over them.
For seventeen years, Maia, a promising acolyte of the Goddess of Light, has hidden her unholy ability to conjure flames. But when she performs in the temple’s Summer Solstice ceremony, the Emperor’s envoy, Lord Quei, tells her he knows her secret. Quei threatens to enslave Vane, the young man Maia loves, and execute her as a demon unless Maia recovers coins that were stolen from him. He claims these will reveal Maia’s true nature and restore their memories of who he and Maia were in previous lives.
To save herself and Vane, Maia goes against her principles and resorts to deceit and thievery in her search for both the coins and the truth about her fire. But if what Quei says is true, the coins will destroy her beliefs about who she is, the nature of her world, and even worse, Vane’s trust and love.
These last couple of weeks saw me ticking off a few goalposts: the blurb for Fire Dance has been updated to reflect the novel’s primary focus better (I hope), and Fire Dance is finally available both as an ebook and paperback. I’m counting the days to get my box of paperbacks. That’s when it will finally sink in that the story is now done and out of my hands.
To celebrate, I’m pasting a passage from the first pages of the book which introduces the protagonist, Maia, a seventeen-year-old acolyte studying in the temple of the Goddess of Light. Maia has a secret ability which could get her executed if discovered.
Maia walked past the temple guard with an unconcerned gait. Reaching the stout door of the underground cell, she bent down to push the dish against the food flap. The plate was too large to pass, which was why she’d chosen it.
“You’ll have to open the door.” Maia looked over her shoulder at the guard breathing down her neck. She again stooped to push the plate against the flap.
The man grunted. “You could change the plate.”
Showtime. Maia let her gaze wander from the guard’s sandal straps criss-crossing his beefy lower legs, to his belted tunic with the dagger and bunch of keys hanging from his waist and up his broad chest—as if she had every right to demand and expect obedience. As if she were already a Sentinel.
He flinched, and the slight tension in her guts relaxed. The Day of the Mother was thirty-four days away. To the temple employees, that made her practically already one of the Mother’s chosen. One of the elite.
The guard dipped his head, his irritation at having to obey a slip of a girl tightening his face. “Prefect.” He fumbled for the keys and unlocked the door.
Even her title rhymed with her reputation.
The creak of the wood and the stench of sweat and burning beams released through the open doorway hurled Maia into the scenes of the nightmares that woke her up at night. Smoke filled her mouth; the crackle of flames and the sound of someone screaming numbed her mind.
It’s a trick of the mind. It doesn’t exist.
Maia tightened her grip on the plate. Perhaps she should have let the guard see her indecision and guilt and given him a reason to doubt the wisdom of obeying her. She would have had a good excuse then for not helping Dorienne.
She lifted her chin and hid her shortening breath and the shake in her limbs. Fear—especially irrational fear—was a sign of weakness. But the very stones round the cell door sucked in the light and air.
Maia stepped into the darkness, as thick and smelly as Cook’s kitchen on chicken-butchering-and-plucking day. A rustling to the left told her Dorienne was awake.
And after that (hopefully) intriguing introduction to the protagonist, let’s move on to today’s fantasy creature…
N is for the Nephilim
Nephilim are the children of a human parent and an angel. They often have a human appearance but are very attractive, strong and brave.
Nephilim have great powers but the type of power and their general physical characteristics depend on who they take after and who their immortal parent was. In fact, some Nephilim are closely similar to mortals while others more closely take after their angelic parent both physically and emotionally.
Nephilim can be long-lived especially as they don’t easily sicken. They are often the good-guys when they use their supernatural abilities to protect humanity and hunt demons or other evil-doers.
My ex-crit partner’s debut novel Blood of the Stars is out. I’m honoured to say that I got to read part of it before its release and it immediately hooked me. So happy for you, Karyne.
Harnessing the power in her blood could turn the tides of war—if it doesn’t destroy her first.
It’s been fourteen years since Prince Gaeren lost Aeliana, the childhood friend he’d sworn to protect. Haunted by the unfulfilled promise, he searches for a way to bring her home. But with threats against the kingdom from both a rebel faction in the south and Mayvus, a power-hungry priestess in the east, he only has time to follow one last clue across the seas.
Kidnapped as a child, Aeliana is desperate to be rid of the chaotic magic in her blood, magic her captors use to ravage the land. When she’s found by Gaeren’s rebel enemies, she joins their fight to rescue her mother from Mayvus, but her unwieldy power only serves to attract Mayvus’ attention. Aeliana must learn to control her magic before they reach her mother, or risk becoming the weapon Mayvus needs to take complete control of the kingdom.
Blood of the Stars is the first book in an epic fantasy series full of magic, intrigue, found family, reluctant royalty, & descendants of Stars on the brink of war.
For lovers of all things fantasy…
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Visions of the past forge second chances for the future.
Silas isn’t just a thief. He’s the best in Veralian. But he’s not the city’s biggest problem. As the leader of the Ashen Hawks, Silas has to keep a clear head, even when his younger sister gives him a piece of her mind. But even with her warning, he can’t resist helping a beautiful prisoner escape the city’s barracks, not realizing she’s the prize he was searching for. Lucca uses trinkets to see glimpses of the past under the military’s cruel control. When an emotionally damaged, yet annoyingly handsome thief gives her an opportunity to start over, she sets her focus on saving him from a danger neither of them saw coming. When the truth of Helgath’s experimentation is exposed, it will either destroy the Hawks or force them to rise above and become the corrupted country’s most notorious criminal guild. Dawn of the Thieves is a prequel novella in the Pantracia Chronicles.
**This book is intended for mature readers and contains violence and sexual scenes.
An enemies-to-lovers romance
Vendrick is my captor and savior, a man with darkness mirroring my own- fueling conflicting emotions. My instincts scream to despise him while an undeniable attraction sizzles between us. Abducted and thrust into Sayah in the treacherous Dark Realm, I am forced to endure grueling training to awaken my latent “Light” powers. They call me the “Chosen One,” yet they keep the true purpose shrouded in secrecy. Vendrick unveils the dangers and injustices of Sayah. It ignites my unwavering resolve to train relentlessly and safeguard its innocent souls. As we face mutual adversaries and delve deeper into Sayah’s secrets, we must find a way to work together. Every moment I spend in Vendrick’s presence, I risk surrendering my heart to him. I’m trying to resist the allure of darkness and fulfill my destiny as the Chosen One. But love may lead me astray in a world of perilous seduction.
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.
A terrified girl with a deadly ability. A penniless soldier who loves her. A lord with the power of life and death over them.
For seventeen years, Maia, a promising acolyte of the Goddess of Light, has hidden her unholy ability to conjure flames. But when she performs in the temple’s Summer Solstice ceremony, the Emperor’s envoy, Lord Quei, tells her he knows her secret. Quei threatens to enslave Vane, the young man Maia loves, and execute her as a demon unless Maia recovers coins that were stolen from him. He claims these will reveal Maia’s true nature and restore their memories of who he and Maia were in previous lives.
To save herself and Vane, Maia goes against her principles and resorts to deceit and thievery in her search for both the coins and the truth about her fire. But if what Quei says is true, the coins will destroy her beliefs about who she is, the nature of her world, and even worse, Vane’s trust and love.
How do you choose between protecting your family or following your heart?
Maia, her family, and Ryse, the love of her several lives, are desperate to reach their spacecraft and return to their home planet. Only Ryse’s presence there can prevent a devastating war from erupting. But Maia’s heart is torn: the spacecraft is too small to take them all and leaving means abandoning family members in a land ravaged by conflict and rebellion.
Their plans are further thrown into disarray when they attract the attention of General Dardarin, who suspects they are enemy spies.
With the enemy armed with alien weapons, with the rebellion entangling Maia in its web and with Dardarin following their every move, Maia races against the clock to find a way to protect all those she loves on both worlds. Even if it means sacrificing her happiness and her centuries-long love for Ryse.
Colours of Fantasy is an anthology of short stories that range from magical realism to sci-fi fantasy. They are short enough to be easily read while commuting or during a lunch break. Read about paintings that are truer than true-to-life, or the heart-wrenching decision Poseidon’s human son-in-law has to take, or perhaps you’ll prefer a glimpse of life after an apocalypse, or a story about a space pirate with an uncomfortable past.
And if you like longer reads, Colours of Fantasy gives you a taste of Book One of two series: The Hyllethan Gifts Trilogy and Fire Dance Chronicles.
First of all, congratulations Rita K for winning the Sorcery and Stardust Book Giveaway. And secondly, some book-news from my end: Fire Storm, book 2 in the Fire Dance Chronicles series is finally ready and the paperback is now available through Amazon (the ebook will be released on 20 April). I’m releasing both book 1 and 2 within a month of each other because I reckon most readers are like me – once I start a series, I want to continue reading it till the end. Books 1 and 2 of the Fire Dance Chronicles focus on Maia, Quei and Ryse’s story so book 2 brings their adventure to a (hopefully) satisfying conclusion.
The book cover for Fire Storm is the most romantasy one I have. I’m curious to know what feelings or ideas it brings to mind when you see it. Both positive and negative comments welcome 🙂
And now, on to today’s fantasy creature…
N is for the Night Hag
The night hag (or old hag) is a creature that appears like a shadowy old woman or a witch.
The night hag visits sleeping mortals and sits on their chest while triggering terrifying dreams. These dreams often reflect the sleeper’s wrong doings or fears. The night hag’s presence on the sleeper’s chest also results in the sleeper feeling a sense of suffocation or even paralysis till the night hag releases them from her grasp.
For lovers of all things fantasy… 6FREE BOOKS that all yell ‘Read Me’!
She thought she was magicless, but she is the most powerful one…
A high fantasy romance with a dark side
“…never trust a Pebble Pincher.” Terhese’s dream of becoming an Official is within her grasp. Weeks before she is to leave for the Sandstone Academy, her powers show their true colors. Instead of accepting this new identity, she continues on her path and starts classes at the academy. She is warned to keep her magic hidden, but temptations pull from all sides as she spends time with new friends on the beach in the sun and around the bonfires at night, passing the bottles of green and amber liquor. Shadows of extinct creatures and unraveling falsehoods surround her. How long will Terhese be able to keep her forbidden Ràej powers a secret from everyone she knows, including the man who seems too good to be true?
Falling for the prince could cost her everything, or make her every dream come true
A Cinderella-inspired tale of deceit and desire.
Spare to the throne, Prince Lonan escapes the tedium of the Gnome Castle to go for a ride through the woods on his trusty steed, River. Whilst out riding and dressed as a commoner, he collides with a mysterious young woman hunting pheasants on the Crown’s land. But neither are quite what they seem… Daya’s family has fallen on hard times since her father passed, she’s forced to put food on the table while her mother and sister work their fingers to the bone to keep the roof over their heads. Could a chance meeting in the forest be the answer to all her problems? When their worlds collide at the Winter Solstice ball and the truth is revealed, will the secrets they keep bring them together, or tear them apart? A FAIR DECEPTION is a companion novella to The Fair Chronicles, set in the Gnome Kingdom.
Fae magic and true love
A romantic, gender-swapped Rumpelstiltskin retelling
Get ready for a fast-paced, romantic, gender-swapped Rumpelstiltskin retelling. *** Years ago, Pel fell for a gorgeous Faerie . . . and enslaved herself to him in the process. Now, she’s making the best of it by using borrowed Fae magic to render herself invisible and steal from the wealthy at court. While she’s there, a handsome human man named Cole is arrested when his father claims he can spin straw into gold. Intrigued, Pel follows Cole into his cell. When she learns he has no such talent, she offers to help, if he’ll pay for her assistance. But a little help isn’t enough. The king demands he spin more and more straw into gold. Pel has grown attached to Cole’s generous heart and wants to truly protect him. But to do so, she’ll have to ask him for his firstborn. If she does that, Cole will never trust her again. And if she doesn’t . . . the king will take his life. Is it possible to find both love and freedom?
Moonlighting as the love of an alien rock star. What could possibly go wrong?
An Alien Rock Star Romance
Zoe Price will do anything to avoid being drafted as a Canary for the Human-Alien Committee—even if that means sucking up to one of the best-known aliens in the world, scandalous rock star Chaz Reckward. Unfortunately, Chaz expects something in return for his protection: he needs a wife, and he needs one now. As Zoe’s deadline draws near, her false relationship with Chaz is put to the test. Unless they can fool multiple worlds into falling for their love, they risk losing everything—and plans as elaborate as theirs seldom work as intended. This standalone novella is a sweet, PG-13 romance prequel for the Alien Rock Star series. It features a happy ending and can be read on its own or enjoyed with the other books in the series.
Is our default programming always correct?
A thought provoking sci-fi story
When a robot suffers a catastrophic system failure and is revived by a young man, it begins to piece together it’s primary purpose. But as a reboot signal is simultaneously downloaded, the robot must quickly decide which program is superior; its default programming or the one it created for itself.
She thought the people in her head were just her imagination, until she started to meet them.
Epic YA fantasy with a strong female lead
Alyssia Gale is a daydreamer. A liar. An attention seeker. Everyone she’s ever known has found a label to stick on her, but one thing’s for sure: she can’t be telling the truth. The flashes she sees of the dark and difficult lives of four other people, living in a world that’s not her own … they can’t be real. Alyssia understands that as well as anyone, even if she does keep catching herself thinking of the people she sees as friends. Then she’s pulled into that other world by blood and dark magic, and realises that everyone she’s ever known was wrong. To start with, her focus is on surviving until she can find a way home. Yet it doesn’t take long for her to figure out that where before she was merely a spectator, now she can change things. And with one of her friends being forced into an abusive marriage, and another trapped in the cruellest of prisons, there’s plenty that needs changing. She just needs to survive long enough to do it. What she doesn’t know is that something connects her to these four people. Something she never could have imagined. And it’s not long before she isn’t just fighting to find her place between the worlds – she’s fighting to protect her closest friends from a narrative that wants them dead.
And don’t forget to download my FREE book – Colours of Fantasy (see below for link) – if you haven’t done so yet.
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.
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 ability to manifest flames over her skin. But after she performs in the temple’s Summer Solstice ceremony, the Emperor’s mysterious envoy, Lord 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.
How do you choose between protecting your family or following your heart?
Maia, her family, and Ryse, the love of her several lives, are desperate to reach their spacecraft and return to their home planet. Only Ryse’s presence there can prevent a devastating war from erupting. But Maia’s heart is torn: the spacecraft is too small to take them all and leaving means abandoning family members in a land ravaged by conflict and rebellion.
Their plans are further thrown into disarray when they attract the attention of General Dardarin, who suspects they are enemy spies.
With the enemy armed with alien weapons, with the rebellion entangling Maia in its web and with Dardarin following their every move, Maia races against the clock to find a way to protect all those she loves on both worlds. Even if it means sacrificing her happiness and her centuries-long love for Ryse.
Colours of Fantasy is an anthology of short stories that range from magical realism to sci-fi fantasy. They are short enough to be easily read while commuting or during a lunch break. Read about paintings that are truer than true-to-life, or the heart-wrenching decision Poseidon’s human son-in-law has to take, or perhaps you’ll prefer a glimpse of life after an apocalypse, or a story about a space pirate with an uncomfortable past.
And if you like longer reads, Colours of Fantasy gives you a taste of Book One of two series: The Hyllethan Gifts Trilogy and Fire Dance Chronicles.
Caroline Sciriha 