Guest fantasy author Juli D. Revezzo

I have an amazing fantasy author as my guest today: Juli D. Revezzo who will tell us about faery godmothers!!!! 🙂

The mythos of a faery godmother

by

Juli D. Revezzo

Faeries have been around for millennia and have given authors a wellspring of inspiration. Shakespeare used faeries in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, in the form of Puck, Queen Titania, and King Oberon; even Chaucer mentioned them in the 13^th century. Before any of those, the Arthurian legends spoke of faeries, giving his sister Morgan the nickname le fey which translates to “the fairy.”

 

Originally, these fae beings were, at least in Ireland, the gods, demoted when the population widely adopted Christianity. It was Yeats, in his book Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry and Irish Fairy Tales (1888 and 1892 respectively) and (a little later, J.M. Barrie) who changed our perception of them from gods to the singing, tramping about little imp-like beings we are used to today.

 

These beings also mixed with other mythologies. Specifically the type of fairy we find in fairy tales like Charles Perrault’s Cinderella, who became a benevolent mentor—the fairy godmother. She flits here and there when called to change the unhappy maid’s fate. (Or in the case of, say, Sleeping Beauty, help after the damage has been done)

 

I thought about all the pressure this power and responsibility must lay on the individual faery godmother. What if she focused so hard on trying to succeed, that she inadvertently messed up, more often than not? Would she get another chance? Would she succeed a second time? If so, what then? In this day and age, can the faery godmothers even be sure we still need them? These ideas mixed in my head and out popped the heroine of my new novel, CHANGELING’S CROWN, Ianthe, with her story of exactly what happens to such a godmother when she makes a mistake (or three). According to her, being a faery godmother is not as easy as it looks.

 

What does happen to her? Well, how about a peek at CHANGELING’S CROWN?

Synopsis:

When Ianthe began her career as a faery godmother, she stumbled so badly that Snow White will probably never speak to her again. After a long suspension, she’s finally been given a chance to redeem herself…but everything on this latest assignment is going wrong.

 

But why?

 

Worse, she definitely doesn’t need an attractive mortal man distracting her from her duties. Of course, needs and wants are two different things.

 

Briak has had his eye on Ianthe for a very, very long time, but he’s been waiting for just the right moment to make his move. Despite the fact all hell’s about to break loose on his watch, he can’t resist the opportunity to insert himself into her earthly assignment. Can he convince Ianthe of her true calling and thereby win her heart? Or will his subterfuge ultimately cost him her love?

 

 

CHANGELING’S CROWN can be found at:

Amazon

Amazon UK

 Barnes and Noble

Smashwords

Createspace

 

And if you’d like to add it to your Good Reads To-Be-Read list, you can do so here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22431583-changeling-s-crown

 

I hope you enjoy this fun little read. Thanks, Chrystalla, for hosting me today!

 

 

 

About Juli D. Revezzo

 

Juli D. Revezzo has long been in love with writing, a love built by devouring everything from the Arthurian legends, to the works of Michael Moorcock, and the classics and has a soft spot for classic the “Goths” of the 19th century. Her short fiction has been published in Dark Things II: Cat Crimes, The Scribing Ibis, Eternal Haunted Summer, Twisted Dreams Magazine and Luna Station Quarterly. Her paranormal series Antique Magic and Harshad Wars are available now. CHANGELING’S CROWN is her first published new adult novel. She also has an article and book review or two out there. But her heart lies in the storytelling. She is a member of Independent Authors Network and Magic Appreciation Tour.

 

 

You can find out more about her at her homepage: http://julidrevezzo.com/

Blog: http://julidrevezzo.com/blog

 

Like her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/JD-Revezzo/233193150037011

Follow her on Author’s Den http://www.authorsden.com/visit/author.asp?AuthorID=167318

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/111476709039805267272/posts

On Good Reads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5782712.Juli_D_Revezzo

Shelfari: http://www.shelfari.com/authors/a1002694572/Juli-D-Revezzo/

On Twitter: @julidrevezzo

*cover art by Boulevard Photografica: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Boulevard-Photografica/328570713949354

 

Guest author E. H. Howard – Dwarves in Urban Fantasy

Today I have a guest author, E. H. Howard, who writes fantasy and has published the fascinating Amara’s Daughter.

 

Amazon US

Amazon UK

 

I now give the floor to E. H. Howard to tell us What ever happened to the dwarves?

Urban fantasy, a good deal of steam punk and I suppose most of the vampire genre borrow heavily from the oldest fantasy style, now described as “High Fantasy” (a term I hate, loath and detest by the way …)

Noticeably, the species that have successfully made the leap across the years are Werewolves, Elves and Vampires. Even the lowly Pixie puts in an appearance.

Leaping into the 21^st (at least) century, they carry mobile phones, drink, work and generally fit in with modern living. I’ve even come across dragons making the break into urban living, but I’ve yet to encounter the urban dwarf.

Is it a lack of sex appeal?

The slinky, leaf-shaped elven face of either gender is appealing. Add to that the inner strength, physical prowess and sensitivity to Gaia, the elf has a lot of charm.

Lurking in the shadows, the brooding nature of the vampire holds a dark attraction. In all the books I’ve read, I’ve never come across a chubby vampire. I guess most blood is low-fat, low sugar. The nosferatau bald head and fingernails quickly gave way to slick hair and charm. Again, these characteristics cross genders, and, after all, who doesn’t appreciate having their neck chewed under the right circumstances?

Offering their own hirsute brand of danger, we also have the werewolves. I’ve not encountered this in a form to appeal to men, but the rugged, wolverine, outdoor type is certainly on the edge of town, if not truly urban.

What does the lowly dwarf have to offer?

An unkempt beard is rarely attractive. A stare set at chest height is always a turn off.

The dwarf is a practical creature, even with the height and the beard issues. These aggressive, irritable guys often have their own gold mine. There are too many small, ugly men with good looking women on their arms to say these aren’t attractive qualities. Therefore why have they not made the shift?

Creating the urban dwarf presents challenges.

How will he travel? Seated on a motorcycle with swept back bars, our hero could sit proud. Sadly, the “mean and moody” look would be marred at the stop lights by the crunch of half a tonne of chrome hitting the floor.

The big four by four is out. He can’t get in. So, we’ll go with a lowrider. There’ll be a cushion on the seat, but we can get away with that can’t we?

And dressing him? Short and wide rarely looks good in a leather trench-coat. More like a dalek dressed for fetish, than a brooding hero.

Lycra – no!

Tee-shirt or vest and jeans. Too much hair. The mini-me ZZ top surely doesn’t work.

With his beard trimmed to stubble, his hair in a ponytail and a single-breasted dinner jacket stretched across broad shoulders, I think we have a formula. Add to this a lowrider muscle car and I believe we have a true urban dwarf.

Hang on … no wonder they dropped out of fiction. They’re all got a better gig working the doors at night clubs.

 

About Amara’s Daughter:

Carved from ice with blades of fire, the rigidly feminist state of Serenia breeds heroes. Unimaginably perfect, Amara the Magnificent, the legendary Ultimate Warrior is their greatest.

Five years since Amara’s mysterious disappearance, her daughter, Maryan, struggles to escape her mother’s formidable shadow. Shunned by most, her only friends are oddball characters from the edge of society.

The Queen sees Maryan as an asset to the nation, a pawn to play with and a pretty bauble to appease the neighbouring king, but lurking beneath the surface, an ancient terror plots to wipe out Maryan’s bloodline.

Friend, lover, and more, Amara’s Daughter is a turbulent, rite of passage story tracing Maryan’s growth from naive schoolgirl to the woman destiny needs her to be.

 

Amazon US

Amazon UK

 

Excerpt:

On the arena floor, Asti dropped her full weight through her knee on Barag’s windpipe. A short stab wedged her tiny scissors deep into the man’s left eye. She stood up and pounded them into his brain with her heel.

In the silence that followed, she pointed at the Queen. “If you won’t honour our traditions, maybe it’s time for us to change the leader of our nation.” Keeping her back rigidly straight, she marched purposefully across to the shadow of the tunnel.

Nobody moved and nobody cheered. The body of the fallen man twitched in a growing pool of blood.

 

 About the author:

Living in Cheshire with my wife and our two dogs (Milly and Molly,) I’ve run a successful computer consultancy for many years. The business continues to thrive and I feel blessed that people pay me to solve complex problems for them.

One day, we hope to spend a portion of our year on the Greek islands, where I would love to spend most days writing, but for now, I’m content that with three adult children, I’m being presented with grandchildren at a fabulous rate.

I split my writing time between short stories and novels. I love to take the challenge of creating a viable story in a reduced number of words for flash competitions.

At the top of my list of all-time favourites are CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien. Following them are Robert Jordan and Trudi Canavan, with a whole host of modern writers cramming up behind, including Kim Harrison (Hollows series), Margaret Stohl/ kami Garcia (Caster Chronicles) and Ben Aaaronovitch (Rivers of London.)

Website

Guest Author: Marion Sipe

Today I have a guest, a great author of epic and urban fantasy, Marion Sipe. Her epic fantasy book “A Sign in Blood” is free today, so if you haven’t grab a copy. I highly recommend it.

So, I give the floor to Marion!

Hello all!

I’m Marion Sipe and I’m here today with Chrystalla Thoma (Thank you, Chrys!) to talk about my epic fantasy novel, “A Sign in Blood”.

For me, it’s the characters that make a story.  While you have to have a good plot, and hopefully a fascinating world, none of it matters if the characters can’t pull their weight.  And two of my favorite characters from “A Sign in Blood” are Bastian and Carial.

They’re a lot a like in some ways, and totally different in others.  They’re both trying to make the world a better place, to help those who can’t help themselves.  They’re both rebels and renegades, but they come from very different places.  While Carial was raised in the rebellion, Bastian was raised in the temples.  In some ways, he’s more of a realist than Carial.  Carial is an idealist, while Bastian is practical and down-to-earth.

Because Bastian’s position as Full Rank Clergy puts him right in the enemy’s midst, he’s also more paranoid and suspicious than Carial who has been—more or less—insulated by the rebellion.  Until betrayal comes to the Underground itself, which rather flips Carial’s world upside down.  That’s not to say that Carial’s had it easy.  His people are constantly hounded, unable to settle, unable to create any real life for themselves.

So, while Bastian and Carial are from the same culture, and agree about many things, their essential viewpoints are quite different.  Which made their interactions a lot of fun to write.  While they strive for the same goals, they often have different ideas about how to get there.  They’re both caught in the middle of something huge, with people looking to them for guidance, and they’re both risking their own lives—as well as the lives of others—in ways with which they’re not always comfortable.

I also really love these characters because they’re not your typical “hero” types.  Bastian is a scribe and a translator, and if you handed him a sword he’d probably hold it between his thumb and forefinger.  He just wouldn’t know what to do with it, and he’d be cautious.  Carial is more of a fighter, but his people aren’t allowed to possess things like swords and, though he’d love to get his hands on some, he’d have only a little more idea what to do with one than Bastian.  Instead of eschewing weapons, however, he and his people make their own, working with what they’ve got to try and even things up.

He’s not always happy with the results.  There are times when he can’t do enough, or when the options are whittled away and he has to take the course of action he thought he’d never use.  Both he and Bastian are faced with some hard decisions.  As to whether or not they make the right ones… Well, go grab a free copy and find out!

To learn more about Marion Sipe, A Sign in Blood, or her other works, visit:

http://marionsipe.blogspot.com

Where to find “A Sign in Blood”:

Amazon

Remember that the novel is *free* today.