Happy Wednesday! We continue the Teen Reading Party and I welcome Marva Dasef, author of a fabulous series, The Witches of Gadlorheim, as my guest today. Check out these great covers:
Marva's stories incorporate Celtic mythology by way of Scotland. My first novel, Emily's House, incorporates Celtic mythology by way of Ireland, so I enjoyed this post from Marva a lot! And there is an excerpt of Scotch Broom so be sure to read through and check that out:
SCOTCH BROOM: Book 3 of The Witches of Galdorheim
A magical trip to Stonehenge lands a witch in the
Otherworld where an ancient goddess is up to no good.
Blurb:
Kat expects to have a great time on her graduation trip to
Stonehenge. However, from the moment she leaves the witches’ arctic island,
Galdorheim, she gets in nothing but trouble.
Her younger half-brother tries to horn in on her trip, she gets lost in
the magical Otherworld realm, is led astray by a supposed friend, then she has
to confront a Scottish goddess who’s fallen on hard times.
While dodging the goddess’ minions and trying to find her
way out of the Otherworld, Kat soon learns she shouldn’t underestimate the old
has-been for one second; the crone still has a few tricks that can drain a
witch’s magic in a flash. To make matters worse, Kat's brother secretly
followed her into the Otherworld. Now he’s in danger too. Kat has to go one on one with the goddess to
save herself and her brother.
Leave a comment to win a free ebook of any of the Witches
of Galdorheim. To win a GRAND PRIZE, read the posts carefully, then answer the
easy quiz on Marva’s Blog at http://mgddasef.blogspot.com
between May 27th and 31st. All the information and links
you need will be posted.
The Cat Fairy, Cait Sidhe
From
the Encyclopedia Mythica:
Sidhe (pronounced 'shee') literally means "people
of the (fairy) hills". It is the Gaelic name for the fairies in both
Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland. Usually these fairies are attracted to
those who are beautiful as well as wealthy.
Many
many, many, many writers are in love with the Celtic myths. I’ve delved into
them, too. However, I’m not a big fan of the flitty little cute faeries (or fae
or fairies). In Celtic mythology, there’s a fairy (or fae or faerie) for just
about any purpose. The “serious” fantasies love the idea of the fairy troupe.
More than a few equate fairies to Arthurian legends, many specifically to
Merlin.
The third book in the Witches of Galdorheim series, Scotch
Broom, is set in the Scottish Highlands, or, rather, the Otherworld which
is another dimension that exists within the Flow Country. Of course, I had to
include at least one fairy in the mix or I’d be violating some unwritten
fantasy rule.
If you write Celtic fantasy, then you know that Sidhe is
pronounced Shee in Ireland and Sith in Scotland. I wonder where George Lucas
got Sith lords? Hmm.
Anyway, I found a particular sidhe I liked. She’s a big
black cat with a white chest. Aha! I happen to have the model for said cat (in
a much reduced size) sitting at my door every morning demanding a handout. We
call her Bitch Kitty. Yes, she has attitude in spades. So, there’s my model for
Cait Sidhe, a companion to my erstwhile heroine, Kat.
Excerpt
Kat has already found two companions: Sianach a stag
and Cusith (another sidhe) a giant, green hound. They’re tromping through the
swamps trying to find the Trow King’s hall in the middle of the Otherworld (the
alternate magic world in the Scottish Highlands).
They marched on in a
straight line, having no better idea of which direction to go, while Cusith
zigzagged ahead of them with his nose close to the earth. Suddenly, the green
hound raised his head and bayed. A moment later, he galloped across the moor,
water splashing when his huge paws hit the tiny pools.
“What’s up with him?” Kat asked.
Sianach lifted his chin for
a better view. “He appears to be in pursuit of an animal of some type.”
“I hope he’s not hurting some
little swamp creature.”
“If he is, then the beast is
making Cusith pay for the privilege.”
Kat and Sianach walked
faster after Cusith, the dog’s trail marked by flying grass and water. When
Cusith finally stopped, Kat and Sianach trotted to catch up. The hound was
standing over something furry and black that lay on the ground beneath his huge
paw.
“No, don’t! Don’t hurt it,” Kat
called out. Cusith turned his head toward her, tongue lolling.
“I won’t. It’s not food.”
Kat reached Cusith’s side
and knelt down to examine the raggedy clump of ebony fur. It leapt up,
scrabbling for a foothold, but Cusith clamped his paw down harder to hold it
still.
“It’s a cat!” Kat reached out with
her mind but met the same blank wall she had with Sianach and Cusith. So, she
tried the old-fashioned way. “Here kitty, kitty. Nice kitty.” An ear-splitting
yowl almost knocked Kat back on her rear.
“I am not your ‘nice kitty,’ you
rude thing! I am Cait Sidhe; I’ll have you know. Surely, this stag...and
mutt...have heard of me.”
Sianach, who stood to one
side to stay out of the fray, nodded his elegant head. “Yes, I know you. Not
that it is a pleasure.”
The cat hissed and swiped a pawful of razor sharp claws
across Cusith’s foot. The big dog quickly released the black cat. “Sorry. Just
having some fun.”
Cait sat up and licked a couple of swipes over the white
spot on her chest. “Now you’ve covered me with mud. It’ll take hours to get
clean again.”
Although it looked much like a normal house cat, standing
Cait Sidhe would reach Kat’s knee. The cat had to weigh in at thirty pounds or
more. Both Sianach and Cusith were of the extra-large size, so she wasn’t too
surprised.
Kat stood and moved closer to the cat. “Hello. I’m Kat, a
witch from Galdorheim. I’m pleased to meet you.” She resisted the urge to
scratch behind the cat’s ear. She had a feeling she might end up with severe
lacerations.
“I didn’t quite catch your, um,
last name. How do you spell it?”
“S-I-D-H-E. Just like it sounds,
stupid biped.”
Kat gritted her teeth at
the cat’s rude answer but decided to stay calm. “Is that sidhe as in faery?”
The cat quit licking and looked at Kat with penetrating
yellow eyes. Curling her lip, she exposed gleaming fangs. “The pronunciation
varies, depending on where one is. Sidhe is shee in Ireland and sith in
Scotland. We are in the Scottish section of the Otherworld, thus sith is
proper.” Cait licked her right paw and swiped it over her ear. “Personally, I
prefer shee since it is more commonly used. Nobody seems to say sith anymore.”
She tipped her head in Cusith’s direction. “Except that dog, of course.”
“Um, okay. That’s interesting. Are
you friends with Cusith and Sianach?” Kat asked.
“Not even.” Cait Sidhe glanced at
Cusith. “Cusith is a mutt, or dog, if you will. And I am a cat. We do what cats
and dogs do, but we are not friends. Sianach, well, as a meat eater, I see
Sianach as lunch.”
“Oh, sorry. I just assumed since
you know each other—”
“Do not assume anything in the
Otherworld.” Cait Sidhe examined Kat. “What are you doing wandering around in
the magical realm? Witches generally stay in the mundane world.”
“Oh, I’m looking for King Connor’s
hall. I have messages, or I guess I should say I had messages. Someone stole them and took my map to the hall. Now,
I just hope he can get me out of the Otherworld in one piece.”
“I see. Well, I have nothing better to do today, so I’ll come with
you.”
“Sure, if you’d like to. Do you
have any idea which way to go?”
“I do. However, my path to the
Hall isn’t one you can follow.” The cat raised her head and looked around.
“Maybe I can find an alternate way. After all, I am a hunter, therefore I
hunt.”
“Makes sense,” Kat replied, a
little doubtful of the cat’s word. She had the same sense about Sianach’s
reasons for helping her. A private matter, he had said. The cat didn’t give any
reason at all. Should she trust Cusith? He seemed to be Sianach’s good friend,
so that might be his only motive for coming along on the trip. It troubled her
she could not delve into the minds of any of them.
* * * *
About Marva:
Marva Dasef lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband
and a fat white cat. Retired from thirty-five years in the software industry,
she has now turned her energies to writing fiction and finds it a much more
satisfying occupation. Marva has published more than forty stories in a number
of on-line and print magazines, with several included in Best of anthologies.
She has several previously published books. Her latest pride and joy is the
Witches of Galdorheim Series from her super duper publisher, MuseItUp.
Where to find her:
MuseItUp Author Page: http://tinyurl.com/MIU-MarvaDasef
Twitter Handle: @Gurina
Book Trailers: http://www.youtube.com/user/MarvaDasef/videos
