SNOW ROSES giveaway!!!! Free to any same sex couple who gets married or engaged this week!

Because Snow and Rose would be particularly happy about his week's ruling I am offering a free copy of SNOW ROSES to any same sex couple who gets married or engaged this week. E-mail me at featherzines@yahoo.com before Sunday the fifth to claim your copy.


After her father's death Snow shuts herself away in her grief cluttered chambers but she is plagued by more than painful memories. She will never be safe unless she forgets how her father really died. At last she escapes into the woods with nothing but a small knife. Rose leaves the sleeping village she grew up in for the first time in search of her missing grandmother. Alone in the woods at night she finds ghosts, a rabid wolf, her grandmother's mangled corpse, and Snow. Snow and Rose thrive together in the wood but hiding will not keep them safe forever. It will take something stronger than walls to conquer the dangers that haunt them.

Weekend Writing Warriors: WHITE HART #4

Hello bloggers! Here's my snippet for the week. Don't forget to check out the rest of the writing weekend warriors.


Gawain quelled the panic and bile rising in his chest. He rose to his feet and looked around him in the darkness. Tree branches rocked with the gentle hiss of the wind like a ring of spirits in a ritual dance. He wouldn't be able to track the hunter until dawn. He looked up at the sky, hoping to see some hint of blue blanketing the stars but they glared back at him in a cloud of blackness. A low growl sounded from behind him.
Gawain turned. He recognized the deep, scraping baritone growl even before he saw the single gold-colored eye glaring at him from out of the darkness. Balor stepped closer. Even in the black of night Gawain could see the vicious shape of his snarl and the thick intensity of his limbs as he walked.


WHITE HART will be released August 1st. Here is the summery if you think you might be interested in reading more.


Gawain of Orkney has not been to Camelot since before his father led a rebellion against King Arthur. Now that the war is over Gawain is sent to attend Arthur's wedding.

The night of the wedding Arthur bids Gawain to hunt a white hart -- a beautiful deer of unearthly purity. Gawain accepts the quest but the dangers of the wilderness become hard to battle when he is bound by Arthur's new ideals. Gawain realizes he may not be so different from the knights of the old, violent ways of as he had imagined.

Gawain does not have long to decide which life he wants to chase. Not all the rebels put down their swords when his father did. The knights of the old ways are planning an assassination and even King Arthur may not survive his own idealistic trust.

AND if you want to be a part of the WHITE HART cover reveal on July 20 e-mail me at featherzines@yahoo.com

Chasm

I don't usually post a lot of personal stuff but the last twelve months have been a really weird year for me and this is the most honest thing I've been able to write in a long time. So even though it's about my broken (working?) heart rather than my books I think sharing it might loosen up some of the writer's block that has kept me from any new creations since last June.


There was always a chasm between us, an ocean of distance, an ether of silence and unspoken resistance. Mine as much as yours even if I had never tried so hard to build a bridge, a raft, a word. Anything that could scratch through the surface, that would stop me from flailing and you from running.

But my touch was a shove. Yours was a slither. My words were a scream. Yours were a writhe. Every movement took you further away from me.

Was there ever a moment when you didn't want to go? When --maybe --you wanted to close the gap as much as I did? Or will there ever be enough distance --enough apathy --to satisfy you?

Did I have claws I didn't know about? Were there teeth I didn't see? I would have ripped them off if you had told me where they were. I wouldn't have cared about the blood or the infection that follows. I wouldn't have cared if you had been the one with the claws and teeth. I would have been your prey as readily as I was your huntress.

But you had no taste for me.

I feign no innocence. I have no self-less desires, least of all for you. But tell me you are happy in the ether you live in, your private void of protection. How many faces must you wear to convince yourself that you don't exist?

There is nothing in the abyss.

My words are a slather of mortar, thickening the space between us. Each syllable is another stack of straw just when I thought there was nowhere for the rejection to expand. I have lost more pieces of myself than I thought I had trying to close the chasm. It is an open wound, a gash in my flesh that refuses to be cauterized.

How many masks have I worn, searching like a ravaged child for the cure to this hunger? More than I thought existed and each one I thought was real.

Some deceases have no medicine. Some questions have no answers, no end, only echoes of themselves as they cut deeper and deeper into the silence.

What are words anyways? Sounds we invented so we can pretend that we are not alone, so we can imagine that any of us understand each other. We are all locked in our own ethers, our own private voids, the grotesque ocean of our own masks.

The chasm cannot be breached.

Character Interview with Cait Weerd from Simon Kewin's HEDGE WITCH

Hi everybody! Happy tuesday. Today we have fiftteen year old Cait Weerd from Simon Kewin's book HEDGE WITCH, the first in his Cloven Land Trylogy.


Hi Cait! Welcome to Taliesin.

Cait: Hey. Thanks for having me. This is kinda weird. Not sure why you're talking to me. I'm not special or anything.

Tell me about your connections to Manchester Central library.

Cait: So, my gran works there and I go and see her after school some times. My gran's cool. Nothing fazes her. She's always happy to see me. It can be a bit strange at the library sometimes though. There's a deep basement only staff are allowed into and there are all these old books down there, like they're being kept locked away. It's sort of spooky.

Are you much of a reader?

Cait: Uh huh, sure. I like reading. My gran's always suggesting books I might like. She tends to suggest books with strong female characters like I'm not going to notice what she's up to, trying to tell me I can do anything if I put my mind to it and all that blah blah. I quite like books with real people in, you know, set in the real world and that. I'm not really one for scifi and that.

Do you believe in witches?

Cait: Like, cackling crones on broomsticks? Er, no, don't think so. Although, like, who knows? Sometimes strange things do happen to me. It's crazy, I know, but occasionally I feel like I'm making things happen, if you know what I mean. Things that I can't possibly be making happen. Things that make no sense. I'm obviously just imagining it, I'm sure.

Tell me about your family.

Cait: So apart from my gran there's just my mum and me. My dad, well, he died in a fire a few years back. It was pretty grim. Still is, I guess. We were close and my mum, well, she's never really got over it. I still miss him. It's like I keep thinking of things I want to tell him or show him but I can't because he's not there any more. It's hard to get your head round.

What do you know about your ancestors?

Cait: My mum's family are from Chorley in Lancashire, which isn't too far away. Don't know much more than that. Except, from what I can gather, we're not from there originally. We're from somewhere else completely. Somewhere a long way away, but I don't actually know where. I should find out. My surname is Weerd which is pretty, well, weird I guess. And yes, I have heard all the jokes. Trust me.

If you could change the fate of the world, would you?

Cait: Sure, who wouldn't? But I'm not going to be able to am I? I'm just a schoolgirl. I don't have any superpowers. No one pays much attention to anything I do or say.

Do you have any conspiracy theories or do you believe the world is exactly as it seems?

Cait: You should speak to Danny. Danny's this boy I hang out with. He's always talking about conspiracy theories. Like, dark forces secretly running the world and that. He's OK, though. He's not crazy or anything.

What is your favorite flavor of jelly bean?

Cait: Lemon or lime or something like that. Nothing too sweet.

One last question. Who's this Danny fellow you've been spending so much time with?

Cait: So, like I say, he's this boy. We hang out together. We like the same bands. He's not my boyfriend, he's a boy friend. With a space. A space makes all the difference. Danny's fun. We're mates. That's all.

Thank you Cait for coming by. It was great talking to you :-)

Cait: No problem. Great to talk to you, too. Still don't know hy though? Like I say, nothing unusual ever happens to me...




Two worlds, one nightmare...

Fifteen year-old Cait Weerd has no idea she's being sought by the undain: sorcerous creatures that feed off the spirit of the living. She doesn't know they need her blood to survive. She doesn't even know she's a witch, descended from a long line of witches. Cait Weerd doesn't know a lot, really, but all that's about to change.

At Manchester Central Library she's caught up in sudden violence. In the chaos she's given an old book that's been hidden there. Given it and told to run. Hide the book or destroy it. The book contains all the secrets of the undains' existence. They and their human servants want to find it as much as they want to find her.

Cait learns the fates of two worlds are at stake. Just what she needs. Along with definitely-not-a-boyfriend Danny, she has to decide what the hell to do. Run, fight or hope it all goes away.

It's only then she learns who she really is, along with the terrible truth of what the undain have been doing in our world all this time...

You can check HEDGE WITCH out here on amazon!

The second part of the trilogy - WORM LORD - will be out this year, with the final part hopefully next year. Simon Kewin is also just finishing off a prequel novella that will be available for free later this year...

You can find out more about Simon Kewin

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Weekend Writing Warriors: WHITE HART #3

Greetings fellow weekend writers! I hope you are all enjoying the snippets (I know I am!). Here's mine for this week. The continuing adventures of Gawain on his way to Camelot.


Gawain dreamt of a white hart. At first he saw only moonlight, making its way through a course copse of trees. Then he saw a pair of brown-black eyes and the gentle curve of an animal's back. The deer dropped its head near the ground. Prickly pieces of grass grazed over his mouse soft muzzle.
The night seemed to stand still, fading into an unearthly hush. A brook rushed by, void of sound. Falcon wings beat overhead, sending a gust through Gawain's hair, but still he heard nothing. He gazed at the ghostly form of the deer, drinking in the fermented honey scent hovering in the air. An acidic light glided over the glade.

Gawain of Orkney has not been to Camelot since before his father led a rebellion against King Arthur. Now that the war is over Gawain is sent to attend Arthur's wedding.

The night of the wedding Arthur bids Gawain to hunt a white hart -- a beautiful deer of unearthly purity. Gawain accepts the quest but the dangers of the wilderness become hard to battle when he is bound by Arthur's new ideals. Gawain realizes he may not be so different from the knights of the old, violent ways of as he had imagined.

Gawain does not have long to decide which life he wants to chase. Not all the rebels put down their swords when his father did. The knights of the old ways are planning an assassination and even King Arthur may not survive his own idealistic trust.



Don't forget to check out the rest of the snippets here!

Finally! WHITE HART release date announcement!

Hello all!
Today is an exciting day because I get to announce, finally and officially the release date for my next book WHITE HART.

Are you ready?

*drum roll*

But before I tell you when you can get your hands on it I should probably tell you a little of what the book is about.


Gawain of Orkney has not been to Camelot since before his father led a rebellion against King Arthur. Now that the war is over Gawain is sent to attend Arthur's wedding as a token of peace.

The night of the wedding Arthur bids Gawain to hunt a white hart -- a beautiful deer of unearthly purity. Gawain accepts the quest but the dangers of the wilderness become hard to battle when he is bound by Arthur's new ideals of peace and trust. Gawain realizes he may not be so different from the knights of the old, violent ways of as he would like to imagine.

Gawain does not have long to decide which life he wants to chase. Not all of the rebels put down their swords when his father did. The knights of the old ways are planning an assassination and even King Arthur may not survive this new idealistic trust.


So now that you know some of what is in the book . . .

*longer, more suspenseful drum roll*

The release date is . . .

Hardly more than a month away. I’m so excited!

But I don’t want to celebrate alone. I would like all of you to join me in a four week blog tour, starting July 20th with the cover reveal.

If you would like to be a part of the cover reveal add your name and blog to the link list below and I will send you all the relevant information by the 19th of July. (My cover artist is AMAZING by the way. He painted exactly what I asked him to up to the Celtic stylization)

You are next... Click here to enter
This list will close in 32 days, 14 hrs, 52 min (7/20/2015 11:59 PM North America - Pacific Standard Time)

What is a blog hop?
Get the code here...

Linky Tools  |  Linky Blog 2013

But I want to celebrate much more than that! Also e-mail me at featherzines@yahoo.com if you would care to host an author interview, character interview (my characters love to be interviewed!), book giveaway (only given to the first ten who volunteer) or book review on your blog anytime between July 21st and August 16th. We’ll schedule it around whatever day works best for your blog. I hope to hear from you all :-)

Character Interview with Callan from M Garrik's book VANISHED KNIGHT

Hi Callan! It's really great to have you here.

Callan: Hey. *Smiles* Thanks for inviting me over.

I hear you've been having trouble sleeping.

Callan: Oh. Yeah. *Grimaces.* It's a problem that's been going on for years... I get nightmares.

What kind of nightmares? Are they different every time or do they tend to repeat?

Callan: They never repeat exactly, but they're usually about a world my father had created when he told me stories at night.

Were his stories scary?

Callan: Not really. They were very... heroic. A lot like King Arthur and his knights. My dreams just... Make it all bloody and violent.

That's very interesting, that your older mind adds a fog of horror to your childhood memories. Any guess at why that is?

Callan: *Knowing for a fact that it's not her mind.* Uh...no idea.

Tell me about your dad.

Callan: *Soft smile as her posture relaxes.* He was the sweetest man you could ever meet. Like...he taught me how to pick locks when my mother wasn't looking, and always told me bed time stories. Even when I was eleven and pretending that I should have been too old to listen. *Smile becomes a sad one.* I'm glad he never believed me when I said as much.

Sounds like you have a lot of good memories about him and miss him a lot. How did he die?

Callan: *Tensing. Wipes her hands down her skirt.* No one's sure. Some people think it was me, but the police ruled that it would have been physically impossible for me to do so... *Looks away.*

That sounds really hard to have been accused of that. It must be heart wrenching to have people think that you could have been capable of hurting someone you love. You've been in the foster system since he and your mom died. What has that been like?

Callan: It's...Well it's... *Little laugh.* Let's just say "It's not fun." I'm a bit of a freak, so whenever I get noticed, a lot of trouble follows. *Little shiver.* So yeah, I've learned to blend a bit better. Which means things weren't as bad lately. Just...not a fan of the feeling like I get recycled every time I get re-assigned.

My mom was a foster kid so I understand that "recycled" feeling at least a little by proxy. What makes you say you're a freak though? Everyone is a little different. Surely you've had people tell you that's what makes you special?

Callan: Let's just say my brand of special is way too twisted for public consumption. *Averts her gaze.*

Maybe you just need to spend more time with people with more sophisticated palates. The public does tend to be a bit . . . sensitive to exotic flavors at times. But we'll move to a lighter topic. Do you have any hobbies?

Callan: *Smiles* Yeah I love horse riding. My parents taught me and we used to ride together often. Nowadays, I work at a club in London as a groom. They let me help with training too, every now and then.

That does sound relaxing. One last question. If you could stop your nightmares and have any dream you wanted, what would it be?

Callan: *Wistful smile* I wish I could see my parents again. *Snaps out of her reverie and offers more of a grin.* Thanks for having me over.

It was good to have you Callan. I hope you get a good night's rest :-)



If you want to read more about Callan's adventures and (I suspect) self discoveries, check out her book VANISHED KNIGHT.


The entity living inside Callan’s soul orphaned her at age eleven. By the time she’s sixteen, it’s ensured her being shunted from one foster family to another.

Her thirteenth foster assignment should be routine. Except... it's not. A psycho in medieval armor kidnaps her and she ends up in a magical world. There, she accidentally discovers a secret her parents had kept until the day they died.

Both actually came from this magical world, but left before Callan was born. To cover their tracks, they’d lied about everything. Even who they really were.

Driven to find out where she comes from, Callan’s trapped in a race for life and death. Walking away isn’t an option, but if she stays too long, the entity will find its next victim.

In this world where secrets are sacrosanct and grudges are remembered, finding the truth will be near impossible. Especially when Callan has her own homicidal little secret to deal with.

One with a taste for destroying her life.

Now available for pre-order.

Goodreads | Amazon | Apple | Barnes & Noble | Kobo


And if you have a character you would like me to interview e-mail me at featherzines@yahoo.com :-)

Weekend Writing Warriors: WHITE HART #2

Happy Sunday everybody! I hope you are all enjoying a long relaxing day. Here is my Weekend Writing Warriors snippet for today. Enjoy!



He had been drowning, tumbling toward the bottom of the ocean and his flighty mount with him. Then he had seen the seal, smelled the warm, homelike scent of her fur, and opened his eyes here on the shore.
Homelike? The crisp honey scent had been nothing like the brine and heather of Orkney.
Yet the vision remained, imprinted in his mind. Round, gold eyes flecked with sea-green. A feeling of complete calm. He wondered if he should be dead. Or if he was.



Here is the summary if you're interested in finding out more. Release date is August first!



Gawain of Orkney has not been to Camelot since before his father led a rebellion against King Arthur. Now that the war is over Gawain is sent to attend Arthur's wedding.

The night of the wedding Arthur bids Gawain to hunt a white hart -- a beautiful deer of unearthly purity. Gawain accepts the quest but the dangers of the wilderness become hard to battle when he is bound by Arthur's new ideals. Gawain realizes he may not be so different from the knights of the old, violent ways of as he had imagined.

Gawain does not have long to decide which life he wants to chase. Not all the rebels put down their swords when his father did. The knights of the old ways are planning an assassination and even King Arthur may not survive his own idealistic trust.

Character Interview: Gaheris of Orkney

Some of you may remember this interview from a couple of years ago. In light of WHITE HART being released this summer I decided to have Gaheris back to answer a few more questions.

Welcome back Gaheris. It's good to have you again.

Gaheris:'Tis good to be had M'lady.

Are you excited to be leaving for Camelot soon?

Gaheris: I'd banish meself to the otherworld if it meant I could leave home. No space to stretch me legs on those wee isles.

Have you ever left Orkney before?

Gaheris: Once, but Ma kept us all underfoot. Didna get to explore much.

That was three years ago. Are you nervous at all about striking out on your own?

Gaheris: I won't be on me own. I've got me hero of a brother and ten years of Da's accursed battle training to look out for me. I suppose he'll expect me to thank him for that but flay me alive if I touch a sword before breakfast once I reach Camelot.

You sound confident that everything will go well. Are you nervous about the high king's motives for inviting you?

Gaheris: We'll be his guests but seeing as Da was his sworn enemy up until a few months ago and me brother Gawain is his only rival for his title that's just a soft word for 'hostages'. I don't expect he'll treat us poorly though. He has to please Da as much as we have to please him or it will be the battles of the eleven kings all over again.

You said Gawain is a rival for the tittle of high king. Explain that.

Gaheris: Me ma is Arthur's older half sister. Tittles are usually passed to the male heir but seeing as Arthur was a bastard son no one knew about until four years ago the tittle could have also passed to Uther's oldest grandson --- Gawain. That's what the battles of the eleven kings were about.

It must be hard for him to go from heir of all Britain to glorified hostage.

Gaheris: Ach! He bears it well enough. Silently. Dutifully. Our family has to survive one way or another. Arthur didn't strip us of our land and that's a mercy in itself.

Well I wish the both of you the best of luck in Camelot. Do you have time to answer a few questions from my readers?

Gaheris: All the time in the world if Da doesna catch me away from the practice yards.

Leave any questions you have for Gaheris in the comments!

And if you have any characters you would like me to interview e-mail me at featherzines@yahoo.com.

Thank you all for reading and have a lovely Tuesday.

Weekend Writing Warriors: White Hart #1

Hello bloggers!

Here is my Weekend Writing Warriors snippet for this week from chapter one of my soon to be published manuscript WHITE HART. Don't forget to check out all the other great snippets here!



Gawain groaned. A shard of light pierced through his eyelids and he forced them open. His head throbbed. Something clattered against the floor with a sound like battle practice against his ears. He gritted his teeth and pulled himself into a sitting position. A wave of pain spread down his spine and into his limbs. A whiff of garlic and onions filtered through his nostrils. He looked up at the flour and meat stained table beside him. A red haired child sat beneath it, scratching a wooden bowl back and forth across the floor.
How had he ended up on the kitchen floor?


And if you want a bit of context for that here is a quick summary :)


Gawain of Orkney has not been to Camelot since before his father led a rebellion against King Arthur. Now that the war is over Gawain is sent to attend Arthur's wedding.

The night of the wedding Arthur bids Gawain to hunt a white hart -- a beautiful deer of unearthly purity. Gawain accepts the quest but the dangers of the wilderness become hard to battle when he is bound by Arthur's new ideals. Gawain realizes he may not be so different from the knights of the old, violent ways of as he had imagined.

Gawain does not have long to decide which life he wants to chase. Not all the rebels put down their swords when his father did. The knights of the old ways are planning an assassination and even King Arthur may not survive his own idealistic trust.