THEY WERE FAE, THEY HAD TO BE IMMORTAL... by Vijaya Schartz

Vouvant walls - Postern gate

As I start writing the last book (#8) in the Curse of the Lost Isle series, I realize this project has been twenty years in the making. Twenty years? Where did the time go?

That summer of 1996, I was vacationing in my mother's village, in western France, a tiny place named Vouvant, voted one of the most beautiful villages in France. As I walked through the local museum, a silver and blue tapestry in a special exhibit piqued my curiosity. The scene of a noble wedding between Melusine the Fae and Sigefroi of Ardennes, first Count of Luxembourg. I did a double take. The date on the label: 963 AD.

You see, in Vouvant, Melusine the Fae is the local celebrity. Cursed since childhood to become a mermaid on certain days, she nevertheless married knight Raymond of Forez, with whom she started the famous and infamous family of Lusignan. Among her descendants are Eleanor of Aquitaine, Guy de Lusignan, Robert of Lusignan (Kings of Jerusalem and Cyprus) even King Richard the Lionheart. She built fortresses to protect the entire region and is said to have built the castle of Vouvant with the tower that bears her name in one night... to protect the village against invaders... but that was in the late eleventh or early twelfth century. So how could she be in Luxembourg in 963, even less marrying its founder, Count Sigefroi?

I could never resist a mystery, so I started digging. I went from local castles to museums, asking questions, visiting libraries, finding old accounts of ancient legends, translations and studies of medieval myths, gathering historical details. To my great surprise, Melusine the Fae appeared at different times in history in different places in Europe, with a similar curse and a different story. First in Luxembourg, then in Forez, and later in Lusignan near Vouvant.

I learned that her mother was Pressine the Fae, who married King Elinas of Alba (ancient Scotland) during the Viking invasions in the early 800s. Melusine also had two sisters, Palatina and Meliora. All of them cursed for abusing their powers in childhood. The only problem was, their story spanned too many centuries. From their birth in the 800s in Scotland during the first Viking invasions, all the way to the Crusades in the 1200s.

Melusine, Castle of Lusignan

The early accounts of the legends, written in the 1300s and the 1400s varied greatly. I found genealogies, scholarly studies of the myths, and a host of historical facts. The writer in me saw an opportunity. A series... a family of Fae... persecuted for their powers, roaming the medieval world in search of redemption from a curse... and they had to be immortal!

I wasn't published yet, but I had three manuscripts with an agent. When I returned home to Arizona, I told my agent about my idea and she gave me her blessing with great enthusiasm. So I started writing.

My agent shopped the idea for the series. No one wanted to hear about it. It was a mix of several genres, historical, fantasy, and romance. I didn't have a following to guarantee booming sales. No one wanted to take a chance on such a series... especially from an unknown author.

 

Melusine's tower in vouvant still stands today

In 2000, my first contemporary novel came out, then two science fiction novels. Many other sci-fi and romance novels followed with various publishers, but still no interest in my immortal ladies. My agent retired. I kept pitching the series to other agents and publishers. No dice. I put them on the back burner but kept writing and researching in my spare time. Over the next ten years, each trip back to Europe became an opportunity to research a different location where the legends occurred.

In 2010, I signed up with Books We Love Ltd, a Canadian publisher who was reissuing my back list of out of print books. They liked my writing and asked me if I had any original works for them to publish. I sent them the first book of my immortal ladies and they loved it. The rest is history. Seven books are now published in the Curse of the Lost Isle series. The latest, DAMSEL OF THE HAWK (the story of Meliora) came out last month, and I'm just starting the very last novel in the series, ANGEL OF LUSIGNAN, which should come out in December or January.

It boggles the mind that this series has been my obsession for the past twenty years. I hope the readers enjoy the experience I created for them. I'm going to miss these wonderful characters when I write "the end" on this last novel.

DAMSEL OF THE HAWK
Curse of the Lost Isle Book 7
in kindle and paperback: https://amzn.com/B01CH93SNM

1204 AD - Meliora, the legendary damsel of Hawk Castle, grants gold and wishes on Mount Ararat, but must forever remain chaste. When Spartak, a Kipchak warrior gravely wounded in Constantinople, requests sanctuary, she breaks the rule to save his life. The fierce, warrior prince stirs in her forbidden passions. Captivated, Spartak will not bow to superstition. Despite tribal opposition, he wants her as his queen. Should Meliora renounce true love, or  embrace it and trigger the sinister curse... and the wrath of the Goddess? Meanwhile, a thwarted knight and his greedy band of Crusaders have vowed to steal her Pagan gold and burn her at the stake...


The complete Curse of the Lost Isle series includes:
Book 1 - PRINCESS OF BRETAGNE (early story of Pressine)
Book 2 - PAGAN QUEEN (later story of Pressine)
Book 3 - SEDUCING SIGEGROI (early story of Melusine in Luxembourg)
Book 4 - LADY OF LUXEMBOURG (later story of Melusine in Luxembourg)
Book 5 - CHATELAINE OF FOREZ (story of Melusine in Forez)
Book 6 - BELOVED CRUSADER (story of Palatina First Crusade)
Book 7 - DAMSEL OF THE HAWK (story of Meliora exiled in Turkey)
Book 8 - ANGEL OF LUSIGNAN (last story of Melusine late 2016 or early 2017)

There is also a boxed set of the first 4 novels in kindle for a friendly price. CURSE OF THE LOST ISLE boxed set

HAPPY READING!

Vijaya Schartz
http://www.vijayaschartz.com

For the love of a Barbarian - by Vijaya Schartz

DAMSEL OF THE HAWK just released in the medieval fantasy series Curse of the Lost Isle. The story is set in 1204, after the sacking of Constantinople by the Crusaders, and I had lots of fun with the research. My hero is one of the mysterious Kipchak warriors who served in the Byzantine emperor's personal guard. Savagely loyal, fearless, and deadly, the Kipchak offered their skills for gold, and Constantinople had plenty.

As barbarians go, the Kipchak are full of surprises for a westerner like me. Raised in France, I always considered the hordes from the east a bunch of uncivilized demons on little horses, eating raw meat, killing, and pillaging. Although some tribes were more violent than others, and despite the fact that many lived in tents, these barbarians of the steppes, when they settled, could build beautiful cities, temples and palaces. There is also a gap in centuries between Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan, who was on the rise at the time of the story.

The Kipchak also brought with them a number of amenities we still enjoy today. They didn't eat their meat raw, they grilled it, and many of us still like a good Mongolian Barbecue. They brought us medicine herbs and spices from the orient. They traded silk and precious gems as they controlled the roads between the continents. They enjoyed fermented drinks, made from goat milk, oats and barley, and they could drink great quantities of it. They could hold their liquor like no one else.

While the Crusaders used a crossbow and fired their bolts in volleys, the Kipchak used a small composite bow of wood, horn and sinew, with incredible precision. They could hit their mark from a great distance, with a single arrow, from the saddle of a galloping horse. The Kipchak's skills as riders reached the point of acrobatics. Their horses, small in comparison to the enormous destriers of the western knights, could travel great distances in very little time, even in mountainous terrain.

Always close to nature, the Kipchak raised horses, sheep and goats, and they loved and respected their animals, although they rarely named them. They even had a white dog deity named Kopec. Of course, that's what I named the hero's white sheepdog in the story.

But there was also gold in the Caucasus Mountains between the Caspian and the Black Sea, and the Kipchak weren't immune to the fascination of precious metals. The women wore headdresses and heavy necklaces made of gold coins, especially the khan's wives and concubines.

Their beauty was legendary. The term Caucasian comes from their look. Part Asian and part Viking (the Russ tribe that invaded from the north), they had golden skin and clear eyes, very little body hair, and the men kept their hair short under the turban. They bathed often and kept good personal hygiene, compared to the often smelly Crusaders.

I will miss my close relationship to these Kipchak warriors as I move on to writing the next book in this series, which will be set in Poitou and Aquitaine (France), and will feature Melusine the Fae, the infamous lady of Lusignan.

Here is my new release:
DAMSEL OF THE HAWK
Curse of the Lost Isle Book 7 (standalone)
from Books We Love Ltd
by Vijaya Schartz
in eBook and paperback
http://amzn.com/B01CH93SNM

1204 AD - Meliora, immortal Fae and legendary damsel of Hawk Castle, grants gold and wishes on Mount Ararat, but must forever remain chaste. When Spartak, a Kipchak warrior gravely wounded in Constantinople, requests sanctuary, she breaks the rule to save his life. The fierce, warrior prince stirs in her forbidden passions. Captivated, Spartak will not bow to superstition. Despite tribal opposition, he wants her as his queen. Should Meliora renounce true love, or  embrace it and trigger a sinister curse... and the wrath of the Goddess? Meanwhile, a thwarted knight and his greedy band of Crusaders have vowed to steal her Pagan gold and burn her at the stake...

HAPPY READING!

Vijaya Schartz
Blasters, Swords, Romance with a Kick
http://www.vijayaschartz.com

Amazon - Barnes & Noble - All Romance eBooks  

How to time-travel without a star ship... by Sheila Claydon

Click here to purchase

What do you see? Is this just a derelict building gradually falling apart in a piece of forgotten woodland, or is it history?

Visiting Anglesey in north Wales recently, I came upon this tiny stone building while I was walking my dog.  It was at the bottom of a steep hillside, its roof long gone and its doors and windows shored up by wooden struts. My companion walked on without really noticing it but the dog and I stayed behind and did some exploring. Eventually we found a small notice hidden by an overhanging branch. It said The Old Mill 1325.

1325! That really is history.

I immediately went into a typical writer's research mode and discovered that the mill is situated in what, in the fourteenth century, was the village of Llanmaes. Located on the shore of the eastern entrance to the Menai Strait, it was an important medieval port that was briefly the capital of the kingdom of Gwynedd. 

By the end of the 13th century the village had become such an important trading center that it was renowned for its ale, wine, wool and hides. It also held two annual fairs and maintained a busy herring fishery. I could go on and tell you how it was eventually conquered by the English King Edward I, who moved the villagers to the opposite coast of the island, built a castle and a new town, and took over the port, but this post is not about the history written in books, it's about imagining what life was like in the days when the mill was busy grinding the corn into flour for the local population.

Nowadays the derelict mill is the only relic of the original village and the river is long gone, although I suspect the shallow, leaf-clogged ditch beside it will still have a trickle of water in a long, wet winter. There is absolutely nothing else left to show how it might have looked, however. The surrounding land has been turned into a golf course and the local buildings are mainly holiday apartments. Even the carefully managed woodland is more recent.

It has atmosphere though, and because of this the writer in me can see a young girl of about thirteen years old carefully carrying her father's lunch to the mill. She's barefoot and her long, brown hair is blowing around her face. The miller is hot and sweaty and covered in white dust and she can hear him shouting to her brother to hurry up and finish loading the flour. He grins at his sister as he hoists a heavy sack onto the cart while a stout welsh pony waits patiently between the shafts?

That's the beauty of being a writer. I can travel back nearly seven hundred years and populate the village of Llanmaes with villagers, reshape the countryside to fit my imaginings, and create a history that might have a vestige of truth...and if it doesn't, well who will know. 

One day I will write that story. Until then, those long ago villagers will live as characters in my imagination, long forgotten and yet somehow still alive.

A writer can time-travel whenever they want to; backwards or forwards. I did this in my book Reluctant Date. It is set in a place where I once had such a magical holiday that I never forgot it, and when I eventually wrote about it I populated it with my own cast of characters, reliving a wonderful memory.  To do this I had to time-travel forwards a few years in order to imagine what it might be like now and yet also time-travel backwards so I could remember. That's the magic of writing.

Click here to purchase

Sheila's books can be found at:

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She also has a website and can be found on facebook

The barbarian hordes during the middle ages - by Vijaya Schartz

Hard at work on my next medieval novel, set in the middle east during the crusades, I thoroughly enjoy the research, as I always do. In Damsel of the Hawk, Book 7 in the Curse of the Lost Isle series, my hero is a barbarian of the Golden Horde. He is a Kipchak warrior from the personal elite guard of the Byzantine Emperor Alexios in Constantinople.

Recruited by the Byzantines to repel the Turks, the Kipchaks had a strong reputation for honor, unflinching loyalty, and courage in battle. They were the ultimate warriors of their time. They were among the early tribes (like the Huns) to sweep from the steppes and invade what is now Russia, down to the Caucasus mountains, between the Black Sea and the Caspian, all the way to Turkey.

Like the Caucasian people of the time, my new hero has golden skin, blue eyes, and long black hair. He rides a small dun-colored stallion at great speed, can loose an arrow from the saddle at a full gallop. Like all Kipchaks, he wears a silk armor with rectangular iron plates called lamelles, a pointed helmet, and a silver mask to cover his face in battle.

The date is 1204 AD, and this historical period is critical. Constantinople just fell to the Roman Crusaders who looted the golden city. Far in the eastern steppes, in Mongolia, a little known warrior named Temujin is uniting the tribes under his command. Soon, he will become emperor under the name of Genghis Khan, and his empire will stretch from the Danube to Kamchatka and even into China.

Although the tribes worshiped many minor gods, the principal deity of the warriors of the steppes was the sky god Tengri. In Tengrism, Shamans officiated through blood sacrifices, visions and prophecy. But if their prophecy did not come true, they incurred the risk of being killed... a good deterrent against false pretenses, attempts at manipulation, or abuse of power.

Tengri was known to make plants grow and the lightning flash. Since Tengri was omnipresent, one worshiped him simply, by lifting the hands upwards and bowing low, praying for him to bestow good mind and health, and to assist in performing good deeds. It was the individual's responsibility to initiate those good deeds, and to consciously live in harmony with natural law and the spirits of nature.

Ancient alien theorists would have a field day with this mythology. All the descriptions tend to indicate an omnipotent being from the sky in a vessel as large as a city, where he lived with all his subalterns. Albeit the fly away paradise. According to legend, Tengri terra-formed Earth when it was entirely covered with water. He brought dry dirt above the surface, and created all life, including man. Tengri gave a soul to each human being at birth. When a person died, their soul would fly like a bird to the "fly away paradise" of the great god Tengri. An 8th century inscription in the Orkon Valley in Mongolia says: "All human sons are born to die in time, as determined by Tengri."

It was believed that Tengri assisted those who revered him and who were active in trying to accomplish his will. Genghis Khan himself, like many other kings or "Khans" of the steppes, claimed he drew his power and his success from the blessings of the eternal sky god, Tengri. Some rulers even claimed to be the direct sons of Tengri.

Tengri is still worshiped in the modern world in a few small Mongolian societies. By the end of the middle ages in Eastern Europe and in the Middle East, Tengrism melded with Judeo-Christian and Moslem religions. In some places, like in Turkey, the word used for Tengri still means God. Remnants of Tengrism can also be found in Tibetan Lamaism. The word "Lama" itself has its source in the creation myths of Tengrism.

If you like the rich cultural diversity of the middle ages, you may want to give a try to the CURSE OF THE LOST ISLE series. The boxed set is a bargain, and the two latest books stand alone. They are available everywhere in all formats, but until the end of this month, all BWL eBooks are BOGO (Buy one, get one free) at the BWL store. Find my BOGO bargains HERE

 

CURSE OF THE LOST ISLE boxed set
Includes the first four novels in the series
In kindle here: http://amzn.com/B00VGMYSCM

From history shrouded in myths, emerges a family of immortal Celtic Ladies, who roam the medieval world in search of salvation from a curse. For centuries, imbued with hereditary gifts, they hide their deadly secret, stirring passions in their wake as they fight the Viking hordes, send the first knights to the Holy Land, give birth to kings and emperors... but if the Church ever suspects what they really are, they will be hunted, tortured, and burned at the stake.
5 stars on Amazon "Edgy Medieval, yay!"
 

BELOVED CRUSADER
Curse of the Lost Isle Book 6
in kindle here: http://amzn.com/B00W3T24PK

1096 AD - To redeem a Pagan curse, Palatina the Fae braves the Christian world to embark on an expedition to free the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem from the Turks.
Pierre de Belfort, Christian Knight of Lorraine, swore never to let a woman rule his life, and doesn't believe in love. Thrown together into the turmoil of the First Crusade, on a sacred journey to a land of fables, they must learn to trust each other. For in this war, the true enemy is not human... and discovery could mean burning at the stake.

"... a vivid look at what life could have been for Pagans and Christians alike. Palatina and Pierre are so lifelike, one could expect them to step out of the page, chain mail jingling and swords flashing." 5 stars (exceptional - crowned heart for excellence) Ind'Tale Magazine July/August 2015 issue.

HAPPY READING!

Vijaya Schartz

Action, Adventure, Romance with a Kick
http://www.vijayaschartz.com

HISTORY OF THE ROSE - by Vijaya Schartz

Find it on Amazon HERE

These gorgeous long stem roses we know today do not exist in nature. They are hybrids manipulated by man for millennia, to enhance their beauty or their fragrance.

Most species of roses came from Asia along the silk road and were cultivated in northeast Africa and the near east as far as five thousand years ago. Ancient Zoroastrian texts mention roses with hundreds of petals, and the legends say that originally the rose didn’t have thorns. The thorns only appeared when evil descended to earth.

Alexander the Great discovered the rose in Persia, and the Roman emperors soon followed in his steps and fell in love with it. The Romans brought the white rose with them all the way to England where it flourished. In Rome, they used it lavishly and even to excess. Nero was known to bury his banquet guests under mounds of rose petals, to the point of suffocation. After the fall of the Roman Empire, during the dark ages and the barbarian invasions, the rose that had symbolized the oppressor was shunned in most of Europe and mostly forgotten. The early middle ages only knew the primrose, the hawthorn, climbing rose vines, and other wild varieties of the rose family, native to Europe.

As Islam spread over the middle east, the oriental rose supplanted the lotus as the queen of all flowers. The Turks and the Persians of the time believed that roses were born from drops of sweat from their holy prophet. Soon, the passion for roses spread to Arabia. As early as the tenth century, the Arabs, who perfected the process of distilling perfumes, traded rose water and rose-perfumed oils as valuable commodities to their occupied territories in Spain, and even to China.

In the twelfth century, the Crusaders returning from Jerusalem and Constantinople brought the beautiful rose back to Europe, along with its legends, its fragrance, and its healing powers. Robert de Brie brought to France the Damask rose. With new influx from the middle east, rose water became the rich women’s favorite luxury. So much so that the most ascetic leaders of the Church felt the need to forbid such decadence, considering it sinful.

It didn’t prevent medieval women from growing their own rose gardens inside the walls of their fortresses, where they enjoyed spinning, sewing, and embroidering among the fragrant flowers. Soon they learned to distill their own rose water and later made their own perfumes, especially in Provence, where the climate allows the flowers to grow in abundance.

Queen Eleanor of Provence, who married Henry III of England, was the first to adopt a white rose as her family emblem. Her son Edward also chose a rose. The houses of York and Lancaster made their family symbols famous in the War of the Roses. Later, the Tudors combined the two roses into a double rose.

Rosa in Latin is the verb “to love,” and Rose in French is the color pink, the color of most wild roses. In late medieval times, the rose became a cherished symbol in many courtly love stories and legends. My Curse of the Lost Isle series is inspired by such authentic legends.

 

BELOVED CRUSADER

Curse of the Lost Isle Book Six (standalone)

http://amzn.com/B00W3T24PK

 

1096 AD ‑ To redeem a Pagan curse, Palatina the Fae braves the Christian world to embark on an expedition to free the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem from the Turks. Pierre de Belfort, Christian Knight of Lorraine, swore never to let a woman rule his life, and doesn't believe in love. Thrown together into the turmoil of the First Crusade, on a sacred journey to a land of fables, they must learn to trust each other. For in this war, the true enemy is not human... and discovery could mean burning at the stake.

Vijaya Schartz
 Blasters, Swords, Romance with a Kick
 http://www.vijayaschartz.com 

http://bookswelove.net/authors/schartz-vijaya/

The medieval sound of the horn - by Vijaya Schartz

Nothing says medieval like the sound of a horn in the distance, filling a valley, bouncing off mountains, and reminding everyone around that something important, or dreadful, was about to happen. These horns were made of animal horns or ivory, hence the name. Often they were sculpted or engraved with intricate carvings.

My first recollection of reading about such horns was in school, while learning about Charlemagne and his loyal nephew Roland, who was isolated and attacked at the end of the column, by the enemy, in the Pyrenees. The mournful sound of Roland's horn, named Oliphant, called for help but remained unheard by Charlemagne at the front of the legion. As a result, Roland was killed, despite his unbreakable sword, Durandal. At the time it was a tragedy. Roland was Charlemagne's favorite nephew, and history says that he was betrayed by the knight Ganelon.

 Nothing can set the mood in a medieval novel, like the sound of a horn. Every time I read or write about it, it gives me goosebumps. Whether it's a village fire, an invasion, a natural danger, the horn is often a precursor of calamity.

Even now, we use sirens to warn the population of tsumani, tornadoes, and other dangers. Their sound imitates the mournful lament of the ancient horn.

In BELOVED CRUSADER, my latest book in the Curse of the Lost Isle series, the Crusaders, like the armies of Charlemagne, set out and stop to the sound of the horn. Actually, they also take the Charlemagne road, that crossed Europe from its northern point to the famed city of Constantinople. Hope you enjoy the read.

Vijaya Schartz, author

Blasters, Swords, Romance with a Kick

http://www.vijayaschartz.com

http://bookswelove.net/authors/schartz-vijaya/ 

SURPRISING ORIGINS OF HOLIDAY TRADITIONS by Vijaya Schartz

As I researched my medieval series, The Curse of the Lost Isle, I was reminded of old holiday traditions, and discovered a few had surprising origins.

Whether we celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, the Saturnalia, the new year, or any other holiday tradition, we usually believe the origins are specific to a religion or simply marking the passage of time. Not so. Our traditions are an amalgam of many Druid, Pagan, Norse, Celtic, Greek, Roman and other old traditions, passed on and adapted to the changing beliefs of the time.

Historically, fifteen thousand years ago, well before Christianity, our ancestors celebrated the winter solstice shortly after December 21st. Not just in Europe, but all over the northern hemisphere. When they noticed the darkness receding as the days grew longer, they celebrated their hope for the return of long, sunny days. That was enough to rejoice, although many superstitions and traditions were added to the celebrations. Archeological digs near Stonehenge revealed a multitude of animal bones believed to be the remnants of sacrifices to the gods, and extensive feasting involving gatherings of thousands of people for the winter solstice.

The rise of Christianity proved laborious, often imposed at the point of a sword. Many older cultures already entrenched in their own customs, refused to abandon their cherished traditions in the name of the new religion. Unable to prevent the newly converted Christians from celebrating their old Pagan holidays, the Church leaders in the fourth century instituted a new holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus (the existence of whom many Christians tended to refute) on December 25th, so it would stand at the heart of the formerly Pagan celebrations. Thus, the old traditions remained, in the name of a different god.

Scholars have long ago determined that according to the seasonal details in the scriptures, Christ would have been born during the spring, when the flocks of sheep pastured in the hills. Besides, according to the astrologers of the time, Jesus brought forth the age of the Pisces (the fish is still a strong Christian symbol), and according to the Zodiac, would have been a Pisces himself, consequently born in March.

Other customs, like decorating houses with lights and hitting the shopping malls, are quite recent. Queen Victoria started the trend of gift giving at Christmas, and in the Twentieth Century it gave birth to an entire industry. She also promoted the Christmas tree.

As for the Christmas tree, Norse and other Pagan cultures used to cut boughs of evergreen in winter and move them into the home or temple, then decorated them. Modern-day Pagans still do. An English monk who'd traveled to Germany, brought the tradition to England in the Seventeenth Century. When I was a child in France, the local priest forbade his parishioners to have a decorated tree, as it was considered a heathen tradition. Only a Nativity scene graced our home at Christmas time.

In my father's family in Western France, Santa Claus or Pere Noel (Father Christmas) was also forbidden to good Catholics well into the 1960s. The myth of Father Christmas dashing through the sky in his sleigh derives from old Pagan spirits flying through the sky at mid winter. My cousins were told that Jesus himself came through the chimney at night to bring presents to well behaved children. Even the good St. Nicholas (who eventually became Santa Claus) was shunned by the Church for centuries for its Pagan overtones. The early Puritans of the East coast also banned the Christmas celebrations for centuries because of their Pagan roots... and the heavy drinking and excesses usually accompanying the festivities.

Kissing under the lucky sprig of mistletoe is a Greek Saturnalia tradition. Mistletoe was sacred to the Greeks and the Celts as well as the Druids. It also had magical powers, and was the center of many fertility rituals. But it didn't correspond with the New Year at the time.

The New year started on March 25, until Pope Gregory XIII instituted the new calendar in 1582. If you look closely at our modern calendar, the names of the months are all wrong. While the first months wear the names of Roman gods and emperors, September (according to the Latin roots) means the seventh month, October the eighth month, November the ninth month, and December the tenth month. This is because as Pope Gregory changed the date of the new year and promoted January to the first month of the year, the names of the calendar months remained the same.

This said, I believe the holidays should be a time of rejoicing, celebrating all the traditions of Earth's many rich cultures. After all, with the explosion of cyber-media, we will soon be one people embracing all traditions, coming together with love and forgiveness at year's end, each making resolutions of becoming a better person for the benefit of all. I wish you the best of holidays this year, and lots of happiness in the New Year.

Vijaya Schartz
Blasters, Swords, Romance with a Kick
http://www.vijayaschartz.com

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In search of the Naga by Vijaya Schartz

My next novel in the Curse of the Lost Isle series, tentatively titled BELOVED CRUSADER, is scheduled for early 2015 from Books We Love. In that novel, the villain is a Naga. For this medieval fantasy romance, I needed a shape shifter to do the will of the Goddess, one that could attack on sacred ground.

I considered a Djinn, or a demon, but dismissed them as overused. Besides, demons cannot take human shape, and they cannot function on sacred ground. So I kept digging for something that would resonate with the serpent symbols of the Pagan beliefs of the time.

Then I remembered the strange bas-reliefs found in ancient temples in India, and the legends of the Naga. Although these are not depicted as legends, but as historical facts, according to these ancient texts. These looked very much like Melusine the Fae when her curse transforms her into an Ondine, once a month, and she becomes a serpent from the waist down.

Naga in India means python. The ancient Naga were a gentle people, half human and half serpent, who could take human form and travel between dimensions. But my research revealed that among them was once a male Naga who had a predilection for human females and bloody murder. So much so that he was forever banished. His name was Sadangula, and he is the villain of my next novel.

I like a good villain, and Sadangula certainly fits the profile. One wonders if such a creature did not inspire later descriptions of the devil.

So, look for a twisted shape shifter to wreak havoc among the Crusaders and threatening my heroine, in the next installment of the Curse of the Lost Isle series, BELOVED CRUSADER.

In the meantime, I'm having fun writing the story, and researching as I go, because no matter how much research I do in advance, I still research every detail as I go, because I think historical accuracy is foremost, even when writing medieval fantasy.

Wishing you a great Halloween. Have fun, and stay clear of Sadangula if you happen to meet him on the night when ghouls and demons roam the streets.

Vijaya Schartz
Romance with a Kick
http://www.vijayaschartz.com

Writing the legends - by Vijaya Schartz

Frontispice of Melusine in Lusignan, France

In the French countryside where my father was born, the birth place of Merlin, near Broceliande, legends of Melusine the Fae abound. She lived notoriously in Lusignan, built the tower of Vouvant in one night to save the villagers from the invaders. Wherever you turn, you see the legendary ondine gracing the signs of the local taverns, the bakery, the museum. There, Melusine is alive, and part of history as well as legend. But very few are familiar with the entire scope of her story.

The Melusine Tower, Vouvant, France, built in one night.
Never mind that the base and the top are from different periods.

While visiting the Melusine Museum in Vouvant, years ago, I came upon a special exhibit that included a puzzling tapestry. It depicted the wedding of Sigefroi of Luxembourg with Melusine, in 963 AD. 963? The Melusine I had come to know had lived centuries later. How was this possible? Then I discovered many more legends of Melusine, her mother, and her two sisters, in the local folklore of various European localities at different times in history. As if the same family of Fae, immortal by nature, had survived through the centuries, each time with the same personality, each time afflicted by the same curse, for abusing their supernatural powers in childhood...

Excited by that discovery, I set upon a decade of research to connect all the dots. Yes an entire decade. While writing other books, I actively pored over ancient translations, old texts, I traveled to France to tiny libraries and museums holding on to their local legendary roots... until I put together the many pieces of that incredible puzzle, to uncover the entire picture. Only then did I understand what I had... enough fantastic material to write the most exciting medieval fantasy series.

My agent was very excited and prompted me to write the series. But publishers at the time did not receive it well. They thought the readers would not buy medieval fantasy... unless it was vampires. Well, my immortals are not vampires. Finally, Books We Love gave this series a chance, and I am grateful. Five books are out right now, with a sixth to be released early next year. More will follow as the tapestry of the entire legend unfolds.

The Curse of the Lost Isle series starts in the early 800s with Pressine the Fae, in PRINCESS OF BRETAGNE, during the Viking invasions in Scotland. This book is still 99cts in kindle for a few days. Hurry.
http://amzn.com/B007K1EGAM

In Book 2, PAGAN QUEEN, she defies the Goddess and gives birth to three daughters, Melusine, Meliora, and Palatina.http://amzn.com/B007Z8F7IA

SEDUCING SIGEFROI, Book 3, and LADY OF LUXEMBOURG, Book 4, are set at the foundation of Luxembourg as a country.

CHATELAINE OF FOREZ, Book 5, tells the love story of the dark Count Artaud of Forez with Lady Melusine in the Eleventh Century.
http://amzn.com/B00I3T9VYG

Book 6, scheduled for early 2015, starts in 1096 AD and features Palatina the Fae, one of Melusine's sisters, in the greatest adventure of all time, the First Crusade, an exciting and dangerous time to be an immortal.

This series already gathered many five-star reviews, with titles like "Edgy Medieval, Yay!" or "Wow!" or "Fantastic!" I hope you will try it and enjoy it.  Five books are available in kindle on Amazon. Book One is also now available in paperback. 

HAPPY READING!

Vijaya Schartz
http://www.vijayaschartz.com

THE THRILL OF STARTING A NEW NOVEL by Vijaya Schartz

I just started writing Book 6 in the CURSE OF THE LOST ISLE medieval fantasy romance series, and I am so excited about it. I do not have a title, yet, but I have a plot, and strong characters. This novel is going to take the reader on the greatest adventure of the middle ages, the First Crusade.

The heroine is Melusine's sister Palatina, an erudite with a curious mind. At the end of Book 2, Pagan Queen, she was fifteen, and for making a dreadful mistake, she ended up with a curse, condemned to guard her father's treasure in a secret cave in the Pyrenees... until a knight of her own lineage comes to claim it for a worthy cause. This is definitely a romance despite all the action. I have a yummy hero in chain mail, a shiny French Christian knight, Pierre de Belfort, and I'm already falling in love with him, so I know you ladies will love him, too.

I'm following the historical frame to the letter, since the story of the First Crusade is well known and well documented. Like in the other books, I also rely on the legends to fill the gaps and explain some of the many fantastic feats reported by the historians of the time. Like the other novels, this one will be filled with battles, adventure, intrigue, heroic feats, and deadly villains.

In this book, however, I'm turning the tables on the reader. This is a departure from the previous stories. While Melusine remained stubbornly Pagan despite the religious persecutions, Palatina is more inclined to explore the new Christian faith. For that she will incur the full wrath of the Pagan Goddess.

But I don't want to reveal too much. I should be finished writing in early 2015. That gives you time to catch up with the other books in the Curse of the Lost Isle series.

Latest release from Vijaya Schartz:

Chatelaine of Forez

Curse of the Lost Isle Book 5

Medieval Fantasy Romance

from Books We Love Limited

in kindle:

http://amzn.com/B00I3T9VYG

1028 AD - Afflicted by the ondine curse, Melusine seeks the soul of her lost beloved in the young Artaud of Forez, who reigns over the verdant hills south of Burgundy, on the road of pilgrims, troubadours and merchants. But this dark and brooding Pagan lord is not at all what she expected or even hoped. He knows nothing of their past love, her Fae nature, or her secret curse. Must Melusine seduce and betroth this cold stranger to satisfy the Goddess and redeem her curse?

The gold in the rivers instills greed in the powerful, and many envy the rich Lord of Forez, including his most trusted vassals... even the Bishop of Lyon. When Artaud’s attraction to Melusine makes them the target of a holy hunt, will she find redemption from the curse, or will they burn at the stake?

Each book in the series can be read individually, but if you are like me, you'll want to read them in the right order. Here it is:

Book 1 - Princess of Bretagne http://amzn.com/B007K1EGAM

Book 2 - Pagan Queen http://amzn.com/B007Z8F7IA

Book 3 - Seducing Sigefroi http://amzn.com/B008LW18EG

Book 4 - Lady of Luxembourg http://amzn.com/B00BO0MYX6

Book 5 - Chatelaine of Forez http://amzn.com/B00I3T9VYG

Special edition box set of the first three novels (Curse of the Lost Isle) also available for a bargain price. http://amzn.com/B0091HX7EE

"Well written and factual, the book weaves history with fantasy and magic into a story that I could not put down." 5-stars on Amazon

HAPPY READING!

Vijaya Schartz

http://www.vijayaschartz.com