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

I’m not a good blogger—Tricia McGill

Does anyone else out there have the same problem? I’m always in awe of the folk who find something interesting to say on their blog every day. I know, I’m a writer so therefore should be able to write about anything. But finding things to write about on my blog comes hard to me. Ask me to write a piece of fiction, a full length novel or short story, and I have no trouble whatsoever. 

I don’t lead a vastly exciting life, so perhaps that has something to do with it. But others probably lead just as uninteresting lives, yet can make the most mundane happening sound unusual. I have no children so unfortunately have no grandchildren to tell you about. I have my two dogs but people would soon tire of hearing me waffling on about their antics, as most folk who possess dogs have just as many funny stories or disasters of their own that to hear about what my two get up to would probably sound dull in comparison. The many funny animal videos on the net prove that. I have thousands of pictures of my pets, past and present and have a few of these on my Pinterest page.

I dislike cooking so have no delicious recipes to write about. My evening meal is usually decided on at about 5pm when I am ready to switch my computer off for the day and start to think about what I fancy for my dinner. Living alone has some advantages as well as disadvantages. I have to admit that one of the things that took me quite some time to get used to when I first married was finding something interesting to cook for my husband each day. I ended up not a bad cook but when your efforts are compared, as a young bride, to your mother in law’s cooking it can be disheartening. But don’t feel sorry for me, my husband was not a cruel man just one who had been spoilt. My steak and kidney pie was deemed, “Tasty, but the pastry could have been crumblier,” or similar. I didn’t bake a meat pie for quite a few years after my first humble tries. My hubby loved my Yorkshire pudding though which always turned out a success and sometimes rose so high that it was hard to get it out of the oven. I excelled at toad in the hole, which for those who are not English and have no idea what I am talking about, is sausages within the same batter as Yorkshire pudding.

One of my early short stories is called, ‘The Meat Ball’ and was inspired by a true event in our lives. My mother-in law made really tasty meat balls and showed me how it was done. She was one of these really slow and precise cooks who stood there every moment and watched over whatever she was preparing. Well, she gave me the recipe and directions which I followed to the letter. But, impatient as always, I must have tried to hasten the process, for when the finished product was put in front of my husband, as he tried to cut into one it was so hard that it bounced off his plate and onto the floor. We kept one of those meatballs as a souvenir and it even came to Australia with us and moved from place to place until we were able to buy our own home. It sat in a small bowl on a shelf for a few years and one day as I was dusting I noticed it was gone. I calculated it was probably about fifteen years old by then. We surmised that one of our dogs must have found it and as it was as hard as rock decided it was a bone that had to be buried. We never saw it again. As a footnote to this story, I did learn to make decent meat balls (rissoles? burgers?) in later years.

My problem was that our mother didn’t really want us messing about in the kitchen while she was preparing our meals. That probably had something to do with the fact that I was the youngest of ten and she was likely better off in the kitchen alone, as she served up meals to so many plates. One thing I did love, was to be allowed to have the first slice off the roast meat as she cut it (I was the spoiled baby). There were five of us daughters and three of the others turned out to be excellent cooks. I still don’t know how as they were not allowed in the kitchen often either. Our mother’s recipes were all in her head. She never used scales, but knew exactly how much of the ingredients to put into the bowl. She liked to make cupcakes, and if they turned out perhaps not as soft as they should then they became her special ‘rock cakes’. I am practically a vegetarian now. I say, practically, as I sometimes eat meat when I am dining out, but never buy red meat for myself.

I like to potter about in my small garden and love my plants, but I am no expert so chances of me writing about that are out of the question. I do volunteer work which takes up what spare time I do have, but could not possibly write about some of the disabled clients I help with their computers. I don’t seem to have a lot of time left in my day to read as I used to. I read before dropping off to sleep at night and often only get to about four pages before I nod off. I envy people who can speed read as I have never been able to read quickly. If I am enjoying a book and find the author’s style great then I stop to savor the words and often read a paragraph that has appealed to me over again which slows me down considerably. 

In the days before my passion became writing I painted for a while, but it was my sister who became a skilled artist, while I went on to write. That same sister also became very musical and could play her keyboard with expertise. I unfortunately can play no instrument at all and thought I could sing a little—but that was before I made a family video some years ago, and when I heard the playback of me singing along with my sister’s playing, vowed never to sing in company again. And sadly was also asked never to sing on tape again.

So, there you have it, my blog posts are few and far between for a very good reason. The only subject I have to write about is my books. And on that subject here is my latest release from Books We Love:

Buy here

Or you can go to my webpage which is a lot more interesting than my blog: 

Visit my Webpage

Or my BWL Author page

On the Road with Randall Sawka - first stop Korea

PURCHASE FROM AMAZON

As my dear wife Nancy and I spend the next twelve months moving around the globe adjustments were the order of the week(s) when it came to writing.

Our first stop was and is Korea (Southern division).  Week one was a write off due to jet lag, acclimatizing to the Korean way of life, and a cold I picked up on the flight (don't worry, I was kind enough to share it with Nancy). When traveling we visit the odd "tourist attraction." However, we much prefer to live with the locals and eat with the locals.

As for writing, I like writing away from "home." Home is a hotel room until we take over our friends apartment in Taichung, Taiwan for a few months. I also like a slight din in the background. Either chatting or instrumental music. I will also add that I prefer a table. My first thought was to plop down in the lobby or the chairs outside the lobby. Not going to work. Aside from being small lobbies, all of the hotel's we have stayed at feature large TV's inside and outside the lobby endlessly playing K-pop dancing groups. This does not fit with someone like me who prefers classical music. Plan B was getting away from the hotel. I strolled to a park (Seoul) or the beach (Busan). 

Here I found the perfect background noise: men playing the ancient board game called Go. They played mostly in silence, the board in the middle of a flat bench and they straddle the bench at each end.

Here is example of Go game. It may have other names.