I'm especially pleased to welcome India Drummond back to talk about her new release, the second in her Fae series, Azuri Fae. She gave great answers--enjoy!
What makes Eilidh, your heroine in the Caledonia Fae series, the choice of Prince Griogair to find his missing son?
In Blood Faerie, the first book in the series, Eilidh forms a magical bond with a human and unlocks his dormant druidic powers. Prince Griogair asks Eilidh for help because he believes his son may have either run away to or been forcibly taken to the human realm. Eilidh’s ties to the human realm and her druid’s position as a local police officer mean they can investigate in a place the prince-consort cannot go.
What dangers pose a time constraint for Eilidh and her bonded druid, Quinton, on their mission?
Griogair’s mate, the queen, forbids anyone from looking for the boy, because she fears if he is found, a secret about her family would become public knowledge. Her increasing suspicion and jealousy cause her to try to thwart the investigation by some pretty extreme means, setting in motion events that put many lives in danger.
Eilidh is tantalized away from her assigned task by the lure of lost and ancient magic. How does this magic compare to the forbidden magic that tempted her in solving the murder mystery in the first book, Blood Faeire?
I don’t want to give too much away, but Eilidh discovers someone who has access to a sphere of magic thought to be lost for a thousand years. This faerie is unstable, and his untrained and turbulent powers threaten the lives of an entire Scottish village.
The word “Azuri” in your title, Azuri Fae, often refers to a tropical sea or a tropical blue color, from the word azure. What does the word mean in your book?
In faerie culture, they worship two deities: The Mother of the Earth and the Father of the Azure (the sky). Most faeries have what is known as earth magic: stone, water, fire, or air flows. A rare few wield azuri magic, which is known as ‘casting the stars’ and consists of astral (thought), blood (physical), temporal (time), or spirit flows.
Describe the setting(s) of your faerie world(s). Briefly, how do they compare to present day human environs?
The setting for this series is a combination of modern-day Scotland and the Otherworld, where faeries live. The fae also refer to a place called “the borderlands” which is part of the human realm, but influenced by fae magic that seeps through the Otherworld gates. At night, the gates open, allowing the fae access to the human world.
The Otherworld is similar to the human realm, but colours are brighter, the moon is large and blue, plants glow and the air and earth sing with magic. Time flows a little differently, and faeries can more easily manipulate the physical environment. In Azuri Fae, and for the first time in any living faerie’s memory, human druids travel to the Otherworld, and doing so triggers some remarkable changes in their physiology and abilities.
I don’t want to give away too much though, so folks will just have to read the book to find out what happens. =)
Blurb:
A faerie prince disappears in the borderlands, and his father enlists the help of outcast Eilidh and her bonded druid, Quinton Munro. Tantalised with hints of a lost and ancient magic, they learn that time is working against them every step of the way. Is the prince’s disappearance related to the vanishing of an entire Scottish village?
Faced with deception, assassination attempts, and a mad queen who would sacrifice her own child to keep a dreaded secret, Eilidh struggles with an impossible situation. Her people demand she commit treason and betray the man she loves. Will she do what duty requires, or throw away the chance to reunite the kingdom in exchange for the life she hadn't dared hope for?
Azuri Fae links:
Publication Information:
Trindlemoss Publishing
December 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-908436-06-1
ASIN: B006AQPTEU
December 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-908436-06-1
ASIN: B006AQPTEU
Sarah McBride dug her elbow into her husband’s side. “There’s someone outside, Hamish.”
“It’s just a cat. Go back to sleep.” He started snoring again almost immediately.
“That wasn’t a cat I heard. Go see who it is.” She lay still in bed, hands shaking, afraid to breathe. Someone prowling around outside, and that great oaf of a husband was sleeping through it. Probably a pack of teenagers come to steal their telly for drug money. They might even come in and tie them both up.
Sarah swallowed and squeezed her eyes tight together. Hamish might not care, but she wasn’t about to lie there and let a roving band of hooded teens catch her unawares. They’d probably try to do unspeakable things to her. It had been twenty years since she’d been attacked in a pub in Dundee, and she had been young and stupid then, out drinking…alone. She wasn’t some vulnerable girl now. This time she would fight back.
“Hamish!” she hissed one last time with a sharp jab to his middle.
He sat up in the darkness, his tone barely civil. “It was just a dream. Now leave me to sleep. I have to get up in the morning.” Hamish rolled over, heaving his bulk onto his side, bouncing the mattress. “You’ll be the death of me, woman,” he mumbled into his pillow.
“Fine. I’ll do it.” Sarah got up and wrapped her dressing gown around her, tying it at the front. A crash in the side yard halted her progress. She glanced toward the front room, where the house phone sat in its charger. She wanted to call 999, get the police out to look. But if they came, they’d wake Hamish. If it did turn out to be nothing, she’d never hear the end of it. Best to make sure, then call.
She crept down the hall in the pitch black. Her heart pounded so loudly she almost couldn’t hear the intruders. She cursed her fear. She’d never wanted to feel this way again. Hamish couldn’t understand that. He was a hulking man who’d never felt intimidated by someone else’s size. Pausing in the hallway to collect herself, she caught sight of the gun cabinet in the spare room. It tempted her, but she decided against getting out one of Hamish’s shotguns. Until, that is, she heard the rattle of the side gate, followed by footsteps on the path. Sarah rushed to the drawer where Hamish kept the cabinet keys. So what if his shotgun certificate was expired? If it saved their lives, she didn’t care. Anyway, she only wanted to scare them. After she retrieved the gun, she slipped a couple of shells into her dressing gown pocket. Just in case.
It took all her courage to tiptoe down the hall, the open shotgun folded over her left arm, ready to receive the shells. How Hamish could sleep through this, she didn’t know, but anger burned inside her.
By the time she made it to the kitchen window and peeled back the blinds, her fear and anger had combined into a pulsing rush of adrenaline. Nobody would hurt her again.
A faint blue light came from the back garden, and shadowy figures stole around in the darkness. With trembling hands, Sarah slipped two shells into the back of the double barrel and snapped the gun closed. She knew better than to rush out with a gun that wasn’t ready to go. They’d only take it away and turn it on her.
She noticed her mobile on the kitchen counter. The phone went into her pocket. Again, just in case. She turned the deadbolt, unlocked the back door, and walked onto the steps. The cold winter air made her shiver. “I…” Sarah cleared her throat and spoke louder. “I know you’re out there. Clear off, you lot.” She heard her voice as though it was someone else’s.
The motion at the back of the garden stopped. “Come out where I can see you,” she shouted, “Before I start shooting.”
She held the stock of the gun in her left hand and with her right, reached into her pocket to get her mobile. Three figures slowly emerged. It was hard to make out their faces, but one might have been a girl. They looked young, but Sarah knew teenagers were the worst. She’d heard about an old man that was killed by a gang of them, just because he’d complained about their loud music. They’d kicked him to death on his own doorstep.
Sarah tapped the nine button on her mobile three times, hands shaking from the cold and adrenaline.
“Emergency Services. Which service do you require? Police, Fire, Ambulance?”
“I’ve got burglars,” Sarah said. “Three of ‘em.”
She heard a brief pause, then another voice came on the line. The smooth voice of a young woman. “Tayside Police. This is Alison. What’s your address?”
Sarah had to think. Why could she suddenly not think? “Eighty-two…
Suddenly, a man rushed her from the side. She hadn’t realised there were more. She spun and pointed the shotgun at him, dropping her mobile. Fumbling to put her finger on the trigger, she looked at her hand for just a moment.
The man moved fast, like a neon blur in the night. Her vision went funny, and she had difficulty focusing her eyes. How many were there? She couldn’t tell anymore. Four?Even more? Blood rushed through her veins.
“What in the name of hell is going on out here?” Hamish shouted from the doorway, startling her. “Sarah?” He sounded shocked, then serious. “Sarah, come into the house. Just step back to me, love.”
A distant and monotonously calm voice came from the phone, which had nestled in the Barberry bush. “What is your location, madam?”
Sarah didn’t turn to look at her husband. It was cold and wet, and fear kept her frozen to the spot. She kept her eye on the man who stood mere feet from her now. She couldn’t look away. He had the strangest eyes. They shone in the dark.
She tensed and her hands started to shake. Yet, despite the strange commotion around her, the young man held her attention. She felt peculiar, as though moving in slow motion.
Sarah stepped back toward Hamish, but her husband didn’t speak nor move. She glanced around wildly, realising everything had stopped dead. Everything but her and this man.Her breaths sounded loud in the stillness. She could see the other faces in the garden clearly now, as well as a bright glow that had suddenly appeared.
“You,” she said, doing her best to steady the shotgun as she raised it to point at his chest. “You get on out of here and take your friends with you. Hurry now. I don’t want to shoot you.” Her voice raised to a hysterical pitch. “Eighty-two Fordyce Way,” she yelled at the Barberry bush. “See?” she said. “The police are on their way. Just go. I don’t want trouble. You’ve got time to get out.” She couldn’t shake the strange feeling. The other burglars had frozen in place, and Hamish stood unnaturally still in the doorway.
“Time?” he said with a sad laugh. His accent sounded so strange. Probably some immigrant. “That’s all I’ve got.”
With a pop, a blue flash blinded her, and the last thing she felt was her finger squeezing the trigger.
1 comments:
Thanks so much for having me on the blog today!
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