Sunday, November 29, 2009

Guest Blogger: Helen Scott Taylor

Helen's winner is: Margay! Congrats, Margay. Send me your contact info and I'll pass it along to Helen. Thanks to everyone who participated.
Thank you to Lynda for having me as a guest on your blog today.

My favorite part of writing fantasy or paranormal stories is the world building, layering on the details that bring a fantasy world to life in my mind as clearly as a real place. For the second book in my Magic Knot Fairies series, I chose the small country called Wales in the United Kingdom as the setting for much of the story. Like most of Britain, Wales has a rich heritage of Celtic myth and legend.

All the pantheons of ancient gods—the Romans, Greeks, Norse and Celtic—contain a god who rules over the Underworld. In the myths of Wales, the Underworld is controlled by the Welsh Fairy King, Gwyn ap Nudd. He rules the Tylwyth Teg who are tall blond-haired fairies with a habit of stealing away mortal children.

In The Phoenix Charm, the Tylwyth Teg are my villains who trap my hero Michael O’Connor’s little nephew. He has to travel to Wales to recover the child and in the process comes face to face with a strange fairy king who is not what he seems.

In my fantasy romance series, I take my characters to Ireland in The Magic Knot, to Wales in The Phoenix Charm, and in the third book, The Ruby Kiss, due out in January 2011, my hero and heroine get tangled up in the machinations of the Seelie and Unseelie Scottish Fairy Courts.

For a chance to win a signed copy of either The Magic Knot or The Phoenix Charm, please leave me a comment and tell me which is your favorite mythical race or creature.

The Phoenix Charm

He’s Pure Temptation.
Cordelia has sworn she’ll abstain from looking into Michael’s future—particularly when the image in the gilded smoke of her divination mirror shows him half naked. Yet she can’t resist watching the sexy rascal slowly running his hand down his ribs, over his abdomen, flicking open the button on his jeans with a little flourish like a magician performing a trick.

She’s Trying To Resist.
Respectable wise woman Cordelia restrains her secret water nymph sensuality with the Celtic symbols painted on her skin. But Michael’s powerful fairy glamour leaves her breathless, off balance, struggling for control. When Gwyn ap Nudd, the Welsh King of the Underworld, steals away Michael’s infant nephew, Cordelia must work with him to save the child. But how can she trust her instincts with Michael tempting her to explore the hidden elemental depths of her nature and insisting that she believe in the power of…The Phoenix Charm.

To read an excerpt go to
www.helenscotttaylor.com
******************
Helen's winner will be selected and posted on Tuesday evening. Stop back by to see if you've won.

17 Comments:

Blogger Mary Kirkland said...

My favorite mythical creature have always been Vampires. I just can't get enough of them. I read pretty much any books I can get about vampires. They are so intriguing and so many of the vampire romance books out right now are so HOT!

I have to say though, that I have read some novels where the werewolves were down right drool worthy and so I started reading were wolf books as well. Then I find there are wererats, werelions, and so many ofhter were creatures that make the books come alive. It's so cool there are so many new types of mythical creatures out there to read.

1:41 PM  
Blogger Cybercliper said...

Hi Helen...I LOVED The Magic Knot and have had The Phoenix Charm on the TBB list for months now!!! My favorite mythical creatures are the Fae - they're just surrounded by so much mystery.

5:58 PM  
Blogger Pamk said...

I like the Seelie race. I loved the first book in this series. And am looking forward to the next one.

7:06 PM  
Blogger Margay Leah Justice said...

I definitely have to say the fae, too, given that I have some Celtic blood running through me (Irish and Scottish). I also read The Magic Knot and absolutely LOVED it. I've been breathlessly awaiting the release of The Phoenix Charm - so happy it's finally here!

Margay

6:35 AM  
Blogger Beth Caudill said...

I think werewolves are my favorite but I also like Dragons. It's so hard to pick just one.

I haven't read The Magic Knot yet but will add it to my to buy pile.

8:38 AM  
Blogger vickyb said...

Ooh! Sounds great! Definite adds to my TBB, TBR piles!

8:46 AM  
Blogger susan said...

Hi Helen, a joy to read your interview and the questions were good. I think your book will go a long way. Good luck and hope to be entered in your contest also. Hve a good day. susan L.

8:53 AM  
Blogger CrystalGB said...

I like werewolves and shapeshifters. The Phoenix Charm sounds so good.

9:44 AM  
Blogger tetewa said...

I'm always looking for new authors and series to read and these sound good! My favorites would be the unicorns!

10:40 AM  
Anonymous Rosa Lario said...

Good question! I've recently become enamored of faeries. My new WIP is an urban fantasy featuring a very sassy pixie.

I can't wait to check out your series, Helen. It sounds fantastic!

1:25 PM  
Blogger Amanda said...

Hey Helen!

I would have to say the Irish Seelie court would be my favorite. They try to be so perfect but like humans they have faults too.

Your books seem very interesting and I can not wait to get my hands on them.

Amanda

2:09 PM  
Blogger Linda Warren said...

Well, since you asked, I guess I'd have to say vampires. But mostly I'm in-this-world kind of reading gal. But I did read The Magic Knot and loved it. Actually, I love reading different genres and getting to know new authors. I just love to read.
Linda

2:21 PM  
Blogger Helen Scott Taylor said...

Hi Mary, vampires were my first love. I adored Laurell K Hamilton's early books. Thanks for leaving a comment.

Hi Cybercliper, I'm delighted that you enjoyed The Magic Knot. Everyone is telling me that The Phoenix Charm is better than The Magic Knot so I hope you enjoy it as much. I love anything about fae/fairies. There is such a wealth of myth and folklaw about them to draw on for making up stories. They truely are the writer's dream.

Hi PamK, the Scottish Seelie come into my third book that I'm writing now about Nightshade. I've had lots of fun writing about the Seelie and Unseelie courts in Scotland. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed my first book.

Hi Margay, I hope you enjoy The Phoenix Charm as much as the first book. I was over the moon when RT Bookreviews made it one of their Top Picks for January. I hope it lives up to expectations.

Hi Beth, I'm a shapeshifter fan as well, but I'm partial to the black panthers. I'm a cat person!

Hi Vickyb, thank for stopping by. I'm glad you like the sound of my book.

Hi Susan, thanks for leaving a comment. Glad you enjoyed the blog.

Hi CrystalGb, shapeshifters come in such variety these days they are always a fun read. I have my first shapeshifter in my series in the third book I'm writing now.

Hi tetewa, I've not read any Unicorn books, although I've heard them mentioned. I'll have to keep my eyes open for one. Sounds fun.

Hi Rosa, my heroine in The Magic Knot was a pisky (the Cornish version of a pixie). Although I made my piskies human sized. The fairy world has so much variety there's always something new to delve into. Urban fantasy is so popular now as well.

Hi Amanda, I love the noble Irish fairies. The Magic Knot hero is Irish. I had visiting Ireland for research. I probably didn't need to go really as Ireland is much like the Westcountry of England where I live, but it was a good excuse for a visit.

Hi Linda, I like all sorts of genres as well. I tend not to read anything paranormal while I'm writing so I keep my ideas pure. I'm reading a lot of contemporary at the moment. I've just discovered Little Black Dress and that's a fun line--sort of a cross between chick lit and romance. I'm delighted you enjoyed The Magic Knot.

Thank you all for stopping by to comment and thank you again to Lynda for having me as a guest today. It's 12.30 here in the UK, so I'm off to bed. I'll check back in the morning again for any last comments.

5:27 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Hi :)
Thank you for the great post Helen.
My favorite mythical/fantastical creatures have been elves since I read Lord of the Rings when I was very little/young.
:)
I posted about this on my blog for 3am EST Dec 1st.
All the best,
RKCharron
xoxo

5:48 PM  
Blogger Helen Scott Taylor said...

Hi RKCharron, the elves in LOR remind me of all the noble fairy races such as the Irish Tuatha De Danaan--the beautiful human sized fairies. Good choice!

1:49 AM  
Blogger Davina Pearson said...

I'm really looking forward to this book - I loved The Magic Knot. It was one of the first paranormal romance stories I'd ever read that wasn't about vampires or werewolves, and I found that it really appealed to me - it felt elegant and exciting and rather magical.

As for mythical creatures - unicorn, phoenix, sphinx, dragon, dryad, sprite, fairy... anything goes really. I like reading stories about creatures that I've maybe read about a couple of times, but that feel fresh and new to me. Vampires and werewolves, not so much, probably from overexposure!

6:41 AM  
Blogger Cherry said...

I haven't read any of Helen's books so my favourite mythical creature/race might not even be in her books! I would love to read her books though :) Maybe next year when I'm not so broke anymore (after paying the Christmas bills hehehe). Neway, my fav would always be the werewolf. The good kind! Because I know that in some stories they are the villain. No, I don't want villains. I want werewolves, the good guys.

I would like to read Helen's The Phoenix Charm because I live in Wales :)

Re-posted this contest at: http://contests-freebies.blogspot.com/2009/12/hele-scott-taylor-contest-at.html

Cherry
mischivusfairy-inbox12 [at] yahoo [dot] com

12:38 PM  

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