Salem Burning
by Daniel Sugar
Date of
Publication: February 20th 2018
Publisher:
Daniel Sugar
Cover
Artist: ebooklaunch.com
Genre:
Historical Paranormal Romance
Tagline: If Only They’d Known…You
Can’t Burn A Witch.
BLURB
Salem Burning, a magical
re-telling of the Salem witch trials, is now available exclusively on Amazon.
In 1692, disreputable Kyle
Edwards breaks his engagement by accusing his fiancee, Lilly Parris, of
witchcraft.
Kyle is a liar - he does not
really believe in witchcraft, he is simply trying to get rid of Lilly. But Kyle
is in for a shock because, as it turns out, Lilly really is a witch.
“Salem Burning is a fast-paced,
brand-new take on the Salem witch trials.
Buy Link: Amazon
Excerpt:
PROLOGUE
ISLE OF SKYE, SCOTLAND. 1550
The
late-afternoon sun was slipping away and storm clouds and darkness were rapidly
approaching as the happy eight-year-old girl carrying a straw basket filled
with freshly-cut roses ran towards Delaney Castle.
Suddenly
out of breath, Sarah Delaney stopped, sat down on the soft green grass and
looked at her home. Delaney Castle was truly beautiful. Its stone walls and
turrets so white they almost shimmered in the rapidly setting sun. It was hard
to believe that a magnificent castle perched on top of a hill was actually her
home. Hers! How lucky she was to live there and how blessed she was to
have such wonderful parents. Parents who loved her so much they were making a
magnificent birthday party for her that very evening. Overcome with happiness,
Sarah could not help herself and as she stood up and ran into the castle she
started to sing. “The birth day is the loveliest day. The birth day is filled
with charm.”
Sarah’s
beautiful, dark-haired mother, Evelyn Delaney, was clad in a breathtaking
saffron gown and she was waiting for her daughter as Sarah ran into the castle.
Evelyn
smiled, lifted a rose from Sarah’s straw basket and inhaled the flower’s scent.
“Come along, Sarah. Everyone wants to see the birthday girl.”
Sarah
kissed her mother on the cheek and said, “I am ready, mother.”
Sarah
took her mother’s hand and together they walked into an enormous dining hall
which was filled with relatives and friends who began to clap and cheer the moment
Sarah entered the room.
Sarah
scanned the room. The crowd was thick. There were so many people, too many
people - but she only wanted one of them. Yet she could not find him. It was so
frustrating. Where was he? Where was he? Suddenly she spotted him – her
tall, handsome, blond father, Patrick Delaney, (clad in his finest tartan kilt
and a velvet jacket). Sarah rushed into her father’s arms and he laughed and
tossed her playfully into the air as Sarah squealed with delight. “Now we eat!”
Patrick yelled. “Now we sing and dance as we let it be known to all that eight
years ago, on the first of June, fifteen hundred and forty-two, my daughter,
this young beauty named Sarah Delaney, was born in Scotland!”
The
assembled guests cheered and, as if by magic, servants suddenly appeared in the
vast dining hall, some carrying trays of food, some holding musical instruments
which they began to play.
Delighted, the guests began to eat and sing and dance to the lively music which
was almost drowned out by the sound of approaching thunder.
Sarah took her parents’ hands and the three of them sang along with their
guests; raising their voices as the sounds of distant thunder grew closer and
louder.
Suddenly, thunder exploded overhead, cold, impenetrable sheets of rain dropped
from the black sky and long branches of lightning illuminated the castle as
soldiers rushed into the dining hall with swords drawn.
Sarah
Delaney screamed as a soldier cut off her father’s head.
Evelyn
Delaney grabbed her terrified daughter and ran to the large portrait of Patrick
Delaney that hung on one of the dining hall’s stone walls.
Soldiers ignored all cries for mercy and massacred the party guests, savagely,
brutally, sparing no one.
Trembling, Evelyn pushed the portrait and the stone wall moved, revealing a
secret passageway.
Evelyn
quickly kissed her daughter. “Hurry now, Sarah. Save yourself.”
Suddenly, a soldier drove his sword into Evelyn’s chest and Sarah, still
clutching the basket of roses rushed down the dark stone passageway.
“Run,
Sarah!”
The
soldier pulled the sword from Evelyn’s chest and then plunged it into her
throat.
The
moment Evelyn Delaney fell to the ground, dead, the soldier turned his
attention to Sarah and rushed into the stone passageway.
As Sarah
ran, she turned and looked behind her. The soldier was too fast. She was
running with all her might but the soldier was getting closer.
A bright
white flash of lightning illuminated the end of the passageway; illuminated
freedom.
Sarah,
exhausted, managed to squeeze through the passageway’s narrow opening just as
the soldier lunged and tried to grab her.
The
soldier was able to grab Sarah’s left shoe and tear if off her foot but Sarah
was suddenly free.
The
soldier was unable to fit through the passageway’s narrow opening and he
screamed and swore and waved the child’s raw leather shoe as Sarah Delaney ran
and ran and disappeared into the wet Scottish night.
Buy Link: Amazon
Author
Info
Daniel Sugar has written for a
number of celebrities and for several TV shows, including “The Tonight Show,
With Jay Leno”. He has always been fascinated by witches, witchcraft, the Salem
witch trials, and the French Revolution. “Salem Burning” is his first novel. He
is currently working on the sequel, “The Witch And The Guillotine”.
The Book Junkie Reads . . . Interview
with Daniel Sugar . . .
How
would you describe your style of writing to someone that has never read your
work?
I’ve
been told that I have a very commercial, page-turner style, so I’d say that if
you enjoy books that feel like they’re reading themselves, you might enjoy
“Salem Burning”.
What
are some of your writing/publishing goals for this year?
I
really have no expectations. Everything that’s happened in the past 26 days has
been an unexpected and very cool surprise. I never imagined that just 24 days
after it was published “Salem Burning” would hit #1, (in its category), in the
Canadian Amazon Kindle Store. It has also broken into the top 100 in the
American Amazon Kindle Store. No one is more shocked than I am. I honestly
didn’t think one, single person would read the novel but suddenly people are
asking me when they can have the sequel. It all feels surreal.
Do you
feel that writing is an ingrained process or just something that flows
naturally for you?
I
believe that writing is a talent like playing the piano, or singing or
painting. You can develop it of course but it’s something you’re born with. I
feel sad when I hear about people spending tens of thousands of dollars to
attend writing school. What can they teach you? It would be like a short person
going to tall school.
Do you
have a character that you have been working on for a long time that still isn't
quite ready, but fills you with excitement to work on the story?
None
that aren’t quite ready – characters seem to just pop into my head,
fully-formed. But I am excited to work with the heroine of “Salem Burning”
again. Lilly Parris is coming back and I can’t wait. I really love her!
If you
could spend one-week with 5 fictional character, who would they be?
Holly
Golightly from “Breakfast At Tiffany’s” (Although she’s such a force of nature
I’m not sure I’d be able to keep up!)
Elizabeth
Bennet From “Pride And Prejudice”. (She’s just so wise and so strong – I adore
her.)
Hermione
Granger from the Harry Potter series. (I think we could all learn a thing or
two from Ms. Granger.)
I’d
love to be really brave and possess almost superhuman computer skills, so I’d
really like to spend a week with Lisbeth Salander, the heroine of “The Girl
with the Dragon Tattoo”. (Is that an amazing woman or what?)
It
would be great to spend a week with Sugar, the brilliant British prostitute
from “The Crimson Petal and the White”. Despite her circumstances, she knows
exactly what she wants and she ends up getting it.!I just fell in love with
that character. She’s headstrong and she’s very busy but maybe she’d agree to
let me tag along for 7 days because of my name: you know, Sugar meets Sugar.
Where
would you spend one full year, if you could go ANYWhere? What would you do with
this time?
I’d
stay exactly where I am and continue to work on the sequel to “Salem Burning”.
I’m so happy when I’m in Lilly’ Parris’s world.
Can you
share you next creative project(s)? If yes, can you give a few details?
I’m
currently researching 18th Century Revolutionary France so that I
can write the sequel to “Salem Burning”. The sequel is called “The Witch And
The Guillotine”.
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