THE LYNX AND THE DRUIDESS
Druidry and the Beast, #5
by Cornelia
Amiri
Date of Publication: July 1st 2020
Cover Artist: Kyra Starr
Genre: Fantasy Romance
ASIN: B08BNNFWBF
Number of pages: 94
Word Count: 22,600
Tagline: Loving a god has its advantages
BLURB
Lleu, the radiant sun god,
crosses between worlds to the Silures village for the fierce and stunning
druidess, Wendolyn —a woman worth battling for. He longs to celebrate Lughnasa,
the festival that honors him, with her.
Wendolyn is captivated by the
striking stranger the moment he wanders into her village. Furthermore, she
wants him with a fervor, burning her from within. However, he’s hiding his true
identity. When he vows to save her tribe from the Romans marching toward them,
everyone, including her dead father in a dream, says he is a coward who has run
off.
Lleu is determined to win the
love of druidess Wendolyn even if it means fighting the Roman army singled
handed—by shapeshifting into in his lynx body.
Will her tribe survive the
Romans? And, can Wendolyn and Lleu’s relationship survive her tribe’s mistrust
of him?
EXCERPT
With her heart hammering,
Wyndolen stared with wonder at Lleu’s luscious nude body. She only glanced away
long enough to pull a white robe, speckled with gold, out of the chest in the
corner. She tugged it on, then fastened a plaid cloak over it with a round
silver broach and latched her gaze onto Lleu again while he slipped his clothes
back on.
They left the
roundhouse and walked hand in hand to Cynfor’s home.
She called out
to the woodmaker, “It is time.”
Cynfor stepped out, clutching an iron rod and
the wheel of the year coated with gooey tar.
As the three walked together to the center of the village, men, women,
and children gathered around the druidess, muttering, “Lleu,” and “coward.”
Scanning the
angry faces in the crowd, Wyndolen sighed. If only they knew the truth about
him. But she couldn’t blame them, she was as guilty as they were. She hadn’t
recognized he was a god, even after he’d told her. No, he had to show her his
magic spear and reveal his dazzling aura. Now the others needed to learn the
truth. Tonight, at his festival, she
would announce who he really was. But first she had to prepare her tribesmen
for the news, to lessen their shock.
She held her
palm upward toward the crowd and cleared her throat. “Hear me, I have a
surprise for all of you. The presence of the god Lleu is here. You do not see
him as he is in the guise of one of us. So, take care of how you treat each
other, lest you offend the deity.”
Their
expressions shifted from anger to shame as they were now all on their best
behavior.
Taking graceful
steps, she led all her tribesmen, chief, and Lleu to a cliff. Their chief
proudly carried a blazing firebrand, and Cynfor held the sacred wheel with
reverent hands. Everyone grew quiet and gazed down the mountain slope.
Wyndolen
announced, “We have gathered this Lughnasa to observe the Wheel of the Year as
it turns.” She raised her arms to the sky and smiled at Lleu as she chanted,
“The sun burns, yet winter nears. The season turns. Summer comes to an end. Sun
and earth, life to death the wheel turns, Lughnasa, Lughnasa.”
She took the
torqueh from Corio, handed it to Lleu, and he lit the wheel of year aflame.
Cynfor handed Wyndolen the iron rod. Then, the sun god, Lleu, ran beside her,
on the other side of the flaming wheel, as she used the rod to roll it down
that part of the mountain slope.
She chanted,
“God of the sun, the wheel has turned, the yearly end of your reign has come.”
Smoke rose, as
flames ate the wood. The wheel reached its end at the foot of the slope and
crumbled into ash and burning fragments. The crowd stopped in their tracks and
circled the symbol of the dying Lleu.
About
the Author:
The Celtic Warrior Queen
influenced Cornelia Amiri to write professionally. Cornelia loves history and
in reading a book about the dark ages, she came across the rebel queen, who
inspired her so much, she started jotting down notes. But they were fiction,
visions of her involved in the Boudica revolt. Before she knew it, Cornelia had
accidentally written a rough draft for a novel. And she’s been writing books on
purpose ever since. Drawing on her love of a happy ending she’s currently
penned 39 published romance books.
Now, for the more mundane stuff.
She and her muse, Severus the Cat, live amid the hustle and bustle of humid
Houston, Texas, as does her wonderful son and granddaughter. Cornelia’s
currently working on a sci-fi comedy romance series with a Celtic goddess as
the heroine.
How would you describe your style of writing to someone that has never read your work?
History and mythology is the basis for my word building. I’ve researched the ancient Celts for over 20 years so my presentations of their culture is fairly accurate. Some of my work is more serious but a lot of it is light and funny. My female characters are strong women and my male characters support them. I write in all heat levels and along with my adult books I have also written two young adult books. Most of my books have some elements of fantasy and a great deal of my work is Celtic Romance.
Do you take your character prep to heart? Do you nurture the growth of each character all the way through to the page? Do you people watch to help with development? Or do you build upon your character during story creation?
I create character charts for the hero and heroine, which includes information on their family history and their likes and dislikes, hopes, fears—their personality type. With a fairly good idea about the beginning and ending in my head, I begin the first draft. I then let the characters develop, change, and grow organically during the story. However, as far a people-watching goes, it’s a big pastime of mine.
Can you share your next creative project(s)? If yes, can you give a few details?
I am working on a sci-fi comedy romance (space opera) titled Rare Finds. It’s set a couple of millennia into the future and takes place on a huge starship called the Celestial. The hero is a Xenoarchaeologist, Dr. McGregor, known as Robbie. He’s an earthman, who is proud of his Scottish culture, heritage, and accent. He’s a civilian, not a military scientist, and newly transferred to the Celestial to explore the archeology of unknown planets and their ancient alien inhabitants. It’s a position he worked for and prepared for his whole life. So, he travels from one planet to the next, experiencing a totally different adventure on each one.
The heroine is the ancient Irish goddess Niamh, pronounced Neeve. She’s the Goddess of Beauty and Brightness, the daughter of the Irish sea god, Manannán mac Lir. Niamh has creamy skin, dark lashes, and eyebrows. Her name means radiant and that she is. She and Robbie meet on the first planet he goes to. I don’t want to give anything away, especially since I haven’t even finished the first draft yet, but things happen that cause her to join Robbie aboard the ship to work as his assistant. So, she travels with him and shares his adventures and discoveries from planet to planet.
What are some of your writing/publishing goals for this year?
I would like to finish the first draft and get through the first revision of my romance space opera, Rare Finds, before the year is out. When it is complete it will be my 40th book, though if you count the books I’ve ghostwritten, I’ve written over 40 books.
Where would you spend one full year, if you could go Anywhere, money is not a concern? What would you do with this time?
I‘d go to Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. I’d stay in quaint cottages in each of those places and visit all the settings I used for my books, while I soak up the Celtic culture and experience all the ancient sites firsthand.
The Book Junkie Reads . . . Interview with Cornelia Amiri. . .
How would you describe your style of writing to someone that has never read your work?
History and mythology is the basis for my word building. I’ve researched the ancient Celts for over 20 years so my presentations of their culture is fairly accurate. Some of my work is more serious but a lot of it is light and funny. My female characters are strong women and my male characters support them. I write in all heat levels and along with my adult books I have also written two young adult books. Most of my books have some elements of fantasy and a great deal of my work is Celtic Romance.
Do you take your character prep to heart? Do you nurture the growth of each character all the way through to the page? Do you people watch to help with development? Or do you build upon your character during story creation?
I create character charts for the hero and heroine, which includes information on their family history and their likes and dislikes, hopes, fears—their personality type. With a fairly good idea about the beginning and ending in my head, I begin the first draft. I then let the characters develop, change, and grow organically during the story. However, as far a people-watching goes, it’s a big pastime of mine.
Can you share your next creative project(s)? If yes, can you give a few details?
I am working on a sci-fi comedy romance (space opera) titled Rare Finds. It’s set a couple of millennia into the future and takes place on a huge starship called the Celestial. The hero is a Xenoarchaeologist, Dr. McGregor, known as Robbie. He’s an earthman, who is proud of his Scottish culture, heritage, and accent. He’s a civilian, not a military scientist, and newly transferred to the Celestial to explore the archeology of unknown planets and their ancient alien inhabitants. It’s a position he worked for and prepared for his whole life. So, he travels from one planet to the next, experiencing a totally different adventure on each one.
The heroine is the ancient Irish goddess Niamh, pronounced Neeve. She’s the Goddess of Beauty and Brightness, the daughter of the Irish sea god, Manannán mac Lir. Niamh has creamy skin, dark lashes, and eyebrows. Her name means radiant and that she is. She and Robbie meet on the first planet he goes to. I don’t want to give anything away, especially since I haven’t even finished the first draft yet, but things happen that cause her to join Robbie aboard the ship to work as his assistant. So, she travels with him and shares his adventures and discoveries from planet to planet.
What are some of your writing/publishing goals for this year?
I would like to finish the first draft and get through the first revision of my romance space opera, Rare Finds, before the year is out. When it is complete it will be my 40th book, though if you count the books I’ve ghostwritten, I’ve written over 40 books.
Where would you spend one full year, if you could go Anywhere, money is not a concern? What would you do with this time?
I‘d go to Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. I’d stay in quaint cottages in each of those places and visit all the settings I used for my books, while I soak up the Celtic culture and experience all the ancient sites firsthand.
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