All Things Celtic with Guest Blogger: Cornelia Amiri

Today the Book Boost is proud to present our Featured Author Cornelia Amiri with her brand new release Druid Bride!

Stay tuned to win a Celtic round, leather medallion of a Crescent moon etched with Celtic knots!

Here's a note from Cornelia followed by an interview...

Dear Readers,

Today is the release date for my ninth Celtic/Romance, Druid Bride. I love history and have an unquenchable passion for all things Celtic. I believe it began when I saw the Disney movie The Sword and the Stone at age five.

Druid Bride is set in 1st century Scotland. This is the period in history when the Boudica revolt failed in England and the Pictish tribes of northern Scotland took up the battle against the Romans. It’s a mystical, romantic tale, full of adventure that will sweep you away to another place and time. It is the story of my fictional characters, the Pictish warrior, Brude and the devoted Druidess, Tanwen. Brude’s shoulder length hair is thick from lime wash and spiked like a hedgehog’s, with strands ranging from dark brown to a golden hue. Danger shines in his alluring grin and the gleam of his brown eyes. He is tall, young, muscular, well built and his body is covered with blue, Pictish woad tattoos of Celtic beast and curving symbols. Tanwen has long, straight, copper toned red hair and large green eyes, she wears the white gold speckled robe of a druidess. They are physically attracted to each other and they respect each other. But they do not trust each other.

TBB: Brude sounds fabulous! Can you share the Blurb with us?

CA: Here's the blurb:

She carried the seed of rebirth, so what had fallen would rise again. The ghost of her ancestor sent Druidess Tanwen from Britannia to the strange foreign tribe of the Caledonii to wed Brude, son of the chief. But Brude is not about to marry a druidess, even though she has the most beautiful body he’s ever seen. Never mind if his blood boils and he can’t stop thinking of her. He will not wed her. Yet the fate of Caledonia rests in the hands of the Warrior and the Druidess. Will they put their differences aside to fulfill their destiny?

TBB: When and why did you begin writing?

CA: The Celtic Warrior Queen Boudica made me start writing. I love history and in reading a book about the dark ages I came across Boudica. I was so impressed by her, I started jotting down notes, but they were fiction, about how I envisioned it to have happened. Before I knew it, I had written a rough draft for a novel. My novel Druid Quest takes place against the back drop of Boudica but she is mentioned in my new release Druid Bride as well. The heroine, Tanwen, who is a druidess, is Boudica’s granddaughter and it is her ancestor, Boudica, who sends her to Caledonia (Scotland) and that is how the story of Druid Bride begins.

TBB: What are your current projects?


CA: I recently submitted an Erotica/Celtic/Romance novella set in ancient England during Samhain. It’s a Celtic twist to a Halloween/Werewolf story. The heroine is a druidess and the hero is a Welsh god. And I also recently submitted an Erotica/Romance set during the 1969 Woodstock Festival. I had such fun writing that. I hope to hear good news on those. And I’m working on my second Steampunk/Romance, set in Victorian London, the heroine’s a ghost, and my 10th Celtic/Romance, a paranormal set in ancient Wales, the hero is a Welsh god. Both of those are works in progress right now.

TBB: Do you have any advice for other writers?


CA: Never stop writing, put your inner-editor aside and finish the rough draft. Find your unique author voice and go with it, always. Never give up, following a dream is always hard work, but it's the only way to truly live.

TBB: What authors have inspired your writing and in what way?


CA: Morgan Llewellyn and Marion Zimmer Bradley are my strongest inspiration. Marion Zimmer Bradley wrote fantasies, Morgan Llewellyn writes historicals, and I write romances, but like them, I use historical knowledge and realistic fantasy that pulls from the druid belief system, and I have researched the ancient Celts for more than 15 years.

TBB: How can our readers find you on the internet?


CA: My website is http://www.CelticRomanceQueen.com or follow me on Twitter here: http://twitter.com/CelticRomanzqEn

TBB: How about a teaser excerpt from Druid Bride?

CA:

Tanwen walked through the wheat field. Half willow tree, half fey was the only description that fit. Tall but lithe, her red hair waving in the wind, streaming down her slender body. Her skin was still pale blue from the woad, giving her the appearance of an enchantress, summoned from the other world to bless the crops. Everyone gazed at her as she walked forward and halted at a stalk. She plucked an ear of wheat and rolled the grain between her finger and thumb as Lossio had done. “It is plump and yielding.” She stared at Brude with an intense gaze that set his insides on fire. “Yes, it is time.”

A cheer went up from everyone, but Brude was captured by her gaze and couldn't’t look away. He didn’t want to. He wanted to step forward, scoop her up into his arms, and carry her off to his bed. By the gods, the druidess had enchanted him.

He did not say a word to Tanwen, nor she to him, but she turned her head and flipped her red hair across her back as she walked off.

Pick up your copy today! Click here!

Contest time:

Cornelia is giving away a Celtic round, leather medallion of a Crescent moon etched with Celtic knots and it hands on a braided leather cord. It’s very unique. The winner will be drawn from the comments. Winner's name posted here on the blog in the Recent Winners box on the right hand side of the blog! Check back to see who won!