What I'm writing about

My novel takes place in Ireland, my ancestral home. I’ve travelled there once. The first thought that came to me as I’m looking around at the scenery as our bus drives along is how green everything is. But green isn’t even an adequate word for the color. Emerald definitely fits; they come in so many different shades but are all so brilliant and breathtaking. That’s Ireland, breathtaking, brilliant, and otherworldly. I would love to live there, but I don’t so my heroine does.

Aideen Kelly, my heroine, is an Eolande. A race of Fae/human I created. She’s rare because she can call on the element of fire, but above all else she’s just trying to find her place in this world. Struggling just like the rest of us. Her life is disrupted by learning that her elemental gift is more than what she thought and bargained for, and her mother’s killer is now after her.

I enjoy reading paranormal mysteries and romance, but I wanted something different for Aideen. The murderer’s in my series are the Leanansidhe (Lay-nan-shee) or Dark One’s. They were once Eolande, but violence and bloodshed has transformed them into vampiric Fae. Their humanity lost to them, they murder, feed, and cause destruction wherever they go. Not unlike what we are all capable of allowing ourselves to evolve into. If we allow the violence and hatred in our lives to control us, we become no different than those who hurt us. The difficult part, is allowing ourselves to see these monsters for what they were, not what they have become. No one is born evil, we must be taught to hate, as were the Leanansidhe.

Aideen struggles with her gifts – or curses as she begins to see them – loses people she loves, tracks down her mother’s killer, finds her long lost father, and in the end, realizes she has exactly what she has always been searching for: family. She’ll continue to struggle with her elemental gifts and learn about them in future novels, her love interest will grow, her relationship with her father will have its ups and downs, and she’ll be frightened of what the future holds. But this uncertainty will keep her going, keep her moving forward; and as she does, she’ll slowly come to realize what amazing gifts she has in her life.

My novel has vampires and shape shifters, fairies and mystical lands, but I didn’t want the typical vampire or shifter. My vampires aren’t the mysterious, exotic, dangerous creatures from other paranormal novels. You don’t change from being bitten or drained of blood. You change from the hatred and vengeance you allow yourself to feaster within. It isn’t a simple change; you have to literally be consumed by your hatred. This is what creates monsters.

My shifters are the warriors and protectors. They are also Eolande, but rare in that they can shift into an animal. The type depends on their culture. They are called Kailen, and are sent to protect the Eolande with other rare gifts. Aideen and her Kailen, Einar, begin a romance which will continue to grow throughout the series. Something her long lost father will have some difficulty dealing with.

I want my novel to be entertaining, but I also wanted to include life lessons. Sure, you could read it for its entertainment factor alone; but you can also identify with the life struggles and fears, and see deeper into the story, to find different ways of looking at life and the people that find themselves in your path.

So, without giving my entire story away, this is what I’m writing about.