Good morning. Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting 'Character Interviews' from several of my fellow Roses who, like me, have their ebooks going to print from The Wild Rose Press. This is a fun way to get to know one of the protagonists from their stories, and one lucky commenter will win a copy of the featured author's print book. So join me every Thursday for the next several weeks for your chance to win some great books!
In perfect sync with Halloween, I'm kicking off the interviews with Dylan Newton, author of paranormal suspense.Her debut novel, DESPITE THE GHOSTS, is a paranormal romance resulting from the 2008 NaNoWriMo challenge which was contracted with The Wild Rose Press a year later. Since that first contract, Dylan has published a dark, sexy little novella ANY WITCH WAY, released this year, and has just put the finishing edits on her third full-length novel, DESPITE THE FANGS, due out in 2014. When she's not busy writing, she can likely be found training for the next race, scrapping or finding the recipe for the ultimate dessert!
Today I'm interviewing Joshua Donoghue Maguire from Dylan's spicy 172 page novella ANY WITCH WAY just released in print through The Wild Rose Press.
Hello. Thank you for being with us here today. Can you tell us your name?
Some call me Seeker, Penitent, Wiccan…but I prefer Joshua. Joshua
Donoghue Maguire, if you must know, but I haven’t been called by all my names
in centuries.
That's a shame, because it's such a great name.
So, Joshua, where are you from?
I roam where the Goddess sends me to make penitence for an
evil spell I cast long ago. Most recently, my service to the Lady has taken me
to Upstate, New York where I’ve been watching over a certain beautiful…and
cursed…graduate student named Lily Andrews.
Please describe yourself in
7 words:
Ah, seven—a very interesting number to choose. If I’m to be truthful as the Lady bids me,
then my seven words would be: Wiccan, Penitent, Roamer, Goddess-Loyal, and…in
Love.
Lily's a very lucky woman.
What is your main
occupation right now?
My main occupation is much as it has been throughout the
centuries. I roam the Earth, seeking to remove the curse I unleashed in my
youth. Yet these past few weeks since meeting Lily, my ‘occupation’ as you say,
has changed.
Tonight is Samhain, the Wiccan New Year, when the veil
between the worlds is at its thinnest. Tonight, may the Goddess grant me the
power to do what I must—to save the woman I love.
Where are you living?
{*slow grin spreads across his face*} Currently, I live in the mortal realm, not far
from SUNY Geneseo.
Joshua, how did you feel when
you first set eyes on the love of your life?
{*pentagram tattoos begin to glow at his temples*} That she
is worth every second of the time I have left.Awe, so very sweet.
If you could travel,
where would you go?
Up until recently, my answer would have been the
Summerlands—a Wiccan concept for eternal rest, or heaven. That was before I met
Lily Andrews. Now…I would choose to go with Lily to any ‘where’ and any ‘time’
she desires.
Do you have a hobby?
My time on Earth is not my own until my penance is complete.
For the past few centuries, my only hobby has been to hunt down versions of my
curse and eliminate them.
What is your main
goal?
{*sighs*} If it were only that simple. My only goal left is
to right a wrong done an innocent. Yet with Lily in my life, nothing seems clear
any longer. I—I want what I can no longer have, no longer even ask for—more
time on Earth. More time with Lily. Goddess help me, but I would give anything
for that.Here's the gorgeous cover, book blurb and an excerpt:
Blurb:
Graduate student Lily Andrews resigned herself to a life of
perpetual virginity. With her recent twisted appetites and weird fugues
hospitalizing every would-be boyfriend, it's no wonder she uses her coursework
as an excuse not to date.
Then, she meets a witch.
Joshua enters Lily's life to complete penance for a deadly
spell he cast centuries ago. Joshua must counter Lily's demon-wrought fugues
with his own Wiccan magick, or lose her forever.
As the pivotal Wiccan holiday, Samhain, approaches, time is
running out. Together, they must battle an ancient dark force, fighting for
their lives and their new-found love…ANY WITCH WAY they can.
“You think you cast a spell
on me? Like, saved me with your magic wand?” Lily crossed her arms. “You don’t
seriously expect me to believe that?”
“Yes, I do.” The dark stars inked on
Joshua’s temple glowed silver in the moonlight as he grinned. “Except the last
bit. Wands are for amateurs.”
Then he swiped his hand through the
air as if tracing a complex image, and tingling warmth
cascaded through Lily. The heat coalesced to a tangible weight, like hands at
her waist.
Lily gasped. She felt his touch, but his hands were nowhere
near her!
“H-how are you…”
Joshua’s brown eyes twinkled and he murmured in what sounded
like another language. Instantly, the hypnotic sensation traveled up her arms
in a swirling pattern, igniting her skin.
“Please.” Lily breathed, not sure
what she meant. Please stop? Or please don’t stop?
Joshua’s fingers curled at his side and the sensation
evaporated.
Lily willed her voice not to tremble. “Okay, obviously
you’ve got some weird street magician thing going on. I don’t know how you’re
doing those tricks—,”
“Spells.” Joshua interrupted.
“—spells,” Lily continued, “But what’s inside of me is
dangerous. I know it’s hard to understand, but I’m not normal. Something inside
me is…damaged. It’s like I’m—”
“Cursed,” he finished with the exact word she intended to use.
Lily nodded.
Joshua’s tattoos glimmered in the darkness.
“Your curse is why I’m here.”
Hope you enjoyed Joshua’s interview here today! My novel, ANY WITCH WAY, is available at Amazon.com, The Wild Rose Press, or your favorite e-tailer.
Thank you, Donna, for
having me and my character over for a chat on Samhain. Leave a comment below,
and one lucky commenter will win a copy of my novel, ANY WITCH WAY, and get to know Joshua more, erm, intimately inside the covers of a
paperback. J
