Yes, MORGAN--The Pixie and the Green Man goes back to its regular price after Saturday, Sept. 5. But there’s still time to get your copy for only $0.99! And with the long holiday weekend coming up, you’ll have plenty of time to get to Esperance, learn about Morgan and James, and get in a little relaxation.
Morgan was one of the young women who volunteered to come to Clan Brannach from her home clan when Jareth came to demand restitution in Book 1 of the series, Jareth First Lord. But soon after her arrival, she was attacked and feared for her life until two young men came to her rescue.
One of those young men was James Ferguson, son of the local lumber yard owner. He fell in love with her the moment he saw here there, covered in mud, clothes torn, and face a downpour of tears. He knew he must become better acquainted with her, but didn’t want to rush. So he took his time and gave her some space.
When he eventually approached her, she politely refused. Being persistent, he finally gained a little bit of trust. Enough for her to agree to a cup of tea at least.
Their courtship progressed at a snail’s pace, but he was a patient man. She was scared and not at all sure about relationships.
The way things go on Esperance, trouble soon reared its head, leading them to a rushed wedding and disappearing act to avoid danger coming their way. Up the mountain and into the forest, where James’ link to the forest was strong.
It’s a wet and rainy Thursday here, so I thought I would share one of my worlds with you. I don’t know how much you know about this series, so come with me and learn more!
Esperance was settle from Earth after it was discovered by the Seekers looking for habitable worlds to colonize. These individuals had psychic abilities that allowed them to explore the universe without leaving Earth.
At first everything was great. The world was lush, in a British Isles sort of way, with a lot of highland type environments in the more temperate regions. Earth supplied them with whatever they couldn’t yet produce on their own, while they got established. But when those shipments suddenly stopped, the young colony was at a loss. Not only could they not repair equipment which broke down, when a new virus swept through, they had no medicines to fight it. Over half the colony perished.
Those left were scattered and developed an “every man for himself” attitude, taking even more of a toll on their civilization, or what was left of it. But during their years on Esperance, descendants of the Seekers who had come with them had continued to develop their abilities. To safe the settlers fro themselves, they used those abilities to force a rule of law back onto their society. Dividing into clans, each family with the abilities or Talents to hold their clan together gave their name to their clan.
A few centuries later we come to Clan Brannach, ruled by the latest in the lineage, Jareth, the First Lord of the clan. The neighboring clan is Clan Belfort, which is where our story begins.
Jareth is a young ruler, widowed and with no heir as his wife died in childbirth. It has been two years, but he’s not sure he’s ready to seek another woman to be his First Lady. On top of this, thieving parties from Clan Belfort have been stealing from his storehouses. As harsh as the winter is, his people will be seriously short of food and grains if it isn’t stopped. Though he has communicated with the other First Lord, he has heard nothing. It seems the only way to settle it is to make a trip through the ice and snow to demand restitution in person.
Viviane is a young widow in Clan Belfort. Though her family begs her to come back home, she has gotten used to being independent. But without a means of support, once the stock in her late husband’s shop is gone, she needs another option. She had never considered it would come from another clan.
As part of the restitution and penalties, Jareth demands his rights under an old law–the right of Choosing. He can clam up to 10% of the women of marriageable age to take back to his clan. When the women are gathered, one catches his eye. Then and there he decides she will be his First Lady, if he can win her heart. But she has a secret which threatens to throw their clans into armed conflict.
Picking up the story from book 1, Viviane begins to settle in to the routine in Jareth’s house. But these new abilities she seems to be developing have worried Jareth. Once tested for Talents, both Jareth and his head instructor agree. She must begin training at once before all those abilities get out of hand. She never asked for these Talents and doesn’t want the. But it seems once they appear there is no going back.
The headaches are monstrous and the medicine to tame their is horrible, but her companion, Annie does her best to sympathize with her. At least she and Jareth are doing well together. And all those Talents tend to lead to some exciting times behind closed doors! Between his Talents as First Lord and her surprise Talents, tings heat up rather quickly.
Unfortunately they have to go back to her home clan for her brother’s trial for treason, which is where trouble raises its head. In anger, she uses her Talents to lash out at her brother when he attempts to influence her through his mental abilities. Realizing what she’s done, she disappears fight in front of Jareth’s eyes, meaning she has even more Talents to worry him. Now if he can just find her…
When Jareth went to Clan Belfort to confront the First Lord there in Book 1, Morgan volunteered to go to Clan Brannach and leave her homeland. From an abusive background where it seemed every man in her life had hurt her in one way or another, she hoped for a fresh start. But shortly after the move she is attacked on her daily rounds and very nearly raped, saved only by two young men who heard her cries. She was offered another jog in a market, where she wouldn’t have to be anywhere alone. The couple who owned the store were older and quite protective.
One day a young man came in to buy something for a snack. She remembered him from her previous ordeal. He had come to her rescue several months previous. He introduced himself, asked for he items he wanted, and threw a mischievous smile her way on parting. Soon his visits became daily as did his invitations for coffee of tea.
Finally, Mrs. Kennoway, her employer, asked why she never accepted his invitations, to which she answered she couldn’t. Fear of men wouldn’t let her go, even across the street. But James came up with a solution. He brought coffee and scones over to the market, along with a cafe table and chairs from in front and invited her to sit down for tea.
Come with me as these two navigate the perilous waters of romance on this fantastic world. Be prepared for magical abilities, spirit guides, and a bit of folklore!
After her traumatic experience at her brother’s trial, Viviane wants to banish her Talents. Maybe if she doesn’t train them they’ll just go away. Even with Jareth and her instructors explaining why it won’t work, she trains reluctantly feeling that the less she trains them the less danger they will present.
Unfortunately her trainers are right. After a few accidents involving her Talents she relents.Digging deep, she finally agrees to give it her all, even when frustrations get her down, leading to a bizarre game of tag in the snow and the weirdest chess game ever.
Meanwhile, in her home clan, Belfort, her nephew, Connell, is beginning to train his Talents as he steps in as heir to the ruling house. He doesn’t understand why Talents are necessary and he doesn’t like the headaches he gets during training. When his grandfather, the First Lord, suggests he reach out to his Aunt Viviane telepathically, he is amazed. How could they communicate from so far away?
His Aunt Viv was one of his favorite people. But her husband, First Lord Jareth, scared him half to death. The man had never been cruel or harsh toward him. He had tried to reach out and speak with Connell. It was just the incredible amount of energy swirling around him, which seemed scarcely contained at times.
Connell also has difficulties controlling his Talents. And when on of his old friends from home hurts a young girl who is his friend, his anger and need to talk to someone who might understand unexpectedly lands him in Jareth’s front hall. He had no idea how he’d arrived there and was even less certain about how to get home.
Come join the fun and games on Esperance. Another book is in progress, so catch up on the series before its release.
I hope this gives you a little overview of my world Esperance. It’s a great place to visit and dream about Talents and magic.
Normally I would say yes it is. But after the spring/summer we’ve had so far, I’m not ready to commit just yet. The last time I was sure summer was here we got a cold snap. The beans are up, though, the tomatoes and peppers are blossoming, and there are even a few tiny peppers checking the weather before bursting forth.
So what is happening in my writing world?
Sultonna Nadine’s new book is beginning to get some attention. LADY CALLOWAY--A Question of Heresy is a romantic fantasy with elements of a Victorian alternate reality, duty vs. love, moral dilemma, and strict church dominance. It is a multi-layered fantasy romance with our couple at the center of all the drama. Psychic abilities play into the story as well. I mean, this is Sultonna Nadine after all.
So if you haven’t checked it out yet, go on over and take a peek.
In the meantime, stay safe, stay healthy, and happy reading!
Just what are Talents anyway? I talk a lot about them in my Esperance books. So let’s take a peek at what I’m talking about.
Generally speaking, Talents are like psychic abilities. You may be familiar with the concept of mental telepathy or telekinesis. On Esperance, this takes a much broader stroke across the population. Healers have a gift for using energy to counter illness and work with doctors to keep the clan healthy.
Take for instance the Ferguson family. The ruling family of Clan Ferguson is known for having an affinity for the forest and wood products in general. In Clan Brannach, a family related to the ruling family owns a lumber yard. They also create works of art from wood in unusual ways, using these Talents.
When it comes to First Lords, those Talents can come in a number of ways. Most are adept at mental telepathy, telekinesis, remote viewing and the like. Some can teleport to places they’ve been to before.
What makes the difference in their strength is the amount of energy they can control to direct this Talent. No one has every found the limits of Jareth’s powers.
Then we come to Viviane, who should have lost any abilities she had during childhood. Nobody knows exactly why, but they resurfaced during the trouble her clan had with Clan Brannach, stirred up by her traitorous brother, Carl. All the Talents one would expect for an heir of the clan became hers, and were completely out of control.
This brought up another issue. Since Talent is tied to emotions in a lot of cases, whenever she became emotional at all, or began to daydream, she affected everyone within reach of her abilities. Maids would be dancing down the hallway as she visualized a dancer while playing her flute. Her anger sent people flying out of her path.
And the stronger her abilities became, the more trouble they were.
Now, picture two people who are extremely gifted when passion ignites in the bedroom…
Yeah…
Both Viviane and Jareth were tired of having to control their emotions during those intimate times, but so far the only solution was to go to the mountain cabin. While Jareth could teleport them up the mountain, it was rather a nuisance.
But Jareth has a plan and it’s almost time for Viviane’s birthday. It will certainly be one she will never forget.
Come with me to Esperance. Maybe we can wish Viviane a happy birthday in person.
And don’t forget Connell, over in Clan Belfort. We’ll talk about him next time.
Yes, it’s that time of year again, when the wearing of the green, drinking green beer, and eating green food are all the rage.
But what if that isn’t your scene? Me? I just like to settle in with a nice book, maybe something with a Celtic theme to it, and a nice cup of something to drink..
Esperance. A highland world settled by people from the British Isles and then abandoned. And after centuries in this new place, some of them developed some rather unique abilities.
Or had they been there all along, hidden from the public in fear of persecution?
James Ferguson’s family has a way with wood, and a connection to the forest which would make most people nervous. But it was his family’s way to tell the women they were seriously interested in about their abilities. In James’ case, one woman ran into the street, was hit by a carriage, and nearly died.
He decided he wouldn’t try again–and then he met Morgan, with her dark hair and blue-gray eyes that drew him in. So tiny compared to him, he nicknamed her his Pixie.
Have you ever had an idea in the middle of the night, written it down, and placed it in your ideas folder? And then forgotten all about it?
Yeah. One of those ideas.
While sorting through files yesterday, I came across a folder with book ideas in it, but it wasn’t in the place it should have been. Opening the file, I recognized the other ideas, but I couldn’t remember the last one.
Turns out it was another story line for the Speranza Series. Idea title–An English Werewolf on Gambler’s Folly.
Like I didn’t have enough on my plate from Gambler’s already…
Watch for The Russian later this year. It will be Book 3 from Gambler’s Folly, in the Speranza Series.
Next up after that will be a book in the Esperance Series–Talents–the continuing story of Viviane and introducing the new heir of Belfort. Connell is a ten year old little boy who must now train to become ruler of his clan. And he’s not happy…
Looking for something to read? Fantasy romance, paranormal romance, or a touch of magic?
Colonized and then abandoned, Esperance was torn apart by disease and unrest when supplies from Earth failed to appear. After a short time, chaos reigned, as those few left clawed for survival in the ruins of their past.
Eventually a few men rose out of the chaos, men with unusual abilities, who brought back the rule of law. Dividing the lands and people into clans, they built a world of their own on the ashes of the old.
Several hundred years later, a strong leader rose in Clan Brannach–First Lord Jareth. Young, widowed, with no heir, he knows he must find a mate, but his heart isn’t in it.
Until he meets Viviane.
The youngest daughter of the House of Belfort, Viviane is a young widow, having recently lost her husband to an accident. Wanting to remain independent from her family, she is nearly out of options when First Lord Jareth rides in with demands, including The Choosing.
Now one of the chosen, she is taken from her clan to Clan Brannach, to be courted by this dark, powerful, and mysterious First Lord.
But can she open her heart to love once again?
Come with meand meet the people of Esperance–Jareth and Viviane, James and Morgan, Connell and Nellie, Ben and Deborah…
Follow their lives and loves on this highland world full of mischief, romance and magic.
