Arthurian Legend Inspires One More Novel

Beneath the Hallowed Hill is set in Britain’s most mythic place, Avalon. In contemporary times, it’s Glastonbury. In Hill, we see my vision of Morgen le Fey and the community of priestesses who served the two sacred springs. Christina St. Clair has a new novel out that features Vivienne, the sorceress who imprisoned Merlin. Here’s how she describes her book: 

Emily’s Shadow–a novel by Christina St. Clair

Happy days are not here again. That’s how Emily might have thought at the beginning of the family holiday in pretty Cornwall with her father, two brothers, and his new bride, a woman who could have been an older sister. Except she wasn’t. Nor was she a mother to Emily’s brothers. Emily had fulfilled that role after her mother was killed during the London Blitz.
Emily can scarcely allow herself to remember what happened. It had all been so fast. She’d not meant to let go of Byron’s hand during that awful fire bomb attack when the Elephant and Castle pub down the road went up in flames. Byron had darted out of their Andersen bomb shelter right into the midst of the battle. Mum chased him. The rest was history. Why dredge it up?
Yet, somehow, someway, such experiences must be released. Emily’s opportunity to release repressed anger came during that time in Cornwall. It came out of the dark past of antiquity in the form of the sorceress, Vivienne. This witch was the one who’d tricked Merlin, slipping a magic ring upon his finger, and then burying him under a sacred rock. Alas for her, Merlin had laid a spell upon her and sent her whirling through time and space to be trapped in a muddy hole beneath a hut that over the centuries had been rebuilt and rebuilt, with not a soul capable to help her.
Vivienne was not the best sorceress in the world, but she was clever, and as Emily and her family arrived to stay in the fishing cottage where Vivienne remained, she suddenly understood the flaw in Merlin’s spell upon her, and so she began conjuring magic to free herself.
With Vivienne’s freedom, Emily’s troubles began: disturbing thoughts, her brother acting more strange than ever, chaotic family times. Her father, or course, typical of him, didn’t notice a thing wrong. Why would he? He was the great hero who went off to war leaving the family to cope. Sure, he was doing what men all did, and sure he would have been called up anyway, but it hurt that he’d gone off leaving her in charge. She’d only been fourteen at the time. Now, though, she was older and wiser and had her own plans on how to live. They did not include an encounter with a medieval sorceress.

To read an excerpt go here.
To read her blog, go here.

Available from Amazon, Nook, and Sony

Then There Were Three

Thea Hutcheson is joining us after all! Saturday, April 23, 3:00 p.m. at the Broadway Book Mall, 200 S. Broadway, Denver; phone 303-744-BOOK (2665) – A trio of local urban fantasy writers: Theresa Crater (Beneath the Hallowed Hill), Robin D. Owens (Enchanted No More) and Thea Hutcheson (The Bee Lady’s Amulet) will all discuss and sign their latest books.

New Book!

Today my new novel Beneath the Hallowed Hill is released. Anne Le Clair travels to Glastonbury with her fiancée, Egyptologist and mystic Michael Levy, to investigate a house she has inherited from a mysterious aunt…only to find trouble waiting. One of Avalon’s sacred twin springs is failing. Together, Anne and Michael try to restore the water flow, but discover there is much more at stake: the Illuminati master Alexander Cagliostro has activated an ancient crystal tower, tearing a hole in time that threatens so much more than one sacred spring. Meanwhile, in ancient Atlantis, Megan, priestess of the Crystal Matrix Chamber, flees the destruction of her world carrying with herself a vital artifact. Order here.

Live Chat

To celebrate the release day (4.7.11) of Beneath the Hallowed Hill, I’ll be doing a live chat at Eternal Press from 4-4:30 p.m. (Mountain Daylight Time). Go here. You may have to sign in and then click on Live Chat. Hope to see you there!

Glastonbury’s Holy Thorn Tree

Legend tells us that when Joseph of Arimathea arrived in Glastonbury a millennium ago, he stuck his staff into the ground. The next morning it had sprouted. The tree is considered sacred by Druids and Christians alike. After all, Joseph was the uncle of Yeshua ben Yousef, better known as Jesus. In Glastonbury, the Druids and Christians found their teachings to be in harmony.

Beneath the Hallowed Hill is set in Glastonbury, and Anne le Clair visits the tree in the novel.

The tree, or its descendent, still lives and flowers twice a year. That is until just recently when someone took it upon themselves to try to kill it. One morning residents awoke to find the Holy Thorn had been chopped up. Many residents feared the worse and all wondered who would do such a thing and why. But spring has sprung in England, and with it the Holy Thorn has bloomed again. It’s still alive.

Meet Morgen le Fey from my latest novel

Join hostess Jean Marie Ward  for this March’s Woman Power collection of short readings from women writing across the realm of
speculative fiction. Listen here.

March is Women’s History Month, and this month’s talented women writers spotlight many aspects of Woman Power—and powerful women:

Charged with treason, Gail Z. Martin’s  pregnant queen Kiera must wage a war of words to save herself, her friends, and her unborn child.

In Larissa N. Niec’s selection, the goddess Rhianna’s high priestess embarks on a dangerous spirit quest to seek help for her dying
land.

Theresa Crater  introduces her heroine—and us—to the legendary Morgan le Fey in the land beneath the hallowed hill.

Then journey with Diane Whiteside  to present-day Virginia, where a psychically gifted homicide detective learns just how powerful a woman working for the FBI can be.

Finally, soar into the future with Danielle Ackley-McPhail  and a squadron of hell-raising women fighter pilots led by the infamous Scarlet Jay.Sit back. Enjoy. But don’t expect to relax—not around these women.

The Broad Pod is sponsored by Broad Universe, an international, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting, honoring, and celebrating women writers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Find out more about our organization, including new fiction released by women, more podcasts, and information about writing and publishing for women, at our website.

Please listen.