Interview With Kirstyanne Ross
Hello Everyone!
We are delighted to have author Kirstyanne Ross amongst us today at Musikdiv India Online Magazine at our Special ‘Authors Festival’ interview series to tell us about her new book Old Magick !
Please read on …
Loshelle’s family secret has been leaked into the human world and with her father dead and mother missing in action she is the last Purebred alive who is able to protect that secret. With aid from an estate of Halfling’s turned by her family and sworn to her, Loshelle tracks down the source of the exposure and takes action that could cause her death. Will she manage to protect the secret or will the Humans find out all about them?—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
So Kirstyanne, we’ll start your Interview with the very first question
1.Please introduce and tell the readers something about yourself.
Hi all, my name is Kirsty, I’m 26, and love all types of crafts.
2.What brought you to writing?
When I was 14 my teacher gave us the first paragraph of a story, he told us to finish the story. It took me 2 pads, and until the end of the school year before I was even close to finishing, and that was without any editing.
3.How long have you been writing?
So far, I’ve been writing for over 15 years. I started in school and haven’t stopped since!
4.Which was your first literary project? Tell us something about it.
My first literary project was a romance – Life is Love and War. I edited and edited it but in the end I decided it wasn’t good enough for putting out there. It was about a teen couple who join up, one the police force and the other the Royal Air Force; it follows their struggle to stay together through the different sets of basic training that they had to undertake and ultimately to the death of one of them during the Afgan war.
5.Is this your new/latest project?
Old Magick is my latest project – although my current project is the second part in the series.
6.Can you give a chapter sample preview of your book here for our readers to know more about it.
I’ve included the sample that is available on Amazon
( Please look at the bottom of the interview for book excerpts )
7.What are your hobbies? Things that you enjoy doing besides books of course.
As I mentioned earlier, I am a very crafty person. Aside from writing I also stitch, design cross stitch charts, run my own blog, scrapbook, make cards and other things such as machine sewing – I even made myself a little tote bag a couple of days ago to carry my netbook and notebooks!
8.Who is your favourite author?
Without a doubt, Sir Terry Pratchett! He is witty and funny, the Discworld novels are books that I enjoy reading over and over.
9.Do you have a role model that you get inspiration from?
I have many literary role models, from Carol Ann Duffy to Iain M Banks. I also take inspiration from Anne Rice, Philippa Gregory and Robert Jordan. All brilliant writers.
10.Where do get your ideas from? Do you take your story ideas from real life situations?
Some of my ideas come from real life situations, others come from reading historical works. I love to get right into the crook of the way things used to work. My favourite period is the Tudor England but I find once an idea gets into my head or even a character idea I don’t have any option but to write, they take over my day dreams and my night dreams!
11.Whats your experience been like in the publishing industry? Postive or negative? Please share your experience with our readers.
I have had a mixed experience with the publishing industry as I am sure any author has. I have had many poems and short stories published however, with the novella’s though I have had many publishers ask for the full piece and then give me feedback. Of course, I have always acted on the feedback and edited again to get the story just right but I decided after getting my own e-reader that it would be a way to get my work out there.
12.Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?
It’s quite gushy but I see myself with my own children, still happily married, working as an English teacher and still happily writing.
13.Why do you think readers should buy your book? What can you offer them through your book?
Old Magick covers love, loss, and war. It is a paranormal romance and as it is a novella it only takes a few hours to read. If you want to lose yourself for a few hours I think it would be for you!
14.Where is your book available? Any Buy Link for our readers?
My book Old Magick is now available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0067PZ34K
15.Do you have a website or a blog that you’d like to share here.
My blog is http://kirstyross85.wordpress.com I discuss anything and everything from daily life to my stitching and designing and writing as well.
16.Anything else you’d like to share with our readers
Over the Christmas period I will be offering Old Magick for free for the first 50 people who request the voucher code for Smashwords. The second and third books are both in the process of being written and I expect to see the next one out in Summer 2012. The coupon code will be announced on my blog on December 23rd and will last until December 31st 2011.
Thanks again from Team MusikDIV
Book Exerpts – Sample Chapter
Old Magick By Kirstyanne Ross
She could feel the sun coming up, it made her skin itch. The old stories about her kind weren’t true at all; the new ones were closer than most people could imagine though. That could only mean one thing. Someone was betraying their secret; whoever it was had to be stopped and soon. With only a few of her kind left the options were few and although it had to be one of them, she didn’t like to think that was the case.
The garage door clicked quietly into place as she got out of her sports car that her father had bought her. It had been a bribe in the early days of her transformation – leave the kids at school alone and she could have the car she wanted by the time the transformation was complete. Her Father was the kind of man who always got what he wanted first time he asked for it. She was sure that the bribe was more of a gift of guilt, she had been raised a human and lived as a human but would never be a human – not really. The car was her dream though so bribe or gift of guilt made no difference at all to her. She’d done as she was told and left all the other kids alone, even when there were pains in her stomach or she had found herself drooling over the smell of one of them. In those times she would reach into her rucksack and take a drink of the milkshake that her mother would make in the morning and pack for her. She loved the chocolate flavour although she would never admit to any living soul what the secret ingredient was that gave it such an extra kick.
There were rules much older than her father’s and she would only break them if there was no other alternative left to her.
Her father had been killed shortly after she had completed her change, her mother waited long enough to show her the basics that he hadn’t already shown her and then took off, leaving her the house and everything inside it as well as a bank account with enough money in that she would never have to do a day’s work as long as she lived. At nineteen, alone for the first time in her entire life, she grieved. She grieved for the loss of her father and for her mothers’ abandonment. Had she been five years older, she wouldn’t have shed a single tear, newly changed and still in touch with her humanity Loshelle cried for days and not once did she notice the pains in her stomach, not until it was nearly too late.
As far as she knew twenty-four year old Loshelle Wintering was one of only three Purebreds left in the world, four if you could count her mother but she didn’t know if she was alive or not. She didn’t think of her parents at all anymore, the pain was still raw at the loss of her parents even after some time had passed; the loss she had felt caused her to retain some of her humanity. That was something that had never happened to a Purebred before.
Once a gangly teen at nearly six foot with bad skin and braces; Loshelle had benefitted from her change. Her spots had cleared up and left no marks on her skin, her once greasy complexion had turned to a flawless olive accenting her striking green eyes and dark brown hair perfectly. Her braces had been removed and somehow Loshelle had managed to grow into her body, her clumsiness replaced by a new gracefulness. Even the kids at school who all instinctively knew to leave her alone had noticed. Some smiled at her in passing; one boy who she thought was called Michael even plucked up the courage to ask her to the school prom. She turned him down gently avoiding any kind of confrontation, not wanting to attract the attention of the Elders. Her father had been specific about that:
‘Don’t attract their attention and whatever you do, don’t piss them off. Do you understand?’
‘Yes Father.’ She nodded fervently as she spoke. He must have been serious, he never swore in front of her.
The Elders as she knew them were the two oldest surviving Purebreds. They stuck to the old tribal ways policing their own with an energy that was unyielding. The sun caused them no irritation and they could go without food and sleep for months at a time. They were the best hunters their race had to offer. Through natural selection and survival of the fittest her grandparents were at the top of their game. Totally devoid of any human emotion they had killed Loshelle’s father, their son in law, without hesitation as an act of punishment when he nearly ousted them all by feeding under a CCTV camera. Luckily it was on their network and she was able to erase the evidence before any damage was done. Slip ups were costly and her father had paid the ultimate blood debt for his mistake.
As you can imagine, the Elders weren’t your typical grandparents. Loshelle had never received a birthday card from them or even met them, but she knew all about them. Her father had made sure she could look after herself and stay safe. All that was changing though, someone was revealing their secrets – her secrets to the human world and her grandparents would soon find out. All hell would break out if they got involved and the humans would find out about their existence for sure. Loshelle had to do something to stop the information getting out but she had to find the weak link to do that first. As much as she had hated her grandparents for what they had done to her father, as far as she knew, they were the only living relatives she had left and the human world couldn’t know about them. She was still pondering this when she dropped the car keys onto the table and patted Lucifer on the head.
‘Such a silly name for a dog.’
The comment came from the lounge and immediately she was in a defensive crouch, teeth bared like the hunter she was descended from, ready to strike at any second should she need to. She glanced back at Lucifer who was sat next to the front door; tail wagging as she waited with her lead to go out for her walk. The dog hadn’t flinched at the voice.
‘Who’s there? Show yourself.’ Loshelle spoke in a commanding tone much like her Father would have done had he still been alive. She didn’t see the man until he was stood in front of her, almost touching her arm, despite her excellent eyesight she hadn’t seen anything move. Lucifer suddenly started growling at the stranger as if seeing him for the first time.
‘Loshelle Wintering?’ The question was spoken softly; the Halfling’s accent wasn’t local. She recognised it, although she couldn’t place it even though she racked her memory to no avail.
‘Who wants to know?’ She demanded crossing her arms in front of her chest.
‘That was rude of me. I apologize, my name is Tennyson Roule.’ He bowed low to her and Loshelle straightened slightly.
Tennyson had been her Father’s business partner. She had heard them talking when she was little but it had been before her change. No wonder she had recognized his accent.
‘How did you do that?’
‘Do what?’ He replied.
‘Sneak up on us like that. Why couldn’t I see you? Even Lucifer didn’t know you were there.’
‘I still think that Lucifer’s a silly name for a dog. What on Earth made you call her that?’ Tennyson avoided her question easily as Loshelle went straight into a detailed explanation of the choice of her dog’s name. She thought it was clever.
‘I asked you a question. What are you doing in my home uninvited and how did you do that invisibility trick Halfling? It looks… useful.’ She never once broke eye contact with Tennyson as she spoke, not even to blink.
‘Which question would you like answering first My Lady?’ Tennyson asked not mockingly.
‘Both, in the order I asked. What are you doing in my home uninvited?’ She frowned at Lucifer who was still growling whilst Tennyson spoke.
‘I came for your help My Lady. You see, with your father dead and your mother dying’
‘Wait. Mother is dying? I didn’t know she was still alive.’ She sat down heavily on the sofa at the news.
‘No you wouldn’t have known. Your mother has been running the family business from afar to keep you safe. She is no longer able to do this so it is your turn to step up to the mark and take control.’
‘Me? You must be wrong; I don’t even know what the family business is. They never… They never told me anything about it.’ Her voice was low and the halfling had to strain to hear her speak.
‘My Lady,’ he paused and looked into her eyes. ‘That is why I am here. Your mother sent me to help you.’
‘I don’t believe that.’ She shook her head. Even after taking in the expensive suit and his tailored looks she didn’t believe her mother would send a Halfling to her without some prior warning.
‘Because I’m not Pure, I understand. Surely I have just proved myself though?’
Loshelle knew he was telling the truth, she could sense it even though she didn’t know how.
‘You didn’t answer my second question.’ Loshelle patted Lucifer who was on her lap growling quietly and guarding her from the Halfling in front of her. She was finding it difficult to trust her instincts when her dog didn’t trust him. ‘Shush.’ She tapped Lucifer on the nose but the word made Tennyson pause before speaking. She inclined her head and he began in earnest.
‘Well, it’s all kind of linked. To you and your family, I mean, well to your blood.’ He paused for a breath and then carried on. ‘You know how your grandparents are Elders? Well, your family isn’t the only Pure line that exists, there are five or six left but yours is the oldest. However, there is a rival family inAfrica and they want the position and respect that your grandparents hold. My job, well, your family’s job is to help them or protect them.’ She cut him off.
‘How does this have anything to do with what you did?’
‘Your grandparents are strong; they possess and use the old magick. It’s in their blood; your blood too. Your instinct told you to trust me earlier didn’t it?’ She nodded. ‘And it’s been telling you there’s something major wrong to do with the secrets you’re sworn to protect.’ He held his hand out to her, palm up showing a small pink scar. It dawned on her that he had shared the blood of her family.
‘So how does having our blood let you…?’
‘I willed it. I wanted to appear silent and invisible until you came in. That’s what I concentrated on. I had to let my cover down then so I could speak to you.’
‘That easy?’ She looked sceptical.
‘Try it.’ She sat back into the chair, closed her eyes and relaxed. She willed herself to not be there. ‘My Lady?’ Tennyson suddenly didn’t seem as close as he should have been. He wasn’t she opened her eyes and look around her Father’s study.
‘Cool. This could come in useful.’ Tennyson stuck his head around the door frame.
‘How did you get here My Lady?’
‘I just wanted not to be there, next thing I knew I was here.’
‘Tell me what you were thinking exactly.’ Tennyson’s tone was dangerously close to demanding. No one had ever demanded anything from her before. She blushed and looked away from his sparkling blue eyes, a deep contrast to his dark short hair and pale skin. ‘My Lady, it would seem that you are stronger than expected, but you don’t have the control yet to do exactly what you were thinking about rather than a variation of it. I’m here to help. What were you thinking about?’
‘Proving you wrong.’ Her voice was no more than a whisper and he grinned.
‘And how were you going to do that My –‘
‘Stop it.’ She snapped. ‘Mother was called that not me, and if you must know I was thinking that Father would help me do it.’ She ran out of air. ‘Instead, he showed me up. I believe that you are here to help but how do I know that you aren’t going to try and further your own schemes as well?’
‘With your relatives, it would be disastrous to do something like that. Besides, I like the protection this job offers me and my family, I’m not going to risk that.’ She nodded and stared at him thoughtfully.
‘Family?’ She couldn’t help thinking that he was cute.
‘My father and sister.’ He grinned at her and she couldn’t resist the twinkle in his eyes.
‘Let’s go back downstairs, I’m starving.’
‘Would you…’ The sentence hung in the air, the electricity around it obvious.
‘No, remember, I grew up in a human world and can be as human as the rest of them.’
‘Except you’ll never age, never truly live as a human would.’ He cut her off; Loshelle shrugged her shoulders and carried on.
‘I want a sandwich. Cheese, ham and tomatoes, nothing else. You’re welcome to have one if you like?’ She looked over her shoulder at him as she walked down the stairs and laughed as he screwed his nose up. ‘There’s fresh juice in the fridge too, if you’d rather have that?’ He nodded his thanks and followed her down the stairs.
‘Sit down, I want you to tell me everything, start at the beginning. How are you linked to my family? Where’s Mother? What’s wrong with her?’ She asked as she started pouring his drink and making her sandwich.
Tennyson burst out laughing and he jumped back to his feet.
‘Sorry, just there are so many questions you want answering. Why don’t we wait until we both have our snack and are sat down?’
She nodded and passed a glass filled with red liquid straight to Tennyson. He thanked her and then sniffed the air. Another frown creased his forehead and it was Loshelle’s turn to laugh.
‘It’s tomato juice.’
‘Oh.’ He looked crestfallen.
‘I told you, I don’t keep that stuff in the house.’
‘So magick? Like waving a wand and saying abracadabra?’ She smirked at the passing night through the car window.
‘Nah, you say kazam.’ Tennyson joked back; his eyes sparkled as he smiled.
They let the journey continue in silence for a while until the car left the safety of the suburbs and street lights. She shivered. Tennyson still hadn’t told her exactly what was happening, instead, he was taking her to her Mother. No, to her dying Mother, she adjusted in her mind. It was a lot to take in, she hadn’t seen her in years – she didn’t even know that she was still alive. Now she was going to have to deal with the loss all over again.
‘Tennyson, how old are you?’ The question was abrupt and came out of nowhere. It wasn’t something a halfling would answer freely because it made them think of their human lives. A life most of them wanted to forget, even with the blood banks, humans were food to halflings and purebreds alike and they didn’t like being reminded that they were once someone else’s prey.
‘I’m ninety-seven.’ He answered unhesitatingly.
‘No, I mean how old were you? When you were changed?’
‘I was sixteen.’ She nodded.
He looked young and he hadn’t lost his playful smile and the glint in his eyes. Why change someone so young? She pondered.
‘It was my father they wanted.’ He said as if reading her mind. ‘My sister and I were only children at the time. By the time he was in control of the hunger Mithrandir was fourteen and I was sixteen. He came back and changed us, said he wanted to be a family again.’
‘Who changed your father?’
‘Your grandparents My Lady; they had heard of his reputation in the human societies and made him an offer he couldn’t resist. Immortality for all of us and a well-paid job for his entire existence.’
Loshelle nodded, he hadn’t wanted to change but he had embraced it with open arms to protect his family.
‘What did he do?’
‘He was a palace guard…’ Tennyson went quiet.
‘Where is your father now?’ She couldn’t help but want to meet this man.
‘Out on the hunt.’
Tennyson gave his answer with finality in his voice that said he would speak no more on the topic.
At the same time the car ground to a halt inside the gates of an expansive estate. Loshelle could see fields in every direction apart from the way they had come which showed a long driveway that they had followed to the main house lined with trees and bordered by flowers. It reminded her of a palace.
‘Your mother is waiting inside. I will stand guard. She will explain everything that you need to know My Lady.’ Tennyson’s voice broke into her thoughts. ‘You will have plenty of time to look around the grounds over the next couple of days My Lady.
Loshelle knew very little about the world in which she came from. Her parents had taught her enough to keep her alive and Tennyson had provided her with little glimpses but she had an undeniable feeling that there was a lot more to it and that she was about to be thrown in at the deep end. She took a calming breath and moved silently to the door.
Before she got to the door she stole a look over her shoulder hoping to see Tennyson give her an encouraging nod or smile but he was nowhere in sight. She steadied herself, knocked and walked straight in without pausing for a response. Loshelle had never been made to wait before and she wasn’t going to start waiting around now.
Lying in a gothic style bed at the opposite end of the long room was the unmistakable form of her Mother and she looked old and frail. That stopped Loshelle in her tracks, her mother was a Purebred, she wasn’t supposed to age after her mid-twenties but she really did look old.
‘Mother?’
‘Loshelle, come where I can see you, I have much to tell you Darling.’ She held her hand out as if they’d seen each other only that morning and nothing had happened.
‘Mother, what’s wrong?’
‘My blood has been infected by them. It’s slowly killing my spirit and soon it will take me.’ That was her mother, always direct. ‘Now, are you ready to learn?’
‘Yes.’ She sat down at the table near her mother’s head and listened to the stories of the tribes.
‘When our tribe’s blood mixed with the human blood something changed in us, the tribe in Africawants what we have; the respect of human rulers and an affinity with their people. They are willing to do anything to get their hands on what they think is a big secret, yet if they sat down and talked about it they would be able to work it out for themselves. Instead they started a war so big that it took your grandparents decades to cover it over, some of the stories still exist today. World War One was a cover up for a war between the tribes that the humans got involved in, they showed who their allegiance was with then but the common soldier didn’t know why they were fighting. Even then though, some of them saw and were able to work it out for themselves. Your father didn’t like the thought of killing so many people so he changed them instead. Do the math, you find now that there must be thousands of halfling’s running around with our secret.
Buy Old Magick by Kirstyanne Ross On Amazon Kindle >> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0067PZ34K
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