An interview with Kado, a character from Renee Scattergood's Shadow Stalker books.

Renee Scattergood has agreed to interview Kado, the guardian of Auren, one of the main characters in her Shadow Stalker books.
Welcome, Renee and Kado, to my blog.


Hello Kado! I want to thank you for joining us all the way from the Dark Isle today. I know it’s just a leap through the shadow world for you, but we’re so glad to have you here.

Kado: I’m honored to be here. Although, I should add that we do not leap through the shadow world. We move through it or more to the point it moves around us. It’s called a shift.

That’s good to know. Leaping through the world of spirits is probably not the best idea. So, the first thing I’m sure everyone is wondering is, were you born on the Dark Isle?

Kado: I was.

What was it like?

Kado: Life on the Dark Isle is difficult. It’s a dangerous place to live with all the venomous plants. The villages are kept safe enough, but outside the villages it is quite treacherous if you don’t know what you’re looking for. Also, there’s life as a shadow stalker which is equally difficult.

How so?

Kado: Training starts pretty much when we are old enough to walk and talk. Learning to shift into the shadow world is scary when you’re young. It’s also risky when learning to deal with the demons that protect the borders of the shadow world. They recognize fear as aggression, so you can see how that might make things tricky at first.

Yes, very much so. Is it true that shadow stalker children live with a foster family who trains and raises them from the time they are born?
Kado: Yes.

Why is that?

Kado: Well, as I mentioned, the training is difficult and often dangerous. Parents form a bond with their children that makes them want to shelter and protect their children from danger. Over time, we learned it’s more effective and less stressful on the parents to let someone else take that responsibility.

That makes sense. So, you didn’t know your real family growing up?

Kado: Oh no. Shadow stalkers value family. We maintain close ties with our families while we are growing up. Most often children remain in the same village as their parents. In some cases, when they are raised in other villages, they visit with their parents several times a year.

So, are you still close with your family now?

Kado: The only surviving member of my family is my daughter, Shai. And yes, (smiles) we are quite close.

Oh, I’m sorry to hear about your family. How did you lose them?

Kado: Most of them died when the Galvadi invaded the Dark Isle over twenty years ago. My niece, Calista, and wife, Raven, were the only survivors. My wife died several years later, on a mission to rescue Auren’s father from the Galvadi. Cali died a couple years ago as a prisoner of the Galvadi.

So basically, the Galvadi killed your entire family. How awful.

Kado: (deep breath) Yes, it is, but things are turning around. At least I hope they are. If Auren is successful, the Galvadi will be no more.

That’s good to hear. Well, that’s all we have time for today. Again, thank you so much for joining us.

Kado: (nods) It was my pleasure.


I hope you've enjoyed that interview.
Renee's books can be bought from Amazon.  follow this link to buy the first part of the Shadow Stalker books.


https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Stalker-Part-Episodes-Bundles-ebook/dp/B00VI2ZCY8/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
Feel free to add a comment. I love hearing from you all.

Samhain, A Poem.

Samhain is the pagan pre-curser to what we now call Hallowe'en. It was thought that on the nights of the equinox the veil separating the world of the dead from our own world thinned, and the dead could come through.

Not all the dead were consindered scary, though. The people thought that their recent dead visited them, and they put out food, or set an extra place at the table to accommodate them. These dead came to see their loved ones were going on alright.

Evil spirits, though, could come through, too, and so bonfires were lit to keep them at bay. The home fires were put out, too, to be relit the following day from the bonfires.

Pope Gregory decided that some of the pagan dates should be incorporated into the Christian calendar as psople were used to celebrating on those days. Samhain was one of these. The Pope designated it to be All Saint's Day, hence the night before became All Hallow's Eve. (Hallows being another word for 'holy' or 'saint'.)

Pope Gregory also fixed the date of Christmas to co-incide with the pagan festival of Yule, and turned some of the pagan gods into saints. He also used pagan worshiping sites to build Christian churches, on the same principal. People were used to going there to worship.

Here is a poem I wrote for Samhain. I hope you like it.


SAMHAIN

Don't go near the graveyard, darling,
Samain is tonight.
Don't go near the graveyard, darling,
The dead will walk this night.

Keep your candle burning, darling,
Keep it glowing bright.
Keep your candle burning, darling,
Be sure it gives you light.

The bonfires have been lit, darling,
To fill the dark with light.
The bonfires have been lit, darling,
Their flames reach such a height.

Put your home fires out, darling.
Be sure to do it right.
Put your home fires out, darling.
From bonfires we'll relight.

Put food by the door, darling.
Leave it in plain sight.
Put food by the door, darling.
For our own to have a bite.

Do not be afraid, darling,
They see that we're alright.
Do not be afraid, darling,
No harm from them tonight.

But evil spirits come, darling.
We must put them to flight.
But evil spirits come, darling;
Them we must try to fight.

Go and watch the bonfires, darling.
Stand in their bright light.
Go and watch the bonfires, darling,
They keep us safe this night.

When I realised just how many words rhyme with 'night', I just had to write the poem using as many as I could. Unfortunately, I could not use as many as I would have liked, but it made the only rhumes in the poem to be ones that rhymed with  'night' or 'fright'.

I hope you enjoyed my poem. Please leave a comment.

A review of The Key to Erebus by Emma V. Leech

I recently finished reading The Key to Erebus by Emma V.Leech. I really enjoyed the story.

Jehenne is a young girl who leaves Britain to go to live with her French Grandmother. When she arrives, everything seems normal at first, but gradually she is drawn into a world which she did not know existed. A world of elves, ghouls, vampires, fairies and others.

Her Grandmother is heavily involved in this world, and she sets about introducing Jehenne to all the mysterious and sometimes dangerous beings that inhabit it.

Jehenne finds she is in great danger from a renegade vampire who is seeking the mysterious Key to Erebus.

Jehenne finds the truth of the key is more frightening than she thought.

While I enjoyed the story immensely, I did find Emma Leech's punctuation a bit off-putting. She uses semicolons far too much, and frequently in places that were inappropriate, or where a comma or full stop would be a better choice. She also seems to be unsure of how to punctuate

A Visit From Auden Johnson

Welcome to my blog, Auden. This story sounds interesting. I'm looking forward to you finishing it so I can read it.

Auden is the author of The Merging Worlds Series, which comprises The Sciell and Chains of the Sciell, and The Jura Series which comprises Visible through Darkness, Shadows Under the Light and Darkness Ignites the Flame. The books can be bought from Amazon.
Auden does her own cover art, If you want to see how she came up with the cover for The Unburned Island, visit her blog http://audenstreasury.blogspot.com/

She usually writes Dark Fantasy, so this is a new venture for her.



The entire island burned. Everyone disappeared. Somehow, one building remained unscathed. This building, a schoolhouse, is haunted. It and the island remained abandoned for years.
One day, Kiran, En and a team of magical investigators travel to the island to banish whatever haunts the schoolhouse. It takes them no time to realize the building isn't the problem. The island is.
Add to Goodreads- https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34629301-the-unburned-island









Writing The Unburned Island has been a ride. Not always a fun one. I got stuck so many times. It was beginning to get frustrating. The story started as an entry for a magazine. I was barely halfway through writing it when I realized it was going to be too long to submit.
Then an idea hit me. This could be the start of a new series. Magical characters investigating haunted locations. The series is set in a fantasy world so these aren’t known haunted locations. I prefer it that way. Writing fantasy gives me the freedom to make my own worlds and give my characters cool powers.
Unlike most of my stories, this one isn’t apocalyptic. I know, strange. Don’t know what’s gotten into me. I don’t foresee the world ending anytime soon. The series will focus on relationships and creepy places. Of course, both themes gave me problems.
Kiran and En are partner investigators with an interesting history. At first, I didn’t know if I wanted them to be in a relationship. When I realized I did, I couldn’t figure out what their relationship would be by the end of Book 1. They start the story as good friends. Kiran and En told me what they wanted near the end of the story.
As for creepy locations, I wanted this story to have atmosphere but I struggled with how to do this. I created a Pinterest board for Haunted Buildings/Islands and collected images of abandoned buildings and creepy lands. While writing this story, I was able to visit a catacomb. It was so cool and so scary. The images and the catacomb visit helped me give The Unburned Island a nice chilling atmosphere.
I’m looking forward to seeing where Kira, En and co. will take me. They’re already telling me how they want Book 2 to start.

Thank you for appearing on my blog. Auden. I'm sure my readers will appreciate you sharing your writing process with them. Good luck with the rest of the series.

A Halloween Poem

First, may I apologise for not posting earlier, but I only came back from hoiday at 10pm on Sunday night. I thought I'd have time to write it on Monday morning before going to look after my grandchildren, but I failed to allow for the fact that I would have a lot to do after the holiday. So I'm afraid it's a little late, albeit only a few hours.

I've just entered the following poem into a Halloween Poetry Competition and thought you might like to have a look at it.

Hallowe'en

The moon has hidden her face tonight
Turned away from the Earth.
The clouds are scurrying away in fright
From what the night may give birth,
For tonight the veil is thin.

The wind is blowing the leaves around.
They hide in crannies and nooks.
Cowering, shivering, hope not to be found
By phantoms, ghosts and spooks,
For tonight the veil may tear.

Build a bonfire, create some light.
The spirits are afraid.
They like the shadows, shun what's bright
And lurk within the shade
For tonight they cross the veil.

Ghouls and spectres, wraiths and shades
Return to Earth tonight.
We're filled with dread as daylight fades.
The smallest sound will give us fright
For tonight the veil has gone.

 I hope you enjoyed this poem. I have trouble reading comments on this site, but feel free to make them. I'll get back to you if I can.