Welcome to my world and
what lies within.
Hi, my name is Janis and I’ve
just released a new Urban Fantasy book titled Isis, Vampires and Ghosts – Oh My! which is the first book in my Other World series.
This post was originally
published on my personal blog in January 2014 and came about as I was asked what
the vampires in my world were like… and as I’d had to explain Isis for the
cover design, that really only left ghosts, right?
And, in a low key shaking my
assets moment, this post gives you a preview of my imagination and writing
skills. Yes, I’m not just going to waffle on about being an awesome Writer and
a not so well known Author, I’m going to show off my wares and my world… hmmm,
not too sure if I have were creatures in my world… but there’s a thought. ;-)
I will admit now though, that on
saying this is my writing skill… I’m worried it’s going to come across as crap!
Oh dear.
Okay, and so here we go, what are
Vampires, Ghosts and even Isis herself like in my world? Am I just another
cookie cutter paranormal adventure writer? Or is there something a little bit
different here, like there is in my world of blondes and mathematics. Let me
know what you think!
We’ll go in title order and start
with Isis… within my world Isis is the Mother Goddess of Pagan belief more than
she is the ancient Egyptian Goddess. And, yes, she is real… aren’t all Gods and
Goddess real?
Isis has been revered throughout
the centuries since ancient Egypt and each generation has created their own
image of her. The Greeks, Romans even through to Victorian England folk have
worshipped her. And I don’t just mean the hokum revival of all things Egyptian
that happened in the Victorian era. Some of those educated and cultured people
still followed the ‘old ways’. — This is
a true fact by the way, not just part of the story… actually it is this worship
of Isis that helped make the story what it is.
But getting back to the story, my
Isis is the Goddess that epitomises motherhood and being a strong woman. In
looks, she is a pale skinned, dark eyed and dark haired woman of unknown years.
I describe her like this:
‘…she was beautiful. And not in
the way of a supermodel or how modern culture expected us to see a woman’s
beauty. She held the flawless beauty that a young child only sees, through eyes
clouded by love, in its mother and giver of life.’
Yeah, pretty much feel I nailed
it with that one. ;-)
On to vampires… if any of you
like my author page on Facebook you would have seen this description earlier in
the week as it really did instigate this blog post. No, I wasn’t in need of a
blog post idea, but it inspired one all the same.
Vampires in my world do not
sparkle or smoulder. They are a parasitic beast that lives on, not by dyeing
young and staying beautiful, but by existing in blood stained by the banishment
of a demon eons ago. They possess a person body and soul, turning them undead
to prolong the suffering and feed off their very essence until they are an
empty husk and their soul writhes in purgatory for the evil deeds and horror
their body has inflicted upon the world while possessed.
You can destroy the host with
burning or beheading, but as long as there is a sample of blood left, the
vampire can live on. If the host is killed in this way, their soul is still
lost to purgatory. It can only be saved within the first cycle of the moon from
the point of said possession, but you are saving them in soul only. And you
will require the crucible of the Vampire possessing them to achieve this goal.
My vampires do not sparkle, and
smoulder, they glower, manipulate and cause harm for pleasure. All good girls
need a blessed silver dagger of Isis, a decent prayer book, a splash of holy
water and the vampire’s crucible if seeking to rid the world of them. The
gloves are optional.
Onto the Ghosts of my world. They
don’t clank chains, slime you or even lift a penny up and slide it along a door
to pretty music. No, they are the everyday people trapped between the world we
know and their next life by a dark ritual. They were people who did a bad deed
in front of the wrong person, got caught in the act and were then bled to the
point their lives wavered between one world and the next. They are then bound
to an item of their making, whether it be a wooden box they’ve carved, a scarf
they’ve knitted or a flower they have grown. Ghosts then become tools of the
person they are bound to; they become an extension of their power. A ghost is
simply the remaining life force energy, the aura, of a person and the item
they’re bound to merely the storage device they are kept in. When extra life
force energy is required for a ceremony, spell or for protection, the ‘owner’
of the ghost simply draws on their life force to back up their own. Vampires
and other Other World creatures of Darkness often have a collection of ghosts
to add to their own powers as needed.
Who a ghost is bound to can
change, possession taken or given in trade or ceremony. Although a ghost is the
image and personality of the person they had been before death, their monotone
appearance changes colour to match the aura of the person they are bonded to.
In a way, it is also a show of power as it shows the world exactly what sort of
person their ‘owner’ is through the colour of their aura.
Ghosts can be destroyed by the
vessel they are bound to being burnt, but their souls are then trapped in
purgatory with no chance of moving on to the next life. To save a ghost you
must find the right ritual, heavily linked to their culture’s religious
rituals. Once a ghost is freed in this manner, it moves on into the Light until
the time of their rebirth.
As to the Oh My! part of the
title… oh there are so many moments in my world that need an Oh My! to explain
them. The BirdFolk of Wroth, Earthed demons, women in long white robes that
look as if they’ve just taken the sheets and curtains down and put them on…
it’s all there.
I will mention that this world of
mine has many sides to it. There’s the ‘normal’ world up against the Other
World. The people who walk in the Light against those who walk in the Darkness…
and then all those fascinating people who have learnt to walk in the Grey in
between all these sides.
And so, there it is! A sneak peek
into my world. Now, I do hope you realise this is just the world within my next
series of books. It starts with Isis, Vampires and Ghosts – Oh My! but there
are at least another five books in my head to get out to continue the journey.
My actual real life world is far duller and consists more of horde wrangling,
Haus Frauing and magic tricks that make money come from nowhere and cover all
the bills and outstanding debts. Then, of course, there is the hot chocolate.
;-)
I would like to thank The
Creatively Green Write at Home Mom for allowing me to post.
Janis Hill. XXOO
Isis, Vampires and Ghosts – Oh My!
Other World Series
Book One
Janis Hill
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Hague Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-9872652-7-2
Word Count: 90,000
Cover Artist: Jade Zivanovic
Book Description:
Too late to save her sister’s life, Stephanie Anders must now try to save her soul from the vampire who has possessed her, Branwyre, eighteenth vampire Lord of the Aegean.
With only the aid of the ghost of a pissed-off Buddhist monk with a potty mouth and the modern day Priestess of Isis, Stephanie must take on demons and other denizens of a world she knows nothing about if she is to succeed in banishing Branwyre.
But even more difficult than that, she must learn how to forgive her sister Estella for what she did to her if she is to have even half a chance of saving her soul. Welcome to a world within our own – the Other World.
Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl_GYTFkU1c
Available at Hague Publishing
Extract
from Isis, Vampires and Ghosts – Oh My! by Janis Hill
Chapter
5
Estella had the grace and timing
to wake up just after I’d hauled her dead weight, literally, into the chair and
balanced it there long enough the grab the rope.
“By the Light of Isis, what do
you think you’re doing?” Her tone was nearly petulant enough to be the old
Estella asking me, not the new peace-and-love one.
“Following your High Priestess’
instructions.” I grunted while tying her hands behind her back as best I could,
before continuing to wrap the rope around her and the chair.
“But why are you tying me to a
chair now?” she asked, aghast to realise just how tight I had done it.
“Branwyre can’t take over until night time. We’ve got at least another hour.”
Ignoring her question for a
moment, I snatched her right foot and tied it to the corresponding chair leg.
Then, ignoring the attempted kick, did the same to her left one.
“Roxanna clearly states in her
instructions here to gather the required items, purify them and set it all up,
you included.” I waved the note at her before continuing to wrap her legs,
backside and chair in the rope. Yeah, I’d gotten a decent amount. Who says two
for one sales are a waste of time? “Nowhere in her instructions does it say we
should stop for coffee and a chat. When I’ve got as much of it ready as I can
before moonrise, I can actually have a rest. You know, something even we
non-undead need to do from time to time.”
She went to protest, I even
paused to watch the show I felt she was about to perform, but other than gaping
a few times like a stunned fish, she stayed quiet. Wow, this Light of Isis was
amazing if it could prevent the Queen of Whinge from speaking.
“Fine then,” she finally managed,
a slight sulky tone to her voice. “But how am I meant to eat dinner?”
I sighed; I hadn’t honestly
thought of that, going along the lines that she was dead. Yes she was an animated
corpse right now, but dead was dead. You shouldn’t have to provide meals for
them.
“Nowhere in my instructions does
it say I have to feed you.” I muttered. Then feeling I should relent a little
as she’d found it within herself to be nicer. “But how about I order pizza, and
you eat it cold later. Surely even the Light of Isis can’t have cured you of
your cold pizza habits.”
She sighed, but said no more for
a moment. Didn’t even pout, which surprised me even more than the silence.
“I do wish you’d be more
respectful of Isis and her purifying Light,” is all she eventually said as I
was adding a few more knots to the back of the chair.
“Uh-huh.” I was more interested
in making sure I’d done a good job, than listen to a lecture on appropriate
religious respect. Especially from someone who in the past hadn’t held any
respect for anyone or anything.
“And no dinner is fine; I don’t
seem to have the need to eat that often anymore.” She continued, trying to
watch me over her shoulder. “I won’t have you dissing cold pizza though.”
“Sure!” I said, standing back and
wiping sweat from my brow and then my hands on my dress. I remembered I was
still in one of my best ‘sombre but not kinky’ little black dresses, not having
had a chance to change. So Roxanna’s wodge of cash was buying me a few clothes
tomorrow, too. Why not! If I wasn’t allowed to go home until this was all over,
she owed me at least a pair of jeans and clean underwear. I checked the
instructions again. Okay, so all items purified, sister roped tightly into
chair. Salt time! Boy I hoped the motel’s maid service wouldn’t be too pissed
at me, or at least wouldn’t notice until after we’d left.
About the Author:
Janis grew up in and around Darwin, Australia, and its rural surrounds. As a child, she spent a lot of time around 'science geeks' at the Darwin University, where her father was a lecturer for many years. It took her a long time to realise that not everyone got to grow up like that or could relate to all the Science Labs scenes in the old Dr Who.
Janis now lives in the Adelaide Hills with her husband and 3 children, lovingly referred to as the ‘Demonic Hordes’. She is a semi-retired ICT Support Officer who, when not writing, takes pride in her work as a Haus Frau while dabbling in the art of translating century old cookery books into modern recipes to experiment on her family with.
@Janis_Hill
September 1 Guest blog
Mythical Books
September 2 Spotlight
Cassandra M's Place
September 3 Interview
Pembroke Sinclair.
September 4 Spotlight
3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy,Sissy. Too! http://3partnersinshopping.blogspot.com
September 5 Spotlight
Deal Sharing Aunt
September 8 Spotlight
Lisa’s World of Books
September 9 Spotlight
Jodie Pierce's Ink Slinger's Blog
September 10 Interview
Roxanne’s Realm
September 11 Guest blog
Fang-tastic Books
September 12 Guest blog
The Creatively Green Write at Home Mom
September 15 Interview
Bewitching Book Tours Magazine
September 16 Top Ten List
Darkest Cravings
September 17 Spotlight
Deal Sharing Aunt
September 18 Spotlight
Soaring Eagle Publicity
September 19 Interview
Eclipse Reviews
September 20 Spotlight
Cover Reveals
September 22 Character Interview
Author Karen Swart
September 23 Spotlight
Sapphyria's Book Reviews
http://saphsbookblog.blogspot.com/
September 24 Top Ten Comfort Foods
Review
Cabin Goddess
www.cabingoddess.com
September 24 Top Ten Comfort Foods
Review
Cabin Goddess
www.cabingoddess.com
September 25 Spotlight
Share My Destiny
September 25 Review
Paranormal Romance and Authors That Rock
September 26 Spotlight
CBY Book Club
September 30 Interview and review
happy tails and tales
.jpg)
