Ramblings From This Chick: Guest Post with Author Shona Husk and Giveaway

Monday, October 27, 2014

Guest Post with Author Shona Husk and Giveaway

Meet Shona Husk, author of Lord of the Hunt.

Three time ARRA finalist Shona Husk lives in Western Australia at the edge of the Indian Ocean. Blessed with a lively imagination she spent most of her childhood making up stories. As an adult she discovered romance novels and hasn’t looked back. Drawing on history and myth, she writes about heroes who are armed and dangerous but have a heart of gold—sometimes literally. She is the author of the Shadowlands Series and the Annwyn Series. You can find out more information about Shona and her edgy romances at http://www.shonahusk.com/ or follow her on Twitter, @ShonaHusk.

Find Shona at:

10 Fun Facts About Annwyn

While I plot all my books I still get surprized along the way. A lot of the world building I do as I write and the world and story unfolds in detail. People are often surprised that I don’t do elaborate world building before I start, but I don’t I have a very sketchy idea and just jump in. I do keep a lot of notes as I go, just in case, but I can generally remember the details as I have now visited the place with the characters.

Here are some of the things that I learned about Annwyn and fairies as I wrote the Court of Annwyn series:

1. Time moves differently in Annwyn. A week in the mortal world could be only hours there. This meant I had to keep a careful track of two different timelines.

2. Annwyn is an island, a temporary stop on a soul’s journey to the afterlife.

3. The fairy king judges all souls. The good ones cross the river and the bad ones drown forever in the river. The river is rather grabby and a very pleasant place…which means fairies also have a fear of moving water.

4. When the river breaks its banks and crosses into our world it brings death and disease…plagues. Which take a terrible toll on our world in To Love a King.

5. There are so many different types of fairies in the fairy lore. Cat Siths, Kelpies, Brownies, imps, trolls, banshees…I try and incorporate something a little different in each story. Plus it’s fun to expand the world. While some of the fairies would be a type of Grey or banished fairy, others I make into changelings as changelings have a special gift (like psychometry, or clairvoyance).

6. Fairies are vegetarians. I didn’t know this until Verden sat down with Taryn to have a burger in Lord of the Hunt.

7. When Annwyn is in winter so are the fairies. They change and become harsher and more conniving. It brings out the worst in them, not the best. I really liked this as it shows how closely they are tied to the magic of Annwyn for survival.

8. Changelings are the mortal children of fairies (they were born in our world and have a soul). Darklings are the children of banished fairies, since they have no soul of their own they have to steal them.

9. Fairies take promises very seriously. There is nothing worse than an oath breaker. In Annwyn there are no written contracts and every deal is based on your word so to break it means that no one would trust you again…and trust is in short supply at the best of times.

10. Saving Annwyn requires a soul to be sacrificed. That is something Felan probably needs to tell Jacqui before they get back together…he’s very good at leaving out pertinent bits of information.

There you have it. Ten things I learned about Annwyn and fairies. I’m sure I’ll learn more with each book I write and the world expands further in books 4, 5 and 6. Part of the fun about writing paranormal romance is exploring a new world as I write. I hope you get as much enjoyment from reading the books as I did writing them.

He’s Trying to Reclaim His Past

To keep the balance between good and evil at the court of Annwyn, Prince Felan ap Gwyn has two weeks to marry and take the crown. But he wants more than just power—he wants love; a love he once had but was too stubborn to hold on to.

She’s Struggling to Face the Future

It took years for Jacqueline Ara to put her life back together after Felan abandoned her. She’s moved on, even if her heart still burns for him. But with war in Annwyn looming and death bleeding into the mortal world, Felan and Jacquie will need to heal old wounds and rekindle the passion that once welled between them…or face losing everything.

Purchase: | Amazon | Kindle | B&N | Kobo | iTunes |