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Writing means different things to me. I'm a storyteller, a book editor, and a songwriter. For me, it's like breathing.
Showing posts with label paganism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label paganism. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 10, 2022

History knows him as Aedan the Treacherous, Cat's Curse #PNR #Historical #MFRWSTEAM

New Release! Do you like romance, intrigue, and star-crossed love? A mixture of history and Celtic mythology, Cat’s Curse is an ancient Scotland paranormal romance based on a real Irish king known as Aedan the Treacherous in the Welsh court. Warning: Iron-willed enchantresses, hunky sword-wielding warriors, some violence and steamy sex, more than a little blood-drinking, a complicated love triangle, and lots of passion.

He’s a cursed, exiled Irish prince. She’s a succubus with lost memories. Destiny brought them together. Their dark secrets will tear them apart.

Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09Y6BYMGN


Steamy excerpt:

Cardea climbed on top of him and brushed her naked body along his shaft in a slow, sensual cat-like crawl. His muscles caressed her skin, and she wanted him more than she’d ever wanted another.

“Ye desire to ride the horse.” He chuckled, low and soft. “I thought as much.”

She slid onto him, his length eliciting tremors throughout, the passion and bloodlust building to great heights. The hard lines of his face softened, and his eyes brightened to a joyful blue different from the tormented darkness always present there. He cupped her breasts in his large hands, teasing her nipples to peaks. A blissful shiver rushed from her nipples to her sex.

“I enjoy the view from here.” He grinned at her.

She glided up and down on his hard, sleek shaft, circling her hips to find the point of pleasure. Pleasing shocks coursed through her pelvis, the orgasm cresting. She used her inner muscles to squeeze his length, eliciting a groan from him. It filled her with a sense of power to have such a hold on him if only for a short time.

Aedan’s breathing grew ragged with exertion as his orgasm closed in.

She bent against his chest and found the bulging vein in his neck. Her breasts pressed against his muscled chest in a pleasing crush, their hearts beating as one. The blood pumped in his vein, loud and hypnotic, demanding she drink. She licked his neck, savored the saltiness of his skin, and lost her hold on her emotions. Overpowered by the bloodlust, Cardea’s eyeteeth lengthened with both desire and hunger. Her lower body trembled, giving her the sensation of teetering on the edge of an abyss.

“Cardea,” he whispered in a ragged voice, grasped her hips, and pushed himself deeper within her, his entire length pressing to her core.

Aedan’s body quaked and rocked beneath her, his deep penetration inducing moans and shudders from her. Groaning, he exploded his seed inside of her in a powerful pent-up surge.

His potent orgasm sent her over the edge. She sank her fangs into his neck and drank his warm blood. Overcome with multiple orgasms, she plummeted into the blissful abyss. His life force flowed into her, exhilarating and intimate, linking them together. Just as she reached the bottom of the chasm, she experienced the sensation of being lifted by dark wings, hovering above the clouds in the land of the moon and stars.

Fire engulfed her body, rendering her powerless as if the brilliant sun were about to turn her into ash. His blood tasted sweeter than any she’d ever swallowed. She forgot about everything else, and she could not stop drinking his blood.

“Cardea?” He resisted, and then his struggles weakened.

A sudden clear thought rang inside her head, and she pulled herself away. He lay still, and panic quickened her pulse.

“Aedan? Oh no. Wake up, Aedan!” She shook him hard until he let out a soft groan.

Cardea woke as if from a daze. “What have I done?” she cried.

He’d think she was an animal for feeding on him, and she could not endure the disgusted look he would surely cast upon her.

Before he could recover his senses, she waved her hand over his face. “You will not remember. Sleep now,” she said, speaking in the sorcerers’ tongue, the language of the Romans.

Using her first and second finger, she touched the two holes in his neck and healed them with her magic.

A realization hit her. She’d done more than just touch him and he was still human. Something else troubled her about their dark embrace. A strange feeling had flowed into her mind when she had taken his blood from him.

 *

 https://www.kelleyheckart.com/

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Check out the other steamy excerpts from some talented authors: http://mfrwsteam.blogspot.com/


Friday, September 19, 2014

Favorite Friday

Favorite book: Confessions of a Pagan Nun

This is a beautifully written, stunning, heartbreaking story of a former pagan who becomes a nun in order to survive. The story takes place in Ireland around 500 AD when Ireland was on the cusp of Christianity. All alone in a hostile world, Gwynneve, a druid, has no choice but to keep her pagan beliefs to herself and become a nun where she copies the manuscripts of the church fathers and also records her own life story and the melodramatic events at the convent. This is the compelling story of a strong woman’s fight for survival and also a lesson in what happens when a new religion takes over. Highly recommended!

 

 

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

Monday, December 13, 2010

The Pagan Conspiracy

I found this post to be interesting and enlightening. Perhaps it will be an eye opener for some, or not. This was posted with permission.

Dear Daily Mail


An open letter on behalf of The Pagan Conspiracy.

Just to make it absolutely clear that there is a pagan conspiracy. We have systematically infiltrated every profession, and each branch of government. We are subtle, and clever and we get everywhere. This is of course a deliberate attempt to take over the country and undermine all its traditional values - you know those values about fear, racism, ignorance and intolerance, shafting the poor to uphold the rich, and wrecking the planet for short term material gain. In our attack on these oh so important values we are, of course, threatening to destroy western civilization and bring about the end of the world as we know it.

When we have taken over the world, you will all be forced to accept our liberal and tolerant policies. There will be no escape from this. We will inflict upon every man, woman and child the horror of having to listen to their own consciences. We will demand that people act responsibly and treat each other with respect.

Once we have secured enough positions of power we will be promoting education and waging war on bigotry, stupidity and the kind of people who make money by feeding off the fear of others.

You are right to be afraid of Paganism. If everyone goes Pagan, who will read the Daily Mail?

(Join The Pagan Conspiracy today. Copy the above, and then email it to your friends, post it on your own blog, spread it about as a facebook note, #paganconspiracy on twitter, print it out and pin it to the toilet door...)

Kelley Heckart
'Timeless tales of romance, conflict & magic'
http://www.kelleyheckart.com/

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

St. Columba--Druid or Monk?


To announce my new release, I wanted to post something relevant to my story. Cat's Curse is a Celtic historical romance/fantasy set in sixth century Scotland (Alba). I based this story on an actual Irish warlord and many of the minor characters are based on real people. One of those real people is the famous monk, St. Columba, who was a close friend of this Irish king and though a minor character, St. Columba (Columcille) played an important role in the story. Throughout my story and through the entire trilogy, there is the lingering conflict of Christianity versus Paganism, a favorite theme of mine. Having pagan beliefs, it was tempting for me to elevate one over the other, but as a writer, I try not to be biased and tell the story as it is. One challenge I was faced with was—how do I portray a Christian monk?

Most of my information on him came from Adomnan's Life of St. Columba. What I found fascinating is that St. Columba had visions, spoke prophecies and performed miracles. These were well-documented cases. In fact, he picked Aedan (my hero) to be king over his brother because an angel came to Columcille and told him to pick Aedan. He also prophesied that Aedan's older sons would die in battle and his youngest would be king after him.

When I created this character for my story, I didn't want to show him as a pious monk. I thought of him as a monk with a warrior heart. According to one account, St. Columba was forced to leave Ireland (Eirean) because he caused the deaths of three thousand people as the result of his involvement in a battle between his kinsmen and King Diarmait mac Cerbaill. He was exiled to Scotland where he attempted to convert the pagan Picts as his penance for this unfortunate event. For some reason all of this information made me think of him as a monk who followed God, but also would be willing to sacrifice warriors' lives in battle for his beliefs. He is described as a tall, imposing man. And he had to be in good physical shape as a man in his forties to be able to travel into the wild country of northern Scotland to meet with King Bridei. Early Christian warriors followed God because they saw him as the greatest of all warlords with his army of angels at his side. I wondered if maybe some early Christian monks also believed this.

I also saw him as a monk with a druid heart. One interesting bit of information left out in Adomnan's book is that St. Columba was born into a pagan family, which made me wonder just how much pagan beliefs influenced him even after becoming a monk. It seems likely to me that some of the early monks had to be influenced by the teachings of the druids, and in fact, some of these monks may have even been druids at heart in the guise of monks. I'm sure it was dangerous to practice as a druid and it may have been a matter of survival for druids to disguise themselves as monks. St. Columba's island of Iona, where there was a large Christian monastery, used to be a druid sanctuary and highlanders still refer to it as Druid's Isle. I pictured him as a Christian trying to convert pagans to God, but also as man who had some understanding of pagan beliefs and didn't force people to convert. The Irish monks formed what was called Celtic Christianity, which differed from the church in Rome and there are accounts of St. Columba being part of a mysterious community called Culdees that may have included druids. One of the things that made me think he could have been a druid is that he wore his tonsure like that of a druid (from the front of the head in a crescent shape) rather than the Roman tonsure that was a circle on top of the head (representing a halo). This was how the monks in Ireland and Britain wore their tonsures and was one of the disputes between them and Rome. Another interesting thing is Columcille wore white robes, as did other early monks in Ireland and Britain. I am pretty sure druids also wore white robes. We will never know for certain if he was influenced by druid teachings, but all of this gave me something to think about as I created this character for my story.

Another thing that fascinated me was that St. Columba was descended from the powerful Ui Neill clan, the clan that the high kings of Ireland were picked from. Now why would a man turn his back on kingship to be a monk? Maybe he really cared about serving God or maybe he knew that the real power was with the church. Could St. Columba have had another motive for converting the pagan Picts? By converting them he could bring them under Irish rule. It gave me something to think about. The church had all the wealth to back these kings. Some of the early Christian kings were Christian in name only so they could get the support of the powerful church. There was one documented account of Christian Briton kings taking some Irish people as prisoners and making them slaves. The church condemned this act, calling it un-Christian. I also use this approach in my story, having a couple of Christian kings with dubious beliefs. Not everything is all black and white. And that is how I wanted to portray St. Columba—as a man with shades of gray.

Blurb from Cat's Curse:
Cardea, follower of the Great Goddess is cursed to live an eternity as a blood drinker. For centuries she has lived with hate hunting and feeding off humans. Now she finds herself at the end of a sword blade held by the most handsome and arrogant man she has ever met.

Aedan mac Gabrain, prince of Dal Riata and a Christian, trusts no one after suffering a curse that keeps him from touching any females or he will turn into a black cat like his brother. He especially distrusts this strange female who could be the one who cursed his clan since no one knows Cat Anna's true face.

Can two tortured souls find love while battling a dark goddess determined to destroy them?
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Though they are drawn to one another they still have some doubt in their hearts, each with dark secrets. Aedan is still uncertain about Cardea and if she is the one who cursed him since no one knows Cat Anna's true face. Kelley

Excerpt from Cat's Curse:

They moved on silent feet by the light of the moon, crossing carpets of fern. Cardea's body thrummed with the magic of the moonlit night, aware of everything around her from night birds watching them with piercing eyes from treetop perches to Aedan’s even breathing, and the sound of his warm blood pulsing through his veins. She always hunted alone, but Aedan felt like a part of her, matching his movements to hers, their even breathing matching the same steady rhythm.

The forest vibrated with life all around her, each tree and plant emanating its own gentle heartbeat and scent. A shift in the wind brought a new scent--the scent of blood assailed her senses. A warm-blooded creature stood just ahead of them. Turning to Aedan, she pointed to where the creature waited to forfeit its life. She notched her arrow and moved forward. Nodding, he moved to the right to close the animal in, his spear balanced confidently in his steady hand.

A small meadow came into view. Like a scene from the faery realm, the meadow, bathed in moonlight, radiated a silvery blue glow. Flowers twinkled in the bluish glow, meadow grasses rippled like gentle waves on a loch, and the full Hunter’s Moon filled the skyline, cold and mysterious. A majestic stag stood in the meadow, still as a statue. Nine tines glowed in the eerie light.

Cardea raised her bow, pulling back the bowstring, her hand steady, aware of Aedan waiting for her to take the first shot. Something did not feel true to her. The air seemed to be polluted by a malicious, musky scent. Danger. It seeped into the meadow, curling in invisible smoke-like tendrils around the thick tree trunks.

Out of the corner of her eye, something moved above Aedan, drawing her attention away from the stag. A large wildcat perched on an outstretched oak branch, its body coiled and ready to pounce on Aedan’s unprotected head. Sharp teeth and claws flashed in the darkness of the thick-leaved tree. She pivoted toward Aedan, pointing the arrow in his direction. A look of surprise filled his eyes and his spear arm raised, aiming the spear at her. Cardea let the arrow fly. It roared past Aedan’s head, hitting the wildcat in the heart. The beast slumped over, falling with a loud thud to the ground. The stag bounded out of the meadow and into the dense forest, leaving swaying ferns in its wake.

Aedan looked at her and she could tell by his unquestioning expression that she had earned some of his trust. “That, lass, is why I hunt with my hounds.” Aedan prodded the dead cat with his foot. “This is the largest wildcat I have seen.”

“It would have torn your skull open.” Cardea stood next to Aedan, staring down at the dead beast, surprised that she trembled at the dreadful thought.

“Ye saved my life, lass.”

His tender voice filled her with joy.

“It will make a fine warm pelt for winter,” he remarked. Unsheathing his sword, he handed it to her. He knelt, laying the huge cat on its side. “Ye made the kill. Ye should make the first cut.”

Aedan handed his sword to her, unsheathing a long knife from his belt. A warrior never relinquished his sword to anyone unless he trusted that person.

He trusted her now.

The possibility of finding love after centuries of loneliness seemed more likely now, but why does my heart sing of happiness and then die off with a dour note of sadness? She wanted desperately to tell him her secret, but fear paralyzed her so that she could not get the words out.
Kelley
'Timeless tales of romance, conflict & magic'
http://www.kelleyheckart.com/
http://www.myspace.com/phantomqueen3
http://twitter.com/CelticChick
Cat's Curse, available now from Awe-Struck:
http://www.king-cart.com/Awe-Struck/category=Kelley+Heckart/exact_match=exact