Happy Wednesday! Thank you for joining me on this special edition of What to Read Wednesday :)
Why is it so special? Three reasons.
First I have my wonderful friend Cait OSullivan guesting today….YAY!!!
And second, because Cait will be sharing a guest blog and an excerpt from not one, but two releases that she had come out at the same time. Congrats to Cait! Her first release is SEFTON MANOR and her second release is MUGS & MONASTERIES…they both sound like wonderful reads that go perfectly with the season.
And third, Musa Publishing is offering up a free cookbook for anyone who purchases a book off of their site…what an awesome deal!
Take it away Cait…
Thanks so very much Christine, for having me on your lovely blog, I love being here!!
Samhain
Oooh it’s near approaching, that time, sunset on the 31st October until sunset on the 1st November, All Hallow’s Eve. Are you ready for it? Have you bought your candles and pumpkins, scrying bowls and Ogham sticks? Are you ready for the knocking on the door, both here in this world and the other kinds?
This time of year regularly sends shivers down my spine, from the bright mornings when I look up to see the moon, white against the blue sky to the dark evenings when she emerges yellow and atmospheric. The night air turns moist, the smells of bonfires and sounds of fireworks turn night time into something strange, where weird things could be afoot, you just never know for sure what they are.
Samhain for the ancient Druids in Ireland was also known as the Feast of the Dead and folk would set a place at the dinner table and leave an empty chair by the fire to invite the spirits in. Placing a candle in the window in a pumpkin, complete with carved demon’s face was said to ward off evil spirits. Nervous folk would disguise themselves in the hope that the spirits would not recognise them. If that failed, then offerings of fruit and nuts were made to appease them. This twenty-four hours is an excellent time for divination too but if you haven’t got the tools, look to your larder. Bake a Barm Brack, a traditional fruit loaf containing a broken stick, a ring, a silver coin and a pea, each one bringing a bad marriage, a new marriage, riches and poverty and serve it up to your unsuspecting guests J. Or to find out the name of your one true love, peel an apple and throw it over your shoulder to see what letter it forms.
Which divination method you use, know that the veil between the worlds is thin at this time.
The veils between the worlds in both my Gothic novellas is flimsy at best. Perhaps not on account of the time of year, but, as in Mugs & Monasteries, ‘tis the location the Burren which is haunting and for Sefton Manor, pacts with the devil make unhappy spirits restless. So gather ye your All Hallow’s Eve mask, light a candle and settle down for some suitable shiver inducing stories…
Blurb
Sefton Manor, a country house that has somehow withstood the ravages of time, holds the key to Martha Kendall’s dysfunctional family. Asked by her grandmother to uncover the truth about her missing Aunt, Martha comes to Buckhurst Village. Despite unsettling occurrences upsetting her sensibilities, she starts asking questions.
Questions that lead her to Will Fellowes, a man whose family tended the grounds of Sefton Manor for centuries. Amidst whispers of pacts with the Devil, they pair up to wrestle the secret from the house.
Or will Sefton Manor consume them all?
Blurb
When orchid hunter, Evie Bourke stumbles across a near deserted monastery deep in the Burren, she has no idea she’s the first person alive to have seen it. All she knows is that life went a bit strange and was getting more bizarre by the minute.
Meeting alpaca farmer Aiden Dunne over a pint of Guinness, she is struck by his resemblance, yet to whom, she can’t quite remember. Aiden is searching for Munster Abbey for his family was connected to it for generations, culminating in the disappearance of his relative, the then Prior.
What happened all those years ago? Who or what is ‘the Wanderer’ and, more to the point, what does he want?
Buy Links for Musa Publishing: Sefton Manor
Buy links for Amazon UK: Sefton Manor
Author bio:
Cait O’Sullivan is a romance author with a love of words and magic, having had the good fortune to grow up in Ireland. The wanderlust in her blood sent her out to travel the world and now, residing in a leafy suburb of London, it is her thoughts and memories that journey far and wide in order to create her stories.
Cait’s Place | Facebook |Twitter | Amazon
Filed under: What to Read Wednesday
