If you're here for the A-Z Reflections Post, it's at the bottom of this post.
Excerpt from Copper Cauldron
By Terri Talley Venters
Penelope snuggled up with Sabbath in her warm, cozy bed. She listened
to her cat purr as she stared at the picture of St. Michael. The picture which
she’d looked at almost every night since her childhood now held new meaning.
Now she looked at her destiny and not just St. Michael. But her
great-grandmother’s words, “Perhaps the prophecy was misinterpreted,” didn’t
soothe the nagging in the back of her mind. Why didn’t Michael’s eyes match
hers?
She heard the wind howling outside of her window. Another demon?
No, this wind sounded peaceful, not like the eerie wind which had preceded the
appearance of demons. The tap at her window startled her at first, but when she
saw Michael’s handsome face at her window, she smiled.
As she rose from her bed and traversed the hardwood floor to the
window, the sight of Michael’s flapping wings thrilled her. He landed on the
small balcony of the second floor veranda outside of her window. The sight of
his sculpted bare chest and enormous wingspan took her breath away. She opened
her floor-to-ceiling window and walked out onto the balcony.
He extended his hand towards hers and looked deep into her eyes. “Fly
with me, Penelope,” he said, not asked.
She walked towards him fearlessly, and extended her hand to his.
He took one hand and then the other. He placed her arms around his
neck as his hands circled around her tiny waist. “Hold on tight.”
“I’ll never let go,” she whispered. She embraced him, letting the
warmth of his bare skin penetrate through her silken nightgown.
Michael flapped his wings and they slowly rose above the ground. He
ducked his head under the roofline of the veranda and led them out into the
open sky.
Penelope looked up at the stars above. Euphoria swept through her
heart, through her soul. Thoughts of Michael’s eyes vanished and Penelope knew
she belonged with him - her angel, her destiny.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
She nodded her head. “This is wonderful.” She looked up at him and
nuzzled her cheek against his chest.
“I thought you’d like it.” He smiled down at her.
She peered down below, breathless at the sight of the Garden District
beneath them. The mansions appeared smaller and smaller as Penelope and Michael
ascended the night sky. “Where are we going?” she asked.
“To church.”
She looked up at Michael and watched him smile at her obvious puzzled
expression.
“We’re about to fly really fast, so hold on tight,” he warned.
She happily obliged and squeezed her arms around his neck. She hooked
her bare ankles around his calf muscles and kicked herself for not putting on
shoes before she flew with him.
Michael tightened his embrace and hummed. Latin words poured out of
his mouth as his wings flapped faster and faster.
He’s singing, and his voice sounds angelic.
Penelope heard other voices singing too. It sounded as if all the
angels in heaven sang with him. Michael’s wings flapped faster and faster as
the music grew louder and louder. She felt the wind blowing stronger as their
speed quickened. She hugged him as tightly as possible and closed her eyes.
The voices stopped and their air speed slowed. “You can open your eyes
now. We’re almost there.” Michael pointed down.
Penelope opened her eyes at the beautiful sight before her. They flew
towards Capri. She’d been to the small island just off of Italy’s Amalfi coast.
The island illuminated beneath the full moon of late-night sky. With the
six-hour time difference, and assuming nearly instantaneous travel, she
calculated the 4 a.m. time.
“Do you recognize where we are?” Michael’s lips whispered the words in
her ear.
“Capri,” she said. “I haven’t been here in…”
“Ten years.”
“How did you…?” Puzzled, she looked up at his face.
Penelope Manchester, a good witch with one green
and one blue eye, awaits her destiny: a warrior of God with the face of an
angel, the heart of a saint, and eyes which match her own. St. Michael the
Archangel flies into her life and sweeps her off her feet. Meanwhile, an evil
sorcerer captures witches, steals their powers and most of their nine lives,
and shrinks them to the size of a doll--a Nürnberg, doll. But when he turns two of the Manchester witches into dolls, the
Manchester clan fights back with St. Michael and divine intervention. Armed
with the legendary copper cauldron, a fire breathing dragon, and an arsenal of
spells, good battles evil.
To Purchase: Wild Child Publishing / Nook / Amazon
Terri received
her Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Master’s degree in Taxation from the
University of Florida. She is a licensed CPA and a Second Degree Black Belt in
Taekwondo. She lives in St. Augustine, Florida, with her husband, Garrison, and
their two sons.
Carbon Copy, currently available from Wild
Child Publishing, is the 1st
thrilling novel in the Elements of Mystery Series. The title of each
novel will contain an element from the Periodic Table of Elements. Tin Roof, the sequel to Carbon Copy, coming soon from Wild Child
Publishing. And Terri’s romantic/suspense
novel, Body of Gold, is coming soon from Freya’s Bower. Terri just
finished writing, Silver Lining, the
final book in the Carbon Copy
trilogy. For more about Terri’s upcoming releases, please visit her website http://www.elementsofmystery.com/ Terri is the daughter of Leslie S. Talley, author of Make Old Bones which is also available
from Wild Child Publishing.
A to Z Reflections
Things I loved:
- Writing with a theme. The writing and pre-scheduling of the posts are perhaps the easiest part of the entire challenge.
- The addition of categories to add beside our blogs on the link list. It was nice to know what type of blog a person was clicking on. That was a big plus.
- What posts I managed to read and everyone who stopped by and commented were awesome!
- Time. I didn't have enough of it. Between writing 30,000 words for Camp NaNoWriMo, finishing up a short story for Men of Foxwick, then getting sick with bronchitis, all my hopping around, following, and commenting back time vanished. I'd hoped the last two days I would be able to get back to the blogfest, but then my mom got sick and was in the hospital from Saturday evening to Tuesday morning. She's better now, but I guess by April 29, I wasn't really feeling like doing anything. Then I got this massive day job work project, so it's sucking away even more time.
I will also be getting to those people who commented on my blog. Your comments meant the world to me, and I loved your enthusiasm for Foxwick. I have all the emails for the comments in my Inbox, so I will be following and visiting. It just might take me a few weeks to catch up.
A special thank you to the A-Z hosts and their lovely minions! You guys make the A to Z Challenge run smoothly. You're the best!
