Book Chat: Copper Cauldron by Terri Talley Venters and A-Z Reflections

 

 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.

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A to Z Reflections

 

I really do love the A-Z Challenge, but I'm also really glad we're in May now.

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!

Things I didn't love:

• 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.

And that's it. Beyond not having as much time as I thought I would, I thought the challenge went well. I don't think I would change anything about it, although next year I hope to have more time. Also, I participated with two blogs this year, and I think next year I'll just do one. Perhaps I could alternate between blogs. I haven't completely decided, but I do hope to participate next year.

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!

Guest #fridayflash with Terri Talley Venters, author of CARBON COPY

 

Today we have a special guest with us bringing her #fridayflash. Terri Talley Venters writes Elements of Mystery, and her debut novel Carbon Copy was recently released.

Nitrogen

By Terri Talley Venters

Ida ran late for her 11 a.m. tour of the Ponce De Leon hotel in St. Augustine, Florida. She only needed to descend three flights of stairs to get from her corner room in the tower to the start of the tour in the grand entrance. But today, as most days, she needed to drag herself out of the bed.

She cursed herself for staying up so late dancing and drinking with her friends. Her husband, Henry, yelled at her and made her go to her own room before the sunrise. “But this is the beginning of the season. I want to stay up and watch the sun rise at the Castillo de San Marcos,” Ida recalled pleading her case.

Ida looked down at her ivory lace dress and admired the intricate stitching of her new frock. She noticed her corset cutting into her ribs. She never remembered putting it on this morning, nor did she recall removing it last night. These lapses in her memory concerned her, but not as much as they concerned her husband. She found huge blocks of time, hours or days, often unaccounted for. She blamed the spirits for this, while Henry blamed the opium.

She felt the brooch at her throat and wished she had a mirror in her room to ascertain if her appearance proved acceptable for society. Damn you, Henry. Why did you take my mirror away? I’m not crazy, I won’t hurt myself.

Ida found her way to the grand entrance to find the tour already in progress. Stephanie always spoke during the tours, while Ida merely helped guide the crowd of guests throughout the hotel. Ida tried to speak on occasion, especially when Stephanie said something wrong. But Ida’s corrections were always met with strange looks, like she was crazy.

Ida spotted the group outside in the courtyard as Stephanie said, “Notice the centerpiece of the fountain is actually the hilt of the sword turned upside down.” Ida smiled at the beauty and uniqueness of the fountain in the courtyard of her husband’s famous hotel in Florida.

She watched the group pour back inside the grand entrance. Ida looked in horror at the wardrobe of the hotel’s guests. She’d never seen the latest fashions from Paris, but it shocked her to see so many women showing their knees.

Ida followed at the rear of the group as they turned right into the receiving room. Ida loved this room because it was the only one which never changed. And the beautiful Tiffany Chandeliers hung magnificently down the long length of the room. Her favorite part of the tour was next.

“When guests first arrived at the Ponce De Leon, the women and children were brought in here while their husbands paid for the hotel. Back then, woman were not allowed involvement in financial transactions,” Stephanie said.

“How much are these Tiffany chandeliers worth,” a guest asked.

“The Ponce De Leon hotel converted to Flagler College in 1968. Many items were sold, but not these chandeliers and the stained glass windows. We had these chandeliers appraised a few years ago, and because of their rarity, they are truly priceless. The Tiffany stained glass windows upstairs in the dining hall were appraised at $36 million,” Stephanie said.

Stephanie led the group to the other end of the long room. She pointed at the glass casings containing photographs of Henry Flagler and his family.

“Here is a photograph of Henry’s first Wife, Mary Harkness. She died young and Henry married her nurse, Ida Alice Shroud, who is photographed here. Henry had Ida declared insane and kept her locked away in the tower until she was institutionalized in 1899. In 1901 Florida passed a bill making incurable sanity grounds for divorce. Henry immediately divorced Ida who remained institutionalized until her death in 1930. In 1901, Henry married his third wife, also named Mary, who is photographed here,” Stephanie said.

“It’s a lie! I’m alive and I’m standing right here. I’m not dead and I’m not crazy,” Ida shouted.

All of the guests in the room heard her this time. They all turned and looked at Ida. But they didn’t seem to be looking at her, they looked through her.

“Did anyone else hear that? I thought I heard someone screaming right in front of me,” one of the guests said.

“I heard something too. And it is freezing right here in this spot. Look, I can see my own breath,” another guest said. She exhaled her breath into the air to demonstrate it turning into white smoke from the cold.

“It’s from the nitrogen in the air. When ghosts appear, they carry a strong dose of nitrogen with them. It’s what makes it feel so cold when they’re near,” Stephanie said.

“Excuse me, did you say ghost?” the guest asked, instinctively stepping away from the cold spot.

“Yes, Flagler College is haunted. One of the spirits is Henry’s second wife, Ida Alice Flagler.”

Lilly Allen has brains, beauty, and a trust fund. She's living in New York City and her career as a reporter is taking off. She's hoping the love of her life, Grier, will propose soon. She has it all, or so she thinks.

Grier Garrison, Create Life executive, is running the company while his father, Dr. Michael Garrison, is in the ICU awaiting a heart transplant. Grier knows the truth about Create Life and its shady side business. He fears Lilly and her twin brother, Luke, are in danger.

While working on two unrelated stories, stolen newborns and cloning, Lilly discovers a shocking connection. Horrific things are happening, but who is behind it all?

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 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. Terri recently finished writing 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. For more about Terri’s upcoming releases, please visit her website http://www.elementsofmystery.com/

On the first of each month, Terri also posts free short stories on her blog. Follow her at http://www.territalleyventers.blogspot.com/as she weaves her way through the Periodic Table of Elements.

Click here to purchase Carbon Copy

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