Please welcome Linnea Tanner author of Skull's Vengeance (Curse of Clansmen and Kings Book 4)
The author will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter.
Skull's Vengeance
(Curse of Clansmen and Kings Book 4)
by Linnea Tanner
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GENRE: Historical Fantasy
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INTERVIEW:
Do you ever wish you were someone else? Who?
Hmm…interesting question. I’ve never desired to be someone else. However, I’ve always been interested in learning more about influential women such as Cleopatra and Joan of Arc in history. Of particular interest were ancient Celtic women who defied stereotyping in a paternalistic society.
The Roman historian, Ammianus Marcellinus, described Celtic women in Gaul (modern day France) as “…usually strong and with blue eyes; especially when, swelling her neck, gnashing her teeth, and brandishing her sallow arms of enormous size, she begins to strike blows mingled with kicks, as if they were so many missiles sent from the string of the catapult.”
The Roman historian, Tacticus, writes the British were accustomed to women commanders in war. Boudicca was a warrior queen who united Celtic tribes in Britain and almost expelled their Roman conquerors in 61 AD. She was also known as a powerful druidess whom Romans claimed sacrificed some of her victims to the war goddess Andaste.
Characters I create in my head have helped me deal with challenges in my own life. In childhood, I was fascinated with Amazon warriors in Greek myths. Later, the complex archetypes of ancient Celtic goddesses fascinated me. Their roles embrace the entire religious spectrum from healing to warfare, from creation to destruction, and from birth to death. In Irish mythology, war goddesses were associated with fertility and sovereignty. Many of the Irish goddesses were destructive and promiscuous, and personified warlike strength to defend their land so it could flourish.
Thus, I strive to explore the multi-faceted qualities that these historical and legendary women demonstrated so I can reach my full potential.
What did you do on your last birthday?
I spent a quiet moment with my husband on Valentine’s Day.
What part of the writing process do you dread?
Final editing is what I most dread in the writing process. Sometimes it is difficult to catch your own mistakes. Thus, I use content editors and proofreaders to help me polish and edit a manuscript.
Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?
At times, I do suffer from the writer’s block. This usually occurs when my plot or storyline is not working. This is my subconscious telling me that I need to throw out my original idea and replace it with another. This is when twists in my storyline bubble up.
Tell us about your latest release.
Skull’s Vengeance is the fourth book in the historical fantasy series, Curse of Clansmen and Kings, which is set in 27 AD Rome and Britannia. Catrin, forged as a warrior, has survived slavery in Rome’s legions and gladiator games. To fulfill her destiny, she must return home to Britannia and confront her half-brother, Marrock—a sorcerer and shapeshifter. His use of dark magic threatens all and he will stop at nothing to bring her to ruin. Faced with impossible odds, Catrin assembles a group of heroes and former enemies. But she needs someone she can implicitly trust—Marcellus, her secret Roman husband. They set forth to reclaim her kingdom and bring order to the land. But the gods are fickle and her path winding. It is an epic tale of forbidden love, dark magic, adventure, treachery, and political intrigue in the Julio-Claudian dynasty of Tiberius.
BLURB:
A Celtic warrior queen must do the impossible—defeat her sorcerer half-brother and claim the throne. But to do so, she must learn how to strike vengeance from her father’s skull.
AS FORETOLD BY HER FATHER in a vision, Catrin has become a battle-hardened warrior after her trials in the Roman legion and gladiatorial games. She must return to Britannia and pull the cursed dagger out of the serpent's stone to fulfill her destiny. Only then can she unleash the vengeance from the ancient druids to destroy her evil half-brother, the powerful sorcerer, King Marrock. Always two steps ahead and seemingly unstoppable, Marrock can summon destructive natural forces to crush any rival trying to stop him and has charged his deadliest assassin to bring back Catrin's head.
To have the slightest chance of beating Marrock, Catrin must forge alliances with former enemies, but she needs someone she can trust. Her only option is to seek military aid from Marcellus—her secret Roman husband. They rekindle their burning passion, but he is playing a deadly game in the political firestorm of the Julio-Claudian dynasty to support Catrin's cause.
Ultimately, in order to defeat Marrock, Catrin must align herself with a dark druidess and learn how to summon forces from skulls to exact vengeance. But can she and Marcellus outmaneuver political enemies from Rome and Britannia in their quest to vanquish Marrock?
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EXCERPT:
PROLOGUE
White Cliffs in Southeast Britannia,
Eve of Samhain, 31 October, 26 AD
Three human skulls hung over King Marrock’s stallion, dangling from a rope like ornaments. Feeling as invincible as a god, he rode to the precipice of the sheer cliffs and listened to the roar of the waves crashing below. Yet, the raven soaring overhead chilled him to the bone—an omen he was but mortal and could plunge to his death.
He embraced the warmth of Boudicca, his younger half sister, who sat astride his horse in front of him. A toddler full of mirth, she was a healer who could connect to the souls of the dead.
Whereas their mother accused him, also known as Blood Wolf, of being a soulless murderer.
On this eve of Samhain, Marrock knew the souls of the dead freely roamed among the living. He spotted his deadliest assassin, Gawain, searching for the wraith on the emerald hilltop. Gawain had a blue, triangular tattoo of a dagger’s blade on his forehead and deadly weapons underneath his black cloak—the royal insignia of the red dragon stitched to the front panel.
For Marrock, the Otherworldly dragon, with its leathery wings and fiery breath, symbolized perpetual power. It was said that where dragons trod, mystic energy flowed. The untamed beast guarded the portal into the Otherworld.
He yearned for the dragon’s mystic power—the power to summon forces from the earth’s molten underbelly to immolate his rivals.
Gawain pointed to a pile of rocks. “The sheepherder saw the wraith over there,” he said in his deep, gravelly voice.
Marrock handed Boudicca to him and then dismounted, pulling the rope of skulls off his horse and draping it over his shoulders. His family’s skulls served as a warning to anyone who threatened his sovereignty.
Until now, he had only been able to summon the deadly powers from the skulls of his stepmother and bastard sister; their souls were encased in the bone crowns. The soul of his father, King Amren, still eluded Marrock, even after he had sliced off his father’s head. If his father’s soul was indeed wandering the hilltop, he would imprison it in the largest empty skull he had.
Then, he would be able to unleash the collective forces from all three souls.
Glancing all around, he could not see his father’s ghostly figure in the thickening fog. Boudicca’s gleeful giggle roused his attention. He watched her waddle toward a mound of stones and place her tiny hands on the stacked rocks.
“Pa. Pa. Am,” she squealed with delight.
Marrock cast a glance at Gawain. “Did the sheepherder see the wraith disappear into those rocks?”
Gawain nodded. “Indeed, I believe so.”
Marrock transferred the roped skulls from his shoulders to the grassy ground and looked at Gawain. “Help me remove the rocks so I can see what is underneath.”
Gawain joined Marrock in the task of removing the white stones one by one. They inspected each rock for any defect before setting it aside.
Boudicca, mimicking the men, picked up flint pebbles and dropped them on the chalky ground.
After a while, they uncovered the gemstone handle of a dagger; its blade was embedded in a coil-shaped serpent stone. Marrock recognized the jewel-studded dagger as once belonging to his father. Intrigued, he gripped the handle with both hands and strained to pull it out, his muscles aching and his face dripping with sweat from the effort.
Suddenly, to his shock, the hilt turned sizzling hot. He jerked his hands away and inspected the blisters that had formed on his reddened palms. Hearing Boudicca’s gleeful babble, he looked down just as she gripped the dagger’s handle.
“Pa. Pa. Am,” she trilled.
To Marrock’s surprise, Boudicca’s hands did not burn.
A prickling sensation noosed around his neck as he recalled the original curse cast by his mother just before his father had executed her.
The gods demand that the scales be balanced for the life you take. If you deny my soul’s journey to the Otherworld by beheading me, I curse you to the same fate as mine. I prophesy your future queen will beget a daughter who will rise as a raven and join your son, Blood Wolf, and a mighty empire will overtake your kingdom and execute my curse.
King Amren had etched the words of the curse on the dagger’s blade using the Roman alphabet with the belief he could thwart the dark prophecy.
Marrock shuddered.
Does my father’s soul live in the dagger? Has he come back to exact vengeance on me?
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Award-winning author, Linnea Tanner, weaves Celtic tales of love, magical adventure, and political intrigue in Ancient Rome and Britannia. Since childhood, she has passionately read about ancient civilizations and mythology. Of particular interest are the enigmatic Celts, who were reputed as fierce warriors and mystical Druids.
Linnea has extensively researched ancient and medieval history, mythology, and archaeology and has traveled to sites described within each of her books in the Curse of Clansmen and Kings series. Books released in her series include "Apollo’s Raven" (Book 1), "Dagger’s Destiny" (Book 2), "Amulet’s Rapture" (Book 3), and "Skull’s Vengeance" (Book 4). She has also released the historical fiction short story, "Two Faces of Janus."
A Colorado native, Linnea attended the University of Colorado and earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry. She lives in Fort Collins with her husband and has two children and six grandchildren.
You can follow her on her website: https://www.linneatanner.com/
Amazon Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/Skulls-Vengeance-Curse-Clansmen-Kings-ebook/dp/B0BC2GCFGG/ref=sr_1_1
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f4471/
