6th Visit Lorrie Struiff's Blog for another excerpt from Scotch Broom. Meet Merry, the b...witch who plagues Kat through her school years.
7th Glaistig, Scotland's resident vampire, visits on Barbara Bockman's blog.
8th Sue Perkins hosts a grove of rowan trees, which might not sound all that exciting for you, but it is for Kat.
9th Ardyth DeBruyn, leading expert on minions of evil lords, examines one of Cailleach's minions, the skrat.
10th Edith Parzefall and I chat about reading and writing fantasy amongst other topics.
A magical trip to Stonehenge lands a witch in the Otherworld where an ancient goddess is up to no good.
MuseItUp Publishing: http://tinyurl.com/ScotchBroomMGD
Kat expects to have a great time on her graduation trip to Stonehenge. However, from the moment she leaves the witches’ arctic island, Galdorheim, she gets in nothing but trouble. Her younger half-brother tries to horn in on her trip, she gets lost in the magical Otherworld realm, is led astray by a supposed friend, then she has to confront a Scottish goddess who’s fallen on hard times.
While dodging the goddess’s minions and trying to find her way out of the Otherworld, Kat soon learns she shouldn’t underestimate the old has-been for one second; the crone still has a few tricks that can drain a witch’s magic in a flash. To make matters worse, Kat's brother secretly followed her into the Otherworld. Now he’s in danger too. Kat has to go one on one with the goddess to save herself and her brother.
The giveaways begin. Leave a comment here to win a free copy of Bad Spelling, Midnight Oil, or this brand new book in the series, Scotch Broom.
Excerpt (Beginning of Chapter 1):
A Winter Abroad
Kat lay on her stomach, elbows bent, hands propping up her chin as she read 101 Spells for Household Maintenance. She had trouble focusing on the runes and vaguely wondered whether the last spell she read for unclogging drains called for a plumber or a plunger. Her eyelids kept drooping, and just before she fell asleep, Teddy, her bunny familiar, nudged her nose with his.
Her eyes popped open, and she sat up. “Thanks, buddy. Gotta ace this test tomorrow; then I’ll be free! Graduated and outta here on my first trip alone. I can hardly wait.”
Teddy twitched his nose. “Study.”
Kat heaved a sigh. “I know, I know.” She turned her attention back to the book.
A rap sounded on her door, and a muffled voice yelled, “Decent?”
“Yeah. Come on in.” Kat rolled onto her back and sat up.
Kat’s half-brother, Rune, pushed the door open. “You got albatross mail.” He shoved a dingy, string-tied package at her. “I think Sean should retire old Bosun. He poops on every package he carries these days.”
She took the small package between two fingers and held it over the wastebasket. As she pointed at the string, a tiny spark leapt the gap, cutting it.
Rune craned his neck to look over her shoulder. “What is it?”
“Hey, nosy. This is private.”
Rune grinned, exposing his pointed canines, an inheritance from his vampire father. “It’s another gift from Andy, isn’t it?”
Kat glared at her brother and then peeled the bird-pooped wrapping off. “A book. Well, I like books.” She opened it to the flyleaf to read the inscription: “To My Dearest Kat, Love Andy.”
Kat curled her lip. “I wish he’d stop sending me stuff.”
Rune took the book from her hand. “I think it’s rad he likes you so much. I never hear a word from Nadia.”
“So, how many times have you written to her?”
“Um...I sent a note a couple of months ago, but I didn’t get an answer.”
“You don’t know how lucky you are. I’ve been thinking about this a lot, Rune. We’re witches, well, half-witches, and Andy and Nadia are mundanes. We’re just too different.”
“You’ve got a point, I guess,” Rune answered, head bowed. “Still, I just felt like Nadia and I clicked.”
“Maybe it’ll work out for you guys, but Andy...well, I met him when I didn’t have any magic. Now, everything has changed. I’m powering up more every day. I might even beat you some time.”
Rune grinned. “I doubt that, Kat. I’ve got some vampire tricks you’ll never have.”
“I know, baby brother, but you can’t talk with animals.”
“Well, I, uh. Whatever.” Rune reached for the book again and examined the spine. The letters were too scratched to read. Flipping open to the title page, he let out a loud guffaw. “The Poems of Emily Dickinson! Man, that’s about the most useless thing I’ve ever seen.”
Kat snatched the book out of Rune’s hands. “It’s the thought that counts.” She went to her bookshelf and stuffed the book between Love Philtres and Captivating Potions.
* * * *
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