Sorchia's Universe

Civil Hearts  by my Novel Magic guest, Claire Gem, promises an interesting romantic triangle: A southern gentleman, a Yankee girl, and the ghost of a Confederate soldier.  Antebellum Dreams by  Claire Gem Sometimes story ideas lay their seeds in my brain but hibernate there, germinating without warning some 20-odd years later. It was the mid-1990s, and I had made my home on the west coast of Florida with my husband and three kids. We’d been living there for about ten years, but the cost of living along with the cost of raising three kids was pinching a bit . . . plus, Florida property values were up. Some very good friends of ours had recently sold their Florida farm for fat cash and moved to Alabama, near Birmingham. They bragged about the low cost of living, property, et al. We drove up to visit and toyed with the idea of relocating there as well. Yes, property was cheap, albeit desolate beyond the city limits. We went around with a real estate agent who showed us vacant land for hun...

Good Morning, Sorchia! I’m so happy to be here. As you know, I have a new release, A MAGIC REDEMPTION. But first let me share a few things you may find interesting. The paranormal realm is my universe. I’ve written about vampires, witches, demons, angels, shifters, faeries, psychics, well you get the idea since I was able to put pen to paper and make sense of it. I have to say my mother was less that impressed. As a child I had terrible night frights (less in my adult life). It worried my mom so badly that she took me to the doctor. His diagnoses, an over active imagination and I’d grow out of it.Well, I didn’t. Do I believe these things exist? Depending on the day, I’d say there is more in the world than most people are comfortable believing. Point in fact. Over twenty years ago, I had this horrible nightmare in great detail that a plane crashed in an open field south of my city. It felt so real, I was distraught but anyone I told chalked it upto night frights and over active imaginat...

Judith Sterling is in Sorchia’s Universe this week to tell us about her YA fantasy series, Guardians of Erin. Book 1–The Cauldron Stirred–is available right now.  Enter our giveaway for a chance to win a free e-copy. Book 2–The Stone Awakened–will be released December 19.  Inside the Witch House with Judith Sterling Every October in Salem, Massachusetts, is interesting, but this past one stands out; especially where I work: The Witch House, the home of 17th-century witch trials judge Jonathan Corwin. I knew the place had paranormal activity even before I started working there. Nothing negative and not all the time, just someone (or many “ones”) making their presence known from time to time. I’d heard the stories from other employees, and once I spent a little time upstairs in the two bedrooms, I felt a quiet companionship with whomever popped in and out. Then at the beginning of October, things took an intriguing turn. Each bedroom has a fireplace and a be...

PARANORMAL THRILLER, Dream Wide Awake, was inspired by real-life events!! Three boys are missing. Six-year-old Mikala Daly can see the spirit of one of those boys. She knows she can find and save the other two. Will her father let her? One of the best detectives in town, Mikala’s father, Jack Daly, searches frantically for the abducted boys. Years before, Jack married into a family rumored to see people on the other side. Jack didn’t believe in their psychic abilities until that gift­­—curse—befell his daughter. Now Mikala relays her dreams to him, and he struggles to keep her visions secret. Is he risking her life? He works to find the boys before the kidnapper locates Mikala or American government officials force her into their secret remote-viewing program—Project Dream of Area 51.  The Night I Met Fright Dream Wide Awake was inspired many years ago on a night I met fright. I was sleeping in the attic of my grandparent’s home—just like LeeLee in chapter three. In a pitch-black hour...

We proudly present our first ever Book Whammy! A whammy is a kind of spell. They’re fast! They’re powerful!   They get right to the point.  Eye of Newt and hanged man’s toe. Success and fortune I bestow. The charm’s wound up, the spell is cast A potent whammy meant to last. After Me by Joyce Scarbrough After she’s murdered by a sexual predator, 18-year-old Jada Gayle arrives in the Afterlife Admissions office and discovers that her account’s on “Administrative Hold.” Florence—Jada’s Afterlife Advisor—informs her that she must stay among the living until she finds and stops the Internet stalker who killed her. The now “transdead” Jada assumes the identity of a homeless teen and gets assigned to a nice foster home in Miami’s Coconut Grove, where she’s expected to simply fit in as she hunts down her killer. But blending in isn’t so easy when you’re a hot zombie chick channeling Chuck Norris. To make things worse, Jada hasn’t felt normal human emotions since she was ...

Today’s Novel Magic guest, Jean M. Grant, takes us to Scotland where she delves into the magic and lore of a mystical land. Finding the Mystic in Scotland’s Lore by Jean Grant Scotland is a magical place. Sweeping moors and meadows, craggy mountains, eerie castles rich in history and lore, kilted men, brogue-accents. Ahh…I fell in love a few decades ago thanks to Julie Garwood and Diana Gabaldon (of Outlander fame). The setting in A Hundred Kisses takes my hero and heroine on a journey across the Isle of Skye and the sea separating the Hebrides and mainland, and then on to the Isle of North Uist. The best way to research? Go there! My trip to Scotland and this awe-inspiring region was nothing short of remarkable and fed my imagination. My story takes place circa 1300, so alas, there are no kilts, but there was plenty of superstition, intrigue, and magic in this time period. Myths and customs abounded and were rooted in stories of faeries or “sith,” witches, creatures, and people...

Novel Magic returns from summer vacation with a little peek at how SciFi/Fantasy author Hywela Lyn got inspiration for her planet Niflheim from myth and reality. Read on for a quick primer in Fantasy Worldbuilding. THE REAL LIFE INSPIRATION FOR MY PLANET NIFLHEIM by Hywela Lyn One of the most enjoyable aspects of being Science Fiction/Fantasy Romance writer (Apart from developing the relationship between the hero and heroine) is world building. Of course there is a certain amount of world building involved in all writing, but as a Science Fiction or Fantasy writer one gets to actually invent new alien worlds and let one’s imagination run riot. Sometimes, though, the inspiration for such worlds can come from somewhere much closer to home  –  in my case, my native Wales. I used to live on top of a high Welsh hill, overlooking the sea and mountains. The view I had from my home was the sea to the west, and to the north, a mountain range, with several ranges of mountains beyond. Welsh ...