Sorchia's Universe

Banshee, I Hear You by Mageela Troche In Irish folklore, a banshee is a woman who heralds death by wailing. She is described as ghastly complexion and with red eyes from the tears. So, why would I call my heroine, Rowen MacKenzie a banshee? Rowen is pale skin—so pale that you can see her veins beneath her skin—with pale blonde hair that is looks more white than blonde and light blue eyes that seem almost colorless. For the people in Medieval Scotland, I imagine that they would have thought she resembled that fairy of myth. Before I wrote Highland Scandal, I had heard the term Banshee before. Never in a positive light. But then doing research, I learned about true meaning of the term and it make perfect sense to me. When I was in college, my fiancé died. I remember hearing the news and I heard a banshee. Nothing paranormal in that. The wailing or keening bounced about in my head so nothing else—not even the beat of heart—could be heard. That raw, soul-ripping sound came from within me. ...

The Witch hits the fan in these episodes of “A Cold Spring.”  Need to find previous episodes? Start HERE . Episode 13: Magic of the Darker Sort Stately stewards carried in the main course on silver platters—a savory roast seasoned with rosemary and thyme. The sumptuous fragrance drew oohs and ahhs from the assemblage.  Cutlery clinked on the fine china, crystal goblets glittered, and the hall filled with laughter. Conversation bubbled throughout the room, ebullient as the champagne. Even the older relatives seemed to relax. Though the La Croixs sat on one side of the table and the Darkmores on the other, they chatted across the steaming plates and sparkling glasses as if the two families had forgotten centuries of uneasy alliances before Lucia blasted them apart.  With a flourish, the steward refilled Maddock’s glass with champagne and mine with sparkling apple juice. Maddock touched my glass with his and nodded toward the gabbling, laughing crowd. “Am I mista...

Looking for previous episodes of “A Cold Spring?” Start HERE with a pdf of episodes 1-8 and a post of episodes 9 and 10. Episode 11: Kinship Will Out In the ensuing years, Aunt Clarissa and I discovered many of our kin whose wits had not been so muddled with wine or so shocked with disbelief that they could not escape the carnage of Old Highmoor Castle. Still and all, better than two thirds of both the Darkmores and the La Croixs perished that night. The survivors scattered to the four winds, animosities forgotten in the struggle to stay alive without the strength of numbers in a hostile, witch-hating world. Slowly but surely, Aunt Clarissa gathered the Darkmore survivors together in an organized but widely-scattered family once again.  Lucia’s curse spun a web of fear and mistrust. We did not meet in large numbers; we did not seek out the La Croix survivors who, like the Darkmores, gradually reconnected; we concealed our true natures; and we did not returned to Highm...

“A Cold Spring” isn’t firmly rooted in one time or another. It moves from the present to the past and back again. The timey-wiminess of it appeals to me because I avoid anything normal. To find previous episodes: follow this link to a pdf of Episodes 1-8. Episode 9: Icey Curses Aunt Clarissa always called me her favorite, but that didn’t matter at this particular moment. She’d caught me conspiring with La Croixs. I’d heard stories of such things—remnants of the long and divisive feud between the two families. None of those stories ended well.  “Allium,” she said, eyeing me with a glittering green eye. “Which of these boys set Aunt Marzipan’s hair on fire? The poor thing is crying her eyes out from embarrassment in the drawing room.” Wide-eyed and afraid, I pointed a trembling finger at him. Maddock made a face like a thundercloud, but Aunt Clarissa was more intimidating by far.  Wide eyed and afraid, I pointed a trembling finger at him. Below us, all the gue...

Witches and curses and magic–OH, MY! “A Cold Spring” is a wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimy story of tragedy and survival.  If you’ve just discovered it and don’t want to wander all over the Interwebs to read previous episodes–scroll to the bottom for a pdf of Episodes 1-8. Episode 7: Goblets of Fine, Old Wine Goblets of very fine and very old wine delivered by a young and slightly inebriated La Croix cousin put an end to any thoughts of a clandestine rendezvous upstairs. Our duties as host and hostess called. At last, the long road leading from the forest to the castle lay empty and it was time to toast and mingle among our disparate relations. Copious amounts of wine and Scotch flowed from crystal carafes, and the murmur of voices grew to a cheerful din. The moon peeped in the western windows of New Castle Highmoor before our respective circuits brought us back together on the veranda. “I’ve spent the better part the evening either tracing my lineage back t...

You just never know where one little idea will take you. My Novel magic guest, J.J. DiBenedetto, let inspiration lead the way to a 10-book series. Magic? IF you are looking for something to binge . . . The Dream Doctor–Can you call it Magic? Sara, the heroine of the Dream Doctor Mysteries wouldn’t call her “gift” magic, because she’s a doctor – someone who’s logical and believes in science, and of course there’s no such thing as magic. What is her gift?  Sara can step into other people’s dreams.  It’s not something she asked for, or particularly enjoys, and she didn’t even know she could do it until shortly after her twenty-first birthday.  As her author, I’m not sure what to call it, either, but unlike Sara, I know exactly where her ability comes from.  It’s the answer to a simple question: In mystery stories featuring amateur sleuths, why do the protagonists try to solve the crimes themselves, when any rational person in real life would turn the whole mess over to the police and...

At the beginning of December, I started posting “A Cold Spring,” a witched-up serial story, on Paranormal Romantics for my monthly guest post. But it seems to me like a month is too damn long to wait–Let’s hear it for Immediate Gratification!!! So I’m speeding up things by posting here every week as well as on Paranormal Romantics when it’s my turn. If you missed the first 4 episodes–here they are! Episode 1 “A Cherry Tomato” and Episode 2 “Burning” Episode 3 “Coils of Enchantment: and Episode 4 “Down, down, down…” Episode 5: Everything Changed Twice, Lucia blasted the Darkmore and La Croix families nearly into oblivion. I was very young the first time, the memory a blur of panic and fear and grief. A thousand years later, Maddock and I intended to lay old ghosts to rest. We hoped the formal dinner to celebrate our marriage would be a first step toward healing the rifts between our two families. Ti...