A FEW WORDS FROM AUTHOR KIKI HOWELLWriting About Witches and Vampires, War and Freedom, Blood and Sex…
The inspiration behind my latest release, A Strange Freedom: Blood & Fireworks, came at me from all directions, tumbling together in a way that was as different as the title I came up with! LOL
First, I had stumbled over the story of how the pentagram became an accepted religious symbol on military gravestones. A lot of information about this long battle can be found here: http://paganinstitute.org/PIR/veterans_headstone.shtml Armed with knowledge and inspired, I imagined a story which would start in a graveyard, with that symbol long fought for present on a marker of a veteran. This lead me to information about rituals of remembrance Wiccans perform to honor the dead. So, of course, my heroine became a witch. That was inevitable given my first source of inspiration, right? Thinking about this scene, I pulled from experience having had many in my extended family who have served, and having grown up the daughter of a Vietnam veteran. I ended up using my grandmother’s brother’s name on the stone. The war I picked doing some math, wanting the veteran to be her grandfather. Ideas just began flying at me then, with me scrambling to keep up and get them down on paper before they flew on past me. At this point, the idea of a man on a battlefield, promising his dying friend to take care of his family back home if he made it, struck me. Bridging my gap in time, a vampire seemed perfect. He could roam for centuries protecting the family, only to find himself one day in love with his friend’s granddaughter, a forbidden love in his eyes. The problematic relationship between a witch and vampire lead me full circle into the idea of what freedom truly means, the obscurity and variations inherit in the word. Are there always sacrifices involved in gaining absolute freedom? How can another’s freedom to chose infringe upon your own? You see how my mind works - quite frantically at times! With all of these elements crashing around in my imagination, I had yet to chose a setting. Indecisive as usual, I started with the US holiday of Memorial Day due to the ritual of remembrance. I ended with the US holiday of July 4th because I thought the idea of fireworks going off overhead during the climatic ending of my story was a wonderful touch to build the emotion and ring loudly around the suspense. At this point, I could see it all so clearly, the beginning and the end, all I had to do was get the scene into my computer. The middle took some dealing with, a few minor issues and some spell hunting later though, I had worked it all out :) So, I hope you will enjoy reading A Strange Freedom: Blood & Fireworks, as much as I did writing it. And what do you think of the cover, complements of my mind and Emma Hillman’s hard work to make my imaginings come to life?Blurb:
Can a witch gain her freedom to live as she chooses between Memorial Day and the Fourth of July? A man was not exactly what Meranda was looking for when she went to her grandfather’s grave for a ritual of remembrance on Memorial Day. However, what she thinks is a ghost in the heavy shadows of the night ends up a vampire.
When Meranda’s grandfather lay dying on a bloody battlefield in WWII, Alexander promised the man he would take care of his family if he got out of the war alive. Even though he returned to the states a night walker, he has done his best to honor that promise from a distance.
When Meranda is hurt due to his negligence, Alexander valiantly fights his own desires for her blood to save her. Only, once she is better, their lives clash. But, using a little magic, she plans to win their war by the time the fireworks light up the sky on Independence Day.
Author Website: http://www.kikihowell.com/
Genres: Contemporary, Paranormal (Vampire & Witch), Erotic Romance
A Strange Freedom: Blood and Fireworks A Review By Mom Cat 4.75 Mrrrows out of 5.
This is a story of love and promises between the living and the dead. What happens when you deal with a witch, a vampire, and the ghosts of the past? You get a hot sexy read by Kiki Howell!! This story truly spoke to me on many levels. With all that goes on in this world, you know that freedom is a very personal thing. In this story, Ms Howell tells you that Freedom is not free, but if it is important to you, then no one has the right to tell you you can't be free.
Meranda, her main character, is a strong, determined and passionate woman. She sets her sights on a man she is not looking for, and will not take "no" for an answer. Even when he says "no", she does not give up.
Alexander, the man Meranda is not looking for, has promises to keep, and will do nothing to hurt her. These promises are frustrating and sometimes hard for him to keep, since he has such strong feelings for Meranda.
I love this story. With that said, I want more. I want to know what happens after the story's climax on July fourth. What happens next?
Ms. Howell has a true love for her craft. May she continue to write for a very long time to come so that I can enjoy her work.
From release day, May 27th, until midnight July 4th, all royalties earned from the sales of A Strange Freedom: Blood & Fireworks, will be donated to http://www.dav.org in honor of my father who is a Vietnam Veteran and all who have sacrificed serving.
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