A First Year Celebration & the reveal of Adrada!

On Valentine's Day 2012, I signed the contract for Karma and Mayhem, a paranormal-fantasy-romance novel.  With this being the one-year anniversary of that signing, I'm celebrating by giving away one $10 gift certificate along with a copy of Choke-berry Shalamiz, the "blood of ages" drink that Tienan (the story's hero) used to bless Janay (the story's heroine).  This beverage was fictional in the story, but with the help of a chef, it became a real drink! 

TO ENTER TODAY'S PRIZE DRAWING (winner announced Friday night, Feb.15):

~~ ask a question about the book, the characters, or just offer your good wishes (use the comment link at the bottom of this post)
OR
 ~~ follow this blog by e-mail subscription (use the box at the upper right hand corner of the screen) 

Permission is granted to pass this information on or post it to social media--

 so tell others and join the celebration! 

And now, for the promised reveal of  Adrada -

Adrada, the Archangel of Departing Souls @2013 CEM

    ***Coming late summer 2013: Adrada to Zool, an anthology of my published short stories.

How Adrada Came Into Being:

     In my church during the lenten season of 1995, when all the statues were covered in purple cloth, the draping about the life-sized crucifix behind the altar caught my attention. That draping made the crucifix looked like it had billowing angel wings. But whoever heard of an angel with purple wings?  Then came a haunting question: what would make the feathers of an archangel's golden wings turn mournful purple? After all, purple was the color of mourning.
     Then, in 1996, "The Sixth Sense" magazine posed a situation-question about who killed a multimillionaire. As I pondered this and strove for something "outside the box" of who might have done the deed, I had a dream. In that dream Adrada, the archangel with golden wings edged in mournful purple visited me. As dreams go, this was likely my subconscious's way of enlightening me because I was obsessing over entering the contest.  Of course, what resulted was "Written by My Hand," which won the magazine's challenge and saw publication. It would be many years later before I realized how often Adrada showed up in my stories*** and in my futuristic worlds, such as Karma and Mayhem.
     In Karma and Mayhem, it is Adrada who informs the penitent spirit of Kiyoshi-the-samurai that he must return to the land of the living and be reincarnated and  stop a book of spells from changing hands.
     When Janay encounters Rowen, who's had his veed (his energy symbiote) taken out of him, and the boy tells Janay he and his veed will die unless reunited, Janay sends up a prayerful plea for an angel's guidance. It is Adrada who comes and tells Janay to go to Tienan.
     As for Tienan? When he first sees Adrada, Tienan thinks he's hallucinating. After all, what angel has purple feathering edging their golden wings. And just what did Adrada mean when he said "Your prayers are answered?"

 
     Catherine E. McLean 
       Tienan and Janay's love/quest story can be purchased here  Karma and Mayhem 
  

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