A Deadly Elf Hero. A Heroine Who's His Match. The Darkness of Glengowyn by Isabo Kelly.

Today I’m thrilled to welcome over and interview, Isabo Kelly, author of The Darkness of Glengowyn, Fire and Tears, Book 2. If you love Fantasy Romance half as much as I do, this book is sure to please! I just LOVE the product warnings for this one. *grins*  Perfect!

Publisher: Samhain Publishing

Date of Publication: April 29, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-61922-046-1

ASIN: B00HSOHSCY

Number of pages: 151 pages

Word Count: 44,000 words

Cover Artist: Angela Waters

Amazon       BN        Samhain    Kobo

GIVEAWAY! Be sure to enter the Rafflecopter after this post for a chance to win one of the following: 3 ebook copies of the first book in the Fire and Tears series—BRIGHT ARROW BURNING or 1- $40 gift certificate to winner’s choice of B&N or Amazon.

Book Description

They’ll risk forever death for one last chance together…

Nuala of Glengowyn hasn’t left her home city in over a century, but not by choice. Her skill as a weapons master has made her a prisoner of her people. Held apart, protected in the extreme—until Sorcerers attack the human city of Sinnale.

Sent to supply her unique magical arrows to help the humans, she is far from free. 

The elf king and queen have sent a bodyguard, a fearsome warrior whose reputation has no rival. The only man she has ever wanted. Einar of Glengowyn.

Einar is known as a battle-crazed destroyer, so feared among elves he’s called by a single name: Darkness. And he has only one weakness—Nuala. Their union is forbidden, for melding their magics could destroy Nuala’s gifts. Yet as they journey to the war-torn city, no royal decree is a match for two hundred years of pent-up desire.  

But even if they escape the war zone, their lives still hang in the balance. They must confront their sovereigns and prove love makes them stronger—or face their deaths.

Product Warnings:  This book contains a deadly elf hero, a heroine who’s his match, a lot of sexy misbehaving, some hard language, racing through the streets, owls, arrows, evil Sorcerers, wicked minions, and a very dangerous elf king and queen.

Interview Time!

Tell us a little bit about the conflict in your story.

The Darkness of Glengowyn follows the story of two Glengowyn elves, Nuala and Einar, who’ve been in love for centuries but have been ordered to stay apart by their king and queen. When elves bond fully, their magic mixes and the results are unpredictable. Nuala creates a very unique arrow with her magic, and those arrows are considered too valuable to risk. So she and Einar are forced to separate. Then the elves get involved in the neighboring human city Sinnale’s war with a group of invading Sorcerers. The elves agree to sell Nuala’s special arrows to the Sinnale, but it means she has to go into the war zone. The king and queen send Einar with her to keep her safe (he’s the personal body guard to the king and queen and the scariest warrior elf in Glengowyn). But of course everything goes wrong. Einar and Nuala have to survive the war zone and try not to give in to their long held love and desire. We all know how that will turn out *g*  Then they’ll have to face their sovereigns which will not be a good thing.


Are you currently working on another story? If so, we’d love some details.

I’m currently toying with the fourth book in the Fire and Tears series—getting the basic story down. And I’m also editing what was supposed to be the final book of my science fiction romance series The Naravan Chronicles. I say it’s supposed to be the last book, but because I love world-building, I’ve left way too much room for more books as well as the option to write a spin-off series. LOL. We’ll have to see how that all works out.


Did you enjoy writing one scene above all the rest? If so, share.

Actually, I loved writing most of this book because I adored the chemistry between Nuala and Einar (Einar is so sexy!), but in the end, my favorite scene was probably the final confrontation with the Glengowyn king and queen. It’s so tense and scary and full of potential disaster! I love it. I don’t want to give away any spoilers but there’s this part with Einar that I really really really loved writing.


Tell us about your favorite writing environment. Is it indoors, outdoors, a special room, etc.

In real life, I have to just write wherever I am at any given point. And I’ve actually gotten pretty good at writing whenever and wherever. I even work standing up at the kitchen counter while my baby is playing around at my feet—I’m doing that now—because if I tried to sit down, he’d have his hands in the middle of my keyboard “helping” me write. But where I really love to work is sitting outside, on a porch or balcony, watching the ocean roll in. There’s a peace and contentment to it that makes the writing fun. It’s like that mythical “writer’s life” we’d all love to live. LOL. Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen very often. But it’s fun when it does.


How long have you been writing? How long have you been published?

I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. Some of my earliest memories are of making up stories and eventually that turned into writing the stories down. I didn’t always know I’d end up an author, but I think the urge to tell stories in writing has always been there. I started taking the writing seriously when I went to college (for a degree in science). I had my very first book published in May of 1999 while I was in the middle of getting my Ph.D. (again in science). That book, The Promise of Kierna’Rhoan, was published electronically with one of the first ebook publishers, so I’ve been in the ebook world my entire career—15 years now! (That’s a little shocking when I stop to think about it.)


What genre/genres do you prefer to write? Are there other genres you’d like to write in the future?

I have to say I adore writing epic fantasy and science fiction romance because I have so much freedom to make things up! LOL. I love love making things up—settings, backgrounds, planets, geography, political situations, people. Having the freedom to make everything the way I want it to be is really fun. And yes, even in science fiction a lot of it is purely made up because there’s that keyword “fiction” in there. Oh and I love writing romance because of the chemistry and complications that come from two people trying to be in love despite the odds. One of these days, I’m going to try my hand at non-romantic science fiction—though even as I say that I can’t imagine I’ll leave out romance all together. Just maybe make the romance not such a huge part of the story. I have a few ideas down this road that would be really cool to write, so we’ll see. I have had a couple of thriller ideas I wouldn’t mind trying my hand at as well. Oh and then there’s the middle grade series idea I’m mulling over. So…yeah, there’s a lot of stuff I’d like to write. *g*


Do you prefer to write short stories, novellas or novels? Why?

All lengths! Each one is a different discipline and requires a different structure and story development. I adore writing shorter works because they’re done faster and you get to that satisfied “the end” point a lot quicker. But then novels give so much room to explore a plot. So I like it all. If it’s storytelling, I’m there.


Do you write books in series? If so, share a bit about the series you currently have published or are coming soon. 

So, when I started writing, (way back in the day) all fantasies were trilogies or series. I promised myself I would write standalones and not force readers to have to pick up multiple books to finally get to “the end”. Then the first thing I went and did in novel length was write a trilogy—BUT each book was essentially a standalone story and the first book never even got published because, well it was the very first novel I ever wrote and it would need a lot of work before being presented to readers.

As I wrote more, I kept intending to write standalones, yet they all took place in worlds big enough they could easily be turned into series. Until the last few years, though, I never actually went with that potential and expanded any of my books into a series. Not that I didn’t want to, I just kept chasing the new shiny idea and never getting back to the second books.

Finally, I published a sequel to my very first published novel (this is in The Naravan Chronicles series) and now with The Darkness of Glengowyn and later in the summer Warrior’s Dawn (book #3 in the Fire and Tears series), I’m officially writing series books. For a world-builder like me, series writing is soooo much fun, too, because I get to keep expanding on the world I’ve already built. I’m considering more in The Naravan Chronicles after I finish up with the third book (there’s just too much potential!) and I have plans for at least 1 to 3 more books in the Fire and Tears series. Stay tuned.

Thanks again for having me here, today! This was a fun interview.

My pleasure, Isabo! Wishing you much success always. 

Excerpt

Nuala stared at Einar for a few more minutes, caught by his intensity. To escape, she glanced down at his injured arm. “I can wrap that for you.” She gestured to the wound.

He gave it a cursory glance. “It’s only a scratch.”

“But neither of us can afford to have you weakened.” She spun in a slow circle, then started opening doors. When she found a room that contained a couch, she led him inside. “Sit,” she ordered.

Without supplies, her only option for binding the wound was the hem of her riding robe. “Your knife.” She held out a hand without looking at him and pulled up the long length of material.

“It’s not necessary.”

“Don’t argue.” She wiggled her fingers, still focused on the material in her hand. His presence threw her off balance and looking directly at him made it worse. They hadn’t spent this much time together, alone and in close proximity, since…

She didn’t want to think about the last time.

After the knife hilt settled gently into her palm, she sliced a few lengths of silk along the split front hem of the robe. It would leave a wider V in the front, but since they had to travel quickly, she was considering cutting off the length completely anyway. Once the sun set, the early autumn nights were too cold to get rid of the over-robe altogether. It was designed to allow easy, free movement, with slits in front and back so she could sit astride her horse without the long material getting in the way. It had stayed out of her way during the earlier fight too. But those lengths of material could be put to better use. And the less she had to worry about right now, the better.

Once she had sufficient improvised bandages, she turned to Einar. “Take your tunic off,” she said, her voice as firm and emotionless as she could make it.

She tried not to be affected as he stood, removed his scabbard belt, then slipped his short vest off and dragged his tunic up over his head. Unfortunately, she couldn’t hold back her quickly drawn breath when the magnificent musculature of his chest was revealed in full.

This wasn’t the first time she’d seen him bare-chested, but the sight never ceased to stir her. When she looked up, she found him staring at her, his dark eyes black in the dim light leaking in through grimy windows. She swallowed and focused on his arm. Her heartbeat sped as she drew near enough to feel the heat of his skin and smell the tangy combination of his natural spicy musk mixed with the sweat of battle. With Einar, that combination had always overwhelmed her better judgment, targeting her most desperate desires. Only with him.

Yet another reason she’d spent so many years avoiding him.

Though her pulse pounded in her ears, she concentrated on making her hands steady, her touch gentle. She used one length of material to gently blot the worst of the blood away. Some still seeped slowly from the injury, but not enough to be dangerous. Once she’d gotten the area as clean as possible with a dry cloth, she used another length to tightly bind the wound.

His muscles flexed under her touch, which didn’t help. “Relax,” she ordered, her voice irritatingly husky.

He let out a long, slow exhale that brushed over the top of her head, and his biceps relaxed. She noticed at a glance, however, that his stomach muscles were tightly clenched. When she risked a peek at his face, his jaw was also tight, and he stared at the wall across from where they stood.

She turned back to her work, knowing she shouldn’t have risked this kind of proximity for this long. Einar had more power over her body and heart than any other elf. A fact they were both growing more aware of with each passing moment.

When she’d tied off the bandage, satisfied it would do for now, she stepped back and gestured at his leg without actually looking down. “Are you cut or was it just your trousers?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Nothing as in no blood, or nothing as in you don’t wish me to bandage the wound?”

His gaze jumped from the wall to her and she took another involuntary step back. Heat, promise, need and something she didn’t want to admit seeing blazed out at her, an arrow right into her heart.

“You made it clear,” he said quietly, “that your magic was not something you could sacrifice. We should not remain this close. And I should not take off any more clothing around you.”

About the Author

Isabo Kelly is the award-winning author of numerous fantasy, science fiction, and paranormal romances. Her life has taken her from Las Vegas to Hawaii, where she got her BA in Zoology, back to Vegas where she looked after sharks, then on to Germany and Ireland where she got her Ph.D. in Animal Behavior.

Now Isabo focuses on writing. She lives in New York with her Irish husband, two beautiful boys, and funny dog. She works as a full time author and stay-at-home mom. 

For more on Isabo and her books, visit her at www.isabokelly.com follow her on Twitter @IsaboKelly, or friend her on Facebook and Goodreads. 

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