Hi Everyone, Today I’m really excited to be part of Queen of Sea and Stars blog tour. Isn’t the cover gorgeous?! Anna describes it as: Faye Morgan, a hereditary witch, moves away from her tiny coastal village in Scotland to London to be with her new boyfriend, Rav. But though she hopes she can live a normal life in a new city, her blood bond to the realms of faerie can’t be denied. With a faerie war brewing, can Faye realise her destiny and discover who she really is? A tale of faery magic, desire and modern witchcraft.
Queen of Sea and Stars is book 2 of the Daughter of Light and Shadows series. BUT they can be read as a standalone so do not worry about that. It was the content of the tour that made me want to be part of it! today I bring you an extract from the book and it’s all about Witchy Bookshops!!!! But before that, here is a little bit more about the series…
As a child, Faye Morgan was always an outsider, shunned for the ancient and powerful magic that runs through her veins.
Ever since she was a little girl, growing up in the village of Abercolme on the wild coast of Scotland, Faye Morgan’s life has been steeped in the old ways – witchcraft, herbal lore and a blood connection to the dangerous and unpredictable world of Faerie.
But magic is both a gift and a burden, and Faye has more than paid the price of living between two worlds. Neither accepted by the villagers, nor welcome in the Faerie Kingdom of Murias after rebuffing the fickle and attractive Faerie warrior king, Finn Beatha, Faye runs from Abercolme, hoping to leave that life behind.However, even in the twisted, cobbled streets of London, Faye finds her blood bond with Faerie won’t be broken. A Faerie War of the Elements is brewing and, though she doesn’t yet know it, Faye is fated to play a terrible part. If she is to survive, she must learn to embrace her own dark power and face Finn Beatha once more… but in doing so Faye will discover secrets in her own past that never should have been disturbed.
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Extract
#3 – I chose this extract as it describes Fortune’s, an occult bookshop I based very closely on Atlantis Books in Bloomsbury, London. I love a magic bookshop! – Anna
Fortune’s was down a narrow street opposite the museum, with a pub at the end of the road and a small café opposite. Next door to the shop there was another bookshop with statuettes of Egyptian gods in the window among many leather volumes. On the main street outside, regency terraces lined the road with black cast iron railings, smart against white walls that featured a blue plaque here and there, remembering the great men and women that once occupied their high ceilings and graceful reception rooms.
‘Come in, come in!’ Gabriel swung the shop door open and ushered her inside. ‘I’m so happy that I ran into you. Providence,’ he said, smiling over his shoulder. ‘Or something magical at work, more likely. Don’t worry about wiping your feet.’
After she’d run away from the coven at Mabon, Faye was pleasantly surprised at Gabriel’s friendly invitation to his shop. She’d convinced herself that all of the group would think she was a lunatic. Faye knew that Gabriel’s shop sold new and old occult books; he’d told her at the ritual. She glanced at shelves heaving with a mix of garish occult novels, old hardbacks with cracked spines and new, luxurious slipcases adorned with mysterious symbols in gold foiling.
Her feet squeaked on the dark floorboards; the high-ceilinged shop was lit cosily by a Lalique-style pastel-green glass lamp which stood on a mahogany desk that was slightly bowed in the middle. Two dusty crystal chandeliers hung from the plastered ceiling, adding their milky luminescence to the atmosphere. An ornate incense holder, like a small silver minaret, scented the shop with the meditative, churchy aroma of frankincense.
‘Everything from ritual magic to druidry, crystal grids to spiritual healing, Atlantis to grimoires of the damned and famous.’ Gabriel smiled as she scanned the shelves. ‘Open eighty years and they haven’t closed us down yet. Do you know this area? I don’t suppose you do.’
‘No, not at all. I read a book about the museum years ago, so I recognised it when I…’ she frowned. ‘It was the oddest thing. I just… happened upon it.’ Gabriel smiled and offered her a teal leather armchair with bronze studs around the edges. Faye sat in it gingerly; it looked ancient, but as she relaxed into it, it tilted backwards slightly and seemed to hug her in an unexpectedly comfortable posture.
‘Bloomsbury’s chock full of magic, dearest Faye. Secret societies, covens, antiquarian bookshops, magicians, strange antique dealers…. It’s no wonder you found your way here. It’s like a gigantic occult magnet to anyone with even the slightest inclination for the distinctly un-mundane.’
‘It’s lovely.’ Faye smiled. ‘I stock some books, but only a few shelves’ worth. This is such a wonderful collection.’ She looked around the shelves and saw a shelf marked Scottish Myths and Legends: she peered at the spines. ‘That was some introduction to the coven the other night. Talk about making an impression.’ He took out a brown hardback from the Scottish Legends shelf and handed it to her. ‘Here. This’ll be useful, I’d say. A gift from me.’
Faye took the book, surprised and pleased.
Queen of Sea and Stars is OUT NOW! – I can’t wait to read this later this month – I’m think a bank holiday weekend read.
About Anna
Anna McKerrow has published poetry, Young Adult and adult novels. She lives in London and is originally from the West Country, which gave her accent a subtle (yet noticeable) pirate twang – as well as a love of cream teas, and all things mystical.
Anna is an eclectic pagan witch and feminist who also loves crocheting blankets while watching episodes of Miss Marple. Anna loves mythology, magic, tarot, punk, grunge, rock and alternative music, fantasy and sci-fi novels, travel, luxury skincare products, chocolate, spas, candlelight and stormy beaches. She owns the requisite witchy black cat.Following her critically acclaimed trilogy CROW MOON, RED WITCH and WILD FIRE, about a feminist and ecopagan community of witches in Devon and Cornwall, she wrote Daughter of Light and Shadows, an adult commercial fantasy romance set in Scotland and the faerie realm, which will be followed by the sequel, Queen of Sea and Stars, in April 2019.
Don’t forget to follow all of the other stops on the tour.
