|
Visit Cornelia Amiri's web site
An excerpt from The Scottish Selkie
About Cornelia Amiri Cornelia Amiri is the author of over a dozen books, ten Celtic/Paranormal/Romances: Druid Bride, Timeless Voyage, The Wolf and The Druidess, Queen of Kings, A Fine Cauldron of Fish, The Fox Prince, One Heart One Way, The Scottish Selkie, The Vixen Princess, and Druid Quest. She has a contemporary/romance Peace Love Music, set at the 1969 Woodstock festival, and two Steampunk/romances one available, As Timeless As Stone, and one coming out 10/07/11, To Love A London Ghost, both under her pen name of Maeve Alpin. Cornelia lives in Houston Texas as does her son and granddaughter.
Back list
Amazon
All Romance Ebooks
An Interview with Cornelia Amiri
By Holly Hewson for The Romance Studio
HH: Cornelia, thank you so much for talking with us at TRS. Your featured book is The Scottish Selkie. Where did you get the idea for this beautiful story of two lovers and a dark secret that threatens their love? CA: I love the deep dark secret plot and I love the history of Kenneth Mac Alpin, he's considered the first king of Scotland, a true warrior king, and I always wanted to write a story with a Pict heroine. The Picts fascinate me, with all the mystery surrounding them. When researching Kenneth Mac Alpin I came across an article that mentioned rumors of selkies within the Mac Alpin Clan so my hero, Malcolm, became a warrior selkie.
HH: What can you tell us about Bethoc and why will readers be drawn to her? CA: Bethoc is the daughter of one of the murdered earls and fiancée of another. Courageous, and both strong and head strong, she takes it upon herself to avenge them. She ends up thrown into a forced marriage with Malcolm. Not only does this warrior Pict Princess have a strong heart and is full of passion, but she's also smart and curious and she soon learns her Scot husband is hiding something from her, she begins to investigate to learn Malcolm's secret.
HH: What can you tell us about Malcolm and why will readers love him? CA: Malcolm, a strong Scot warrior, is Kenneth Mac Alpin's cousin and champion, but his is a fish out of water at the Scottish court. He longs to return to his other life, but to do that he first needs to find something his cousin, Kenneth Mac Alpin stole from him. At first, he sees the forced marriage to Bethoc as a further hindrance, but the electric attraction they have for each other changes that. He even risks his life to save her. Still he longs to return to the life he loves best, but he knows Bethoc cannot live in his true home.
HH: How did you go about creating a feel for the time period your book takes place in? CA: I've researched the Celts and the Picts for over fifteen years. I bring the reader into all of it, the belief system, the old lore, the food, the clothing, the tattoos, and daily tasks, but I fit it all in with action so it flows easily. The reader automatically finds themselves transported to and immersed in every facet of 9th century Scotland.
HH: What sort of research did you do for this story? CA: I have researched the ancient Celts for over 15 years. I read a lot of non-fiction books about them and the Picts and that period of history, as well as a lot of archeology reports, and through the internet, mainly Megalithic Portal (www.megalithic.co.uk) I keep up to date on the latest finds. I love history as much as I love writing. I love the research process.
HH: What else do you have in the works? CA: The Celtic Fox will come out on kindle for 99 cents soon. Here's a blurb for it: A Celtic prince, Tryffin, searches for and finds his true love, Aelfrida, but to her, he's a sworn enemy, she could never give her heart to him. Though Tryffin is a fearless champion in battling Saxons, fighting for Aelfrida's love proves a greater challenge. To save her foster father's life, Aelfida, is forced to wed the powerful Prince, who led the war band she blames for slaying her parents. She's surprised when he proves to be a powerful temptation to her body and her heart. Everything rest on the Saxon bride's choice of vengeance or love. Also under Maeve Alpin, my second Steampunk/romance, To Love A London Ghost, comes out in October.
HH: Do you own an eBook reader or read on an electronic device? If so, what? CA: I own a Sony but I want to get a kindle and I want to get a color nook for my granddaughter.
HH: As a romance reader, what sort of stories do you personally prefer? CA: I love historical romances and I'm crazy about paranormal romances and fantasy romances. I find cross-genre books, which combine historical and paranormal or historical and fantasy, to die for. I also love Steampunk/Romance and Sci-fi/Romance. I write Steampunk/Romance as well under the pen name of Maeve Alpin.
HH: What's your favorite guilty pleasure? CA: Chocolate! I wrote an ode to chocolate once: Chocolate is the food of the Gods. Montezuma drunk frothy cups of thick dark chocolate each night before indulging in his harem of women. So blame it on chocolate. The food of the Gods. Chocolate is the elixir of love. Casanova savored creamy, melt in your mouth chocolate before he pleasured each of his many mistresses. So blame it on chocolate. The elixir of love. Chocolate is the food of love. I popped a chocolate in my mouth and rolled my tongue across the heady, heavenly taste and buttery texture. Then I invited Brendan Fraser over. So blame it on chocolate. The food of love.
HH: Any vacation or appearance plans this summer? CA: I've actually finished them for this year, I went to the Ok Steampunk Expo in Oklahoma City, Aetherfest in San Antonio, Comicpalooza in Houston, ApolloCon in Houston, and the Lori Foster Reader and Author Get Together in Ohio.
HH: Thank you!
Top
| 
