I’m
delighted to introduce my blog guest, Cheryl R. Cowtan, an educator
and fantasy author, whose book 2 in The Fergus She series, “Master of Madhouse”, is available to order on Amazon.
WHEN DID YOUR PASSION FOR
STORY TELLING SEIZE YOU?
I was known as
the Queen of Campfire Storytelling in public school. Not the coolest cat on the
block, but I was certainly entertaining. I got my stories from old guys who got
their kicks telling scary stories to kids, from the many horror and gothic novels
I was consuming at a young age, and from the creepy imaginings of my own brain
as it processed all this thrilling stimulation. Being able to transfer these
ideas and stories onto paper is the big payoff for me. I’m keeping the urban
legends alive and kicking, expanding on ancient story forms, and hopefully
affecting my readers. That makes me happy.
YOUR SERIES IS NAMED, “THE FERGUS SHE”,
WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE?
As a Canadian
fan of Stephen King, I grew up knowing more about Maine than Montreal. I was a
voracious reader, but rarely, did I ever read about Canadian cities or towns in
novels during the 70s and 80s, and so I decided I would someday make sure my
geography would factor in my own writing. I’d love to say I cleverly chose “The
Fergus She” for historical or other significance, but the thinking behind the
series conception went something like this:
After reading a
number of vampire texts, I noticed the vampire experience almost always occurs
from an outside catalyst (getting fanged by a vamp). Then I thought, imagine if
the protagonist was dragging a vampire around on the inside, only didn't know
it. And imagine if that vampire was a petulant, but deadly Scarlett O’Hara
character. And image if the protagonist thought this inner demon was mental illness.
And imagine if I added a sexy highlander like Jamie from the
"Outlander" series, and then of course, I'd have to have him betray
my protagonist, because love hurts. Sucks, really. So, the highlander would
resurrect the inner "she-V" and my protagonist would lose control
over her life. How horrible for my protagonist, Rachel, UNLESS that
resurrection occurred through the best sex ever, and it was worth being
possessed by the she, to be with the highlander. And … highlanders… Oh yeah,
the Fergus Highland Games – that’s a good place I could sell my book… I used to
live in Fergus. I like the sound of “The Fergus She”… it has a ring. Yes,
that’s the name of my new series—The Fergus She.
However, since
that caffeine-jacked thinking process, I’ve learned Fergus is
a popular Scottish male name with origins of “man” and “vigor” and “force” and
“choice”—a perfect origin combination for a story about a Scottish clan chosen
by a demon to serve her resurrection.
It was only
later, upon visiting a distant Irish relative of mine, that I learned of the
tale of leanhaun shee, a beautiful woman or fairy mistress who takes a mortal
lover and inspires him creatively while enslaving his will, which leads to
madness and early death. This woman or fairy legend hails from Celtic tales as
leannán sí, Scottish Gaelic stories as leannan sith, and is also known as
leannán sídhe.
So, in the end,
the title, “The Fergus She” matched up to the storyline, even if I didn’t
purposefully or consciously plan it all out that way.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR SERIES PROTAGONIST.
The main
protagonist in “Girl Desecrated” book
1 of The Fergus She series, Rachel is a whoring, boozing, eighteen-year-old who
has been damaged by a religiously fanatical mother and a loveless childhood.
Even worse, she is possessed. When Rachel learns there is a demon slumbering
inside, and it’s wed to an old school vampire, she must find a way to reverse
her own possession, or be bound to the demon’s vampire husband, Gräfen, forever.
Gräfen is an
evil "Mr. Darcy"-- a land-holding, old school vampire. When
Rachel appears at his Gothic mansion, her human frailty lights his candle.Victim to
Gräfen's sadistic desires and surrounded by a bedlam of servants, Rachel
tries to befriend the count's enemies to escape. But the lines of good and evil
are not always clear, and Rachel soon finds herself suffocating in a deadly
tangle.Will she be able
to escape the madhouse before the master goes too far?
WILL RACHEL BE SHARING THE ROLE OF
PROTAGONIST IN BOOK 2, “MASTER OF MADHOUSE”? IF SO, WITH WHAT CHARACTER.
The story of
Scarlett’s past will continue in the second book. Scarlett’s story of her time
as William Cane’s wife at the colony of Jamestown, Virginia runs alongside
Rachel’s own adventure. It’s a measured unravelling of one stop in the
multitude of timelines Scarlett has lived in. Her story at the colony begins in,
“Girl Desecrated” and will deepen in book 2 as we find out how the Puritans and
the Powhatans deal with a demon in their midst.
JUDGING FROM BOOK REVIEWS ON GIRL DESECRATED, 1984
(BOOK 1), FANS EAGERLY AWAIT PUBLICATION OF THE SEQUEL. A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY’S BOOKLIFE REPORT GIVES
“GIRL DESECRATED” A 9/10 FOR BOOK CONCEPT “ORIGINALITY”, AND PRAISES YOUR
WRITING AS “COMPELLING” AND “EVOCATIVE”, A WRITING STYLE THAT “KEEPS THE PAGES
TURNING”! THIS IS INDEED HIGH PRAISE FOR A DEBUT NOVEL.
LET’S TALK ABOUT “MASTER
OF MADHOUSE, 1894”.
In Master of Madhouse, a classic bedlam
gothic of entrapment, macabre misadventure, and male dominance, Rachel
experiences full possession under Scarlett’s reign. As Scarlett trashes what is
left of Rachel’s life, she releases control to Rachel and then sets up
situations in which Rachel will have to choose to once again be locked in her
body. These manipulations eventually backfire, and Rachel finds a way to stay
topside. But, in her fight for freedom, she taps into Scarlett’s skills and
ends up running right into the arms of Scarlett’s husband, vampire lord and
master of his estate, which seems frozen sometime in the late 1800s. Rachel has
a history of making unwise decisions, and this novel will continue that
tradition as Rachel attempts to unravel the mysteries of Gräfen’s home and
history in an attempt to escape his brutal courtship.
WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE
DIFFERENT TIME PERIODS IN YOUR DARK FANTASY SERIES?
My series uses a
lot of mirroring symbolism, dual lives, two sides of the same, dichotomy and
juxtaposition in order for me to present my themes of identity and choices. The
periods 1984 and 1894 are mirrored periods, the first I chose just for the fun
of a 1980s hard rock setting, and the second was my flip, but also a favourite
time period for my own reading pleasure in which novels like American Gothic are set, and novels like
The Picture of Dorian Gray and some
of my favourite Sherlock mysteries
were written.
 | ||
| Author, Cheryl R. Cowtan |
SOCIAL MEDIA FOR CHERYL R. COWTAN
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