This week's post is brought to you by Jasmine, who did everything in her power to prevent me from typing.










Surely you've seen this image floating around my blogsphere:


It's not my first published work (though I'll certainly write another post on that soon. Note the year it was published - ancient history, practically), but it is the first I did all on my own. I adore it, I'll admit.

Once upon a time, feeling lost and alone in the writing world, I did what many lonely writers do - look for anthology contests. After all, that's how I published my first. Why not try a second go?

In my search, I stumbled across a contest dealing with . . . cryptids?

I'm a romance novelist, at my core. I'll admit, the idea of writing the candlelit adventures of bigfoot didn't really appeal to me*, but I went and Googled for a list of cryptids, ended up on Wikipedia like the lazy former AP student I am, and found a surprisingly substantial list.

Like any proper child, I'd read Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them , so I zeroed in on the word 'kelpie' pretty quickly. "Basically a demon mermaid?" said my hyperbole'd thoughts. "Perfect!"

Kelpie's are cool, y'all. Scottish folklore describes them as "the Lowland name of a demon in the shape of a horse. (Harper, Douglas, "kelpie (n.)", Online Etymology Dictionary)" So, demon horse. But, they can also turn into attractive young women to lure their victims in - whatever floats said victim's boat, I guess.

The Kelpie by Thomas Millie Dow, 1895
Not exactly a standard romantic prospect, but you work with what you got. Thus, Mairi finds herself smitten.

Speaking of smitten:


Be still my heart! The story takes place near the fictional "Loch Lorraine," and what a beautiful place it must be. (I live in a desert. Everything green is beautiful.)

I didn't end up entering the cryptid writing contest. Instead, I got swept away in a whole different prompt, and I don't regret it for a second. More novellas are sure to come (as well as a few big money items - stay tuned!).


*That said, I don't judge.


h 

As a child, Mairi made a deal with a young fae - a kiss in exchange for gills.

Now, betrothed to a man she hardly knows, Mairi is desperate to escape her fate. When she finds that same fae at the river's edge, she's offered a proposal that makes her skin grow cold . . . and her blood run hot.

Romance meets horror in this dark lesbian fairytale. Do you dare dive . . . Beneath the Loch?

Find it on Amazon here.