Magic Thursday: Magical Creations giveaway

by Nicola E. Sheridan



The world with its many cultures is a literal treasure trove for the writer.

In my “Magic Series” the main characters are Genies, which are borrowed from middle-eastern mythology. To this day, I still love the thought of rubbing a lamp and having a sexy man appear ready and willing to do as I wish! *sigh*

Pelesit

Every culture harbours a plethora of Magical Beings, and one of my favourite things to do is research them. Since writing this series I’ve discovered so many random and interesting mythological creatures that I could literally spend weeks talking about them. One of my favourite ‘random beasties’ is the Pelesit from Malay mythology. It’s essentially an evil blood sucking grasshopper used to subdue the victim of a Bomoh (witch-doctor). It’s so wonderfully weird that I just had to use it... and thus the Pelesit (and its Bomoh) make an appearance in my WIP (Magical Redemption).

Genie

Although many of the rarer magical beasts seem to be descending into distant memory, others have risen to immense popularity and it’s not just the Vampires and Werewolves. If you look around you’ll still find gargoyles glaring defiantly down from buildings, and you can’t go to any Chinese restaurant without getting a glimpse of some sort of dragon. There are New Age shops stuffed to brim with Unicorns and Fairies, and, we can’t forget the Gnomes that pepper the gardens of the world.

Although the mythologies behind these creatures may be unknown to many, the iconography of them is as familiar to us as the golden arches of MacDonald’s. Yet it’s not just in the physical image of these creatures that is evocative either. I personally love hearing someone describe a particularly obnoxious women as a Harpy, and can amuse myself quite easily by spotting ‘Trolls’ at the shopping centre. So despite our reliance on science and technology, I find it infinitely pleasing that magic and mythology still live on, not only in literature and film, but other less obvious ways as well. 

So today, to celebrate the recent release of Magical Creations in which many of these magical creatures abound, I’m giving away an e-copy one happy commenter – and if you’ve heard of a particularly random beastie – I’d love to hear of it.

Here’s a blurb:

Sometimes freedom comes with a painful price.

Omar is a ‘masterless’ Genie and freedom has given him an Achilles heel no enemy can miss. When desperation drives him to search for services of a Nephilim – with the ability to see, touch and take souls - Omar finds the sassy Antigone Watson who is running from demons of her own.

With magic a commodity to be governed, sold and stolen just like any other, the Magical Mafia are always on the look-out for new talent and soon the hunt is on. Together, Omar and Antigone realize that weakness of the flesh can be remedied by strength from the soul and true love can be born of dreams…