Thank you for having me on Fang-tastic Books! I am thrilled
to kick off the blog tour for my first novel, Merlyn’s Raven, here with you. The book is based in Arthurian legend
and follows an original character, Gwendydd, as she falls in love with a young
druid apprentice named Myrddin, who is destined to be the great Merlin, advisor
to the legendary King Arthur.
Some of the characters in Merlyn’s Raven are completely original, and some of them are based
in the Arthurian legend. Here is an overview of the main characters in the
story, along with a pronunciation key for their rather difficult Welsh names.
(Note that the w in the Welsh
language is pronounced like the oo sound
in the English words book and school.)
Gwendydd – goo IN dith – Gwendydd is the main character in
the story, the granddaughter of a Cymry (Welsh) chieftain. She is a bit
impetuous, probably due to her youth and the adventurous spirit she inherited
from her mother, who died when she was born. Gwendydd dreams of a life of
freedom and fears her grandfather, who has vowed to marry her off to a man of
station with whom he can ally for war and political strategies. Fate, however,
has other plans for her.
Myrddin Emrys -- MIR thin EM ris – Myrddin, called Merlin by
others, is a young druid apprentice. He possesses extraordinary precognitive
abilities as well as magickal ones that allow him to vanish, conjure fire and
fog, and other amazing feats. Gwendydd meets him in the marketplace of her
grandfather’s fortress and falls immediately under his charismatic spell. Their
love grows over time, but Myrddin’s visions of the rise of a legendary king
threaten to tear them apart.
Brychan -- BREE khan – Gwendydd’s chieftain grandfather, who
is determined that she wed a powerful leader who will help increase his
influence in the land.
Blaise – BLAZE – Myrddin’s druid master, a peaceful,
spiritual elder who is convinced Myrddin and Gwendydd are meant to be together.
Betrys -- BET rees – Gwendydd’s foster-mother. She is a
convert to the Christian religion and fiercely loves Gwendydd, even though she
complains incessantly of her charge’s headstrong ways.
Cadwgawn -- kad OOG in – Gwendydd’s foster-father and
husband to Betrys. He is the commander of Brychan’s soldiers and softens
Betrys’ hard ways.
Eigyr -- AY gir -- the Duchess of Cornwall, who
becomes Gwendydd’s friend and helps her out of a terrible situation.
Uther Pendragon – A rising star in the southern armies, who
is in love with the married duchess. It is his liaison with Eigyr that Myrddin
predicts will bring the promised king of legend.
Whether you are a fan of Arthurian lore or completely new to
the tales, I hope you’ll spend some time with these characters in Merlyn’s Raven. Magick and love await
you there.
EXCERPT:
The scream hung in the air like the waxing
moon outside my window. I touched my face, expecting to feel the wound there,
my skin cut somehow as Myrddin’s had been in the dream. My trembling fingers
came away clean. My heart raced as my mind recovered, but I tore from my
bedchamber nonetheless, darting through the shadowed hallways of Grandfather’s
household, avoiding the guards that stood, dozing, at the ends of corridors. I
knew I’d be beaten if I was caught, but nothing was as important as getting to
Myrddin.
I reached the familiar door and slipped
inside. He lay on his simple pallet beneath the window casement, but his eyes
were open in the moonlight. They sparkled like dew on the grass, as did the
sweat that dampened his hairline. His hand lay against his cheek, searching for
the phantom wound.
“What is it?” I breathed, my heart still
pounding as if it had never pumped before. “I had a nightmare about you.”
He sat up, his body shaking, and I pulled the
blanket up over his shoulders as tremors wracked him. He gripped the cover with
one hand and took mine in his other. It was not a fit, I knew, but an icy chill
stole over me. “I had a vision.”
“It was you, was it not?” I forced the words
out, even though they pained me to say them. “Trapped? Tortured?”
He nodded. I could bear it no longer, and
flung myself into him, burying my face in his chest. He hesitated, but then his
arms came around me, and I nearly gasped from relief, from knowing he was with
me, warm and alive and safe.
“What does it mean?” I moaned.
“It is the future we see.”
I tilted my chin up to look at him, and he
stared down into my face, one brow arched as if puzzling over a new plant he’d
found while scavenging. “How is it that we see it together, raven? How is it
that we are connected?”
“I love you.” The words, so sacred and yet
sounding so simple, tumbled out. I did not care. Here in the dark, where there
was no one else, the rest of the world seemed frozen, unimportant, and far, far
away. Blaise, sleeping in the next room, was forgotten. I did not think of my
grandfather and his plot to find me a husband, or of his threats to kill any
man that stood in the way of that.
Only this moment between us mattered. Myrddin
had to know that I thought of nothing but him, sought naught but his presence,
heard only his voice with the pounding of my heart. It was bold and brash and
dangerous, it was everything I wanted to be, my own true self, and I knew he
understood that.
“I know,” he whispered. “And you should not.”
He tried to pull his hand away, yet I clung
to it, my voice hardening. “Why do you say that? You are everything to me.”
“You speak of love, Gwendydd, and yet you
have told me countless times how you long not for a husband, but for freedom.”
“You are my freedom. Do you not see? You, who
have taught me healing and storytelling and magick. . .so many things. You are
right—I did not know what I longed for until I met you, and then I understood.”
I lifted my hand, daring to touch his cheek, and he allowed it. “This must be
love, for it to seep so deeply into me, into my very soul.”
Softness settled into his gaze as he stared
at me. “You are a poet, raven.” He teased, I knew, to turn the subject, but I
would not be abashed.
“It frightened me, Myrddin. The dream. I
cannot bear to be without you, or to have you hurt.”
“And yet there is no way to stop it, if it is
my fate.” He gathered me against him and pushed us both up to our feet, shaking
the blanket from his shoulders. He guided me toward the door but did not pull
away, and I savored his closeness. “Come. You must go back to your chambers. If
Brychan finds you here, or if someone sees us and informs him, he will kill us
both.”
We shuffled in silence along the corridors,
slipping past the sleepy guards undetected. When we came to my quarters, Myrddin
placed his hands on my shoulders and looked at me sternly, as Betrys sometimes
did when she preached her gospel of Jesus.
“Blaise has told me, Gwendydd, that unrest
stirs in the land. The Cymry chieftains like your grandsire cannot quell it,
and it will come to call here very soon. But these changes, all of them, no
matter what they are, must unfold as they are meant to. We may never understand
all that happens, but that is our challenge in life. And that includes whatever
this vision may portend for me.”
I matched his seriousness with my own.
“Whatever happens, we are meant to be together. I understand that much.”
His hand moved underneath my loosened hair,
cupping the back of my head like a pillow, and his expression of wonder made me
dizzy. “It is foolish and reckless, raven, but yes. I think I understand it as
well.”
He left me standing there in a pool of
moonlight, my mind spinning as the stars overhead, replaying his words over and
over again to seal them permanently in my memory.
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Night Owl Book Lover’s Magazine
Merlyn’s Raven
By Rose Vanden Eynden
Soul Mate Publishing
For a young woman, falling in love is the ultimate magic. But what if the object of her affection is Merlyn, destined to be King Arthur’s legendary advisor? Can Gwendydd work her own magic to capture the heart of the world’s most powerful enchanter, or will her desire destroy her and the people she loves most?
Back Cover Blurb
Falling in love is the ultimate magic. For Gwendydd, a young woman in 5th century Wales, it seems an unobtainable fantasy. She dreads the day her chieftain grandfather will marry her off to increase his allies among the warring tribes of Britain. When she meets the mysterious and handsome druid apprentice Myrddin, Gwendydd realizes just how difficult falling in love can be. The ire of her disapproving grandfather is not her only obstacle. Myrddin’s clairvoyant visions of a king who will unify the battling tribes and bring peace to the land become a dangerous obsession that threatens to obliterate their union. Can Gwendydd support her beloved, the man destined to become the world’s most powerful enchanter, King Arthur’s legendary Merlyn? Or will her devotion destroy her and everything she holds dear?
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About the Author:
Rose Vanden Eynden has always believed in magic, which probably explains how she is able to be a writer as well as a wife, mother, medium, massage therapist, minister, and instructor. She resides in a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband, twin teenaged sons, and a dachshund named after Rudyard Kipling. In her spare (!) time, she enjoys performing in live theatre, watching films, reading, and walking in the woods. An avid believer in a balanced life, she meditates and eats chocolate daily.
Light Journey Enterprises
www.vandeneynden.biz
Read Rose's blog, STANDING BETWEEN THE WORLDS www.vandeneynden.biz/blog
Rose's books, available at all major bookstores:
SO YOU WANT TO BE A MEDIUM? A DOWN TO EARTH GUIDE
METATRON: INVOKING THE ANGEL OF GOD'S PRESENCE
ASK A MEDIUM: ANSWERS TO YOUR FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SPIRIT WORLD
Do you Twitter? Follow Rose: http://twitter.com/RoseofAvalon
Rose on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RoseVandenEyndenOfficial
Would you like to win an ecopy of Merlyn's Raven?
Then leave a comment on this post
Two winners will be chosen
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10 comments:
sorry this is later to post, blogger has been giving me hell for 3 days nothing is posting, scheduled stuff sits in the list saying scheduled but otherwise doing nothing...
Happy to be here! Thank you so much for having me!
Great post. Merlyn's Raven is captivating and a must read.
You are an amazing author.
Book sounds fantastic. Hope I win.
Thank you, Janna and Trisha! I appreciate your comments so much!
It is so great to follow tours. I enjoy reading about the book.
debby236 at gmail dot com
Very nice post and excerpt. The book sounds good.
bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com
Thank you so much, Debby! I'll be happy to have you along on the tour!
And bn100, I appreciate your comments about the book and excerpt. It is near and dear to my heart. :-)
Great post, Rose. Merlyn's Raven sounds like a fasinating rea. Can't wait.
Great interview, Rose! Good luck with your new book.
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