Is Guest Author Kiki Howell a Witch?

Today we welcome guest author Kiki Howell, a Northeastern Ohio Romance Author who is here to chat about the upcoming release of her Erotic Urban Fantasy novel, “A Modern Day Witch Hunt,” on October 19, 2009.

Just in time for the witches and ghosts to come out this All Hallows Eve.

So, you have been accused of being a witch— now what?

You would think I was talking about a character in a book, and while I am, I am actually talking about myself too! Often, authors are asked how they came up with the idea for their book, well my upcoming October release, A Modern Day Witch Hunt started with only the title which stemmed from a personal experience!

When I got a my first stories published and word got out around the town, a few men in my neighborhood took it upon themselves to warn other men to keep their wives away from me as I was a witch trying to lure the wives into my coven.

Sounds laughable, right? One of my children first asked me if they were in second grade as they were still into name calling, and after more though asked if because he liked to draw monsters that made him one as well. So, my eleven year old got the concept of having an imagination even if these grown men didn’t. I mean what if someone like Nora Roberts who has written hundreds of books had to be each of her characters? Exhausting, right? At the time, my husband said to me that at least I should get a book out of it about a modern day witch hunt, and thus the title was born. I let my wild imaginings take it from there!

I am an erotic paranormal author, and most of my heroes and heroines do tend to be witches. I have been obsessed with these type of stories since I first watched Bewitched as a young girl. While I do read and enjoy all types of paranormal stories, I love to read books on Wicca and then let my mind wander into the fantastic. Although, I have written two stories in the genre of magic realism as well now building from my growing knowledge.

Just a few days ago, I had release a novella called Rituals. It falls within the genre of magic realism because it stems from the Wiccan Spell of Cutting the Cords and remains based in the reality of actual Wiccan practices.

Blurb from Rituals:

After a Wiccan ritual opens her eyes to her old friend, Maddie’s first week together with Ryan, goes by in a blur of knots and ropes. Creative in their endeavors, they tie each other to everything from the coffee table to the kitchen cabinets while also implementing various positions. Neither the sash of her silk robe nor the curly ribbon on a present is left unused as a device of sensual torture.

Together, they find the freedom they seek in bondage. But, when Maddie’s controlling ex-husband returns hell-bent on taking her back, will Ryan and Maddie be bound by the past or become tied to each other?


At the same time, I had an anthology release of all of my witchy stories published with eXcessica called, The Healing Spell and Other Stories. It includes Rituals as well as the stories: The Healing Spell, To Save a Witch, Beltane’s Guide and Caught Under the October Moon. So, writing into my reputation, you might say from the titles! *laughing*

Back to A Modern Day Witch Hunt, I am very excited about the release of this novel! My character is a paranormal author as well and is, you guessed it, accused of being a witch! Only, lucky her, she lives in a fantasy world where anything can happen! I began this story on the shores of Cleveland, Ohio in Northeast Ohio where I live; and I was thrilled to have the story release just before Halloween! Gets me all in the right mood for the season. I feel the naughty urge to dress appropriately this year to pass out candy! Maybe, I could even hang a few signs about the Black Hat Society meeting here on my fence. No, I will behave, or at least I will try as I already own a “I have flying monkeys and I am not afraid to use them” t-shirt now!

Here is the blurb for A Modern Day Witch Hunt, releasing October 19th! Beyond my supposed witch, I also created another realm and another race of people…

Kamillia is an author of paranormal romances living in an upscale suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. Accused of being an actual witch herself by an ambitious group of businessmen with a dark agenda, she is surprised to find a man who resembles one of her fictional, alpha male heroes at her door offering her protection.

Luca is an immortal Watcher from the River of Light. Sent to Earth to help Kamillia, whose true heritage has yet to be revealed to her, Luca is caught off guard by the fighting spirit of the woman and the way his human body betrays him in her presence.

When research for her next novel requires Kamillia to travel to Italy, she and Luca are forced to join together despite numerous obstacles to overcome the evil of many centuries blocking a portal there. Only then, can she return to the problems awaiting her in her own city, with or without this stranger who has captured her heart but cannot share her future.

My novella, Rituals, and my anthology The Healing Spell and Other Stories, went on sale September 28, 2009.

Rituals is an erotic romance which falls into the genre of Magical Realism as well, beginning the story with the Wiccan Ceremony of Cutting the Cords. She feels this is a smart story which deals with the issue of healing after a bad relationship, and plays off of the many ways in which one can be bound to another.


The Healing Spell and Other Stories is an anthology of all of my stories with the publisher eXcessica. While all of the stories are fictional erotic romances some involve fantasy witches while other are set in the genre of magical realism. This anthology includes The Healing Spell; To Save A Witch from the Focus Anthology, ed. Kev Henley; Beltane’s Guide from the Four Seasons: Spring Anthology, ed. Selena Kitt; as well as my new novella Rituals; and the short story Caught Under The October Moon.

Rituals Chapter Excerpt:

Warnings: This title contains Graphic Language, Sensual Bondage, Sex Toys and Anal Play

“Are you quite agreeable to beginning, Maddie?” Ryan asked in the formal pedagogy of days gone by. She knew he had done so for her benefit with his coy smile and the come-hither voice he adopted when he wanted to lighten the mood. While she was grateful for his attempts, he had not succeeded in easing her nerves. As she looked to the silver cord hanging in loops over his outstretched hand, she did her best to smile reassuringly back at him to return the favor. Behind the facade, her thoughts flowed like turbulent seas as she tried to maneuver through the waves of her doubts.

Still, she was more than ready. A restless sort of eager, she earnestly desired the proposed outcome of this new experience. It was as if she had been preparing herself for this moment for the last few years. To prove it, she nodded her head at him and dropped the white silk cape he had given her.

As he looked down over her revealed figure, she disregarded the fact that this was the first time he had seen her naked. She had chosen to participate in tonight’s rite, thought it out and drafted herself to take the final step she needed to freedom. Ignoring the way her body trembled within his field of vision, she averted her gaze to the breathtaking yards of material embroidered with delicate flowers lying in a shimmering puddle at her feet. It reflected the candles all around them making her feel for a moment she was a goddess on display at the altar.

"Kneel before me," he requested. Yet, within his sovereign voice, she detected a slight tremor. Maddie was obedient, lowering herself with as much grace as she was capable of. Upon kneeling, she had caught a glimpse of how his jeans curved over a quite impressive outline, and she couldn't get past the bulging part of his anatomy presently at her eye level. Although she was trying to focus in on his words, as she understood the vital importance of comprehending his directions, she was distracted even after he tugged closed his own robe to cover himself.

Pondering for just a moment if her present state of undress had something to do with the extent of his forming erection, she reveled in the sweetness of the stroke to her ego. She had needed the boost. Looking up at Ryan as he spoke about relationships and transformation specifically in the vain of what would transpire tonight, hope filled her. She desired the creation of momentum and healing this rite promised.

Ryan was invoking the goddess of purification. As his hand gestures repeatedly moved his robe revealing to her in flashes his semi-erect state, she grinned thinking the help of a goddess may not be all the man before her wanted. The inadvertent compliment warmed her body from within to match the warmth of the midsummer night clinging to her flesh. Ryan and Maddie, in all of the hours they had spent together, had never spoken of such things between them, like attraction or love outside the bounds of their unique friendship. She had known him since she was in fourth grade, when her family moved out to the hills beyond her small southern Ohio town into a house right across the dirt road from his. They had gone from creating so-called “chemical cabins” underneath the deck of his pool with his mother’s old cosmetics to meeting in secret once they had begun dating other people in high school. The two of them had maintained their friendship, which no one else would have understood, until Maddie married right out of high school and went away to college with her new husband. Kneeling down in front of her, Ryan interrupted her reminiscent escapade of memories.

"Relax." He spoke his latest instruction hushed in the same sweet voice which had comforted her numerous times in the past year since they had reconnected. They had found each other thanks to the grand technology of Facebook, of all places. While going through her divorce, a friend had suggested the site so she could join groups of other women going through the same thing. Ryan had seen her name and picture on the site through the application that suggests possible friends. He had confessed to how happy he had been when he saw her profile come up on his computer screen with the words, You and Maddie both graduated from McKinley High School. Finding they were only fifty minutes from one another two states away from their original hometown had been an amazing break for them both. Now, he knelt before her helping her to make the final break she needed from the man who had controlled her life for the past nine years, her ex-husband, Kurt.

"Close your eyes, and trust in the coven completely. Trust in you and in me,” he spoke again, interrupting her obsessively errant thoughts. "The night is quiet. You are safe here. You are not alone and you are not afraid. Search your mind, for Kurt, the man whom you wish to break all ties from, with whom you wish to cut the cords."

Maddie felt Ryan's hands brush her waist, and the cord he held then loop around her. The softness of the cord resting on her bare skin was juxtaposed to the fleeting warm roughness of his hands. Despite the residual ill-favored feelings the image of her ex-husband created, her nipples hardened with Ryan's touch and an ache developed between her thighs. She wondered if it had been a mistake to do this ritual skyclad. The point of the ceremony had been to free herself of any lasting energy ties with her ex. The reason for doing so free of clothing was to be free of all barriers to the work needing to be done. Only, that had been the idea of it, anyway. Presently, it seemed being naked was going to be a distraction, and she didn’t need another of those. She needed this rite, because she was through with giving her life over to someone else’s control.

Ryan had explained to Maddie, since she was not Wiccan herself, how witches were not only called upon to help people find love; but they were also asked to help heal the pain when love went horribly wrong. It made total sense to her that severing her remaining ties to Kurt and saying good-bye well would allow her to move on to her full potential. Her marriage had ended long before she officially called for a divorce. Now, the sadness and regret were fading memories, and she had built up a core of personal power within herself thanks to the endless onslaughts of Ryan’s dogmatic phrases. He had studiously instructed her in the beliefs of his religion in that same inflection, mimicking a duke who may have lived in nineteenth century England. She needed to cut away the last toxic bonds Kurt had on her, to negate the imprint of her ex-husband’s energy in order to rid herself of the residual anger which sometimes accompanied her memories.

"Stand, for it is now time for action," he said with an increase to the authoritative tone in his voice. He touched the sides of her arms to guide her up to standing, and she felt the magic of the night tingling where their flesh met. She kept her eyes shut tightly against the blush over-heating her face. "See the man three dimensional standing right in front of you with all of the cords of energy still connecting you to him emanating from your skin. Now, think in vivid sensory detail about Kurt while keeping yourself detached from any pain his presence may invoke. Find him with all of your senses letting all of your feelings toward him come freely."

Maddie let her mind go where it wanted to once she had created the image of Kurt there before her. The strength she had found in herself to leave him rose up within her. Pulling from it, she was ready to face him in her mind. Resistance and pride, at first, stood in her way. She became self-protectively flippant, still standing strong on the claim there should be a petition drawn up making it illegal to marry your high school sweetheart. Eighteen was just too young. She would be the first to sign, because people can change dramatically in the years after graduating from high school, and not always for the betterment of mankind. The high school jock who once loved having the leader of the cheering squad on his arm had become a ruthless, ambitious businessman bent on control of everything around him including his wife.

Remembering herself becoming increasingly depressed and bitter for no obvious reason as the years progressed, but knowing no other life, she had found herself nine years into the marriage. Reading through her journals one night a little over a year ago now, she realized her happy façade was the mask of a near-crazy woman. She had spent most of the next weeks reading each worn notebook from cover to cover. Discovering through hind-sight she had let him brain wash her into the life he had built them, she realized she had lost herself in the process. She had set aside her own needs, her own wants and her own dreams. She had nearly set aside her own ability to think thoughts different from his. Determined to find out who she was, Maddie had filed for divorce. Then, she endured the nightmare of divorcing a man hell-bent on making her pay for standing on her own two feet.

Something about the image of his face, tense and reddened from anger, snagged a fugitive remnant of a memory. With a strange feeling of detachment, Maddie saw the fire burning in their bedroom fireplace, the box of sex toys all ordered by him alone, the dark antique table he had brought from his mother’s house, and the two glasses of his favorite wine. As usual, hers had been the one almost empty. He hadn’t required alcohol to deal with his sexual demands. She flinched, both in her flashback and in the present, as the box of toys went with the wooden table across the floor. Then, she endured his rant about her hesitance. He had often reminded her that what he desired was not an irrational request of a wife.

She opened her eyes having no idea how much time had passed while her brain filed through memory after memory of his egotistical and controlling, self-proclaimed propriety. She was done fighting the pain of these scenes, ones belonging to the women she presently declined to be. She had finally begun to view the visions in her head like sad dramas. They were reminders of human frailty she had allowed to be scripted. Her role was played by a familiar stranger. Only, she already knew what the ending to each was—regret without any shred of hope for a happy ever after ending.

Air left her mouth on the rippled current bent of her shaking form. Ryan was still there before her. She could see by the way he was standing, he was restraining himself from reaching out to comfort her as he was used to doing. He stretched his fingers and then coiled them again into fists with one arm crossed over the other in front of him. Maddie blinked to signal she was fine before closing her eyes again to continue on her mental journey. She found the will and the strength to do so, only because she knew with absolute certainty she was not alone as she searched for a path she could call her own.

If you would like to know more about me or my stories,

please visit me at www.kikihowell.com