Monday, October 20, 2008

CELTIC SPICE NEWS!




Well the news is OFFICIAL! Harlequin SPICE has picked up two more of our "Celtic Spice" antholgies!! Celebrating the ancient traditions, legends and myths surrounding Celtic festivals, Charlotte, Kristi and I teamed up to create these unique anthologies based on a legend of the festival and stories set in three different time periods that relate back to that festival.

Its been a challenge and a serendipitous adventure as the muse strikes and somehow we come up with these ideas! Plotting and sculpting a story and helping each other sculpt our stories has been a very fun and rewarding venture!

So we hope that Showtime will see the brilliance of these stories and decide to put them on just after the Tudors--we'd be okay with that!! LOL

Watch for the first in this smash SPICE series coming to bookstores, November 2009 with the first book, 'WINTER'S DESIRE." Based on Winter's Solstice, this anthology brings into play an ancient chant between two star-crossed lovers and their forbiddden love.

Coming subsequently will be our "Celtic Spice" anthologies based on the ancient Beltane and Samhain festivals, with more to come!!

Also watch for the launch of our new sister blog site "Sisters of the Celtic Spice" that will feature Celtic legends and lore as well as special features on how we do the research, music and fun places to visit for inspiration and other exciting events we have planned in association with this series!

Amanda

7 comments:

Charlotte Featherstone said...

AWESOME picture! Love the image of her on the swing.

I think readers are really going to love this series.

My favorite of all the themes is Samhain. That's going to be so much fun to write, and spooky, too. Dark...edgy...Yep, fun!

In fact, they're all going to be fun, and different, too. We've got 'the Secret Garden for grown-ups' in Beltane, which celebrates spring and May Day. As well, our Winter Solstice theme is going to be magical.

And the covers should be to die for!!!

Lana said...

Congratulations! That's great news. I'm really looking forward to reading these since I've always been fascinated by Celtic mythology and ritual.

And I second the comment about the awesome cover. Gorgeous!

Fedora said...

Very cool! Thanks for the great news!

Charlotte Featherstone said...

lana,
I love Celtic mythology, too. My parents are both Scottish and my grandparents always told us stories about fairies and the wee folk, and Tinkers.
One of the themes in the Samhain anthology involves a 'nightwood'. That story was taken my from childhood. When I told it to Amanda and Kristina, they were happy to include it.
When the time gets closer, I'll tell about the nightwood, as it was told me, and as I tell it to my daughter.
Thanks for dropping in. It's nice having you!

Amanda McIntyre said...

Thank you Lana and Flchen1,
I love this picture of the lady in the swing...alas it is not destined to be our cover art though you will see it again in the banner for the Sisters of the Celtic Spice blog that we will launch publically very soon ;))

I have wanted to do a Celtic anthology for a long time now and truth is, when I presented the thought to Charlotte and Kristi it was very much one of those kismet type things. Within roughly about a week, (correct me guys if I'm wrong) we had the basic premise of the first book mapped out and a proposal ready to submit on -yes--the Winters Solstice of Decmber 07

I love that tentatively Spice has plans to release these anthologies close to, if not on, the appropriate festivals each year which lends a greater magic to the whole project!

Having Charlotte's wonderful Scottish linage and Kristi's vast historical background and my penchant for researching and asking, "what if?" :) we have just had a blast writing these. Hopefully you all will sense that magic as you read them!!

Amanda

Genella deGrey said...

Yippee! I can't wait!!
:)
G.

Kristi Cook said...

I can't decide which I'm more excited to write--the 'secret garden' themed story in the Beltane anthology (and there's a cross-over between my Winter's Desire story and my Beltane story, and that's fun!) or my Edwardian-era vampire featured in my Samhain story! Woo-hoo!!

I really can't wait to see what Harlequin Spice comes up with for our first Celtic Spice anthology cover.