Authors of the Rituals and Runes Anthology would love for
you to fall under the spell of our very special author interviews about the
magical books included in our box set coming out in October 2022.
Please join us for our talk with, Jude Cocaigne, who will
talk about her upcoming book, Faeted Magic!
Book: Faeted Magic
R&R: Hello Jude. Thanks
for agreeing to the interview. Tell the readers, why are you
excited about them reading Faeted Magic?
Jude: This story has been a wild
ride from the beginning, and I can't wait for people to meet my protagonists
because they're awesome, fun, and completely wacko! Seriously, I got stuck for
weeks at the end of chapter five because I intended to go one way with them,
and then Sarah did what she did, and that was it.
They refused to talk to me or each other for weeks after
that, and I had to come up with characters' therapy to get them to play nice
again! Also, Dublin. I mean, my inspiration for this story comes from my time
living there, so the city is ever-present in all its magic and beauty, it's a
character in its own rights, and I hope I give it justice. So yeah, Faeted Magic is a story close to my
heart and I'm really excited to share it with the world!
R&R: Wow. Sounds like they threw you
for a loop! A very exciting one I can’t wait to read.
And why did you pick to write about Fae?
Jude: Believe it or not, but I met a faun while living in
Dublin! And a leprechaun! But that's another story (literally, it's going to be
the sequel!). I love the Fae world and all its creatures, and I love Celtic
folklore, so it was a no-brainer. My story would be about this Earth Witch
going to Dublin to reconnect with her roots and meet Fae—well, she never
intended to meet them really, let's say they happened upon her, because that's
the way Fate works, right?
R&R: Magical and
romantic! Which fits right in with the anthology theme. Explain a bit about
your main characters.
What are their worst fears?
Jude: Sarah's got some serious abandonment issues. She's lost
everything and everyone she ever loved, so she's not one to rush into emotional
commitment, especially when the recipient of such commitment are creatures
known to be players and serial lovers. But she also fears being alone, which
prompts her to jump into promiscuous situations without a second thought. (I
love paradoxes!)
Liam's worst fear is to fall in love for real. He's afraid
of what it could do to him to really love someone because he's never known a
day of love in his life. If he exposes himself to the feeling, he might just
die for all he knows. In truth, he doesn't think he's worth being loved, so he
hides behind his tough killer act and refuses to let feelings take the lead for
fear they will not be reciprocated and his heart would shrivel from the
rejection. It could happen, fauns' hearts are very sensitive...
R&R:
You really hit it with making those characters face very tough but engaging
situations. Paradoxes are fun and make me want to read your story!
That was
awesome to get to know their “dark” side, now tell us, what is special about
your main characters?
Jude: Sarah's an Earth Witch freshly out of the Academy where
she's learned to control her powers, but she still has the potential to better
them. Yet I don't think that's what makes her special. I believe that what
truly sets her apart from your average witch is her resilience.
She's lost almost all her family (her great aunt's her
only remaining living relative...), she's separated from her closest friends,
and she's alone in a foreign country even though she was born in it, yet she
never gives up, she never quits, she lives to make her family proud, she's
strong and she believes in the beauty of life despite what life has thrown in
her face from a very young age.
But she's not tough either, she's still very much smiling
and appreciating the beauties of the world around her, she trusts people
despite having been burnt countless times. Her resilience will help her do
great things in the end.
Liam is a special soul. I mean come on, he's hired to kill
Sarah in the prologue, but all he can think of is to have fun with her first,
which leads to, you know, feelings... How special is that?? I love how sweet
his heart turns out to be because of what he is. His faunness makes him
intrinsically horny (pun intended) and that's what leads to all the adventure
and fun and mess happening in the story. It's a superpower on its own!
R&R: Now you really
have me wanting to read this story! On that, if you met your characters, what
would you say to them?
Jude: BEHAVE NOW! No, really. I've been meeting with them
regularly and I always have to keep them in line! But when this is all over,
I'll tell them I'm proud of them for how far they've come, and to keep up the
good work for the next books!
R&R:
But it’s so much more fun when the characters misbehave and it fits right into
our theme of breaking the rules! LOL! Tell us a bit about yourself, what do you
do when you are not writing?
Jude: A lot, too much, I don't know where to begin! I'm
the mom of one adorable and lively little girl of 4 that I keep at home
part-time (she goes to daycare the rest of the time and will start school in
August), I also work part-time as a specialist administrator in a renowned university
and as an editor and translator.
I play video games to unwind, I read, of course, I take
care of my hubby when he's sick, I draw, play the guitar, sing, and last but
not least, I dream up the next stories I'm going to write!
R&R:
You do sound busy but also like those are rewarding activities. What books do
you have coming out that are not involved in the anthology?
Jude: Book 3 of my Gods
of Ze World series called Summers in
Hell is coming out this year, followed by book 4, presently called A Tale of How True Magic Works (truth be
told, it's been called like this for years, I don't think it's going to change
anytime soon...). It's a lower YA Fantasy series full of adventures and epicness
centered around the deities and magical concepts of my world. On the steamy
UF/PNR front though (I juggle both caps!), I should be publishing a Shifter RH
soon, so stay tuned!
R&R:
Books in totally different genres—one sounds fun and fascinating, and the other
should be fun and steamy. Awesome! Let’s end with our bonus question but stick
around for her blurb, excerpt, bio, and where to find her. Would you rather
drink coffee or tea?
Jude: That's a trick question! I drink both! I'm a coffee-first-thing-in-the-morning
person, but an afternoon-and-evening tea kind of gal too!
R&R: LOL! Best answer ever! Thanks again and read on for more
goodies below.
Blurb:
Unearthing her witchy roots might cost Sarah her life…
unless she surrenders her heart to the faun who wants her dead.
Sarah Wolf’s back in Dublin after learning to be a good
Earth Witch abroad. But her plans to reconnect with her last living relative
take a dangerous turn when she falls for the handsome local faun.
Liam O’Cuill’s out to kill the witch, but he’ll have some
fun with her first. He’s a faun after all! The problem is, she’s a tough nut to
crack, and that makes her even more irresistible.
Their fates entwine in an unlikely match, heightening
their powers and putting the faun in more danger than ever of falling for the
enemy. But he’s on a mission, and his boss expects fast results.
If Liam fails to deliver, he will face a punishment worse
than death. Either way, Sarah ends up dead... Unless she kills him first.
Excerpt:
I’ve been here less than a week, but I already feel at
home. When I get up in the morning, Auntie Kill makes sure I have enough
crumpets and scones to fill my belly for an entire day. And she makes the best
tea, strong enough but not too bitter, with a cloud of milk and just enough
sugar that the sweetness lingers on the palate. Oh, and don’t get me started on
the jams. Plum, fig, strawberry and raspberry jams from the fruit growing in
her wonderful garden, and marmalade to die for. This is heaven!
I don’t like to spend the day in here though. The house is
fraught with my great aunt’s energy, and while it behaves when she’s present,
lulled by the love she has for me, it doesn’t appreciate an outsider’s company
when she’s away. That’s one perk of Air Magic. You can leave your energy to
fend for your house; it works better than a guard dog.
So, every morning, I leave the house with a book and go to
the park. That’s my ritual for the time being. Ever since leaving the Academy,
New Orleans, my friends and all my bearings, I’ve been prone to anxiety
attacks. I thought I’d gotten over all that crap after the years of therapy, but
apparently, going into the world as a grown-up woman strikes as bad a chord as
losing everything in my head. Grown-up woman, my ass. I feel as frail and
stupid as when I was a kid.
Not frail. I’m not fragile, never have been. But I’m not
comfortable in new situations, and if I’m being honest, I’m still afraid
everyone will abandon me. So, I don’t get too close to people, I keep to
myself, and apart from the girls back at the Academy, who’ve had my back
countless times and are just as much a part of me as I am of them, I prefer the
company of books. Never has a book betrayed me, or dumped me, or died…
I’m not stupid either, I’ve just been burned too often.
Once bitten, twice shy, am I right? Rituals help me keep my head clear, and
once I feel safe enough, I’ll explore and expand. But for now, I’m a neutered
house cat: I don’t stray too far. Fairview Park it is.
Author Bio:
International author born in Switzerland of a Dutch mother
and a Romanian father, I found my calling after binge reading all of Terry Pratchett's
work. Fantasy is my realm, with dashes of adventure, drops of romance, and a
lot of epicness!
My short story The
Girl with the Red Hood is a retelling of The Company of Wolves by Angela Carter. Drawing on Carter's
original idea, but adding gruesome details and an even deeper twist, I
unleashed my talents and my voice.
The novel The Elf
Girl and the Prince (which made #68 on the USA Today Bestseller list in
October 2020 with the boxed set Once Upon Another World), is a dab at romance
and fairy tales of another kind.
It introduces Ze World, the planet on which the Gods of Ze World series take place. Book
one and two, Godnapped! and Snooze or Lose, are already out, and
book three, Summers in Hell, is in
the works.
Our world and its wonderful cities and countries are not
left out, however, as they receive a fantastic treatment of their own in the
form of Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romances and adventures of a steamier kind
set in the various places I've lived in or loved visiting.
Where To Find Her:
Website: https://www.judecocaigne.com
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/gYvrOH
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/judecocaigneauthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jude_cocaigne/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jude_cocaigne
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@judecocaigne
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/jude-cocaigne
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/judecocaigne
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/judecocaigne
Get more magical & paranormal-themed
stories like this in Rituals & Runes!
Universal: https://books2read.com/rituals
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3oz9aGJ
