Rituals & Runes Anthology presents Bella Roccaforte Author Interview

The runes tell no lies…

...and they tell me you are going to LOVE Rituals & Runes, a collection of magical, alluring, and sensational tales.

Read on for an interview with author Bella Roccaforte as she tells us about her book, The Raven Sorceress, which will appear only in the anthology!

Author: Bella Roccaforte

Book: The Raven Sorceress

R&R: We appreciate you joining us to talk about your book, The Raven, which will be exclusive to the anthology.

Based on your book title we would assume there is magic in your book, what type of magic can we expect to find?

Bella: Aisling is our Raven Sorceress, she discovers her fae and sorcery roots on a journey to her homeworld. She’s got a little bit of fire and ice mixed with the divine power of the raven.

R&R: Got to love fire and ice, plus the Raven. Powerful and bound to stir up some fun trouble.

You seem to write in a lot of genres. What theme is consistent in all your books?

Bella: Imperfect characters and deep friendships. Many of my books feature tight friend groups that go through their own issues together. In my own life, I don’t have traditional family. My family, the ones who I’d put my life on the line for are my friends.

R&R: Beautiful. Some readers probably identify with chosen family so that's a deep theme to weave into your books.

Do you ever relate to your characters, and if so, how? How would you help them if you could?

Bella: I think I often relate to many of the characters in my stories in some way or another. Aisling, my MC is a little lost from being pulled from the only life and world she ever knew, to suddenly being immersed in a fantastical fairy land where she’s expected to defeat the evil queen and become ruler herself. She doesn’t want that. She knows the crown is heavier than what she wants for herself. But she’s young and needs guidance. I think I would be the seer she meets with, to help guide her to the right choice, for her and the realm.

R&R: That would be a huge, shocking job and it's neat you would counsel her like that.

Tell us a few sentences about your main characters’ strengths and weaknesses.

Bella: Aisling is set in what she wants for herself. She’s also unrelenting and strong in her convictions for what’s right. She was trained to fight from an early age by her father before he left. She never understood the training until now. She’s very overwhelmed and trying to do her best. Her weakness is being a bit selfish and not really being able to communicate with all of these new situations and people in her life. She doesn’t want the responsibility.

R&R: It will be interesting to see how her challenges pan out!

When you were growing up, what did you want to be as an adult?

Bella: A cat. I’m not kidding. I used to walk around on all fours and insisted that I was going to be a cat when I grew up.

R&R: Being a cat does seem like a relaxing job to have, so we don't blame you.

Do you have any quirks that help you write?

Bella: Not really. When a story is flowing I will not stop writing until I’m empty or simply fall asleep at the keyboard. I ended up with a huge goose egg on my head once when I literally fell asleep at my desk and my head slammed down.

R&R: That's dedicated and seems like you could get a lot done!

What books do you have coming out that are not involved in the anthology?

Bella: I’ve made some decisions about my writing career that involve being gentle with myself and only writing when I’m absolutely loving it. That has evolved to me only publishing one book per year. I have a few other stories I’m working on, but not sure of a release date. I write for the love now, and only the love.

R&R: Awesome way to balance things out.

Would you rather own your own boat or your own plane? Tell us about your choice.

Bella: I would rather own a plane so I can go anywhere I want and get there fast.

R&R: Works for us! Thanks for talking with Rituals and Runes Anthology today. Read in to find out more information and read a juicy snippet.

Book blurb:

Aisling gripped her phone staring at a message she thought she'd never see.

Her father left behind two things when he disappeared. A dagger that glows in moonlight and an amulet fabled to call Queen Alavon's feathered fiends. Aisling has no use for either trinket her father bankrupted them to find. She never believed in his treasure hunts or his faith in the portal to fae. But when someone breaks in and almost kills her fighting for the dagger, she knows her father isn't just off on one of his expeditions. He's in danger. Now, so is she and sibling Alex. She's dragged to the Fae realm to reclaim a birthright she doesn't want.

Will Aisling fight for her people that are being tortured and transformed into zombie-like creatures? Or will she walk away?

Excerpt:

My eyes fluttered open, it sounded like I was under water. The air burned and stung my lungs as I breathed it in.

“Just stay down for minute.” Ferg’s body still covering mine.

“I can’t breathe this air.” I choked.

“I know, it’s going to clear.” Ferg sputtered.

He came into focus, there were black smudges on his face and shoulders. He was straining and I struggled to not squirm under him.

The world held a dark blue hue washed in the freakish moonlight streaming through the trees.

“When I give you the signal, get up and run in that direction, keep running until I tell you to stop.” He said with an intensity and seriousness that drove the message into my very being that if I didn’t do as he said, I would die.

I nodded ready to go but then realized. “What’s the signal?”

Ferg cracked a smile that shattered my fear. “I don’t know, I’ll say 'go’.”

I nodded again.

Ferg looked over his shoulder, then side to side, then ahead of us. With urgency in his eyes, he gave me the signal.

I scrambled out from under him trying to get upright. My fingers dug into the loamy ground and I finally righted myself to run.

My legs burned and I checked behind me looking for Ferg. I couldn’t see him through the smoke. A million things ran through my mind all at once. The one thing at the forefront of my mind was, is Ferg okay?

If I yell they could find me. But what if something happened to him?

I stopped in my tracks and started running back.

“What are you doing?” Ferg’s voice came through the smoke.

“Looking for you.”

“I’m fine, keep running.” He huffed out as he was running next to me.

There was no way I was going to be able to keep running much longer. Everything hurt and the air was decimating my lungs.

My paced slowed and Ferg took my hand and dragged me. “Don’t give up on me now, we’re almost there.”

I mustered that last bit of energy I had to keep going. We broke through the smoke into a beautiful valley that exploded with intense color everywhere. I stopped and put my hands on my knees trying to catch my breath. I collapsed onto the ground.

Ferg stood over me glaring with disapproval. “Why did you come back? What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking if you weren’t right behind me I wouldn’t know when to stop running.”

Ferg’s lips ticked to the side and his eyes squinted looking into me. “Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

“Don’t do that again. It’s my job to keep you safe.” He shook his head and reached his hand down to me. “Let’s go.”

Author Bio:

I’m just Bella, a girl that loves sharing stories with the world! I write because I love doing it. Making up fantastical worlds, watching my characters grow and shape into their destinies.

I also paint, I’m not very good, but I love it anyway.

I’m the lucky mom of two awesome teenagers and two awesome fur babies. I’m also the grandma of six rat babies!

My favorite things that always make me smile:

• My babies, Fox and Twila

• My fur babies

• Dove chocolate with caramel

• Gardenia’s are my favorite smelling flower

• Gladiolas are my favorite looking flower

• Dancing in the rain

• I’m a sucker for a country boy

• Long talks about deep shit

• Dick and fart jokes