Talk About My Favorite Authors: Eva Gordon tells all about "Beast Warrior: Viking Werewolf"

Today I have paranormal romance author Eva Gordon who contacted me about scheduling an author interview, author guest blog and book reviews. I've already read and reviewed her first two books in her Wolf Maiden Chronicles series which are called Werewolf Sanctuary and Beast Warrior: Viking Werewolf. But that is not all because I will be chatting live with Eva Gordon on my live podcast show TAMFA—Phoebe Jordan on Thursday, October 8th at 9PM EST (8PM CST or 6PM PST). Also don't forget that I interviewed Eva here on Monday so read my interview with her as well. Now onto Eva's guest blog about her current release in her Wolf Maiden Chronicles series called Beast Warrior: Viking Werewolf:

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The concept for Beast Warrior: Viking Werewolf, came about when I was finishing up Werewolf Sanctuary, book 1 in the Wolf Maiden Chronicles. My main character Wyatt was doing research on lycan history and he mentioned a wolf maiden once taken by Vikings. The next day I read the travel section and there was an article about the Gascony Coast in South Western France. I found the area to be beautiful and read about Viking raids when it was part of the Frank Kingdom. I decided that my heroine would be a Frank wolf maiden, Emelisse, daughter of a powerful Frank lycan knight. My hero, Sigurd, would be a werewolf from Scandia who became a Viking in order to find the berserker bear men who slaughtered most of his pack. I kept to a strict schedule and finished the rough draft in four months. After editing with both my critique partners and my editor the story was ready in a few more months. My research was just as much fun as the writing of the story. I always loved Norse mythology and werewolf lore so I truly enjoyed creating this story. In the Viking world to be a member of the Wolf Clan, Ulfhednar was the greatest honor. Viking warriors believed that if they died a heroic death they would be turned into magnificent wolves. Vikings also believed wolves chasing and devouring the sun and moon caused eclipses. Two wolves accompanied Odin, ruler of the Norse Gods. He created the wolves Freki (Hungry One) and Geri (Greedy One) as loyal companions. I introduced Fenris as the wolf god of my Norse werewolves. Their enemies became the berserker bearskins, men who shift into bears. Like berserkers of legend who raided with massive weapons, wearing nothing but animal skins my berserkers lead the pillage throughout and were feared even by the Norse Jarls who hired them. In my world my characters not only had to deal with enemy lycan packs and the berserker bear men but also the dreaded disease we all know as rabies. What happens when a werewolf gets rabies? Throughout history there had been stories of wolves that boldly attack village people. The culprit for these attacks must have been rabies, which causes animals to attack in rage. The disease makes swallowing extremely painful so the animals salivate. Rabies is known as hydrophobia, which literally means fear of water. In my story Emelisse is directed to find a cure to hydrophobia from her wolf goddess, Feronia. My story is filled with werewolf lore, disease, magic and the romance between an alpha and wolf maiden. Emelisse and Sigurd must learn to love one another despite their different culture and wolf gods.

Blurb:

Beast Warrior: Viking Werewolf is a historical paranormal romance that takes place during the Viking Era of the Dark Ages. A time when only the strong survive. It is the second book in the Wolf Maiden Chronicles, which depicts alpha lycans and their human wolf maiden mates. Sigurd, an alpha Norse wolfskin, son of Gunnolf the Red seeks revenge against shape shifting bearskins, Bork the Mad and his son, Mord the Blood Claw for the death of his parents and his older brother Guda. Orphaned, he has been raised by his older sister Brynhild, who convinces him to take a wolf maiden in order to increase their small pack. Despite the warning by Hungerd the wolf witch, he takes a farmer’s new bride with tragic consequences. Alone he joins a long ship until the day he can avenge his pack’s demise. Emelisse, a Frank wolf maiden, has been raised and educated in the classics, science, literature and languages by female lycans of the Lupercal. Born a runt with a weak heart her father has been overprotective. She refuses to be treated like a delicate vase and rebels by seeking out riding and falconry. Now at age eighteen Emelisse frets that her father wants her to accept Radulf III the Cruel, an alpha lycan of a pack of powerful warriors. She tries to run away with her human lover. Viking werewolf, Sigurd rescues Emelisse, from the claws of the berserker bear men. He claims her as his ulf hexen or wolf maiden, but she wants to leave lycan society and live with humans. To complicate matters she has been called by her goddess Feronia to save the lycans from a dreaded disease. Their union is wrought with great peril in a world where werewolves must battle against their own kind as well as their fierce enemy, the berserker bear men. Will Emelisse accept Sigurd a foreign lycan as her alpha mate? Sigurd vows to protect her from their enemies but how can he save her before she dies from her ailing heart?

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Glossary for the Wolf Maiden Chronicles

Pack Hierarchy Lycan: An ancient line of humans that shift into large bear sized massive wolves with distinctive tattoos depicting their specific pack. Also known as wolfen, wolf men, wolfskins and werewolves. Their shape shifting is not painful but rather pleasurable. Lycans are superior to humans in many ways. They have the strength of ten men, and the alpha has the strength of five or more lycans. They can heal over night from severe wounds and are immune to most diseases except for the dreaded rabies and the toxin from wolf bane flower. They are very loyal and gentle with their young and pack members. Alpha Lycan: Dominant lycans that are leaders of their packs and can are not under the influence of the moon. They can shift at any time. The alpha male must control his pack of betas. Male Alpha: The male alpha leads the pack. He is the result of a lycan and human woman mating. He is the most powerful member of the pack and like all alphas can shift at any time. Alpha males can only marry a wolf maiden, a human life mate. Female Alpha: A female lycan not under the influence of the moon. She helps protect the pack and serves as a surrogate parent to all the pack children. Alpha females are barren. The Lupercal or Lycan secret governmental body is run by twelve alpha females. Wolf Maiden: A human woman with the special palm facing 5 toed wolf print birth mark, which turns bright red when she is imprinted by her alpha life mate. A wolf maiden can be born to a pack or randomly among humans, unaware of her role. She is also known as an Ulf hexen in Viking culture. During the Middle Ages she was also called a wolf witch or a woman marked with the sign of the beast. Though she is meant for an alpha mate, she can marry and though it takes longer can get pregnant by a human and have normal males who can then have future wolf maidens. Beta Lycans: Lycans that shift only during the full moon. They must be controlled by the alpha since they can become mindless beasts that roam around and kill. Omega Lycans: Lycans that have been deemed the lowest of the low. In ancient times they were no more than slaves for the higher ranked lycans. The Lupercal no longer allows pack members to be treated like omegas since a near revolt during ancient times. Lupercii: Human men that serve the Lupercal and Lycans. They serve as spies for the secret lycan society and worship the lycan goddess, Feronia. They often take alpha female lycans as consorts. The Lupercii hope that in their next life they will be born as lycans.

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Lycan Gods and Society Feronia: The goddess of the lycans. She is said to have been a wolf maiden who took a shape shifting giant wolf as a lover. She communes with her oracles, especially with the leader of the Lupercal and wolf maidens. Lusna: Moon goddess that gave them the gift of painless shifting. Lupercal: Governmental and spiritual body of the secret lycan society. It is run by twelve alpha female lycans. The leader of the Lupercal is often a seer and or sorceress. Their word is law and any who disobey will be considered rogue and or be punished by returning to their next life as a prey animal. Lupercalia: Early spring festival when most wolf maidens and beta lycans become fertile. Rituals allow for wild sex escapades. Den brother or sister: Pack that a lycan grew up with, not necessarily related by blood. Valeria Luperca: A wolf maiden that has the healing touch. Can heal any lycan both physically and emotionally. Mentioned in White Wolf of Avalon. Bear men: Also known as bearskins. An ancient line of humans who could shift into bears at anytime. Their shift is painful. Like bears they hibernate during the winter. They can be slow witted, strong and have a short temper. During ancient times lycans killed most off from the continent.

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Conditions that Harm Lycans Lunar Madness: A condition, though rare, which can occur when an alpha suppresses his shift for too long. It will cause the alpha to shift with the pull of the moon until his system stabilizes. Rabies: A viral disease transferred from the bite of an infected animal. Can cause a lycan to kill many. Werewolf Bite fever: An infection that can kill a human from the bite of a lycan. Wolfsbane: A flower that is toxic to a lycan. It is often used as poison because a lycan cannot smell or taste it.

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WEREWOLF SANCTUARY by Eva Gordon $ 15.95 (Book 1)(248 Pages)

Since ancient times, the Lupercal Council has kept their people’s werewolf identity a well-guarded secret from man. They refer to their kind as lycans. The lycan shifts into a bear-sized wolf, bearing unique markings reminiscent of Maori or Celtic tattoos. The pack shifts during the full moon and are under the control of their alpha male leader. The alpha male and alpha female are not bound by the full moon and can shift at will. Lycans can only breed with their kind. The exception are the alpha males, which can only mate with human women known as wolf maidens. These human women bear the five-toed paw print or mark of the wolf on their left hip. Female alphas are sterile but are the leading lycans governing the Lupercal Council. The Lupercal society is in peril due to an unknown disease infecting their young offspring. The children that survive the pestilence shift too early into wolf cubs, lose their distinct markings, and end up becoming normal wolves unaware of their human consciousness. Normally immune to most known diseases, the Lupercal has few of their own doctors and must seek the help of a human outsider to find the cure. Wyatt Weylin, the alpha male of the Montana pack and leader of a team of mercenary lycans, flies to a World Wolf Conference in San Francisco, where he hopes to convince leading authority on wolf diseases, veterinarian Dr. Madeline Styles to come to his wolf sanctuary and find a cure. The minute he sees her he feels drawn to her striking good looks. The sensory chemistry is instant. He tries to suppress the feeling knowing that he is forbidden to fall for a human. Life gets complicated when Wyatt discovers that the vegetarian animal doctor has the mark of the wolf and is his life mate.

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WHITE WOLF OF AVALON: WEREWOLF KNIGHT by Eva Gordon $ 15.95 (Book 3)(Coming November 28, 2009)

White Wolf of Avalon is book 3 in my Wolf Maiden Chronicles and takes place during Arthurian times. There are cameo appearances by well known characters such as King Arthur, Morgan le Fey and Mordred to name a few but the story revolves around the secret society of lycans that reside in ancient Britain. Bledig, an orphan raised by a childless couple near the magical Isle of Avalon dreams of someday becoming a knight of the Round Table. Bledig refuses to become a beast and wants no part in marrying a wolf maiden and begetting lycan children. After Bledig helps King Arthur defeat the Saxons at Badon Hill he is knighted and is advised by his close friend Sir Uwain that he knows of a priest that can cure him of his wolfen curse. Bledig heads toward Avalon to tell his great aunt Silvia of his plan. Once cured, he will serve as a knight, marry a courtly lady and earn a title. Annora a Romano Greco wolf maiden, is more interested in intellectual pursuits than romantic ones. She is a scribe and historian who preferred to marry an older alpha lycan who would better understand her need to focus on her writings. As Annora travels up north to meet with her brother and family, they are attacked by Gorlagon’s she-lycan Trivia and her pack of warrior lycans. In the wilderness Annora and Bledig meet. She is the beautiful woman he has dreamt of nightly while heading to retrieve his brother’s moonstone. He the knight in shining armor she had fantasized about, brave, handsome and chivalrous. Their attraction is instantaneous. She is stunned to learn he is a lycan, the white wolf destined to unite all the lycans of Britain. Her mate. On learning she is a wolf maiden, Bledig hardens his heart. He tells her that after he delivers her to the safety of Avalon he will visit a priest who will cure him of his wolfen curse. She is saddened that he refuses to follow his destiny and that he does not wish to claim her as his. Danger lurks everywhere. Gorlagon and Gargol have not given up on their hunt to find Annora and the Pict wolfen she released from his dank dungeons. But most of all they wish to use her as a breeder. Intrigue and secrecy abound in King Arthur’s court at Camulod. Mordred, who Arthur is unaware, is his son by his own sister Morgause, plots to rule. He has become Gorlagon’s secret Lupercii in the hopes of having a lycan army to defeat his father in battle. Will Bledig reject his true destiny as the prophesized lycan leader of Britain, and most importantly can he deny his feelings for the lovely wolf maiden, Annora, who has already captured his heart and soul? Can Annora survive the lycans who hunt her? Will Bledig finally submit to his lycan nature and forever claim her as his wolf maiden? Will magic save their kind, the fae of Avalon and King Arthur’s Britain?