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Thursday, January 23, 2014

The Genesis of a Book - Cat's Curse by Kelley Heckart


My inspiration for Cat’s Curse:

I set out to write a story set in Scotland. I knew I wanted the hero to be cursed and that the heroine was going to be a vampire, but I had no idea what time period I wanted to set the story. For inspiration, I purchased this book on eBay called In Search of the Picts. As soon as I came across an Irish king named Aedan mac Gabrain who ruled in the southwest of Dark Age Scotland from 574AD to 603AD, I knew I had found my hero and my time period.

According to historical records, The Irish Annals, The Life of Saint Columba and The Welsh Triads, Aedan had a shadowy past, living near the Forth River in a time when Scotland was called Alba. During this time before he became king, he may have fathered a future king of the Picts. He was a contemporary of St. Columba and in the Welsh Triads, he was called “Aedan the Treacherous.” As king of Dal Riata, he fought and won many battles, some of these battles were against the Picts. He was one of the most feared warlords of his time.

He fascinated me and I came up with an idea for a curse that revolved around his clan, Brigit (a Tuatha de Danaan goddess), Cailleach (an ancient goddess known in Ireland and Scotland) and an ancient Greek vampire. This curse is connected to the legend of a winter and summer goddess and also connected to the final battle between the Sons of Mil and the Tuatha de Danaan. Aedan mac Gabrain inspired me so much that Cat’s Curse ended up being the first book in a trilogy.


Blurb for Cat’s Curse:

A Celtic prince, an ancient vampire and two curses…

Cardea, follower of the Great Goddess, is cursed to live an eternity as a blood drinker. For centuries she has lived with hate hunting and feeding off humans. Now she finds herself at the end of a sword blade held by the most handsome and arrogant man she has ever met. 

Aedan mac Gabrain, prince of Dal Riata and a Christian, trusts no one after suffering a curse that keeps him from touching any females or he will turn into a black cat like his brother. He especially distrusts this strange female who could be the one who cursed his clan since no one knows Cat Anna's true face.

Can two tortured souls find love while battling a dark goddess determined to destroy them?


Cat's Curse (Bk 1), Beltaine’s Song (Bk 2) and Winter’s Requiem (Bk 3) are all available now in Print and Ebook.



Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly




4 comments:

Anonymous said...

From Jane Leopold Quinn

Thanks Kelley for being here. It's fascinating how we come up with story ideas. A name, a real person, a legend in history piques our interest. Research follows with other characters coming to light. And voila, a story comes to fruition. What a miracle real story telling is. Thank you!

Kelley Heckart said...

Hi Jane, Thanks for having me at the EQ blog. I really think there is something magical about the story creation process, some otherworldly influence.

Kelley

Kaye Spencer said...

This ditty is an enticing hook for your story: "Aedan mac Gabrain...trusts no one after suffering a curse that keeps him from touching any females or he will turn into a black cat..." Now I'm wondering how he's going to get together with Cardea,

J.S. Wayne said...

Really fun peek into the creative process, Kelley. I've got this on my TBR!