Author: S. McDonald Powell

Title: Light Work on Dark Days

Release Date: Dec 7, 2015

Genre: Paranormal Romance, Lesbian Romance

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Book Blurb

A malignant, predatory energy is gathering force in the world. Its chosen host, the global Elite, are its willing servants. A centuries-old war has raged between this evil and those brave enough to oppose it, but now the Elite are bringing the conflict to America. Old money brings old sins, introducing the wealthy of New York City to their aberrant tastes. Worst of all, it’s only a matter of time before they plan to unify their power and wealth to establish a One World government with which they will hold sway over the lives of all. And yet, they are not the only ones stalking the streets of New York…

Dr Eryn Wilde is no ordinary pathologist. As high priestess of the Morrígan, Eryn works to thwart the Elite with the aid of the magical order, Aes Sídhe—a light in the darkness and the antithesis to the Temple, the Elite’s cohort of dark magicians.

In the bleak of December, Eryn is called to the scene of a fatal car incident, only to find a trunk full of severed limbs. Much to Eryn’s chagrin, the beautiful and intelligent Homicide Detective Rebekah Luzzatto is tasked with working on the case. As events unfold that take them deeper into the world of politics, corporate greed, blackmail, and murder, it becomes increasingly difficult for Eryn to stay away from Rebekah, despite being afraid that she will meet the same end as her last lover.

Between the two of them, will they find a way to make their relationship work? Hopefully while preventing the Elite from opening the gates of hell and ushering in World War III?

I wanted to write a novel about the global Elite and their nefarious activities from a queer perspective and here it is: Light Work on Dark Days.

I wanted to focus on what really interests me and that’s the paranormal, the occult and women. Awesome lesbians to be more accurate, and lesbians are always awesome. I did lots of research for this novel and found articles, videos and people would turn up with the usual high weirdness when dealing with occult subjects. I like to follow unusual and underused paths of research as they always lead somewhere attention-grabbing. That’s what I as an author want to do, to grab your attention and metaphorically take you on a date you’ll never forget – in the nicest possible way, of course.

I am always surprised by the banality of evil entwined in the mechanisms of power, and the casual way those in authority offer us up for sacrifice when it suits them to have another ‘war for profit.’ I have tried to show this casual malevolence in the novel.

I have made the lesbian characters strong and sassy with a few unfortunate, but hopefully likeable, flaws. Pathologist Dr Eryn Wilde, is a prime candidate when she goes off on her self-righteous rants about the state of the world. I like to think her dark sense of humour carries her through difficult situations. She’s a little inept when it comes to romance but it doesn’t seem to phase a particular detective who has more than a professional interest in her.

Homicide Detective Rebekah Luzzatto is calm and cool and is willing to wait until the romantically-challenged Eryn notices her. Eventually, Eryn gets up to speed. Whilst Rebekah is understanding she is unmoved by tales of secret societies, sorcery and deranged individuals. Rebekah is tough, practical and out and proud. Together they descend into the murky world of the wealthy elite. It’s an unusual way to begin a relationship, and all I will say at this point is that they do eventually go out to dinner. I like to think that ultimately their relationship will work but as Light Work on Dark Days is the first book of a trilogy we’ll have to wait and see.

I listened to Florence and the Machine whilst writing the novel. She’s inspirational and unique and I wish I could sing like her but I can’t. As I typed and sang along the cat would join me in the caterwauling. I half expected the police to pound on the front door and demand the immediate return of their sonic weapon. I also listened to Dead Can Dance for myth-like strangeness when writing about the Irish goddess the Morrígan. The goddess looms large in Light Work on Dark Days and is also the inspiration for the next two books, hence ‘the Morrígan Cycle.’ Interested in finding out what the shadow state is doing? Then maybe it’s time you met Eryn and Rebekah, they’re waiting in the light

The texture of the book was smooth and leathery. Eryn knew it was made of human skin. She turned it over, feeling its weight in her hands, then opened it and looked at the small, red, anatomical drawings within. Meticulous notes had been made on particular parts of the body. Next to the notes were letters and numbers.

“Does this mean anything to you?” Luzzatto asked. “Are the letters and numbers code?”

“Sort of,” she muttered, still concentrating on the content. She had seen one such book in Strasbourg when she was working on a case. The letters signified the race of the body and whether it was male or female, young or over twenty. She flicked to the back pages and saw codes that had been crossed out; codes that had already been used, Eryn surmised. The last entry had not been crossed out which meant that there was still hope.

“Any clues you’d like to share?” Luzzatto asked in a friendly tone. “I’m pretty sure it’s way too early for any news from the autopsy or the body parts.”

“Way too soon.” She looked into the detective’s dark eyes and was overcome with the desire to reach out to her. She had spent nearly four months successfully pushing down any feelings she had for the detective but now they seemed to be unwilling to remain concealed. Emotions she hadn’t felt in some time were refusing to remain dormant. Her resolve never to allow another woman close enough to love was creaking under the strain.

“If you can give us anything on the book that we could check out, that would be helpful.”

Eryn broke eye contact. “During my time in Europe, books like this cropped up every so often. One did so when I worked in Strasbourg.” She flicked to the back of the book. “Tell me if you think these codes could be map coordinates of New York City.” She handed the book back to Luzzatto.

While the detective looked at the codes, Eryn turned on the office laptop on her desk and waited for it to load. After entering the password, she typed in what she knew were map coordinates as Luzzatto read them out.

“Where’s that?” the detective asked.

“A funeral home on the Upper East Side.” Eryn turned the laptop so they could both see the screen.

“What?” Luzzatto said in a tone of surprise as she looked at the screen. “Now, what’s there that Franklin Heller and Meric Sutherland are so interested in?”

Eryn would rather avoid bringing the police into the matter, but she had no one watching her back as she had in Europe, and so had no choice. “I don’t want to sound melodramatic but, if I tell you, it may put your life in danger.”

“I am a homicide detective—my life is always in danger. Not one week goes by without some asshole threatening me because he thinks acting psycho to a cop will get him released. What do you know, Dr Wilde?”

Eryn wondered how to tell the detective what she knew without coming across as insane. Eryn lowered her voice. “We aren’t talking about one lone, deranged asshole. We are talking about an altogether more dangerous creature. One that is protected by society’s powerful and is above the law.”

Luzzatto frowned. “Will you just tell me already?”

Eryn leaned back in her chair. “From my experience, you will find people at those coordinates, usually young people.”

“Dead?”

“Alive.”

“How many?”

“Two or three, usually, unless it’s a big event.”

Luzzatto was confused. “What are you talking about?”

Eryn looked at her watch, switched off the laptop and stood up. “We don’t have much time and I can’t explain it all to you now. If you want to save those young lives, we have to leave now.”

Though ruffled, Luzzatto carefully stood. “Leave to go where?”

“The funeral home. We have to move, now.”

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