A huge thank you to Love Bytes Reviews for inviting me to stop by today as part of the Nudging Fate blog tour! Nudging Fate is my first full-length novel with Dreamspinner, and it’s another of my “paranormal romantic comedies.” To celebrate the release, at the end of the tour I’ll be giving away a $20 Amazon gift card and an ebook copy of Cutie and the Beast (another paranormal romantic comedy) to one lucky commenter.

 

When I first started imagining the universe for the Enchanted Occasions series, I wanted one that wasn’t restricted to any one mythos—a story world where the denizens of Asgard could mingle with the casts of random Greek legends; where Faerie’s elite could work alongside creatures out of 1001 Arabian Nights.

Because why not?

This isn’t the first time Faerie has held a major place in my books. A significant part of my Fae Out of Water series takes place in Faerie—but it’s a specific interpretation of Faerie, one whose attributes I largely made up. For instance, in that series, Faerie is a construct, and the color of the sky ranges across the color spectrum because I imagined it as being inside a supernatural glass shell that refracts sunlight over the course of the day.

The version of Faerie in the Enchanted Occasions universe—and in Nudging Fate in particular—is very different, because for one thing, it’s not specific to the six branches of Celtic fae as the Fae Out of Water books are. And for another, I used Edmund Spenser’s sixteenth century epic poem, The Faerie Queene, as one of my sources of inspiration.

The Faerie Queene is one long-ass poem, one of the longest in English. Ever. (I guess that’s why it qualifies as “epic,” eh?) Six “books” with twelve cantos each. Interestingly enough, I don’t think the Faerie Queene herself (whom Spenser named Gloriana, and who was the avatar of Queen Elizabeth) ever actually appears. But a whole boatload of other characters—the embodiment of virtues and vices, since Spenser was all about the allegory—go crashing and bashing their way around “Faerie-land” (aka, England), having adventures, slaying things (oh yeah, lots of slaying), exacting revenge, falling in love. There are wizards, witches, giants, dragons, and a bad-ass female knight, among others. There’s even a little cross-dressing.

And you know what else? There’s a freaking robot. That’s right. In an epic allegory written during the reign of Elizabeth I, intended to extol the virtues of queen and country, there’s a freaking robot. Well, he’s called an “Iron Knight” but he’s definitely a robot, no question. How cool is that?

Talus, the Iron Knight, quested with Sir Artegall all over Book V, and trust me, if you were an evil character in The Faerie Queene (or even one who was a little morally ambiguous), you did not want to run into this guy. Artegall was the embodiment of justice, having been taught by a goddess to distinguish between right and wrong. Talus was his muscle and executioner—and had a tendency to go over the top with his iron flail, laying waste to people and property alike. Yeah, ol’ Talus had a wee bit of trouble with the concept of  appropriate scale.

Still, a robot who lived in Faerie? No way could I resist having him clank his way into my story as a secondary character. So welcome, Talus!

Uh…but if you don’t mind? Check your flail at the door, big guy.

Nudging Fate

An Enchanted Occasions Story

Not exactly a match made in Valhalla.

Half-norn event planner Anders Skuldsson is under strict orders from Asgard not to meddle with Fate. But with Enchanted Occasions’ latest booking—a competition for the hand of Faerie’s one true prince—crashing around his ears, it’s really difficult to toe that particular line. But if Andy pretends to be a contender for the prince…. It’s only temporary, so Odin can’t blame him. Right?

Conall of Odstone’s half-brother, Prince Reyner, was supposed to choose a mate before being crowned and wed. But the idiot left Con to impersonate him. Again.

When Con meets Andy, his anger turns to desire… and despair. Even if Andy forgives him for his imposture, how could someone eligible for a prince’s hand settle for the court outcast? And the double-deception isn’t their only obstacle. Unless Andy makes the right choice, their fates could be sealed by…well… Fate.

 

Buy links:

Amazon

Universal link

Dreamspinner Press

E.J. Russell–grace, mother of three, recovering actor–writes romance in a rainbow of flavors. Count on high snark, low angst and happy endings.

 

Reality? Eh, not so much.

 

She’s married to Curmudgeonly Husband, a man who cares even less about sports than she does. Luckily, C.H. also loves to cook, or all three of their children (Lovely Daughter and Darling Sons A and B) would have survived on nothing but Cheerios, beef jerky, and Satsuma mandarins (the extent of E.J.’s culinary skill set).

 

E.J. lives in rural Oregon, enjoys visits from her wonderful adult children, and indulges in good books, red wine, and the occasional hyperbole.

 

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“To celebrate the release, at the end of the tour I’ll be giving away a $20 Amazon gift card and an ebook copy of Cutie and the Beast (another paranormal romantic comedy) to one lucky commenter.