Creating Witches
I love witches. Which is the reason I wanted to give them a special role and place in the world of Demon’s Mates. The love started when I was still a child, with what I think is one of the best children’s books ever written, The Little Witch by Otfried Preußler. It’s the story of a little witch – only 127 years old – who wants nothing more than to dance with the big witches on the Broken Mountain. (For those of you not familiar with German folklore, the Broken – spoken bro-ken, not the broken of something that is no longer usable – is a mountain in the Harz where people have always assumed witches would be meeting for their dance on Walpurgis Night.) Against the advice of her talking raven, the little witch attends the dance, gets caught and faces punishment but then the head witch shows mercy and gives her one year to become a good witch. If she achieves that, she’s allowed to join the other witches on the Broken. Throughout the year, the little witch studies hard and helps people and animals with her magic. When the night of the big test comes, it turns out the head witch’s definition of ‘good’ was to become a really evil witch. Needless to say, the little witch lands in hot water but manages to come out victorious. (How she does that, you have to find out for yourself. It’s worth your time, I swear!) As a child, this was how I wanted to see witches, not the nasty one from Hansel and Gretel.
My second favorite witches are those from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld and my role-model, so to speak, is Nanny Ogg. She’s funny, witty, has a heart of gold she hides under the general nastiness of being an old biddy, and she has the power to get things done. She knows practically every aspect of people’s lives because she’s been there and done that, sometimes more than once (see her numerous husbands).
For Demon’s Mates I wanted the kind of witches I love and since one of the perks of being a writer is that you can create whatever you want, I got Mavis and Maribell. On the outside they are a lovely elder couple wearing old-fashioned clothes – sometimes even with an apron – and elaborate hats. On closer inspection they are a vital part of the book club Sammy has going and of Sammy’s live. They are there to lend their – sometimes very blunt and PG-rated – advice and to protect Sammy when he needs it. The two are so in tune with their powers as can be expected after a lifetime of using them. This aspect of Mavis and Maribell reminds me of my grandmother, who did her magic in the kitchen and it was so effortless I sometimes thought she had to be a witch. In the group of Sammy’s friends, they are the most reasonable ones (which is saying a lot!) who keep the others in check – more or less.
I wish you fun with my version of witches and hope you enjoy reading about them as much as I did writing them.
Blurb:
Finding love is hard—especially when you’re a demon and your potential mate is your sacrifice…
Sammy is content with running his bookshop and leading a book club consisting solely of paranormal creatures. Despite the persistence of his friends, he has resolved himself to a life without romance, since he doesn’t think anybody could find him and his tendency to spill useless knowledge whenever he gets nervous attractive.
Dresalantion is a demon prince and slightly—make that majorly—annoyed when somebody persistently tries to summon him. He finally decides to show up and put the fear of Dresalantion into his summoners but finds himself rescuing their sacrifice instead.
Sammy intrigues him from the get-go, and when Dre realizes that Sammy can get him the manga he’s been hunting for months—not to mention that he refuses a wish he offered him—the sexy demon decides to get to know this fascinating man better. Much better.
Buylinks:
Xenia Melzer was born and raised in a small village in the South of Bavaria. As one of nature’s true chocoholics, she’s always in search of the perfect chocolate experience. So far, she’s had about a dozen truly remarkable ones. Despite having been in close proximity to the mountains all her life, she has never understood why so many people think snow sports are fun. There are neither chocolate nor horses involved and it’s cold by definition, so where’s the sense? She does not like beer either and has never been to the Oktoberfest – no quality chocolate there.
Even though her mind is preoccupied with various stories most of the time, Xenia has managed to get through school and university with surprisingly good grades. Right after school she met her one true love who showed her that reality is capable of producing some truly amazing love stories itself.
While she was having her two children, she started writing down the most persistent stories in her head as a way of relieving mommy-related stress symptoms. As it turned out, the stress-relief has now become a source of the same, albeit a positive one.
When she’s not writing, she translates the stories of other authors into German, enjoys riding and running, spending time with her kids, and dancing with her husband. If you want to contact her, please visit either her website, www.xeniamelzer.com or write her an email: info@xeniamelzer.com .