So let’s start off by getting to know one of our main guys!
ME: Hi lovely readers! Thank you so much for joining me for this interview. Hi Elias, thank you for joining us.
ELIAS: Uh, er. Hi. (whispers) Do we have to do this?
ME: (whispers) Yes. We talked about this and you agreed. (louder) So, tell us a bit about yourself.
ELIAS: Oh, for the love of… (clears throat) Well, um, I’m the younger brother of Captain Attius and the older brother of the current Sibyl. I used to be a priest at the Temple of the Sibyl and, uh… I like books? And plants. And white cake. And animals. But not, like, dead ones. I mean. I don’t eat… meat. I only eat plants. That sounded weird.
ME: We know what you mean. Can you tell us what the function of the Sibyl is?
ELIAS: Sure. The Sibyl is the conduit between the gods and us humans. She goes into trances and prophesizes. Our mother was the former Sibyl. It isn’t always hereditary, though. My sister’s name is Valerie, but we don’t call her that anymore. She’s not like us anymore.
ME: And priests, what do they do?
ELIAS: The high priests ask questions of the gods and then the gods use the Sibyl to answer. They take care of the temple and the people who live in the city. Priests are teachers and healers, and we see to the wellbeing of the Sibyl’s citizens.
ME: What was your favorite part of being a priest?
ELIAS: (smiles) Teaching the children. I like kids. I had to give it up when I was fully ordained though.
ME: Now to the question we all want the answer to… what did you think of Gurrkk when you first met him? Love at first sight?
ELIAS: (laughs) Uh. No. Not in the least. I almost peed myself. Uh, sorry, that was… But it’s true! I thought he was going to eat me or something. I was lost in the freaking woods because my dumb brother took me on his dumb hunting party, and they all left me to fend for myself when I just stepped off the path for a second!
ME: Uh-huh.
ELIAS: And then there was this enormous orc just sitting there in front of me, and I didn’t know what to do! But then I realized he was caught in a trap, and I just couldn’t….
ME: Couldn’t leave him?
ELIAS: No. I know I’m lucky it was him that I freed. If it were any other orc maybe… I don’t know. But I just couldn’t leave him like that! He told me later that he’d been that way for half the day, under the hot sun without food or water. I made sure we got rid of those damn traps, you can be sure of that!
ME: Good for you! I’m glad to hear it. So when did you know you were in love with him?
ELIAS: I don’t rightly know. It happened gradually. I think it might have hit me when—
GURRKK: Hey! Are you done yet?
ELIAS: Gurrkk! Don’t be rude.
ME: Hey, it’s not your turn yet. Just hang on a minute and I’ll—
GURRKK: You take too long. I’m hungry.
ME: Gurrkk, I swear—
(Gurrkk lifts Elias, sits on the chair and then plops Elias on his lap. The chair groans.)
ELIAS: (blushes) This is undignified.
GURRKK: If you’re going to talk about me, I get a say.
ME: We weren’t saying anything bad, calm down.
GURRKK: I’m calm! And hungry. And it’s a nice day for a hunt.
ELIAS: You ate an hour ago, and I’m never going on a hunt again! I told you!
GURRKK: You had fun last time.
ELIAS: I did not.
GURRKK: You’ll have fun this time.
(Elias stands and stomps off.)
ME: Elias! Wait! We—
GURRKK: I go get him.
ME: NO. Sit. Stay. I have some questions for you.
GURRKK: I want food.
(Gurrkk leaves)
ME: Talk about herding cats. Thanks everyone for joining me for that… weird interview. Have a great day! (mutters) I need alcohol.
I am currently working hard on the final draft of the next The Shifter Chronicles. This will be book 16 (!), and will revisit the couple from book two, Love is a Whirlwind. This one is Blood of the Whirlwind, and I hope to have it ready for a January 2024 release.
As for this year, I have book 9 of The Stones of Power, Jade: First and Last available for preorder, due out in July 2023, and the first book in my Sisters of Song duology, titled Song of Flames will hopefully be ready by October. Flames will be a mmf involving two dragon mates and the woman thief who steals their hearts (instead of their treasure).
More information on my catalog can be found at my website. (Make sure to sign up for my newsletter!)
I hope you stay safe and healthy, and may dragons guard your dreams,
M.D. Grimm
“Orcs are the answer but what is the question?”
Elias is a priest at the Temple of the Divine Sibyl. When he becomes lost in the woods after his brother’s hunting party abandons him, it’s just his luck that he’d stumble upon an angry orc caught in a trap. Unable to stomach the suffering of others, Elias throws self-preservation to the wind and frees the orc. Then Gurrkk—that’s a name?—ends up leading him to safety.
Gurrkk finds himself rather smitten by the sweet, awkward human. He’s always been fascinated with his people’s sworn enemy, and now he has a life debt to fulfill to maintain his honor.
Hiding an orc among the temple’s crypts wouldn’t have been Elias’s first choice but Gurrkk is stubborn about leaving. As they learn each other’s languages and spend more time together, Elias realizes they’ve become friends… and maybe more. And when the dying sibyl gives her last prophecy, Elias knows it wasn’t chance that brought them together, it was the gods.
But why?
This is a sweet, ace romance, so no sexy times, but plenty of snuggles and cuddles!
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M.D. is giving away a $10 Amazon gift card with this tour:
So much for divine intervention.
“I’m one of your priests, and you don’t give me the time of day,” he mumbled as he set off down the left-hand path.
He was hungry again.
Even as he was contemplating the pros and cons of eating one of his last apples, he stumbled around a thick tree before halting in shock.
An orc sat on the ground, his greenish-gold skin glistening with sweat and his coal-black eyes glaring with menace. He was almost bald, except for a spiky strip of green hair running from his forehead to the back of his skull. The lack of hair accentuated his large ears that moved independently of each other. Two pronounced fangs jutted up from his lower jaw, which was square and blunt, and more sharp teeth showed when he growled.
Elias stayed frozen, taking in the long black tunic cinched at the waist by a gold cord. The short sleeves were trimmed with gold thread, baring muscled arms. The stately garb struck Elias, making him wonder as to the status of the orc. Did they have hierarchy as humans did? The tunic ended around his knees, leaving the rest of his muscled legs bare. Also, this orc wasn’t of monstrous size, so he couldn’t be of the mountain variety. He was certainly taller and broader than Elias, but also leaner, corded with muscle, like that big cat Elias had spotted earlier. And his face was… not horrible. Brutish and sharp but not hideous or even ugly. Those illustrators of tomes really set out to depict orcs as the most horrific creatures ever to grace the earth.
The urge to run made his palms grow damp and his breath to quicken. Not that he could run for more than a few steps before wheezing because he was so damn out of shape, and why the hell didn’t he train with his brother? I’m going to die, I’m going to die….
Then his gaze traveled down to the reason the orc was sitting on the ground and not eating his face. Vicious steel jaws had the orc by the ankle, piercing deeply into his flesh. The jaws were attached to a chain that was buried into to the earth. The fact the orc hadn’t freed himself meant this was one of the trick jaws. One specifically made for capturing orcs. The scoured earth around the chain proved that the orc had tried to dig himself free but clearly hadn’t succeeded. His ankle was a mess of torn flesh and caked blood, and only then did Elias notice the buzz of flies.
How long had he been sitting there, in pain? In fear?
Sympathy rose with anger not far behind. Elias and the orc stared at each other, and Elias found himself stepping closer without consciously deciding his actions. The orc growled deeper, eyes narrowed in warning. Elias stopped again, wondering what he was doing. This was an orc! The enemy! The beasts that kept trying to take their lands. Attius’s tirades whirled through his mind even as the battle songs about marauding orcs jangled in his memory.
He’d never joined in. He’d never had anything personal against orcs. He never thought one way or another about them. Fighting them wasn’t a part of his world. Most of his life had been spent ensconced in the Temple of the Divine Sibyl, which was safely behind fortified stone walls and separated from the general populace of the city.
He was sheltered and he knew it. To see such ugly pain in another living creature struck him to the core. That was one of the reasons he didn’t eat meat. He couldn’t reconcile killing just to feed himself when there were plenty of other things to consume if he simply looked.
At that moment, this orc was no different than any other wild animal caught in a trap. And would he let such a creature die so horribly? No, he would not.
Taking a deep breath, and with more courage than he would profess to have, Elias crouched before slowly pushing off his pack. He kept his eyes on the orc and opened the top flap before tilting it to show the orc that it only held medicines, plant samples, parchment, and ink.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said gently. “Can you understand me?”
The orc made no indication either way. He continued to growl and glare.
“I want to help you.” Elias took the one weapon he had, a long dagger, and showed the orc the blade before tossing it away. The orc stopped growling and blinked in apparent surprise. Elias shuffled closer on his knees, keeping his demeanor as non-threatening as possible. He almost snorted—as if a soft priest like him could be threatening. He kept speaking in low tones as he would to a frightened animal. He kept his pack held out in front of him, hoping the harmless items would convince the orc he wasn’t a hunter.
The orc’s large nostrils flared, and he squinted into the bag. He must have smelled the remaining apples, the plant samples, and the few healing ointments Elias carried with him everywhere. Elias set the bag within easy reach of the orc just in case he wanted to investigate. Then he took a good look at the steel jaws and winced.
The orc didn’t wear shoes, his sturdy, rough feet tough enough not to need them. His nails were more like claws, almost identical to those on his fingers. The trap would have been covered, and he’d stepped directly onto the triggering mechanism. The blades had barely missed his foot to cut into his ankle, probably scraping against the bones and tendons.
Elias took a moment to fight nausea.
“Damn. Once I free your leg it’s going to bleed profusely. I have to wrap it fast and tight.” He glanced up and met the orc’s eyes. Grim determination stared back at him and Elias blinked. “You do understand me.”
Thankfully, she has indulgent parents who let her dream, but also made sure she understood she’d need a steady job to pay the bills (they never let her forget it!). After graduating from the University of Oregon and majoring in English, (let’s be honest: useless degree, what else was she going to do with it?) she started on her writing career and couldn’t be happier.
Working by day and writing by night (or any spare time she can carve out), she enjoys embarking on romantic quests and daring adventures (living vicariously, you could say) and creating characters that always triumph against the villain, (or else what’s the point?) finding their soul mate in the process.
Author Website: https://www.mdgrimmwrites.com
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