Monday, October 22, 2012

The Pagan Sorceress Release Day Blitz



The Pagan Sorceress
Slave Nano

Genre: Historical/Paranormal

Publisher: House of Erotica
ASIN: B008Y25MDQ

Number of pages: 45
Word Count: 15,260


Book Description: 

 If you’re looking for an erotic read this Halloween then check out Slave Nano’s new release ‘The Pagan Sorceress’.  The action takes place on Samhain as archaeology student Sam sets out to re-enact a Pagan burial ceremony.

If the author of the Anglo-Saxon heroic tale Beowulf did erotica what might it have sounded like?  That’s the challenge author Slave Nano has set himself in his newly released novella ‘The Pagan Sorceress’.

Sam is about to carry out a strange experiment.  She is an archaeology student specialising in reconstructive archaeology and her idea is to recreate an Anglo-Saxon pagan burial ceremony.  It’s Samhain eve and the night of a full moon so it’s the perfect time to carry out such a ritual.  She enlists the help of her friend, Dan, and together they go off to the site of a burial mound where wonderful swords and sceptres were excavated many years ago.

A travelling story teller is at the court of a Saxon king.  He recites the tale of two soul-entwined lovers from an earlier, more chaotic, period when king’s warred amongst each other.  He tells the tragic tale of Cyneburh, Pagan sorceress and daughter of the mighty Pagan king Penda and Alhfrith, son of Athelwald the king of Deira, her hero-warrior lover and betrothed.  The two kings have formed a mighty political and religious alliance but, more than that, the young woman and man have forged a passionate union of their own.  But this new alliance has enemies and before their wedding night is over there will be a tragic outcome.  As King Penda stands at the edge of their burial chamber he invokes a curse of vengeance against the murderous act perpetrated against him.  But, how many years will it take before he is finally avenged?

As Sam stands on top of the burial mound dressed as an Anglo-Saxon pagan priestess with Dan at her side, is she aware of what ancient powers she will invoke as their lives become entwined with those of Cyneburh and Alhfrith from many centuries ago?  Will the pagan king’s oath of vengeance be fulfilled?  Will the souls of the two lovers be finally released?

Short Excerpt

Peace reigned and long summer the two lovers spent in joy filled company and passionate love-making.  To a place of private retreat they would retire, far from mighty hall and mud-daubed village dwelling. To hidden glade and luminous still pool they resorted.   Enchantments Cyneburh summoned to cast a veil around the secret hiding place.  Guarded by mighty oak and watchful wolf, no creature, man or beast, disturbed their secret world of passion and desire.

There, passionate kiss they exchanged.  Serpent-like their tongues wrestled and inter-twined in their mouths each warring with the other in a battle of desire in which each was the equal of the other.  With feather like tender touch they sought out each other’s bodies.  Cyneburh explored her warrior’s sturdy frame battle marked with ruddy scar. Each glowing blemish she touched affectionately with healing hand and lover’s kiss.  For Cyneburh craved for no battle shy prince or innocent virgin but strong armed battle proven hero to share her feminine secrets with and fulfil her ardent need.  Broad chested and powerful she embraced his muscular frame in soft skinned arms and planted kisses on each scar of her hero’s chiselled torso.


Samhain – a special Pagan festival

My latest release, a novella called ‘The Pagan Sorceress’ interweaves a historical strand set in the Anglo-Saxon period with soul-entwined lovers Cyneburh, the pagan sorceress of the title, and her hero-warrior Alhfrith within a contemporary story involving archaeology student Sam and her friend Dan. In this part of the story Sam seeks to recreate an Anglo-Saxon pagan burial ceremony.
There were many influences on the story.  I was intrigued by the idea of writing a story in the style of the Anglo-Saxon heroic saga ‘Beowulf’ but with added sex!  I actually went out into the local countryside to seek out Anglo-Saxon and Neolithic burial mounds that are a feature of the Yorkshire Wolds landscape near where I live.  As is obvious from the title there is also a strong Pagan influence in the story.
So, when it came to choosing a day for the action to take place there was only one choice – it had to be Samhain. ‘The Pagan Sorceress’ was written as a Halloween story with a view to publishing and marketing it as such.  Sam sets out to carry out her reconstruction on Halloween or the Pagan festival day of Samhain, as she correctly describes it in the story.  For Sam it is an extra special day because it is also a night of a full moon, a confluence that happens perhaps only around every 20 years.
The festival of Samhain marks the end of the summer and the beginning of winter. Samhain is the Celtic word meaning ‘summer’s end’.  It was a time when cattle and livestock were slaughtered for eating and bonfires lit to burn any crops left in the fields.  So, there is an element of the cleansing of the old and preparation of the new.
Now, most importantly for my story it is also one of the Pagan spirit nights.  It is a magical moment when the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest and a window opens to guide the spirits of ancestors to the otherworld.  Sam knows this, so for her it is the perfect day to carry out her reconstruction of a Pagan burial ceremony. 
But, there are other forces at work so that when Sam invokes her burial ritual at a time when the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest she unleashes powers that she has no control over – powers that allow Cyneburh and Alhfrith to enter our world and then to finally cross over into the otherworld after many hundreds of centuries.

Overall:

This book is a blend of present and the past, artfully intertwined to give a story long enough to give you a glimpse of both, but skillfully done with enough time for you to eat your lunch, or read it in one evening. I like short novels for that very reason. It takes you places and sums everything up in one powerful episode.

Erotic and full of poignant elements from the past, Slave Nano does an excellent job of using prose to actually feel the difference from being here, now to being in the center of a pagan wedding and consummation event from times long past. When the time and cirmcumnstance are right, the present and past collide for a powerful event that will challenge the foundations of time and space. 

If you are looking for a story that stirs the body, mind and pagan soul, then this one is for you.

5/5




Author Bio:
Slave Nano is a writer of erotic paranormal and fantasy stories with bdsm and fetish themes.  He has had short stories and novellas published by Xcite Books and House of Erotica.  His first erotic novel, ‘Adventures in Fetishland’, was published by Xcite in March 2012.

Slave Nano writes stories drawing on the themes of female supremacy, goddess worship, bondage, domination and submission, sado-masochism and fetish, frequently in fantasy, paranormal or historical settings.



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