Samhain Publishing

There is something fierce and dangerous about a man with rippling, sinewy muscles that contract and bulge underneath perfectly tanned skin.

Most definitely there is something intoxicating and alluring about an enigmatic man with a wicked grin and supernatural power.

What is it about a dark and deadly man that makes a woman’s heart palpitate?

Even more sexy is a man that is unafraid to express himself and knows how to accessorize, especially with feathers.

That right, I said it!

F-E-A-T-H-E-R-S!

Take a look at these men. I dare you to tell me that there isn’t something stimulating and very primal about a man that can rock a loin cloth, feather and animal skins.

The bravest of Aztec warriors, jaguar and eagle warriors were the most feared. Jaguar warriors were identifiable by the jaguar skins they wore over their entire body, with only their faces showing from within the jaguar head. The eagle Aztec warriors, on the other hand, wore feathered helmets.

Shadow Warriors are the bravest and most elite of all Aztec warriors. Men who vowed to never retreat from battle and gave their motal and immortal lives to serve the Sun god, Huitzilopotchuli. Their immortal souls intertwined with thier animal spirit, they forever chase down the demons that threaten to destory humanity, in hopes that someday they will find their spirit-mate and roam the earth once more as a man.

When the last shadow warrior falls, so will all humanity.

SHADOW VISIONS

Shadow Warriors, Book 2

A shadow warrior on a mission, Manuel must track down a demon who is sacrificing women marked with hummingbird tattoos. He is in danger of losing his humanity to his eagle spirit until he comes across Ixa Reyes, a beautiful San Diego detective working on the same case, who also bears the mark of the Aztec sun god. She is his salvation and redemption from a past filled with failure. Only she wants nothing to do with him or her heritage.

When a demon kidnaps her grandfather, the wind god, they must work together to save him and all mankind. Manuel has twenty-four hours to help Ixa control her elemental power over wind—that is if he can control his own desires to claim her body and soul. Because if he should fail this time, the god of war will usher in a new era filled with blood and destruction such as the world has never known.
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Product Warnings
This story contains an ancient Aztec warrior struggling to control the beast within, a heroine more than able to match his strength, demons out for their very souls, and a battle that may very well determine the fate of all humanity.

I am a research junkie. Yup, I admit it. I could spend my life in a library or hunting down relics and nuggets of information, or perusing the internet for hours on end, forgetting the world, and staying totally immersed in the past. Of course that would be possible if I had the time and a personal chef, chauffer and maid to take care of my kids, the house and all of my other life functions. Alas, I don’t but I do set aside a good amount of time doing intense research before I start a book.

My latest paranormal romance series, Shadow Warriors, is based on Aztec mythology, which is not exactly popular reading material. Most people learn about the Greek or Roman gods and goddesses, but not so much about the Meso-American gods. So why go with Aztec myths?

Well, the answer is quite simple. I love them!

Tales filled with blood, sacrifice, love, agony, birth, renewal, hope and tragedy. The stories are complex and filled with dynamic characters that are constantly in upheaval. They never fit the mold and are both good and bad; duel natured gods that like to twist words and hearts right out of chests. The goddesses are diverse, each one allowed to have their own power, have sway over nature, forceful and great in their own right. They love, they give birth, they kill, and they destroy. In a time, when women were seen as little more than wives and mothers, good for raising babes and tending field and men’s needs, these women were strong and powerful.

The first novella, Out of the Shadows, features a powerful water goddess, that I affectionately named Chica. It was amazing to do the research and learn all about the dynamic goddess. Here are some facts:

Her real Aztec Name: Chalchiuhtlicue

Alias: Woman of the Jade Skirt / Lady Precious Green Stone Skirt

Appearance: She is depicted with water-lilies, dressed in watery blues and greens, and sometimes has quetzal-feathers in her hair.

Relation to the gods: She is the elder sister to Tlaloc, the rain god.

Powers: Goddess of running water, springs, rivers and lakes, she is a fluid woman and can move with the flow. She has a green thumb and brings fertility to crops. She is kind and noble and loves humanity and pregnant women.

She can get a bit emotional and is prone to tears that cause floods and drought.

When I started reading about the various Aztec gods, my imagination went wild. I plucked from the material and wondered what would happen if ancient Aztec gods and goddesses came back to modern-day times and decided they wanted to rule once again? And so began my love affair with shadow warriors and guardians battling to save humanity from ancient deities who wanted to control the world.

There are many more gods and goddesses that are involved in the Shadow Warrior series, but to tell you all about them would require more than one post.

You can always stop by my website www.GabriellaHewitt.com to learn more about the Shadow Warriors series.

Leave me a comment. I love talking about gods and goddesses; Aztec, Greek, Roman, Celtic and even Hindi one’s too!
I am curious to know which mythology sparks your imagination? Or which series themes you find facinating?

Sometimes characters in books have hard times letting go of the past just like Carolina in Out of the Shadows. It invades the character’s system and soon she finds herself bogged down in the mire of her own emotions and baggage. At least in this novella a hero comes along and slays the demons and rectifies the past giving her the HEA every woman wishes for. Now if only a Shadow Warrior could come along and clear up all the baggage I have hanging around.

Seriously, I need someone to clear out all the bags of junk hanging around my house. I have a garage that needs some big muscles and a little magic to declutter.

I have been watching this compelling show on television called Hoarders. Yesterday was a 12 hour marathon that started in the morning and went late into the night. (Most likely the reason I am tired today) It is just unbelievable how these people live. Fact is stranger than fiction. You just couldn’t write this stuff. Although, it would be cool to try to figure out a way to incorporate it into a novel. So much drama, emotional baggage along with the garbage piled up in mountainous heaps. Still it is hard to figure out if these people are hapless victims or villians. It was surreal watching maggots crawl out of kitchen sinks and bags piled up on beds where people sleep. The idea of dead cats lingering beneath floorboards and dog waste embedded in carpets grossed me out. Most disturbing was that these people cared more about thier filth than their own children.

Crazy! But it inspired me to clean off my office area, which had begun to overflow with papers from goodness knows what!

I found it tremendously hard to pick through the papers and clippings I have collected and seperate the trash from the treasure. I got through 3/4 of it. Some went to the shredder (mostly old bills). Then, I put all of the business cards in a stack, contacts I hope to use or am using for research. And then came the papers from conferences that I re-read to hone the craft of writing, some are great and others total crap. I find it hard to part with them.

At least there is one bright spot in all this chaos and that is my e-reader. I have all my books in one place and I don’t have to fumble through all the piles of books. Although the boxes of my paperbacks are breaking my heart right now. So many which I find extremely difficult to even consider throwing out. I have boxes set aside full of books that I have collected over the past decade. (I wonder if this makes me an organized hoarder?) Anyway, to the right of me are boxes that are to be donated to the library. The other boxes have my trade paperbacks. I am keeping these. They look really nice and tidy on the bookshelf and all are uniform in size. Thank goodness for small blessings. I wish everything else was this simple.

An hour and a half later, what was a neat pile of papers, is now all over my bed. EEk!!
Good grief I need a psychologist, a management specialist and 1-800-Junk to come help me!
Oh well…better just dig in and start shoving it all into a plastic Hefty bag. Wish me luck

Is there anything that you find difficult to part with or let go?

Rituals, supernatural powers, legends and folklore add mysticism and beauty to the already rich and colorful history of Puerto Rico. A small tropical island in the middle of the Caribbean Sea, Puerto Rico is more than just a popular tourist spot. It is a place of magic and wonder. Originally settled by the Taino, these native people lived off the land and communed with nature believing everything from the ceibo tree to the coqui frog had a spirit. Puerto Rico is also a place marked by many years of wars, bloodshed, slavery and battles for freedom. The rich cultural mix of Taino, Spanish, and West African blood flows through the veins of the exotic island, making it pulse with life, laughter and love.

I couldn’t think of a better place to base Dark Waters, my romantic suspense thriller. Legends of ghosts, demons who roam the island after dark, pirates long ago washed up on shores, buried treasure, la bruja—the witch—and Santeria have all had a part in shaping the rich tapestry of Puerto Rican culture.

Santaria plays an important role in Dark Waters not only adding to the ominous atmosphere, but also showing insight into a relatively little known world of the beliefs and practices of some of the islanders. The practice of Santeria dates back to the fifteenth century when its earliest practitioners—members of the Yoruba people of West Africa— were brought to Puerto Rico as slaves to work the plantations. Hidden and practiced in secret for hundreds of years, Santeria has mixed with Catholic beliefs, making it a unique and intriguing religion. Enter into a Botanica, a specialized shop that sells anything from plastic figurines of saints, candles, dried herbs, prayer books, to amulets and you will find plenty to keep you absorbed.

Leyendas or legends definitely abound on this island, inspiring mystery and suspense, but there is one thing about Puerto Rico I find even more appealing. A Borican man!

I have to admit the image of a hot Latin man with fiery blood, sun-kissed toned body, and an enticing smile that would make mi abuela (my grandmother) swoon is one that certainly raises my temperature. A Puerto Rican man can ignites thoughts of a sultry night dancing the Salsa, a moonlit walk on a white sand beach, and naughty words whispered in Spanish into my ear.

Mix leyendas y puertorriqueño together and you get a sexy romantic thriller guaranteed to keep you up at night.

Adios!
Gabriella Hewitt
Dark Waters, in print now!
www.gabriellahewitt.com
Excitement. Suspense. Passion.

Genre: Contemporary Romance
ISBN: 1-59998-608-6
Length: Novel
Price: 5.50
Publication Date: September 25, 2007

My first book Dark Waters has been released and I’m absolutely thrilled. If you like romance and you like suspense, you’ll get a good dose of both when you read this novel.

Dark Waters is set on Vieques, a small island off of Puerto Rico. Life certainly follows a different pace there, and heroine Francesca Montalvo discovers that island time and island people don’t seem to follow the rules of the Big Apple. It doesn’t help that the property she inherited is considered cursed by just about everyone.

So what’s a feisty transplanted New Yorker to do?

Not give up, that’s what. And though she views Rico Lopez’s offer of help with a dash of cynicism—face it, nothing ever comes free—she can’t help finding the macho Latino useful to have around. That he looks positively sinful in a pair of jeans is an extra complication she’s sure she can handle.

Because she doesn’t trust him. Rico has secrets and she intends to find out what they are.

She just never expected she’d have to risk her life to find out.

Ahhh! Puerto Rican Sunset.
This tropical land offers a rich variety of culture and incredible landscape for all who visit.

When you look at this scenery do certain words come to mind?

Beautiful. Seductive. Enticing.

Deceptive. Frightening. Deadly.

In Dark Waters, my debut book that comes out in September, I’ll show you the dangers that lie beneath this gorgeous setting. What we see isn’t always the reality.

Dark Waters is set on Vieques, a small island off of Puerto Rico. The island with its small towns and land covered by mangroves offers a combination of paradise, steamy nights and hidden risks that made it perfect for the story I wanted to write.

Setting is often overlooked when we think about a fiction novel. We talk about characters or plot, but often, setting can be just as powerful as a solidly written character. Many of the stories you read in high school probably stood out because of the setting. I recall Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles which I read in ninth grade. Setting dominated that book.

In a more contemporary context, think of the numerous authors who set their books in New Orleans because you can’t set a book there and not talk about the city and the history and the culture of that place. Or what about Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series? Trenton, New Jersey colors the entire set of novels. You can’t read the novel and not get a feel of the place, the attitude and the people.

So, let me ask you: What types of settings do you love or hate? What books have you read where setting played a huge part in the novel and how did it influence your feelings towards the story?