a test

by Rain Trueax

After the major failure of my blog on Saturday due to running that blog into the previous one, I need to find out if this is an ongoing problem before Wednesday rolls around. This is a blog I wrote for Smart Girls Read Romances where it posted fine. Let's see how it does here.

A Price to be Paid is my fifth paranormal full length novel. I'd written the first two in the Hemstreet Witches series in spring and early summer of 2016, but something about this one had me writing other books and delaying its start until mid-January 2017. I didn't write the end until early June, which for me, is a long writing time to get a rough draft.

In writing it, I kept alternately referring to it as fantasy or paranormal. Turns out not so. Fantasy genre is for books set in a world created by the author. Paranormal uses our physical world but with supernatural elements. Mine are paranormals. In this one, there are spiritual entities of many sorts, along with heroines who are natural born witches-- not supernatural beings but with superhuman powers. They don't live forever and can be killed. Karma, reincarnation, and redemption are key themes, along with life questions such as--

In a new lifetime, can a soul, who lived a bad to the bone life, change into someone good? 

Does it matter what someone actually did or more what they thought they did?

Can guilt be such a weighty burden that it makes real change impossible? 

The themes might seem weighty, but they're woven into the plot, personal interactions, a spicy romance, and strong adventure.

In 1901, in the Arizona historical, Echoes from the Past, Asa Taggert lived by the gun and died by it. A true villain, he had no compassion for others and committed a heinous act. After that lifetime, it took a while, but his soul was reborn to be killed in WWII and again in the Vietnam War. In 1984, he was born into the Taggert family and given his name from that earlier lifetime. His challenge was to get past earlier mistakes and live a meaningful life. Expecting his time to be short, he is raising a son and has amassed a fortune. Love for a woman is not in the cards—nor is any belief in the supernatural realm, making it difficult for his spirit guide to reach him.

Devi doesn’t want to be a witch, despite being born into a family of witches and shamans. The youngest of four sisters, she reluctantly lives at home, conflicts with her mother, writes a garden blog under a pseudonym, and avoids using her powers as much as possible. When her attempt to purchase a fixer-upper Barrio Viejo adobe is blocked, her solace is with her grandmother and her witch’s garden. She is aware of her spirit guide but doesn’t listen to him. She is determined to live as a normal woman and having seen the pain her mother went through with her father’s death, she plans to never fall in love or marry.

When these two come together, a business/marriage contract is only an excuse for what is to follow as each comes to understand there is indeed a price to be paid to live life fully. The book has spice, violence, and a shamanistic view of life.

 A Price to Be Paid available at Amazon 

Book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIrIhcRVHg8.

All of my contemporary paranormals are now in Kindle Unlimited for borrowing. The Hemstreet Witches Series involve descendants of my Arizona historicals. A Price to be Paid shares a spirit guide with Diablo Canyon (Montana). Sky Daughter (Idaho) has no connecting characters-- yet. I like writing series and connecting characters when possible-- so there might will be future connections.