Ever as Before

by Rain Trueax

Looking for a new read that is a kind of magical realism just in time for Imbolc? How about throwing in a threat of the living dead? A particularly determined demon? Natural born witches, gnomes, warlocks, shamans-- this is, after all the 7th in the Mystic Shadows series of books that move beyond what we consider reality to something else. Might that something else be quantum physics? What if there is an alchemist aspect to how evil can be fought and contained? Imbolc is a good time for a story that is a mix of physical reality and romantic fantasy.

It just so happens that Ever as Before has all of that and is finally out after taking nearly a year to write. I would not want anyone to think I was writing on it that whole year. I had the basics of it in my head, but I just didn't have the heart for putting it on paper. The irony is when I wrote it, I also did not see it as the right time to bring it out. What about when the story actually takes place?

Back in August and September, it took me a month to write the first draft with what I consider an unusual plot, with hero and heroine I loved—not to mention favorite characters from the earlier books.  It took more editing and beta readers. It was ready but still it did not feel like the right time


This, the fifth about the Hemstreet witches, is the story of the matriarch. Now the fact, that Maria Cordova Hemstreet does not see herself as a matriarch doesn’t mean she isn’t as the mother of four daughters. Through the years, they along with her mother and mother-in-law have gathered for celebratory and strengthening rituals and to decide what to do whenever evil is on the streets of their homes in Barrio Viejo-- a Tucson neighborhood.

This barrio is a place of history, magic, and beauty-- perfect place for romances as well as some mystical thinking about what might be out there.

I like writing books that are part of a series. When I began the stories of the sisters, Dangerous Match; Vislogus; A Complicated Bargain; and Unfinished Business, I had no idea what their mother's story might be. 

Maria is a widow of 16 years but not old at 52. Because her relationship with her deceased husband, a sorcerer of great power, was so powerful, Maria has found it difficult to want another man. She devoted herself to running a bookstore, a detective agency, fighting evil, using her powers under the authority of the Light, and raising her daughters. Now, she has an empty nest, with the last one married, and one ready to present her with her first grandchild. 

There is no time for romance when something new and evil is threatening the street. An enemy has been created by a ranking demon with a desire for revenge on Maria's family. She chooses to draw it away from her family when an invitation come along for her to use her degree in psychology to start a talk radio program. 

With all her powers, they won't be enough. She will need help. It is coming from the other side. She will not welcome it.

By waiting a year to actually write the book, I saw dimensions in it that I'd have missed had I started on it right after Unfinished Business. I now see the potential for two novellas to follow. I'll start on those after this one is out, stories of two more women who are not young but also not done with life and romance—even if romance is the last thing they want.


The Mystic Shadows books have been tough to fit into a genre. They are not like many paranormals. The witches are ordinary women, who can be killed, who have jobs and look like anyone else. The supernatural skills they were born with are not visible to the world until something needs taking care of. Their skills may be as much a product of physics as of some supernatural intervention. Are we not beings of energy—even those of us who do not know how to use it?

From childhood these women have been taught not to use their powers for personal gain. It is with a high sense of responsibility they sometimes intervene. A lot of what is in the books seems more metaphysical, but I don't know if there is such a thing as metaphysical romance. The stories have enough steam to not be sweet, but sex isn't at their heart. What they are about is relationship, family, nature, what might be, and duty to good, which sometimes involves violence as part of the price that must be paid.

Available at $3.99 for pre-order (not charged until delivery) exclusively at Amazon, its publication date is January 29th, making a perfect read for Imbolc, which I will write more about for next Saturday's blog. The book will be in paperback as well as Kindle Unlimited to borrow for those with memberships. Can't we all use some magical realism in a time like ours? An escape for a few hours to a world of fantasy.  

Ever as Before