Guest Post by Mila Ramos

****EDIT: One lucky commenter (leave your email addy please) will win an e-copy of Echoes and Illusions! I'll draw a winner on Tuesday, April 12.


On behalf of Bewitching Book Tours, please welcome Mila Ramos. You may remember Mila from our interview HERE. Give it up for Mila!

Let me be one of the many to say the greatest phrase of the week, TGIF!!!! I hope everyone has had a wonderful Friday wherever you are at the moment. I’d like to thank my fellow cohort Mysti Parker for being such a doll and hosting me today on her blog.

So as not to keep everyone waiting we have been touring down the lane of music and books and today is no different.  We will be having a collective blog here today as we go through The Watchers and have Selene and Michael chime in with their own thoughts.

The Watchers

            -Part of the Echoes and Illusions Anthology

 When I started writing The Watchers, I was personally going through an inner exploration.  At the time I was listening to a great deal of Sarah McLachlan and another tune I caught hold of 24 by Jem.  Though both songs are quite opposite of each other they embodied what I wished The Watchers to speak.

Fallen by Sarah McLachlan was how I envisioned Michael Trelawney in this story. His mental exploration of coming to terms with lies he had been living within his life. In that he realized the world he came from was one he could never escape. As much as he tried to change everything about himself, his core was inexplicably linked to the people he tried to avoid. It was in that running that he had more of his own life explained than even could ever possibly wish.  Selene, on the other hand, had lived without Michael for years.  In those years she became her duty, an Enforcer for her coven.  In doing so, she accepted and buried so much of herself. Yet seeing Michael again brought them all to the surface with more strength than even she cared. 

The urgency though for the story was skillfully sealed with 24 by Jem.  Though it is a little harder than Sarah McLachlan, it imposes time slipping not only from Michael but from Selene.  I played this tune heavily through the beginning of the story so as to hold on the mental spiral from Michael’s side of the story, his mistakes made and just how precious the time wasted is not enough to reconcile everything within one self and with things that matter.

Character Interviews

Living life follows rules.

My name is Selene and I’m a Coven Enforcer.  There is a reason why rules were established. There is a reason why there is order in government. Humans are meant to know that, it’s not to oppress them but to protect them. If only Michael had just listened, we wouldn’t be in this mess. How can he pretend that someone can just come in and save him from himself? How can he expect me to break rules? I can’t be his - how can I forget the wrong he’s done?

Some rules though are meant to be broken.

The echoes of the past don’t change, worse yet they hunt you down and try to kill you. Hi, I’m Michael Trelawney and I’ve had to learn to let go of my foolish pride in order to live my life. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen, but as my father told me once “spit in one hand and wish in the other, and see which one you have the most in.”  Well, I tend to think good ol’ Dad may have not seen this small set back.  Now I just hope when my time comes that people can see what I was trying to attempt. 

Meet Selene:

Nickname: Moon; it was a term of endearment given to me by someone I loved.

Hair/Eye Color: Auburn, down to my lower back and brown eyes.

Age: Immortal but by human years I’ve got a few of them stacked up.

Body Type: I am an Enforcer. Though most people might not think we dress as warriors, mind you not everything has to be according to what Humans think is fierce. Even those most delicate of bodies can be the most dangerous.

Personality: I’m soft, gentle by nature but my position requires a sense of exterior strength to perform duties I would rather not speak of now.

Background: I am a part of the Angelus Draleigh Coven.  Descendant of the one of the four imperial archangels, Haniel, Chamuel, Adabiel, and Zaphiel.  Within the Coven I belong to the Enforcers (Fidelis Defensor). 

What would she die for: I do not care to relive what I have died for at the moment.

Meet Michael Trelawney:

Nickname: Sun. It’s the literal translation of my name, but only one person can use it.

Hair/Eye Color: Black hair, hazel eyes.

Age: Mid 30’s.

Body Type: I am a scientist people.  I really don’t think about my body type all too much. Fine if you need to know, I’m tall, and though I can’t bench press a Buick I weigh about 200lbs.  

Personality: Up until I had to return home, a normal guy living a great life. What can you say? I’m funny, witty, caring, just a normal guy. Now being back where I was raised, I just realized how much of an idiot I have been leaving those I loved behind. I’ve been running too long.

Background: There’s a great deal I wish to forget about but it seems like today isn’t my day, and tomorrow is not looking good either. 

What would he die for: I’d die for the Moon.

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Now take a look at Mila's Books. Pick up a copy and enjoy!!

Echoes & Illusions:

Ebook and Print -  www.melange-books.com

Reel-to-Real

A curious invitation mystifies acclaimed movie critic Moira Castle.   In an industry where word of mouth is reality, Moira comes back home to the unexpected.  Memories surge as an old movie reel and theater owner Toren McCann hold answers that have lain quiet for far too long. 

The Seventh Legend

Some stories are based on legend, some on rumor. Some stories are real.  For a young woman her childhood book has something more than imagined.  The book contains the story of a real hero facing an unimaginable evil that’s been after since she was a child.

The Watchers

In a world where duty and honor are binding and crucial Selene, a Coven Enforcer, has to choose between the life she knows and the life she yearns.  On a dark and stormy night Selene learns that some rules are meant to be broken, even immortal ones. 

Smoke & Mirrors

Dr. Ana Fiore has earned her reputation “Dr. Ice” by her solid work and rigid personality. Sent to a conference for determination of Chief of Staff, she is snowed in with rival and colleague Dr. Dakota Hastings. Face-to-face with Dakota, she learns she isn’t the only expert at illusion. 

Torrid Teasers 44:

Ebook: www.whiskeycreekpress.com

Kindle: www.amazon.com

Story One: Smoldering Ember

Five years after their divorce, Cassandra and Ethan Vance still have an estranged relationship. In a single conversation with her ex-husband, Cassandra discovers why Ethan had to give up everything in his life, including their marriage. Coming to terms with secrets and truths, both Cassandra and Ethan learn that there are some fires that can never be extinguished.

Story Two: Touch Fire

Katherine (Kat) O'Brien has moved on after a terrible, life-threatening relationship. Relocated with a new life, she learns her ex-boyfriend, Jared, has escaped from jail. She's now the target of revenge, and the one man she has pushed out of her heart is the one she needs to help her survive. Will Kat touch the fire she once knew, even if it means revisiting a painful memory?

Dark Pleasures:  The Seventh Legend

Ebook and Print: www.melange-books.com

Some stories are rumor. Some stories are real. For a woman who has spent her life fighting evil she learns nothing is as it seems. The book she searches for is closer than she thinks and the unimaginable evil has been near since she was a child.

Strange Desires: The Watchers

Ebook and Print: www.melange-books.com

In a world where duty and honor are binding and crucial Selene, a Coven Enforcer, has to choose between the life she knows and the life she yearns.  On a dark and stormy night Selene learns that some rules are meant to be broken, even immortal ones.