You can call them wizards<\/em> or sorcerers<\/em>, but ask first because preferences vary.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In my Zoraida Grey<\/em> paranormal romance series, witches abound\u2014male and female, good, bad, and undecided. While I love to add those little tidbits about female witches, I\u2019ve had the most fun creating male witches. Here\u2019s Zoraida\u2019s first look at a couple of male witches while she and her best friend Zhu are on a tour of mysterious Castle Logan in far northern Scotland.<\/p>\n I lean close to Zhu. \u201cCan you tell where that music is coming from?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat music?\u201d Zhu snaps out the words. The rest of the group pays no attention to us. They mill around the room, waiting for the guide to resume. \u201cInvisible hunky guys, disappearing shadowy figures, mysterious threats at the gates, and now music only you can hear. This is getting on my nerves.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a tinkly, bell-like music. I\u2019ve been hearing snippets of it since we got to the barbican, but now it seems to be everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t hear any music.\u201d Her lift eye twitches a bit. \u201cHow am I supposed to learn about magic if I can\u2019t see or hear or feel anything magical?\u201d<\/p>\n The joyful tune cascades down the walls like spring water, sending my spirits soaring. Zhu narrows her eyes at me and I narrow mine back at her. How can she not hear it?<\/p>\n I search the room, looking for its source. My gaze focuses out the backdoor of the keep. In the courtyard, two men face each other in animated conversation. One is the young man with the cat who brushed past us in the barbican\u2013\u2013the one masked in magic. The spell is gone and I can get a good look at him.<\/p>\n He is dressed in a black t-shirt and black leather pants. I run my practiced eye over the indigo blue Celtic knot tattoos around the fullest point of both biceps. Al would be able to comment on the quality of the artwork, but muscular arms and dusky skin distract me from the more technical appreciation. A leather strap holds his black hair in a short ponytail. Stubble as though he hasn\u2019t shaved in days shades his jaw. He looks tired and dark and angry. He leans close to his companion, speaking with intensity.<\/p>\n The resemblance between the two men is strong, though the difference in age is apparent. The other man, not as tall, but every bit as striking, listens calmly. His black hair, braided with a length of silver-studded velvet, reaches nearly to his waist. He is clean-shaven. Even casually dressed, he carries an air of elegance and surety. His eyes are as black as his companion\u2019s and his jaw square and strong.<\/p>\n With a shock, I realize they must be members of the Logan family, my family. Their swarthy skin, black eyes, and black hair remind me of pictures of my mother and all the cousins in Granny\u2019s line.<\/p>\n \u201cHoly Cow.\u201d Zhu leans against me, her eyes as riveted as mine. \u201cIs one of those two the cat guy?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe younger one. The one with the tattoos.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOooooooh,\u201d she breathes out the word slowly. Fishing is third and magic is second, but Zhu\u2019s first favorite thing is pretty boys.<\/p>\n The younger man speaks in a low voice, but his ponytail bobs with intensity. The older man places a conciliatory hand on the younger one\u2019s shoulder. With an impatient flinch, the younger man pushes it aside, stepping away. The conversation heads in an unpromising direction when, at the same moment, they hesitate. Both men cock their heads to the side in identical gestures. They turn toward the tour group, black eyes searching.<\/p>\n Zoraida Grey and the Family Stones<\/em> is available from any of these purveyors of fine literature:<\/strong><\/p>\n Amazon:\u00a0https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Zoraida-Grey-Family-Stones-ebook\/dp\/B01LDLSCA4\/<\/a><\/p>\n Wild Rose Press:\u00a0http:\/\/catalog.thewildrosepress.com\/all-titles\/4629-zoraida-grey-and-the-family-stones.html<\/a><\/p>\n Barnes and Noble:\u00a0http:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/zoraida-grey-and-the-family-stones-sorchia-dubois\/1124576931?ean=2940156722846<\/a><\/p>\n Kobo:\u00a0https:\/\/www.kobo.com\/us\/en\/ebook\/zoraida-grey-and-the-family-stones<\/a><\/p>\n If you\u2019d like to catch up with me online (and you really should because Zoraida Grey and the Voodoo Queen will be coming out this fall):<\/strong><\/p>\n Blog\/Website:<\/strong><\/p>\n www.SorchiaDubois.com<\/a><\/p>\n Twitter<\/strong>:<\/p>\n https:\/\/twitter.com\/SorchiaDubois<\/a><\/p>\n Pinterest<\/strong>:<\/p>\n www.pinterest.com\/SorchiaDubois\/<\/a><\/p>\n Facebook<\/strong>:<\/p>\n www.facebook.com\/SorchiaD<\/a><\/p>\n Amazon<\/strong> author<\/strong> page<\/strong>:<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/SorchiaDuBois\/e\/B00B60NOUQ\/<\/a><\/p>\n Goodreads<\/strong>\u00a0 author<\/strong> page<\/strong>:<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/author\/show\/6879978.Sorchia_DuBois<\/a><\/p>\n Google<\/strong>\u00a0+:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0<\/u>google.com\/+SorchiaDuBois<\/a><\/p>\n Sorchia Dubois lives in the piney forest of the Missouri Ozarks with seven cats. She edits technical writing part time, but she spends a number of hours each day tapping out paranormal romance, Gothic murder, and Scottish thrillers.<\/p>\n A proud member of the Ross clan, Sorchia incorporates all things Celtic (especially Scottish) into her works. She can often be found swilling Scotch at Scottish festivals and watching kilted men toss large objects for no apparent reason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Close your eyes and think of witches. Go ahead. I\u2019ll wait. Now, tell me\u2014what did you see? Was she green? Did she wear a pointy hat? Did she wiggle her nose or wave a wand? How many black cats did she have? In literature and art, witches are mostly of the female persuasion, but that\u2019s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,1,4],"tags":[281,88,296],"class_list":["post-1870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-excerpts","category-general","category-guestposts","tag-featured","tag-paranormal-romance","tag-witches"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kate-hill.com\/compellingbeastsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/ZoraidaGreyandtheFamilyStones_w10984_300.jpg?fit=200%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kq3e-ua","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kate-hill.com\/compellingbeastsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kate-hill.com\/compellingbeastsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kate-hill.com\/compellingbeastsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kate-hill.com\/compellingbeastsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kate-hill.com\/compellingbeastsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1870"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kate-hill.com\/compellingbeastsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1873,"href":"https:\/\/kate-hill.com\/compellingbeastsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1870\/revisions\/1873"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kate-hill.com\/compellingbeastsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kate-hill.com\/compellingbeastsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kate-hill.com\/compellingbeastsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kate-hill.com\/compellingbeastsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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About Sorchia<\/strong><\/p>\n