Seven Sisters Moon by D. VonThaer

Fantasy Fiction/Epic Fantasy

Book 1 in the Tuatha Series

Julius Caesar wrote of the Celts: The Celts were fearless warriors because they wish to inculcate this as one of their leading tenets, that souls do not become extinct, but pass after death from one body to another. Seven Sisters. The infamous collection of stars align with the full moon on Halloween, alighting the sky for a destiny that s waited centuries. Dru, a gifted, but tormented witch living alone on the coast of Ireland wakes to find Ty, her long-time love, mysteriously disappeared. In Paris, Katerina, an oppressed but talented dancer bravely takes the stage in one final performance before escaping a life of tyranny, looking for a freedom she'd only known in dreams. Aodh, The Dagda, a man made of ancient legends, has slumbered for two millennia.

Tonight, when the moon is full and the stars are aligned, he rises from his temporary grave to find the world is not as he remembers. His people, his family, his tribe have vanquished, along with the majority of his considerable power. Chance takes him to Dru, and together they set out to find the key to reopening his world, whilst forming a bond of friendship neither has ever previously known. During their search, Dru learns Ty was no mortal man, but a god with a prophecy to fulfill. Ty died before fulfilling that prophecy, setting off a chain of events that would forever alter the future.

Devastated, Dru abandons Aodh and the life that should have already been hers, and finds herself in the company of the worst sort. She begins a sordid affair with Kas, a daemon whose insatiable lust for power is only outdone by his lust for Dru. Separated from the only friend he knows, Aodh is left to search the world alone for answers. He meets the beautiful dancer, Katerina, and is instantly smitten. He stays near her, pretending to be mortal, gaining her friendship. On Katerina's birthday, just as Aodh is ready to concede to a life of mortality, Katerina is ripped from him by Kas. Aodh's ideas on remaining mortal are no more; he has to unlock the secrets to his world that will open a trove of unimaginable power to save the two women he loves, before time is no longer in his favour, and he loses everything.

About the Author:

Dayna Ranelle was born late July, 1976 in Niles, Ohio. A born and bred writing gypsy and veritable vagabond, she trolled around the east coast and London before sinking her feet into southern soil. A prolific writer, she has nearly twenty unfinished manuscripts collecting dust. One-by-one she is dusting them off and adding a coat or two of polish for publication. That is until another idea pops into her head and takes over.

The first in the Tuatha series debuted October 31, 2009.

From D. VonThaer on Writing the Tuatha Series:

Writing this book started a grand shift in my life. It began when I was pregnant with my daughter. I already had two bouncing boys, and had been working towards a graduate degree in psychology. She was due in the hottest summer on record, and I could barely stand the heat for another second. I'd written many manuscripts, full and partial, short stories, poems, articles and even had a column in the local paper. I started one night writing about a witch living in a white cottage on the Irish Sea. I fantasized about the cool water, the mist cooling me off as I sat there with sweat trickling down my back.

As time went on and my beautiful baby girl was born, I kept writing about that witch, and had taken a break from grad school. Soon she had more than a cottage on the sea. She had a history, a voice and a name. I took a trip to London and had dinner with a friend's family one night. The father was a very burly Irishman, quick and fluid, giving me grief over my name. Dayna.

He joked that I was named after the Tuatha's Mother Goddess, Danu and we talked for hours about Danu, Dayna, and my fictional witch, Dru.

I went back to my hotel and wrote. I went on long walks and took notes. I took a train ride from London to Manchester, through Wales and then up to Scotland the following month. I could not put down my invisible pen.

I had become a different person. I wasn't just a student and mother sneaking away to write in the quiet of the night, in between feedings and laundry and homework. I was a writer entranced in my own work. I wrote and I wrote and I buried myself into a story that built up and up to around 800,000 words.

Even real life couldn't make me take a breath. We moved to London for a while where I was able to show my kids a little piece of the world. After coming back to the States, we moved to Salem where the inspiration hit me like a brick-paved road. By the time I got to Dallas, I had nearly one million words written in this long, epic story. I had other books and other characters and short stories an poems and songs. I took a step back and examined what I'd done for the past few years. I finally decided to break it all apart into seven books, and there it was. Seven Sisters Moon was born.