Celtic Fantasy - from Alaska. Interview with author Lela Markham.

Lela Markham is the author of The Willow Branch, Book One of the Daermad Cycle. The book is available now as an ebook but comes out in paperback on 25th of November (though you might actually be able to get it a bit earlier than that). Follow the links given at the end of the article.

The Willow Branch is the story of a Celtic people who have escaped the Roman occupation of Europe by Druid magic, and have come to live in a land occupied by an Elfish people. The Elvan belief in one true God is not in-line with that of the newcomers. I was lucky enough to read this book as a beta reader and enjoyed every minute of it. The trouble is, now I’m hooked and have to hang out for the next book to come out.

Lela lives in Alaska, anyone who lives in Alaska and writes about Celtic/Christian mythology has got to be an interesting person, so I thought I’d ask her some questions for my BLOG.

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Lela, can you tell us about your book, The Willow Branch?

The Celts have been in Daermad (what they call the land they live in) for about a thousand years and they've built up a lovely society on the ruins of the Kin (elven) civilization that had existed there before the Celdryans drove them into the mountains. Needless to say, there are some old animosities between these two races.

There are dark forces at work in Celdrya that destroyed the royal family. I have a thread of the story that occurs in that time 100 years in the past, showing how a vengeful Celtic goddesses and black mages dismantled the kingdom. The main part of the story follows the restoration. Padraig, a part-Kin healer, is tasked with finding the One's True King. He's joined in his quest by Tamys, a soldier with a shadowy past, and (remotely) Ryanna, a Kin woman who is both psychically gifted and physically talented. They are opposed by that same vengeful Celtic goddess and the society of black mages, but they are also unaware of an impending invasion by a more powerful neighbor. If the Kin and the Celdryans don't decide to work together, they're going to regret it.

Because this is a first in the series, I resisted the temptation to tie things up at the end and instead set up cliff-hangers that I hope will have readers as intrigued as you are.



What was your inspiration for writing the book? Have you been writing for a while?

 The Daermad Cycle is 22 years in the making, inspired by some research I did when we were naming our daughter an unusual family name. That sent me researching Celtic mythology. I wrote the book following Padraig and Tamys. The local critique group liked it, but most of the writers there at the time were focused on writing Alaskana and they thought a fantasy not based in Alaska was just plain weird. The Willow Branch sort of stayed on my computer without an audience until I discovered Authonomy four years ago and got some actually useful critique from people who write fantasy. Believe or not, the best critique I got was from the chronic troll Absolution/Surtsey Krakatoa, Emily whatsit. I broke a very long book into segments, discovered they weren't adequate as stand-alone stories and that the action didn't start until the third or fourth book. So I went back and brought in the historical thread and more of the bad guys to make a much better book and ultimately a better series.




I think you’ve captured the essence of a feudalistic Celtic society in your book. Where does the Celtic background come from? Did you have to do a lot of research for this?

I did a lot of research into Celtic mythology and Medieval society. The Celtic background has always been an interest of mine – some of my mother's ancestry is Irish. So is my husband's family ... they're REALLY Irish. About 15 years ago, when I was writing the rough-rough draft of the original Willow Branch, I was reading a lot of Morgan Llewellyn and Katharine Kerr, so they definitely influenced the culture depicted in the book. Ultimately, though, the Celdryans left Gaul a thousand years ago, so there has been cultural drift which means, as a writer, I have lots of leeway.

You have a strong Christian ethos amongst the Elven population of The Willow Branch, can you tell us a bit about this?

The Celts left Gaul in the 5th century AD, which was the early Christian era. A few Christians were in that group. The Kin (the elves) believed in a single god they called The One. When they interacted with the Christians, they formed a type of syncretism. Christianity or Belief, call it what you will, the Celdyrans don't like it and it's going to cause problems since the One has sent Padraig to find His king.

I tried to give equal footing to the Celtic religion because I was not seeking to write a strictly “Christian” novel.

Living in Alaska must influence you as a writer. Do we see this in your book?

In The Willow Branch, there are a couple of descriptions that reflect places in Alaska. Later in the series, when there is more action in the province of Denygal, you will see a lot of Alaskan references.



What is life in Alaska like?

In some ways it's just like everywhere else in America. We have electricity and running water, jobs, movie theaters, Netflix. On the surface, we're anywhere American with long, dark winters. But the culture here is different. We tend to be more independent, more willing to do things by ourselves for ourselves. We're outspoken. We debate politics and religion in polite society and it works out okay. We also have two very distinct seasons – summer which has nearly 24 hours of daylight, so we spend it out of doors when we're not working or sleeping (and we don't sleep much) and winter which has two hours of sunlight (about six hours of daylight) and we spend indoors as much as possible. It's the best possible world for a writer because you have all these adventures in the summer and all this time to create in the winter.

Can you tell us anything about the rest of the books in the Daermad series? Are there any other books on the horizon?

I am working on Mirklin Wood, the second book in the series, which will follow the survivors of all those cliff-hangers. The excerpt at the end of The Willow Branch gives you some idea of who that might be. Padraig and Ryanna will continue their search for the True King, Gil will continue his quest to subjugate the people of Daermad and .... well, you'll have to read the other books.

Finally, can you tell us a little about Lela Markham, the author and person?

Lela Markham is a pen name because I didn't enjoy having drunks call me at 3 am when I worked as a reporter under my real name and I promised my husband to protect his privacy. I grew up in Alaska and chose to live here as an adult because it's an adventure just getting to work in the morning and I can't imagine fitting in anywhere else. When I'm not writing, I'm a wife, a mom, an employee, a hiker, a quilter, a Sunday School teacher and kind of an anarchist.

Press Kit https://aurorawatcherak.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/press-kit.pdf

Book Blurb

A healer must mend a fractured kingdom and bring two enemy races together before a greater enemy destroys them both.

Fate took Prince Maryn by surprise,‭ ‬leaving Celdrya to tear itself apart.‭ ‬A century later an army amasses against the warring remains of the kingdom as prophesy sends a half-elven healer on a journey to find the nameless True King.‭ ‬Padraig lacks the power to put the True King on the throne,‭ ‬yet compelled by forces greater than himself,‭ ‬Padraig contends with dark mages,‭ ‬Celtic goddesses,‭ ‬human factions and the ancient animosities of two peoples while seeking a myth.‭ ‬With all that distraction,‭ ‬a man might meet the True King and not recognize him.


The Willow Branch is available on Amazon both in ebook and paperback:

http://www.amazon.com/Willow-Branch-Book-Daermad-Cycle-ebook/dp/B00OL13YF2/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416698911&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Willow+Branch

and Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=The+Willow+Branch

Website https://aurorawatcherak.wordpress.com/

Book Site http://thewillowbranchbookonedaermadcycle.wordpress.com/

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