Saskia Walker's Blog, page 151

Catching up with all my news!

Hi folks, I hope this finds you greeting the new week with a smile. We've just had the most amazing weekend here in the north of England -- sunshine, not a cloud in the sky, and even some (gasp!) heat. A taste of summer! Some of our neighbours even ventured as far as lighting barbecues... of course some of our neighbours have been known to light barbecues in the freezing cold rain, but that's another story. The unexpected glorious weather put me in a good place to start the week. Yay!

I've been busy learning a lot of new software recently and I have to say my brain hurts, but in a good way -- i.e the kind of way that helps to keep it in shape. ;) Writing wise I've got a short story and a novelette on the go at the moment, as well as working on scene outlines for FAYE'S SPIRIT (the novel I will be working on during May.)

I've also had some more terrific news about RAMPANT. Following on from the Passionate Plume finalist listing, I am able to share the news that RAMPANT has been listed as a finalist in both the CRW 2011 Award of Excellence and the Write Touch Readers' Award. I'm blown away about the positive response this novel is having!

Meanwhile, judging by the UK Kindle charts, people are giving my work a try and downloading the free version. Yay! If you are one of those readers and you're new to me, thank you so much for picking up the book. I hope it's been a good read for you.

In other news a lovely new review came in from You Gottta Read Reviews for UNASHAMED, my most recent collection of short erotic stories. Here's a snip!

"I have said it before and I will say it again, Saskia Walker is the queen of steam and she does not disappoint her readers with this compilation of short stories in Unashamed. This time she has assembled eighteen of what have to be the hottest, most explicit and completely unusual tales that I have read in some time, stories that I am sure will become favorites after reading this book. The stories range from the macabre, to the strangely innocent, to D/s and anything in between; each one completely different from the next, illustrating Ms. Walker's mastery of the written word. This author is not presenting her readers with "cookie cutter" versions of the same stories over again, each one is its' own entity. Was I surprised? Certainly and, I was also more than pleased."

Big grin from me! Happy readers make me happy! :)

My work plans for the near future are to finish up working on these two shorties I have on the go at the moment. I need to do that soon because we're having a bit of a break around Easter time for some house maintenance and chill time, followed by a quick trip to Wales to visit Portmeirion in early May. Portmeirion is the place where the cult TV series THE PRISONER was filmed and I've always wanted to visit. I'm very excited about being able to do so at last! I plan to blog about that after the event, so if there is anyone else out there who is a fan of the series and hasn't been able to visit the location I'll have photos and reports.



Have a great week!

Exciting news: Rampant is a Passionate Plume finalist

I got some very exciting news yesterday! I'm thrilled to announce that my 2010 Spice novel, RAMPANT, is a finalist in the Passionate Plume Awards, in the Paranormal/Time Travel category!

Very, very happy that the judges liked the story and thought the book was a good read. It's an honour to be a finalist, and I'm amongst great company! Go here to see the full list of finalists.

Yes, there will be some partying here. :)

PS: If you haven't read this novel and would like to do so, you can currently get a free ebook download for a limited period. Go here, or if you are a UK Kindle user you can get a free copy sent direct to your Kindle.

Learn more about me and my books

There's a new interview with me over at Erotica For All. Click on the banner if you want to check it out!

In case you missed it...

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Goodreads Book Giveaway













The Harlot




by Saskia Walker

Giveaway ends June 01, 2011.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Just because...

Just because...it tickled the art historian in me. No, really. :o)

Check out the "Everyone's Reading" promotion!

I'm delighted to announce that my novel RAMPANT is currently part of the Mills and Boon "Everyone's Reading" promotion, representing the Spice line!

This means that for a limited time you can download the novel for free, along with eleven other Harlequin Mills and Boon books. Click here to check them out.

New cover art: THEIR PRIVATE ARRANGEMENT, a Spice Brief

Check out the gorgeous cover art just in for my June Spice Brief, Their Private Arrangement!



Yum. I love it to bits, and it's sooo fitting for the story... :}

This novelette features three of the secondary characters from THE HARLOT, which is due out during the same month. Here's the summary for the Brief:

Scotland, 1715

Duggan Moore has always stirred maidservant Morag's womanly desires. Even though Duggan is in a clandestine relationship with James Grant, he wants Morag as well—and James doesn't want to deny him any pleasure. Soon, all three are exploring their mutual passion...together.

But officials have come to town to hunt an accused witch…putting the threesome at risk. Can they find a way to keep their private arrangement safe?


Read more about Morag and her men in Saskia Walker's THE HARLOT, out June 2011 from Spice Books.

ARC now available for THE HARLOT

THE HARLOT (my June Harlequin Spice novel) is now available to reviewers at NetGalley!

A suprise giveaway event for my Spice novels

Monica over at the Bibliophilic Book Blog is running a special promo giveaway for my Spice novels. Hop over to her site if you want to check it out!

Looking at historic objects from the Scottish witch trials

Last week I posted this photo, taken at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. In it I'm posing (rather nervously!) close to some lethal looking thumbscrews from the time of the witch trials in Scotland! *shudder* I promised I'd share a couple more of the amazing artefacts in the museums collection.

First up, a bit of background to my interest in this type of collection.

As many of my readers know I've been writing stories inspired by the history and folklore from the time of the Scottish witch trials for the last few years. My interest in Lowland's folklore first came about when we visited Fife back in 2003. We stayed in a fisherman's cottage in the East Neuk of Fife and the main plan was to kick off work on a historical set on the coast, while Mark (my Real Life Hero) went mountain biking in the area. Success on all fronts -- Mark covered many miles and I did some good writing while I was there. The cottage we stayed in was right on the seafront (much like Her Haven, in RAMPANT ;-) and I made notes and wrote several scenes for a historical novel I'd had an idea for. Then I stood by the window and wondered who had lived in the house. As I looked out at the fisherman pulling in their crab baskets, the character of Annabel McGraw from RAMPANT came to me in this line:

She used to stand here, looking out at the fishermen hauling in their catch. She watched their muscled arms work while she decided which of them she would win away from his wife that night...

The line appears in RAMPANT, and it's our first introduction to Annabel's ghost. :-)

While we were out and about in Fife I'd begun to learn about the history of witchcraft and persecution in the area, and that set its own wheels in motion for stories set in Fife. Annabel was a persecuted witch and she is the catalyst for everything that happens in RAMPANT. She is also featured in her own little introductory story, YIELD TO ME, which is a free online read at the Harlequin site. Annabel is the character I've had most feedback from readers about, and she is loved -- even though she was a bad girl and did wrong. ;-)

Since that first trip we've been back to Scotland several times and I always combine research time with leisure time. Edinburgh has a wealth of history in the galleries and museum collections, and each time we visit I see and learn something new. Because of my background in art history I always like to use primary sources where possible when writing (i.e. I'd rather study objects from the time, or a painting done during the actual period I'm writing about, than read a book about it) and there's so much extant history to see and learn about in the UK that I consider myself lucky to be able to get to it. At the National Museum of Scotland they have heaps of amazing artefacts from right across Scotland's history, including quite a collection of metalwork and wooden stocks from the witch trials. These are the grim gadgets that could force a confession from a total innocent wrongly accused, or perhaps a widow woman who knew how to use herbs to cure the odd ailment.

In the photo below you can see another set of thumbcrews with padlock and key, and iron branks with a gag - an item used by the Kirk particularly to silence women accused of gossip. Nice, huh?



Below, manacles and more thumbscrews - someone was having fun creating lots of various designs and ways to crush bones here. Often the accused were kept in these devices for days, without food, water, or sleep, to get the necessary.



Branks with a chain, below, also called "witches bridles." The jagged edge cuts into the skin on the neck to enforce a confession. Often times the cause of the accusation was something as simple as talking in one's sleep...



It's hard to take in how brutal these items are, and the fact that torture and pain were used to extract a "confession" which would then often result in death, but this was a harsh time where lack of knowledge bred fear and those in power could manipulate and use that fear.

I've included the photo below, although this particular item was used on enemies of the crown or government, not witches. Known as "The Maiden" it is a shocking and crude execution device. (No quick, sharp blades here, just heavy bludgeons!) For those accused of witchcraft the preferred means of execution was a public hanging, followed by burning of the dead body – just to be sure, I guess... Stoning and even more brutal deaths were reported, including one case where a woman was crushed to death beneath a house door, by fellow villagers who'd been convinced of her true nature by those who had extracted the confession.


The reason I'm giving a little smile in this photo? A school trip were fleeting through the exhibition while we were taking our photos and this one little lad was intent on chasing a pal, until he paused to look at what we were photographing and squealed loudly when he realised what it was. I couldn't help smiling so you've been spared the grim expression I had when first approaching the gruesome object.

I'm still learning about the legacy of persecution and there is much more to explore. Importantly, it's the element of secrecy that such trials might have brought about that characterises my fictional accounts of practicing pagan witches during those times. The foundation of paganism is belief in nature and its power. My editor felt that was what was appealing about my stories -- that the magic was covert, and its pagan origins led to convincing scenarios for a paranormal erotic world, a world that secretly existed beneath the ongoing fear and turmoil in Scotland throughout times of religious and political upheaval, the battles and subsequent union with England.

The fictional characters began to multiply in my imagination, each with their own tale to tell! My editor particularly loved Annabel's back story in RAMPANT, and went on to commission THE HARLOT, a novel that is set wholly in the early 1700's, where both the legacy of persecution and the nature of pagan sexmagic are further explored. THE HARLOT is due out in a couple of months. The heroine in that story is called Jessie Taskill, and she (along with her two siblings, Maisie and Lennox) witnessed their mother's execution for witchcraft when they were children. They were subsequently separated, but their inherited and learned powers thrived in secret, and as adults they each hope to seek each other out. Later this year I will be writing THE LIBERTINE (Lennox Taskill's story) and THE JEZEBEL (Maisie Taskill's story.)

In the meantime you can read a sample from THE HARLOT here. ARC's will be available for reviewers at Netgalley very soon!

It is a Dark Era, one when a lusty lass will do what she must to survive. Even if it means bartering flesh for a palmful of coins…

Forced to watch her mother burned at the stake and separated from her siblings in the aftermath, Jessie Taskill is similarly gifted, ripe with a powerful magic that must stay hidden. Until one night when she's accused by a rival, and Jessie finds herself behind prison walls with a roguish priest unlike any man of the cloth she has known.

In reality, Gregor Ramsay is as far from holy as the devil himself, but his promise of freedom in return for her services may be her salvation. Locked into a dubious agreement, Jessie resents his plan to have her seduce and ruin his lifelong enemy. But toying with Gregor's lust for her is enjoyable, and she agrees to be his pawn while secretly intending to use him just as he is using her.