Tirza Schaefer's Blog, page 11

The Bookish Oracle

WELCOME TO THE BOOKISH ORACLE, my new weekend feature for the week ahead. There is a section for authors and one for readers. If you would like some guidance and enjoy some spiritual inspiration to combine your reading, writing and esoteric interests, you're in the right place! Here is the reading for the week ahead with much love. Tirza xxx

Having trouble creating a mood or having to digest what you’ve just written? Find a colour that has the feel of the scene. When you have found it, feel into it. Find the words to describe the colour, the mood.

Then start writing (or “digesting”). You will find that this can be very helpful. The visual artistically talented my want to create a mood board in the colour(s) you have chosen with pictures that represent the scene and characters.

Next, listen to your characters. Really listen. Don’t pull the strings but sit back, observe, listen and feel what they are feeling. How do they talk, express themselves, how is their body language? How do they view the world? BECOME your characters.

And then write when you really, truly understand them. This is also a great exercise for those who love to plan and work with the logical side of their brain mainly. Let go of it, go by your intuition. Let it guide you and move your hand or fingers when you’re writing/typing. Trust in the process.

If you are a reader, why not decide which colour represents how you feel right now? Then go through your pile of TBRs or book recommendations and pick a book whose cover is dominant in that colour. You may want to get it as an audiobook because this week, listening is a big thing. But it also means, listening to the characters you’re reading or hearing about. Really listen. How and why do they speak and act the way they do?

Try to see and understand the world from their point of view without judgement. How do the characters and the story make you feel? Use your intuition to follow your inner guidance about what touches you and explore why.

Decks used in order of appearance, all by Toni Carmine Solerno:

1. The Magdalene Oracle Deck

2. Universal Love Oracle Deck

3. Angels, Gods and Goddesses Oracle

Check out the oracle card decks I use for my readings ,here or click on any of the oracle card pictures above.

Books are from my series The Milf Diaries, book 1 Izzy and book 2 Ria. (More to come.)

See the luscious green of the basil plant on the cover of Izzy and the colourful spotlights on Ria's cover?

For your personal reading, visit my ,services page and choose the option you prefer most.

Tirza's Teasers: Her Badass Bikers 2

It didn’t take long to make himself come. And when he did, he roared and swore and had to restrain himself to not rip the sink off the wall. By the time he emerged from the bathroom, his two friends stared at him with open mouths.

“Fucking hell, you were worse than Jax when he first came out of jail. What the hell happened?” Snubbs gasped.

“Nothing happened. I told her she needs to talk to Jax and that was it. We went to the beach, talked and then I took her home and came back here.”

“She that hot?” Mace asked.

“She is Jax’ woman,” Liam barked at him. His voice had risen several notches in volume. “She is Jax’ woman and that is it. He is my bro. Nothing comes between us!”

“Oh shit, he has it bad,” Mace muttered.

“You could share her? We shared bitches before,” Snubbs suggested.

Liam grabbed him by the scruff and hauled him up from the couch.

“If you ever call her a bitch again, you won’t have teeth or tongue left to call her anything anymore after that. Do I make myself clear?”

“Abundantly. Calm down, man. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Well, watch your mouth then, for fuck’s sake!”

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Tirza's Teasers: Her Badass Bikers 1

He raised his hand to her cheek, cupped it and stroked his thumb over her soft skin.

“I’ve never stopped thinking of you.”

And then he lowered his head to kiss her. Ava’s eyes fluttered closed and her lips parted slightly. He kissed them softly, brushing his own over them lightly at first before pressing his over hers and allowing his tongue to dart out and lick at her upper lip just a little. She moaned into his mouth and moved forward, trying to press herself against him.

“Jax,” she whispered and fisted a handful of his t-shirt in her hand.

He gave a low growl and kissed her more urgently, deepening their kiss. Their tongues started to dance, lash out at each other, and then he found himself on top of her in the sand, dry humping between her legs. He was so hard, he had blue balls by now and he was dying to get inside her. Ava was the woman of his dreams, always had been. He had fantasised about her endlessly during lonely nights in prison, jerking off to the memories of her delicate flesh, soft skin, her smell of peach and vanilla.

“I want you, baby. I need to have you.”

His phone rang.

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Tirza's Teasers: Ria 1 (The Milf Diaries #2)

So here I was, looking for a special kind of screwdriver and finding myself face-to-face with a god in the flesh. And all that comes out of my mouth is, “Excuse me, I need to screw.”

His eyes widen and I slap my hands over my mouth.

“I need to find a screwdriver,” I quickly qualify from behind my hands.

The god looks like he is trying to hide a wide smirk and only manages to downsize it to a small but all the more sexy one. It looks like it’s an insider joke he’s so amused about. I want the earth to open up and swallow me. But I stand transfixed. This man is nothing but a sight for sore eyes. And I can’t get past and the assistant I stopped to ask where to find the power screwdrivers told me to search in this aisle towards the end and look on the right. God is standing in my way. And I have become religious. Enlightened. Whatever I am, I stand there and can’t move, even if he did step aside.

“What kind of screwdriver do you need?” God asks me.

“A turbo power one,” I say. “And you stand in my way.”

I swear I didn’t mean to be rude. It came out all wrong. But he steps away, his face closing off.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs, walks past me and disappears around the corner.

I am so contrite, I have tears welling up in my eyes. I hurt this man and he isn’t really God. He’s got feelings, too. And I just hurt those feelings. And he is definitely not used to someone doing that, so he most likely doesn’t have a coping mechanism and feels it all the more acutely and painfully than an ordinary mortal would. And before I know it, I am running after him.

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Tirza's Teasers: Izzy 1 (The Milf Diaries #1)

Dad shrugged.

“You always had a thing for younger men since you passed the age of 35,” he observed.

How did my dad know? I hadn’t even admitted it to myself. And he had known for a decade and never said anything about it. I felt so embarrassed and lowered my head in shame. Some things you just didn’t want to discuss with your dad, no matter how good your relationship was.

“No one is judging you, cara. You only do that yourself. But maybe Dante or that other handyman are not necessarily the right choice for that. I can introduce you to some of our younger officers,” dad offered.

Earth, open up and swallow me! How desperate must my family think I was when my dad offered to pimp me out already?

“Actually, I came by to see Andrea. Is he in or on patrol?” I quickly changed the subject. “He helped us this morning and I wanted to bring him some donuts to say thank you. Dante was in tears because no one had ever stood up for him besides Shaunie. It really moved him. He is a good young man, dad. He really is.”

“I know, Izzy. It’s just, he needs to acclimatise and get his life in order now. He doesn’t need any complications and neither do you. Better if the boys take him out to a bar to have some fun without any strings, don’t you think?” Dad offered, bringing the subject right back to where I had wanted to stay clear of. Fuck!

Get Izzy (The Milf Diaries, Book 1) here!

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The Redeemed (2nd Prequel to The Light of Darkness) by Catrin Russell

,THE REDEEMED by ,Catrin Russell is the second prequel to THE LIGHT OF DARKNESS series, the first being one being ,THE RIGHTEOUS DAWN. I don’t read high fantasy very often but after I read ,FORGED BY BLOOD, the prequel to the A KINGDOM SCARRED series, I was hooked!

This second prequel of The Light of Darkness series by Catrin Russell starts ten years prior to the commencement of the series and ends at 6 years prior. There is one character that reappears from the first prequel, Righteous Dawn, which is the priest Ekelon who plays a relatively minor but pivotal part in this story (the same as he did in Righteous Dawn). He supports the main character Edric in his own development and influences his life choices.

The main character in this book is Edric who was bought as a child by the boss of a gang of thieves and mercenaries, Raven, who is a mean and cruel man who completely lacks compassion and empathy and is solely concerned with his own personal interests. He is a cruel leader and not shy of using violence against his own men. In fact, there is one character in his gang who regularly opens his mouth and gets beaten for it but never learns. This small pattern between them plays out in ever reoccurring certainty. As dark as these characters are, you find yourself smirking wryly from time to time at their little quirks.

I fell in love with Jaxon from the start. The young man is brave and not afraid to do what he can to save the priesthood he belongs to, as well as the other humans living under the protection of the clergy, and acts of his own volition. He has confidence, is intelligent and dedicated.

As grand and full of unforeseen twists this story is, it is greatly enriched by those small subplots and a love for details that really make even the small supporting characters leap off the page, teaming with life.

Edric himself is a youth of many opposites. He was raised a thief and throughout the book, it becomes more and more apparent that he has suffered a lot of abuse in his young life already. He commits crimes he is ordered to by his master Raven, yet has a twisted sense of righteousness and fairness at the same time when he reflects upon and questions his own actions before allocating all blame upon another.

There is another young man in the band of thieves who slowly tries to become friends with him, yet Edric won’t let anyone close easily. His feelings are torn between not trusting anyone because all he has ever known was abuse and wanting to be close to one person and trust in the goodness of one person’s heart. This inner turmoil is shown clearly in the following small scene:

Holding a knife to his neck, the familiar youngster would have looked mighty madcap was it not for a piece of metal he held in his other hand. Changing his course, Mason approached him "What are you up to?" he chirped, noting the locks scattered around the youth, and his now much shorter haircut."What does it look like I'm doing?” Edric shot back without so much as looking at him."Shaving poorly, but I thought I'd give you a chance to admit it."Gritting his teeth, Edric scowled at him. "Well, don't just stand there, show me how to do it then."

Edric is a character, rich in traits that often are at war with each other. He is not the clean-cut hero but a broken figure with a good heart underneath the many walls he has erected around himself. I will not spoiler the book by going into more details but I will say that this is a story of tragedy and heartbreak as well as hope and fortitude, it had me in tears and leaping for joy, of quiet contemplation and decisive action alike. A true little masterpiece, and one you should definitely not miss out on!

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Catrin Russell is a Fantasy and Romance author from northern Sweden. Her books are all written in English and are mainly part of the Epic and High Fantasy Genre. However, she does use influences from Dark Fantasy, and a touch of Fantasy Romance.

Growing up outside a small town, basically in the middle of nowhere, Catrin eventually moved to Stockholm, where she studied computer game development and design. Meeting her soon-to-become husband online, she lived outside of London for the best parts of a year, before finally settling down in Piteå, back in Sweden. Since then, three children and two dogs have joined the family.

With a background in design and holding a degree as a registered nurse, she writes novels in medieval settings, with plenty of action and romance. She often brings moral struggles, or highlights issues in society, into her writing. Another subject that is often highlighted is mental health.

Catrin also creates concept art, bringing her characters to life on the screen, and her own cover designs, much of which can be seen on her social media pages.

Righteous Dawn (The Light of Darkness 0.5) by Catrin Russell

,RIGHTEOUS DAWN by ,Catrin Russell is the first prequel to THE LIGHT OF DARKNESS series, the other one being ,THE REDEEMED. I don’t read high fantasy very often but after I read ,FORGED BY BLOOD, the prequel to the A KINGDOM SCARRED series, I was hooked!

As with the previous book I read, I read this one out loud to myself as well. As always when I relax and read a book, I sat in my favourite reading armchair with a hot tea, a candle burning by my side, and read this wonderful short, fast-paced story. And what an exciting story it was!

The first prequel to the series is set forty years prior to the start of the series and gives background information about the situation the characters find themselves in in the main series. This one starts with a young man, the neophyte of a priesthood who sets out to find the one man who can defend the clergy’s village from Bear demons who regularly attack humans in this region. However, finding this man who seems to be more of a myth than a real person, proves to be a challenging task and young Jaxon has to overcome many obstacles during his adventure.

I fell in love with Jaxon from the start. The young man is brave and not afraid to do what he can to save the priesthood he belongs to, as well as the other humans living under the protection of the clergy, and acts of his own volition. He has confidence, is intelligent and dedicated.

The world Russell builds is sketched out bit by bit, more being added as the story progresses, which is a great way of easing the reader into her fantasy world without info-dumping and overwhelming the reader from the start. Personally, I find this an especially good way of proceeding with fantasy stories where the entire world is created by the author’s imagination, other than with contemporary fiction with real-life locations, people and cultures. As a Goddess coach, I loved that the people in THE LIGHT OF DARKNESS series worship a benevolent Goddess that otherwise has some similarities with Christianity, including churches being the buildings where the Goddess is worshipped. It makes for an interesting and fascinating mix of the familiar and new twists, which I greatly enjoyed.

Another highlight that stood out to me was that Father Hampton, an older priest in possession of great powers, had given up hope that he would find anyone whom he could teach in the art of The Light. The mature man is wise and powerful, yet he also knows, how important it is to pass his knowledge and skills on. After years of searching for a single person he could teach, he has become jaded which doesn’t stop him, however, from hurrying to the rescue.

Ekelon heaved out a breath. “It is hard to explain, son. Believe me, I have tried to pass my knowledge on to others, but I am yet to be successful. As it happens, I suspect it is not Her powers flowing through me but my own. It is like a spiritual wildfire, released amidst my complete faith and trust in the Goddess.”

This also brings up the topic of magic, or spiritual powers, as they are called here. And although this series has magical creatures like demons and priests who have the talent of The Light, the characters do not use it all the time. It is not a universal go-to tool for every situation in life. Rather, the magic as it is defined by Russell is a part of a natural order that is not overshadowing nature but part of it. It is part of the story but it doesn’t dominate it and is not used overly much for shortcuts in the storyline. It is also linked to self-knowledge and the study of natural laws and can therefore not be conveniently abused by any dumbwit.

I like this very clever way of weaving magic into the story enchanting and unobtrusive. It has its moments but so have many events and people throughout the story. The magic is confined and specific and no snake oil cure-all. I cannot wait to discover more in the next books.

To tell you more would be to spoiler the book. However, be assured that there are many gems to be found, adventures to be had and pieces of information dropped that will have relevance in the following books of the series.

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Catrin Russell is a Fantasy and Romance author from northern Sweden. Her books are all written in English and are mainly part of the Epic and High Fantasy Genre. However, she does use influences from Dark Fantasy, and a touch of Fantasy Romance.

Growing up outside a small town, basically in the middle of nowhere, Catrin eventually moved to Stockholm, where she studied computer game development and design. Meeting her soon-to-become husband online, she lived outside of London for the best parts of a year, before finally settling down in Piteå, back in Sweden. Since then, three children and two dogs have joined the family.

With a background in design and holding a degree as a registered nurse, she writes novels in medieval settings, with plenty of action and romance. She often brings moral struggles, or highlights issues in society, into her writing. Another subject that is often highlighted is mental health.

Catrin also creates concept art, bringing her characters to life on the screen, and her own cover designs, much of which can be seen on her social media pages.

Tirza's Teasers: Tank 1 (Seals in Spain #1)

Sarah danced closer, turned her head while standing with her back to him, her feet drumming a staccato on the floor, stampeding like a horde of bulls shaking the ground as they ran by, her hips swaying from side to side as he finally encircled her waist with his strong arm. She shuddered with the passion that was coursing through her body, taking total possession of her mind and emotions.

Dom murmured something in Spanish into her ear and although she didn’t understand the words, she knew, he’d said something sexual from the tone of his voice. It sounded deep, husky, seductive, like a promise of pleasures untold. Her legs nearly melted beneath her and she leaned back against his powerful chest, closing her eyes for a moment.

It was only then the catcalls and whistles pierced her mind and slammed into her consciousness.

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Tirza's Teasers: A Little Slice of Heaven 1

“I want my mum,” Damon complained and pouted.

This made everyone burst out laughing. When the noise had died down, Bone threw the fruit through the room, gifting each man a piece. Two were left and they ate them in companionable silence. When they were done, Bone edged closer and lowered his voice.

“Look, I’ve been thinking,” he began.

“Yes, I want to marry you,” Damon grinned but Bone didn’t start laughing again, so it had to be something serious.

“Listen. Our contracts are up for renewal and I know you don’t feel it anymore, same as I. So I was thinking, why don’t we spend some time on the road, like we always wanted to, you know, get a couple of Harleys and go up the coast, clear our heads, meditate and shit and figure out what the hell we are supposed to do now.”

“You wanna meditate?” Damon grinned.

“Hey, that’s real good for you,” Bone said.

“So is yoga,” Damon grinned.

“Yes, it is,” Bone said.

Damon squinted.

“If you’re asking me for pink yoga pants for your birthday present, I’m gonna shove them up your ass!” he stated.

“Pink doesn’t suit me,” Bone remarked drily. “That’s more your colour.”

“Fuck you!”

They both chuckled again.

“Well, what do you think?” Bone asked.

“I say, I’m game, if you get me out of here,” Damon said with a groan. “If I have to stay here another day, I’m gonna go insane and shoot somebody.”

Bone grinned and reached into his jacket’s inside pocket, extracting a letter from it.

“Your official release papers,” he said.

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The Impaler's Wife by Autumn Bardot

The audiobook of ,The Impaler’s Wife by ,Autumn Bardot has been a delight to listen to. I have had the great fortune to savour this book in audio format and would like to first express my appreciation on the professionalism of the narrator, the great delivery and performance and what sounds to me – as someone not skilled in Eastern European languages – as probably a native or close to native pronunciation of names and words or phrases that were expressed in those languages.

I am not sure what I expected but this book exceeded all my expectations and preconceptions. To start out with, I have to say that I have not had any historical knowledge prior to reading this book of Prince Dracula whom I have only known of in the context of fictional vampire stories, originally penned by Bram Stoker.

I have been assured by my Romanian friend, none other than the amazing internationally renowned book blogger ,The Magic Book Corner, I asked for a recommendation on a historical novel on that wider area that the author has kept closely to historical facts in her narrative. The main characters of Vlad Dracula and his wife Ilona both go through an inner and outer transformation and development in an arc that is both relatable and impressive, in both their positive and negative personality traits, as is human nature in the face of violence, betrayal, war and infliction of pain and torture all being part of daily life.

Vlad Dracula was called “The Impaler” because he left entire fields full of impaled men, women and children. He had learned this form of torturous execution by the very person he had dedicated his life battling against, the cruel sultan he had been a captive of in his youth, and made an artform of it. Although this sounds very cruel, he has at the same time been a great scholar and a leader devoted to the wellbeing of his people.

When he meets Ilona, he is at first intended to marry her sister but he prefers the darker Ilona, both in colouring and in character. At this time, Ilona does not yet suspect the existence of this darker side of her nature herself, although we are given hints as clues to what is to come. At that time, she enjoys battling her wit against Dracula in light banter, trying to impress him. But as time goes on and she lives with this troubled and traumatised, also cruel and genius husband, she is schooled further in the arts of diplomacy and strategy but also through factors that include parts of her husband’s nature, the environment she constantly finds herself in, the people she is surrounded with, and her obsession with her husband’s sexuality and the pleasure it gives her.

She finds herself slowly stepping out of her comfort zone and thus, discovering and embracing her darker side. Their sexual practices, explicitly described, grow over time more into what would be in modern times classified as BDSM. This may also be the reason why some have nicknamed this book “50 Shades of Romania”, but however explicitly these scenes are described, they are not meant to sexually arouse the reader but serve to further impress upon him Ilona’s and Vlad’s relationship becoming closer, rawer, more honest and darker in their love, devotion and sexuality. These scenes are written with a view to character development and giving the reader an insight into the psychological aspects of Ilona and her husband and their relationship with each other, they are not designed to sexually arouse the reader as is the focus of explicit scenes in romance novels.

In this way, first driven by her fear to lose her husband’s interest, Ilona discovers her love for pain, power and punishment, both in terms of sexuality but also in dishing it out to other people. On the few occasions she exerts blatant verbal or physical violence against others, she finds pleasure in the deed and is almost surprised by it, yet embraces this aspect of her own character without much hesitation.

I have listened to probably most of the chapters twice. Not because I was confused and unable to follow the plot but because I was so moved by the beauty and eloquence of the narrative that I felt the need to revisit and savour it one more time. Throughout the book, the arc of Ilona’s character development, as well as that of her husband, are exceptionally outlined, deep in psychological details and cleverly written in the most singularly unique style that has given me pleasure, both in the language used, as well as the intricacies of the development of the plot and the characters. I absolutely loved it!

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About Autumn Bardot

Autumn Bardot is the author of stories about fearless women and dangerous passions. She writes historical fiction, historical erotica, and contemporary fantasy. Her 4-book urban fantasy series is written under the pen name LZ Marie.

Autumn is hosting two different workshops at the 2021 Historical Novel Society conference. She’s a regular on library panels, was a guest on several national podcasts, and has an article on writing erotica in booksbywomen.org.

She’s a wife, mom, grandma, and teacher. Because that doesn’t keep her busy enough, she has a YouTube channel and podcast for new writers with lots of writing tips, author tools, and inspiration.

Autumn writes best at home in her sunny Southern California backyard and while vacationing at the beach. She bakes great chocolate chip cookies, drinks too much coffee, buys too many shoes, and loves to write stories about courageous but flawed women who succeed despite the odds. And she always spices it with a healthy dollop of romance!