I first met Randi Cooley Wilson will looking for books on gargoyles. I love gargoyles and so does she. Over the course of the last year, we've corresponded several times via social media sharing thoughts and encouragement. I lament that she's now an east coast gal!! Randi has a unique story to tell with her characters. They are lively, sassy, smart...she can write the spicy stuff, too. Her Revelation series has acquired quite a following. I am one of them.  I man-crushed over Asher...I mean completely. Give me a glass of ice water please!!! If you haven't given her books a go round, I suggest you do. They would be great summer read. Now, it's time to meet Randi!!!!

1.      What is the first thing you remember writing that made you realize you were a writer/author?
To be honest, I’m still getting used to the idea that I am a published writer/author. My love for writing really picked up in college. I had to write a point-of-view paper freshman year in English Literature that sparked something inside of me.

 2.      What sparked your muse for your Revelation series? and can you give an juicy info on future projects you’re thinking about?
My muse for The Revelation Series stemmed from my combined love of John Milton’s Paradise Lost and my fondness for Gothic Architecture. One night after just having my daughter, I thought wouldn’t it be fun to put the two together. Each night I’d write snippets and dialogue elements. After a while, I realized I was actually writing The Revelation Series. After a few years, with encouragement, I sat down and wrote the entire series. Future projects are in the works! I have some New Adult Contemporary Romance novels I’ll be releasing, as well as, some spin off books from the Rev series. J

3.      Do you have any rituals when you’re writing?
Um…I guess I have few quirks you could deem ritual worthy. I don’t let anyone into my writing space because I am superstitious and believe it changes the energy – lol. On occasion, I’ve been known to wear these hideous jeans I’ve had since college during a ‘slump’. I drink a lot of coffee and tend to stare out the window a lot…does that count?

4.      What inspires your cover designs? Tell us everything you want us to know about it.
My covers are visual snippets of what each novel’s storyline is about. I have an amazing relationship with Bravebird Designs, who has designed every book (with the exception of Revelation). They completely understand the story and visually are able to pull key elements of each book onto the covers. In addition, we’ve used tonal elements to show the series going from dark to light, which is a main theme throughout the series.

5.      I noticed you posted you like the Foo Fighters. What is it about their music you like?
(Laughs) It’s so true. I am huge Foo fan. First and foremost, I’m a rock and roll girl to the core. I love lyrics that have poetry and deep emotion to them, which I find a lot in their songs. My favorite Foo song is I Should Have Known from their Wasting Light album. It’s actually what I listened to in order to write the ending of Redemption (book #3) and much of Revolution (book #4).

6.      What fascinates you about life?
People. I’m one of those creepy people who can hang out at Starbucks with a coffee and just people watch. I am fascinated about what makes someone tick, their psyche. Why they’ve chosen the paths and reasons for their actions. I enjoy watching and studying human interaction.

 7.      Why do you write?
It’s like breathing for me. I write because, for me, it’s a creative outlet that like reading, allows me to escape. It’s hard to say where it stems from writing is just part of me.

8.      If you could bring ONE character to life from any of your novels, who would it be? What would you talk about? Why that character?
Ack! This is like asking me to pick a ‘favorite’ child. I’m quite fascinated with Sorceress Lunette, so, perhaps her. She’s airy, flighty and at the core extremely astute. I find her fascinating. As for what we’d talk about, if you’re familiar with her character, you know that no matter what the topic of conversation, you are bound to be on twelve different topics before the discussion ends. It’s what is so charming about Lunette. You never know what will come out of her mouth.

9.      If you could only read one book over and over again stranded on a desert island, which book would you choose? Why?
If I had to chose, it would be Sylvain Reynard’s Gabriel’s Inferno. Well, if I’m stuck on a desert island, who better than a sexy professor to be with me?

 10.  At the end of all days, what do you think is the only thing that’s real?
That you’ve loved and have been loved. In whatever form that looks like, so long as you’ve experienced it once in your life.

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© Janell Rhiannon 2016
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Imagine a love that is forbidden to you by design, yet you need it like you need air to breathe. Could you resist the temptation? Would you be willing to suffer the consequences, when it crumbles through your fingers...because these kinds of passions burn hot and quick, consuming themselves and everything in its path. 

We all know we can't chose who we fall in love with...that on some level love whether it is a chemical connection, a visual smack in the head, or some other inexplicable phenomenon that takes us by the  short hairs and scatters us to the four winds we are slaves to it. When you fly so high, and burn so fast it's easy to forget yourself and the life you lifted off from in order to soar with the wings of the phoenix. And forbidden love, the love you need so badly that you are willing to betray all to hold for a moment...well, that's the kind of love for the ages. Burning hot, bright and fast...At some point we land on back on Earth and must pick up the pieces, putting some semblance of the life we used to know back together. 

This kind of love burns us to the core. It changes us forever. There is never truly a way to go back to the status quo...the stain of it lingering as ash and dust in our mouth, haunting us with what might have been and what will never be. 

Iseo and Celestino burn bright in BIRTH...book one of the Livingstone Saga. Will Celestino obey the required oath written in the Codex of Gargoyles, or betray everyone to follow his own desires?

Available at Amazon and soon everywhere else...
 

In Book One of the Livingstone Saga: Birth, Iseo and Celestino share a very passionate kiss. It's just a "kiss"...so no reason for concern because kisses are innocent...or are they? You can steal a kiss, take a kiss, blow a kiss, kiss back, or just peck a kiss. But, I have been thinking a lot about kisses, and not because it was just Valentine's Day (which I celebrated solo style in the company of two dogs and one cat). This is what I thought about: kisses are probably the most dangerous thing of all. The simple act of leaning in, pressing lips to lips is how the very first line is crossed. It's the line that separates the safety of where you are with the excitment of the unknown and where you're going. A kiss is the doorway to passion. A kiss is the first truly intimate thing that lovers do, and the one thing they notice first when it's missing-in-action. Consider this painting by Gustav Klimt entitled, what else? The Kiss.

It's a magnificent painting. The embrace and the cloak exude passion, ignition, and all that glitters in the sparkling shower of love. This piece was recently featured in the movie This Means War starring Reese Witherspoon and the sexy Tom Hardy. Check out this KISS montage by  Mira. I think her selection shows exactly what I'm talking about.

A KISS is when you begin to give in...to everything. It is hard to stop, to pull back the emotional tidal wave once  it starts to crest over your body, mind and soul. The kiss is the beginning of the end for many of our favorite fictional characters, meaning they fall head over heels...to their utter joy or destruction.

Remember when Carrie kissed Aiden in Sex in the City 2? If Mr. Big hadn't called off the wedding in the first movie, I think he might have walked off and said forget it at that point. But, I'm pretty sure, the cancelled wedding and "the kiss" were never brought up again...a "kiss" trumped being jilted. Think about it. And Carrie did pull away...it could easily have gone the other way, as it usually does. 

Which brings me to my characters, Iseo and Celestino. A girl and a gargoyle...they are forbidden from loving each other, yet they do. And they share a KISS...

"Celestino waited until he felt her reach toward him. It was a slight movement on her part, but it was all the permission he required. Without taking his eyes from hers, he allowed his mouth to descend. Gentle at first, he tasted wine and honey on her lips. “You are the nectar of God and earth,” he spoke so close to her that she felt each word as his lips brushed against hers."

You'll have to read they rest in the book one of The Livingstone Saga: Birth. This kiss lasts about two pages...it's sexy, sweet, and you'll have to decide how innocent it really is... (re-posted from previous site).

Click on the picture for a 360 view of Finis Terrae, or the End of the Earth as the Romans called it. When the Romans controlled Espana (or Spain) this pile of rocks was believed to be the very edge of the earth, and beyond the visible horizon lay the entrance to the after world. In medieval times, that morphed into the "Gates of Hell." Today, as in medieval times, Finis Terrae is the final destination of many Catholic pilgrims. They begin from various spots in Europe and walk miles and miles on the famous Camino de Santiago (Road of Saint James). I thought it would be fun for you  to stand where Iseo and Celestino stood hundreds of years ago, looking out to the horizon and the very Gates of Hell.

FROM THE FINIS TERRAE CHAPTER 
"Celestino came up close behind her, close enough she could feel the tension between their bodies. Beneath them pilgrims built fires on the beach. They stripped their clothes and threw them in the fire before running into the cold, welcoming waves. He leaned his head down to her ear and whispered, “Pilgrims have no modesty.” He then whispered down the side of her neck, “I am your pilgrim.” As she shivered, he stepped back and stood watching the sun as it prepared to tuck itself behind the line of ocean and sky. “We should be returning to the inn.” 

Iseo barely heard what he had said, as her knees still shook and her heart pounded loudly in her ears. For a man not versed in love or romance, Celestino plucked every string of her heart. As they walked back, with the sun behind them, the grayness of evening shrouded them in their own world. Celestino reached for her hand. She let him take it, and for a precious brief moment, they walked as lovers under the peeking stars at the end of the world."   (Re-posted from a previous blog).

The history of Iseo and Celestino begins in the famous Cathedral in Santiago, Spain. The city's roots stretch far into Spain's Celtic and Roman past. After the apostle James the Greater was beheaded, his body was taken back to Santiago, Spain. This connection to Saint James is what made the first Romanesque chapel (that was burned down by the Moor al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir) and the current cathedral (completed in 1129 AD) so famous. Santiago is located in the northwestern region of Spain about 20 miles from the sea. It is one of the most famous pilgrimage destinations in Europe. Here, at Santiago de Compostela, this where Iseo first studied the art of carving livingstone, and where she "birthed" Celestino under the moonlight, as recorded in chapter one. For almost three hundred years, gargoyles had been carved at this sight. Primarily because the "Devil's Quarry" was relatively close by. To this day, the exact location of the quarry, where pockets of livingstone were known to exist, has remained a tightly guarded secret. There are subtle reminders left behind in the construction that speak to the sacred mission of the Makers (creators of gargoyles) and the raging battle between Heaven and Hell. The Portico de Gloria is the primary architectural feature that holds clues of the hidden history. Primarily, there are the numerous relief sculptures of Saint James himself and the Apocalypse. The representation of demons and beasts in the portico represents how glory triumphs over evil, and is a clue that gargoyles lived in this cathedral. This includes, the demons on tympanum of the left door (arch over the door). There is a very strong correlation between the depiction of demons on churches, and the little known livingstone workshops. (re-posted from original site).