A faerie with a hat made of human skin and dripped with human blood?
Sold!!!
So the research on Redcaps commenced. It didn’t take me long after that to stumble across Robin Redcap and the tale of Hermitage Castle. To say I was fascinated would be putting it mildly. Who wouldn’t be drawn into an evil lord with his faithful familiar?
So the idea of Robin’s Cap started forming in this whacked out imagination of mine. A few weeks later, I had my first (and to this day, only) romantic horror about a couple on the rocks who go on a trip to Scotland in an attempt to save their relationship—or Graham is trying to save their relationship, Kat’s just trying to get through the week. LOL.
The story was accepted into the anthology and released in March 2008 with a group of other talented writers and their faerie tales.
Fast forward three years later, contract expires, rights revert and I’m left with a previously published story sitting on my hard drive. I can’t have that. So Robin’s Cap got a spanking new cover and I uploaded it onto Smashswords, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Are. Here the cover:
It took me awhile to find the pictures I wanted to use. Any other authors out there spend hours looking through pictures for covers? It’s a time suck, I tell ya.
But here is the blurb:
Tales of ancient evil surround Hermitage Castle. What happens when legend becomes reality?
Graham Parish and Kat Davis are about to find out.
What started as an attempt to save a relationship turns into a frantic fight to save their lives. Can love be rekindled when faced with certain death?
And a quick excerpt:
Kat wrapped her arms around her body. Dear Lord, it’d really happened. Some psycho had them trapped. They were going to die. Jason Voorhees or Freddy Krueger was hiding in the shadowy corners somewhere, or worse, some Scottish version of Michael Myers with his horrible white mask and crazy synthetic hair.
Would that be the last thing she ever saw? A grotesque mask and the reflective surface of a knife as it plunged towards her?
Fear twisted her stomach. Her gaze ran over the uneven walls, looking for a possible hiding place for their soon-to-be killer. “Graham, what are we going to do?”
The shuffling of his feet answered her. She felt the heat of his body against her back before his strong arms embraced her. He pulled her to him. Turning, she rested her cheek on his chest, hugging him tightly in need of his comfort.
“I’m not sure,” he answered, “but we’ll find a way out. I promise.” His hold loosened as he stepped back. “Why don’t you sit down while I take a look around?”
She shook her head. Sit down? Was he crazy? “Uh-uh. You’re not getting away from me!”
His lips twitched at the corners, but his features remained serious. “I meant look around the room. I’m not letting you out of my sight, Kat.”
Her first instinct was to refuse his request, but her knees still quaked from her near-death experience. And there was the added horror of the threatening laughter. She shivered as she remembered the horrifying sound. Maybe a seat wouldn’t be a bad idea. One in a nice cozy corner where a masked murderer couldn’t come up behind her and slit her throat. It would give her an opportunity to gather her scattered emotions and prepare for escape.
Finding the perfect spot, she settled on the chilly floor, then pressed her back against the rough wall. The aged-worn corners of the stone chaffed her bare shoulders, but she was too exhausted to care. Leaning her head back, she closed her eyes.
A scurrying noise caught her ear, as if a rat frolicked on the landing above her. She snapped her head up, gaze drawn overhead. Every muscle in her body stiffened. She listened for the noise to repeat.
Moments passed. Nothing. Not even a rustle. With a sigh, she relaxed.
Don’t build things up in your head, Kat. All you’re doing is asking to leave this place with a head full of gray hair.
The thought hadn’t even left her mind when the scurrying issued again, only this time lower and louder.
Okay, a corner doesn’t feel too safe right now.
She jumped to her feet and whirled around, examining the wall. Directly above her, a face peered out of the shadows.
She screamed and stumbled backward. In her haste, her foot caught the seams of the stone floor. Her legs flew out from underneath her. Flailing her arms, she tried to catch her balance but failed. Her palms slapped against rock. Her backside contacted with the hard ground. A stabbing pain shot through her wrist. She hissed. Her ass felt as if her tailbone had been shoved to the top of her spine. Groaning, she rolled to her side.
“Kat?”
Too dazed to respond, she opted to lie on the ground. In seconds, Graham was by her side. His arms slipped beneath her shoulder. He helped her sit up.
“Are you okay? What the hell happened?”
“They glowed.”
“What glowed?”
“Eyes...red, evil eyes.”
I'd like to give away a couple of copies. So leave a comment and I'll throw your name into the pot.
Thanks for letting me share!!
Esme
www.esmereldabishop.com (I apologize for the state of my website. I'm remodeling:)
You can find the short story at the following locations:
Amazon
2 comments:
Good luck with the re-release! This was a good book when it came out a few years back and I'm sure you'll get new fans now. It's always fun to see how different authors twist the same legends. I want to get me some of that fairy dust!
Scary!! Congratulations on the re-release!!
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