Tales of the Egyptian Gods - Warrior of the Nile

VS sez: One from the Archives! I just released a new book set in Ancient Egypt, MAGIC OF THE NILE, and thought I'd revisit a previous book, which is a standalone story set in ancient times...(post revised a bit  to update!)

Here were snippets from three of the reviews at the time the book came out:

RT Book Reviews: "4 Stars...HOT...you're in for the most romantic desert story since Elizabeth Taylor's Cleopatra. Khenet and Tiya are realistically resigned to their joined fates and the distrust-turned-love will make hearts clench." October 2013

Night Owl Romance Reviews: Top Pick  5 Stars "...another awesome read by  the wonderful storyteller Veronica Scott."

KIRKUS REVIEWS: "...Scott's ancient Egyptian milieu should pique the interest of historical-romance readers looking for a story set outside the usual scenery..."

 If you read my posts here regularly on the 13th of the month, you know how much I love all things having to do with life along the Nile, untold centuries ago.

(Yes, I did kinda get hung up on using "Nile" in my titles, I'll freely admit. Carina Press decided to add "Gods of Egypt" for some variety I think, LOL.)

Here's the story for Warrior:

Egypt, 1500 BCE

Lady Tiya is bound to the service of the goddess Nephthys, who plans to sacrifice Tiya’s body to protect Egypt from an ancient terror. She embarks to meet her grim fate alone but for the hardened warrior Khenet, who is fated to die at her side. Tiya’s dreams of love and family now seem impossible, and Khenet, who is the last of his line, knows his culture will die with him. Struggling with the high cost of Nephthys’s demands, both resolve to remain loyal.

Neither expects the passion that flowers when Tiya’s quiet courage and ethereal beauty meet Khenet’s firm strength and resolve. On a boat down the Nile, their two lonely souls find in each other a reason to live. But time is short and trust elusive.

Without the willing sacrifice of Tiya and Khenet, a great evil will return to Egypt. How could the gods demand their deaths when they’ve only just begun to live?

Here's a short excerpt from midway through Chapter One to tempt you a tiny bit. The scene takes place in the temple of the goddess Nephthys:

Khenet felt a breeze swirl around him emanating from the closed door. Glancing over his shoulder to look, he saw the pins holding the bolts on the door to the innermost sanctum slowly turning. As he watched, one fell to the floor with a crash, followed a moment later by the other. The door drifted open very slightly, light blazing through the narrow opening and at the sides.

            “The goddess is present,” said the high priest, clutching his staff so hard his knuckles went white. “Everyone is dismissed and may leave the inner sanctum, except for Lady Tiya and Pharaoh’s representative.”

            Tiya gave her relieved cousin a hasty kiss as the man who’d been holding her earlier rushed forward to remove the woman from the dais, carrying her out of the sanctum, followed by their family members. Tiya’s father came to brush a kiss on her cheek before rejoining his impatient young wife and her brother and they too left.  Khenet saw that while Tiya didn’t glance after them, she did hastily wipe away a tear.

            Murmuring prayers of praise and thanksgiving, the other priests filed out of the room.

            Going down the steps, he offered Tiya his help in leaving the dais. “Allow me.”

            She rested her fingers on his hand just long enough to keep her balance before snatching her hand back, wrapping her sheer, fringed shawl more closely around her. Preceding him up the stairs to the door of the innermost sanctum, Tiya held herself tall and dignified.

He restrained a sigh. If she’s as haughty and rude as all her kind, this will be a long journey. But the other would have driven me to distraction with her interminable weeping, should Nephthys have selected her.

The high priest regarded them solemnly. “We go to meet the goddess. Nephthys wishes to assess both her Daughter and the guardian.”

“I’m ready,” Khenet said, fists clenched.

Tiya just nodded.

Checking to see that everyone else had left the chamber before walking to the partially open doors, the priest flung the gilded panels wide open. Light streamed out and Khenet heard the buzzing of wasps, as if he was about to step into a hive of the angry creatures. Tiya shrank back a little, took a deep breath and followed the priest.

Not knowing what he expected, never having been in the innermost sanctum of a temple before, other than once as a boy to swear allegiance to Horus, Khenet sized up the room in a quick glance as he crossed the threshold. The room was dominated by a ten foot tall statue of the goddess, with her arms out to the sides, palms up, her proud face carved as if she was staring directly at anyone foolish enough to enter her domain. The sculptor had depicted Nephthys wearing a tightly fitting, pleated sheath and the entire statue had been covered in gold, which gleamed in the unearthly light the goddess herself was providing. A gleaming collar of turquoise, coral and lapis lay across the statue’s chest, matching earrings affixed to the shell-like ears. The strong scent of the lotus threatened to choke him

“The goddess is present,” whispered the priest, going to his knees, arms crossed over his chest, head down.

Tiya muttered a little prayer and knelt, copying the man’s pose. Khenet planted his feet well apart, in a fighter’s stance and stood. I’m here in Pharaoh’s place and he wouldn’t kneel to any goddess. Besides, I swear no fealty to Nephthys.

Amazon  for kindle and audiobook  Carina Press   AllRomance eBooks    Barnes & Noble

New Release MAGIC OF THE NILE!

When I wrote my first novel in the Gods of Egypt series for Carina Press, Priestess of the Nile, my wonderful Editor Alison kept asking to see more of the little sister, Tyema, who I think I barely mentioned in the early drafts. So I took Alison's sage advice and gave the girl a larger role in the events although that book is primarily about her older sister Merys and her romance with the Crocodile God Sobek.

Well thank goodness I listened to Alison because over time I kept thinking back to Tyema and where I'd left her at the end of Priestess and wondering how the rest of her life had gone. And what the lingering effects of the ordeal she suffers in Priestess might be...and then one day, I just knew - Tyema's story HAD to be the next one I wrote. I'm self publishing the series now, which is fun and challenging, and Magic of the Nile is my first direct sequel. The events in Magic take place approximately 15 years after the end of the earlier novel.

But now I'm already asking myself well, what happens to the Tyema's niece, Renebti....I foresee another sequel LOL.

Here's the story for Magic of the Nile:

After a childhood spent scorned and ignored by her family because of her crippled foot, Tyema was magically healed then installed as the High Priestess of his temple by Sobek the Crocodile God. But Tyema is still haunted by her memories, scarred by the abuse she endured. Despite Sobek’s protection, as an adult she’s become a near recluse inside the temple grounds…

Until Captain Sahure arrives in her remote town, sent from Thebes on an urgent mission for Pharaoh, requiring High Priestess Tyema’s help. From that moment on, her quiet, safe life is upended in ways she never could have expected.

But after a whirlwind romance with Sahure, the two part as Pharaoh orders him to undertake another assignment on Egypt’s dangerous frontier, far from Tyema’s remote town.

Heart-broken, Tyema is ready to return to her life of loneliness, official duties and, now, regret. But the Crocodile God has other plans for his priestess: she must uncover the sorcerer who threatens Pharaoh’s life with black magic. Soon enough, Tyema finds herself thrown into the chaos of Pharoah’s court, neck deep in intrigue and danger. Just when she thinks she can’t take the pressures of a very public court life and her secret investigation for the Crocodile God any longer, Sahure re-enters the scene.

But is her former love there to help or to hinder? Can they resolve their differences and work together to find the dark sorcerer who threatens Pharaoh and Egypt? Will the love between a proud warrior and a shy priestess lead them to a future together?

Available at Amazon  Barnes & Noble  All Romance eBooks  

From the Archives: Sobek The Crocodile God Answers Questions

VS sez: Pulled this from the archives to inspire myself, since I'm working on the sequel to this novel right now, in December 2013. The new book is MAGIC OF THE NILE, scheduled for a late January/early February release, and involves Tyema, the younger sister of Merys, who was the heroine of the PRIESTESS novella from Carina Press. Which was my first ever published story!

Over on my own blog, I love to answer series of questions from various magazines - hey, I may not be a celebrity but I can have fun with the answers too! I thought for this month's blog here I'd have Sobek the Crocodile God from my novella Priestess of the Nile  take a stab at a few of the questions from the Proust Questionnaire, used in various forms by various magazines and TV interview shows.

What's your idea of perfect happiness? Listening to Merys, my beloved, sing some of my favorite songs from the olden days of Egypt.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? I really had to struggle to understand human problems, to have empathy for their concerns.

What is your favorite journey? Traveling the length of the Nile, from the source in the mountains to the lush delta at the mouth. A beautiful river, giver of life to Egypt!

Which talent would you most like to have? To dance. I'm not light on my feet in human form, although I can move with lightning speed as a crocodile.

What's your favorite occupation? Other than spending time with Merys, I enjoy cleaning up the Nile after a major sandstorm, eliminating sand bars that prevent her waters from flowing freely to the fields. On the rare occasions that I have to protect Pharaoh from black magic attacks, now that's a satsifying day.

What is your most treasured possession? I really don't have or need possessions, being a god, but I can tell you the humans greatly desire my tears, which I rarely shed, but when I do, they become emeralds and are said to bring good fortune.

What is your most marked characteristic? (Sobek laughs.) Other than being able to turn into a thirty foot crocodile? Loyalty.

What words or phrases do you most overuse? Well, since we're in polite company here, I'll go with "Set's teeth", which I do often say!

What is the quality you like most in a man? Honor. Keeping his word once he's given his oath.

What do you value most in your friends? We've known each other for a long time - eons, since the creation of all things - and they'll always tell me when I'm making mistakes.

What is it you most dislike? People who lie. Both the world of the gods and the world of Ancient Egypt where I exist are based on the concept of ma'at - order, law, morality, justice. Lady Ma'at, the goddess who personifies these ideals, works continuously to prevent the universe from falling back into chaos. She was a very good friend to my beloved Merys and me at a critical moment, presenting the truth of an issue so strongly that even Isis couldn't deny the situation.

Do you have a favorite motto or quote? There's this from a harper's song: "Follow your heart as long as you live."  I did that when I fell in love with Merys.

VS sez Thank you, Sobek! Looking forward to seeing you again in the not too distant future...

PRIESTESS OF THE NILE is available  at Amazon Barnes & Noble Carina Press All Romance

The story:

Drawn to his abandoned temple on the banks of the Nile by an enchanting song, Sobek the Crocodile god is even more captivated by the sight of the singer herself. Appearing to her as a man, he learns she is Merys, a descendant of his last priestess. Though filled with lust, Sobek believes Merys deserves to be more than just his mistress. But the rules that govern the Egyptian pantheon forbid anything beyond a physical joining of a Great One and a human.

Merys is attracted to the handsome stranger, who arouses passions in her that no man ever has. But with no dowry and no hope of ever leaving her village, she dares not dream of the future—or love.

Sobek takes every opportunity to visit Merys, taxing his resolve to leave her pure. And when he saves her life, their mutual desire must be sated. But can a love between a human and an immortal survive the ultimate test of the gods?

Can a Statue Be Cursed? My Encounter

Photo Courtesy of ImTyUk 2013

I had said last month this was going to be my topic for July, so it was fortuitous that the 3000 year old statue of  Neb-Senu in the Manchester Museum started mysteriously turning in its display case every night. In the mornings the statue will be found with its back facing out, while the other statues on the same glass shelf haven't budged an inch. The statue rotates exactly 180 degrees each night and not an inch more. Speculation surrounds the fact that the back of the statue is inscribed with a request for bread, beer, oxen and fowl and has taken to turning around so people will see his demand. Maybe he's worked up quite an appetite in all those centuries?

Photo Courtesy ImTyUk 2013

I don't get any vibes from looking at photos of Neb-Senu. If he's cursed, he's pretty mild about it. I recently had a statue in my house - briefly - that seemed to be really something else.

Since I write paranormal romance books set in Ancient Egypt, I'm always on the lookout for what I call "Egyptiana" - replicas of Egyptian statues or jewelry, or items with Egyptian themes, ranging from vintage advertising to Disney snowglobes. I like to use the items as illustrations for blogs and sometimes as the topic of the blog post, as with my Dick & Liz Cleopatra and Mark Antony Paperdolls from the 1960's.  I can't afford the real stuff, which belongs in museums anyway!

Recently I bid for and won an unusual statue of the Crocodile God Sobek on eBay. There's no photo of it to share - sorry. The eBay photo is long gone and I never took even one shot with my camera. Before I tell you what happened the day the box arrived, let me preface the story with the fact that my family is of Irish descent and the women, including me, have a touch of the "sight." No, I can't pick lotto winners or tell your future, but from time to time I get "feelings" or outright psychic flashes and I absolutely pay attention to them.

So when the mailman delivered the box, I eagerly tore into the wrappings and soon was lifting the statue out onto the table. I couldn't put it down fast enough. My two cats left the room in a hurry. I had a definite sense of unease and foreboding. Now I love Sobek. He's become kind of a good luck charm for me, since my first published book, "Priestess of the Nile",  had him as the hero. I have a variety of representations of him. So it wasn't anything to do with the fact that this was the Crocodile God.

The statue was about 12" tall, in a black stone or resin and depicted an unusually cruel-looking Sobek, half man, crocodile headed, with a much smaller woman standing in front of him, classic Egyptian sculptural style. I have no reason to believe it was anything but a replica of a genuine artifact.

And it made me extremely uneasy. Gooseflesh uneasy. I didn't even take it into the room upstairs where I keep my collection, to think about it for a day or two. I did not want this statue moving upstairs. OK, I thought, I'll put it in the Goodwill box for now and then eventually I'll give it to them. As I went to place the statue in the box, it was almost as if someone standing next to me said don't keep the statue in the house at all, not even overnight. So I didn't. I put the thing outside, on the opposite side of the iron gate and in the morning I detoured on my way to the day job to put the statue in the nearest Goodwill collection spot less than a mile from home.

(My theory is that the charities do so much good that their blessings cancel out any less-than-benign influences, ok?)

I pondered this for a day or two and then I e mailed the eBay Seller to ask if there was anything unusual about the statue, or any history about it that he might be aware of. I made it clear I wasn't going to return it. He said that his wife and daughters were extremely "upset" by the statue, wouldn't let him keep it and insisted he sell it immediately! He said it never bothered him to look at it. And that was all the information there was to be had.

So,  dear Reader, what do you think?

Would You Have Dreamed of Being A Priestess of the Nile?

One year ago this month, my first book was published – a novella entitled PRIESTESS OF THE NILE from Carina Press. It was a dream come true for me and Carina has bought my next Ancient Egyptian paranormal romance, WARRIOR OF THE NILE (out in September 2013) and I’ve got the third novel submitted for consideration.  I thought in today’s post here at Paranormal Romantics I’d talk a little about Egyptian temples and share an excerpt from PRIESTESS, in honor of the anniversary.

Here’s the book’s blurb:

Egypt, 1500 BCE

Drawn to his abandoned temple on the banks of the Nile by an enchanting song, Sobek the Crocodile God is even more captivated by the sight of the singer herself. Appearing to her as a man, he learns she is Merys, a descendant of his last priestess. Though filled with lust, Sobek believes Merys deserves to be more than just his mistress. But the rules that govern the Egyptian pantheon forbid anything beyond a physical joining of a Great One and a human.

Merys is attracted to the handsome stranger, who arouses passions in her that no man ever has. But with no dowry and no hope of ever leaving her village, she dares not dream of the future—or love.

Sobek takes every opportunity to visit Merys, taxing his resolve to leave her pure. When he saves her life, their mutual desire must be sated. But can a love between a human and an immortal survive the ultimate test of the gods?

In my story Sobek’s temple has been abandoned by the local populace, usurped by the worship of other gods. Merys alone tries to keep the traditions alive, singing the songs and observing the rituals as best she can, in between her daily duties as a member of her father’s household. While a priest or priestess could have served part-time in Egypt, generally the job was a fulltime position with very involved daily duties.

Egyptian temples of the time had a statue of the deity in a sanctuary at the heart of the building. One couldn’t simply walk in and behold the god, but rather would have to pass through a series of ever smaller rooms and courtyards. The innermost sanctuary was typically sealed and dark but three times a day the priests would break the seal, bring candles into the room and go through a complicated series of rituals cleaning the statue, anointing it with precious oils, dressing it in fine garments and adding appropriate jewelry. Offerings of food and drink were also made.

These rituals allowed the priests to communicate with their deity through the senses, especially touch and smell. The incense in particular was felt to reach the god and appeal to him or her in ways that a human couldn’t, since scent is invisible.  Many of the ingredients used in Egyptian incense were believed to have come from the gods in the first place. Chanting and singing accompanied this three-times daily ritual, which is where I made the connection with Merys and her beautiful voice, trying to preserve at least part of the duty she felt was owed to Sobek as the region’s original godly protector.

Here’s an abridged fragment of such a chant:

The incense comes…the scent is over thee…the perfume of the goddess…it cleanses thee, it adorns thee, it makes its place upon thy two hands…

Here’s an excerpt from PRIESTESS OF THE NILE as Merys is explaining to the handsome stranger she’s just met about the abandoned temple. She has no idea the stranger is actually Sobek the Crocodile God.

…Merys gave him a wide smile. “This is my own secret place. Most people don’t want to come anywhere near the abandoned temple. They fear the wrath of the Crocodile God. But the women of my family were priestesses here until the temple closed. I don’t fear him.”

Bek craned his head to study the ruins on the bluff across the beach from where he sat. He was mildly curious now that she’d raised the topic. “What led to the temple’s abandonment?”

“Two generations ago the headman of the village died with no heirs and no clear successor. The nomarch who rules this territory finally sent in his own man.” Merys regarded the temple ruins for a moment, then sighed. “The new official favored the gods of his home city and cut off the tribute and the support to this temple. The new headman’s brother was a priest of

Horus.” She tilted her head and winked broadly at Bek. “The village has an impressive temple to Horus now.”

Bek threw back his head and guffawed. “So the Crocodile has been replaced by the Falcon. As if they were one and the same. Interchangeable. The Falcon wouldn’t enjoy hearing such news.”

Merys moved toward him, still dancing. “But in my maternal line we passed down the songs and the incantations.” She swept a hand to gesture at her feet. “The sacred dances.” She went on tiptoe and executed a series of graceful twirls coming across to him at the end. “I light the lamps in the god’s honor on the altar, every year on his Name Day. I keep the main sanctuary as clean as I can.”

“I’m sure your efforts are appreciated.” He tried to keep the smile off his face, biting his cheek.

The girl frowned at him and shook one finger. “The god protects us even now.” Her tone was cold, her eyes narrowed. “We have had only one ox and two cows seized by crocodiles in the past year, and no small children.” She furrowed her brow as some memory surfaced. “Well, one man was taken, but he was suspected of being a thief so no one mourned him. And the flooding of the Nile has been generous in bringing us fertile fields.”

If you're fond of stories set in a paranormal version of Ancient Egypt, here are the buy links for the book:

Amazon Barnes & Noble Carina Press All Romance

 Whatever your dreams might be, wishing you a very successful 2013!

 

Exciting News _Warrior of the Nile!

Wanted to share the news with Readers on this blog that Carina Press has acquired my next paranormal romance set in Ancient Egypt! WARRIOR OF THE NILE  will be published in September 2013 - I was so excited.  I'm hard at work on the next two adventures, so I hope  there are Readers out there who enjoy visiting the banks of the river Nile as much as I enjoy setting stories there LOL.

This is a connected series, with my Pharaoh at the center so while we don't see my characters from the first book PRIESTESS OF THE NILE in this novel, the story does find the goddess Isis definitely involved - Nepthys is her sister - and there are other supernatural influences at work as well.

Here's the unofficial blurb for WARRIOR:

The goddess Nepthys informs Pharaoh he must send his best warrior to accompany a young noblewoman on her journey to marry the ruler of an Egyptian province – a man who is experimenting in dangerous black magic. Nepthys plans to use the warrior and the lady to defeat the schemer but the successful outcome of the magical struggle will also mean their deaths. Khenet, the warrior, takes an oath to accomplish his mission, while secretly hoping to find another way to achieve what the goddess wants without either Lady Tiya or himself perishing. And of course it never crosses his mind how much Tiya will come to mean to him on their voyage down the Nile and across Egypt – he despises high born Court ladies. But even when his heart has become involved, can he trust her? Will they survive, while still saving Egypt?

I'll share more details with you as we get closer to the publication date....here's a short, unedited excerpt from Khenet the Warrior's first encounter with the goddess:

Not knowing what he expected, never having been in the innermost sanctum of a temple before, other than once as a boy to swear allegiance to Horus, Khenet sized up the room in a quick glance as he crossed the threshold. The room was dominated by a ten foot tall statue of the goddess, arms out to the sides, palms up, her proud face carved as if she was staring directly at anyone foolish enough to enter her domain. The sculptor had depicted Nephthys wearing a tightly fitting, pleated sheath and the entire statue had been covered in gold, which gleamed in the unearthly light. A gleaming collar of turquoise, coral and lapis lay across the statue’s chest, matching earrings affixed to the shell-like ears. The strong scent of the lotus threatened to choke him

“The goddess is present,” whispered the priest, going to his knees, arms crossed over his chest, head down.

Lady Tiya muttered a little prayer and knelt, copying the man’s pose.

Khenet planted his feet well apart, in a fighter’s stance and stood. I’m here in Pharaoh’s place and he wouldn’t kneel to any goddess. Besides, I swear no fealty to Nephthys.

“Humility and obeisance are safer choices in the presence of the Great Ones.” Where the statue had been, Nephthys herself now stood on the pedestal in front of them, taller than Khenet, wrapped in black robes and tendrils of gray mist. Black wig adorned with golden and emerald beads, the goddess was crowned with an ebony headdress proclaiming her name in one stark cartouche. Flickers of red shimmered in the air surrounding her, bringing the heat of the desert furnace to the chamber. His ears rang with a muted buzzing sound as if a hive full of wasps flew all around the small sanctuary. Nephthys pointed her index finger at him, two great, ruby rings on her hand winking like the fire she could summon at will.

“I’m here on behalf of Pharaoh, Great One.” Khenet felt sheer stubbornness sweep over him at her words.

             Nephthys surprised him, throwing her head back and laughing. “I see Nat-re-Akhte has chosen his representative well."

More to come in September!

Do you have a favorite Egyptian god or goddess you'd love to see in one of my novels?