Rituals & Runes Author Feature Posted on June 13, 2022 | by C.D. Gorri Authors of the Rituals and Runes Anthology would love for you to fall under the spell of our very special author interviews about the magical books included in our box set coming out in October 2022. Please join us for our talk with, Jude Cocaigne, who will talk about her upcoming book, Faeted Magic! Author: Jude Cocaigne Book: Faeted Magic R&R: Hello Jude. Thanks for agreeing to the interview. Tell the readers, why are you excited about them reading Faeted Magic? Jude: This story has been a wild ride from the beginning, and I can’t wait for people to meet my protagonists because they’re awesome, fun, and completely wacko! Seriously, I got stuck for weeks at the end of chapter five because I intended to go one way with them, and then Sarah did what she did, and that was it. They refused to talk to me or each other for weeks after that, and I had to come up with characters’ therapy to get them to play nice again! Also, Dublin. I mean, my inspiration for this story comes from my time living there, so the city is ever-present in all its magic and beauty, it’s a character in its own rights, and I hope I give it justice. So yeah, Faeted Magic is a story close to my heart and I’m really excited to share it with the world! R&R: Wow. Sounds like they threw you for a loop! A very exciting one I can’t wait to read. And why did you pick to write about Fae? Jude: Believe it or not, but I met a faun while living in Dublin! And a leprechaun! But that’s another story (literally, it’s going to be the sequel!). I love the Fae world and all its creatures, and I love Celtic folklore, so it was a no-brainer. My story would be about this Earth Witch going to Dublin to reconnect with her roots and meet Fae—well, she never intended to meet them really, let’s say they happened upon her, because that’s the way Fate works, right? R&R: Magical and romantic! Which fits right in with the anthology theme. Explain a bit about your main characters. What are their worst fears? Jude: Sarah’s got some serious abandonment issues. She’s lost everything and everyone she ever loved, so she’s not one to rush into emotional commitment, especially when the recipient of such commitment are creatures known to be players and serial lovers. But she also fears being alone, which prompts her to jump into promiscuous situations without a second thought. (I love paradoxes!) Liam’s worst fear is to fall in love for real. He’s afraid of what it could do to him to really love someone because he’s never known a day of love in his life. If he exposes himself to the feeling, he might just die for all he knows. In truth, he doesn’t think he’s worth being loved, so he hides behind his tough killer act and refuses to let feelings take the lead for fear they will not be reciprocated and his heart would shrivel from the rejection. It could happen, fauns’ hearts are very sensitive… R&R: You really hit it with making those characters face very tough but engaging situations. Paradoxes are fun and make me want to read your story! That was awesome to get to know their “dark” side, now tell us, what is special about your main characters? Jude: Sarah’s an Earth Witch freshly out of the Academy where she’s learned to control her powers, but she still has the potential to better them. Yet I don’t think that’s what makes her special. I believe that what truly sets her apart from your average witch is her resilience. She’s lost almost all her family (her great aunt’s her only remaining living relative…), she’s separated from her closest friends, and she’s alone in a foreign country even though she was born in it, yet she never gives up, she never quits, she lives to make her family proud, she’s strong and she believes in the beauty of life despite what life has thrown in her face from a very young age. But she’s not tough either, she’s still very much smiling and appreciating the beauties of the world around her, she trusts people despite having been burnt countless times. Her resilience will help her do great things in the end. Liam is a special soul. I mean come on, he’s hired to kill Sarah in the prologue, but all he can think of is to have fun with her first, which leads to, you know, feelings… How special is that?? I love how sweet his heart turns out to be because of what he is. His faunness makes him intrinsically horny (pun intended) and that’s what leads to all the adventure and fun and mess happening in the story. It’s a superpower on its own! R&R: Now you really have me wanting to read this story! On that, if you met your characters, what would you say to them? Jude: BEHAVE NOW! No, really. I’ve been meeting with them regularly and I always have to keep them in line! But when this is all over, I’ll tell them I’m proud of them for how far they’ve come, and to keep up the good work for the next books! R&R: But it’s so much more fun when the characters misbehave and it fits right into our theme of breaking the rules! LOL! Tell us a bit about yourself, what do you do when you are not writing? Jude: A lot, too much, I don’t know where to begin! I’m the mom of one adorable and lively little girl of 4 that I keep at home part-time (she goes to daycare the rest of the time and will start school in August), I also work part-time as a specialist administrator in a renowned university and as an editor and translator. I play video games to unwind, I read, of course, I take care of my hubby when he’s sick, I draw, play the guitar, sing, and last but not least, I dream up the next stories I’m going to write! R&R: You do sound busy but also like those are rewarding activities. What books do you have coming out that are not involved in the anthology? Jude: Book 3 of my Gods of Ze World series called Summers in Hell is coming out this year, followed by book 4, presently called A Tale of How True Magic Works (truth be told, it’s been called like this for years, I don’t think it’s going to change anytime soon…). It’s a lower YA Fantasy series full of adventures and epicness centered around the deities and magical concepts of my world. On the steamy UF/PNR front though (I juggle both caps!), I should be publishing a Shifter RH soon, so stay tuned! R&R: Books in totally different genres—one sounds fun and fascinating, and the other should be fun and steamy. Awesome! Let’s end with our bonus question but stick around for her blurb, excerpt, bio, and where to find her. Would you rather drink coffee or tea? Jude: That’s a trick question! I drink both! I’m a coffee-first-thing-in-the-morning person, but an afternoon-and-evening tea kind of gal too! R&R: LOL! Best answer ever! Thanks again and read on for more goodies below. Blurb: Unearthing her witchy roots might cost Sarah her life… unless she surrenders her heart to the faun who wants her dead. Sarah Wolf’s back in Dublin after learning to be a good Earth Witch abroad. But her plans to reconnect with her last living relative take a dangerous turn when she falls for the handsome local faun. Liam O’Cuill’s out to kill the witch, but he’ll have some fun with her first. He’s a faun after all! The problem is, she’s a tough nut to crack, and that makes her even more irresistible. Their fates entwine in an unlikely match, heightening their powers and putting the faun in more danger than ever of falling for the enemy. But he’s on a mission, and his boss expects fast results. If Liam fails to deliver, he will face a punishment worse than death. Either way, Sarah ends up dead… Unless she kills him first. Excerpt: I’ve been here less than a week, but I already feel at home. When I get up in the morning, Auntie Kill makes sure I have enough crumpets and scones to fill my belly for an entire day. And she makes the best tea, strong enough but not too bitter, with a cloud of milk and just enough sugar that the sweetness lingers on the palate. Oh, and don’t get me started on the jams. Plum, fig, strawberry and raspberry jams from the fruit growing in her wonderful garden, and marmalade to die for. This is heaven! I don’t like to spend the day in here though. The house is fraught with my great aunt’s energy, and while it behaves when she’s present, lulled by the love she has for me, it doesn’t appreciate an outsider’s company when she’s away. That’s one perk of Air Magic. You can leave your energy to fend for your house; it works better than a guard dog. So, every morning, I leave the house with a book and go to the park. That’s my ritual for the time being. Ever since leaving the Academy, New Orleans, my friends and all my bearings, I’ve been prone to anxiety attacks. I thought I’d gotten over all that crap after the years of therapy, but apparently, going into the world as a grown-up woman strikes as bad a chord as losing everything in my head. Grown-up woman, my ass. I feel as frail and stupid as when I was a kid. Not frail. I’m not fragile, never have been. But I’m not comfortable in new situations, and if I’m being honest, I’m still afraid everyone will abandon me. So, I don’t get too close to people, I keep to myself, and apart from the girls back at the Academy, who’ve had my back countless times and are just as much a part of me as I am of them, I prefer the company of books. Never has a book betrayed me, or dumped me, or died… I’m not stupid either, I’ve just been burned too often. Once bitten, twice shy, am I right? Rituals help me keep my head clear, and once I feel safe enough, I’ll explore and expand. But for now, I’m a neutered house cat: I don’t stray too far. Fairview Park it is. Author Bio: International author born in Switzerland of a Dutch mother and a Romanian father, I found my calling after binge reading all of Terry Pratchett’s work. Fantasy is my realm, with dashes of adventure, drops of romance, and a lot of epicness! My short story The Girl with the Red Hood is a retelling of The Company of Wolves by Angela Carter. Drawing on Carter’s original idea, but adding gruesome details and an even deeper twist, I unleashed my talents and my voice. The novel The Elf Girl and the Prince (which made #68 on the USA Today Bestseller list in October 2020 with the boxed set Once Upon Another World), is a dab at romance and fairy tales of another kind. It introduces Ze World, the planet on which the Gods of Ze World series take place. Book one and two, Godnapped! and Snooze or Lose, are already out, and book three, Summers in Hell, is in the works. Our world and its wonderful cities and countries are not left out, however, as they receive a fantastic treatment of their own in the form of Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romances and adventures of a steamier kind set in the various places I’ve lived in or loved visiting. Where To Find Her: Website: https://www.judecocaigne.com Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/gYvrOH Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/judecocaigneauthor Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jude_cocaigne/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jude_cocaigne TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@judecocaigne Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/jude-cocaigne Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/judecocaigne Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/judecocaigne Get more magical & paranormal-themed stories like this in Rituals & Runes! Universal: https://books2read.com/rituals Amazon: https://amzn.to/3oz9aGJ