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Life Is an Unknown Journey
A Prophecy Awakened follows a young woman who, on her eighteenth birthday, is given an old diary and sent through the veil on an unknown journey. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Before I outlined A Prophecy Awakened, I knew I wanted a main character who lived in a world with challenges and obstacles. I wanted her to have to fight for what she wanted and for what she didn’t. I wanted her to fail and I wanted her to succeed because most importantly I wanted her to show tremendous growth from her first to her last chapter. Life is an unknown journey. We all have stories and experiences that have forced us to get back up and that’s what I wanted for Charlotte. My desire for her was to experience “life” and for her readers to run alongside and cheer her on!
When creating Charlotte did you have a plan for development and character traits or did it grow organically as you were writing the story?
I think a little of both. I knew magically that Charlotte would have a special touch with nature and that overall her personality would be gentle. At times during my writing I found that if I veered away from her peacefulness it pulled away from the story and made my writing awkward, so I would delete and get back on track. It’s interesting how characters can let the author know when something just isn’t right for them.
In fantasy novels, it’s easy to get carried away by the magical powers of characters. How did you balance the use of supernatural powers?
My desire was not to create a world that was completely fictitious, but rather one that was partially grounded with settings and opportunities that were both tangible and relatable to the reader. Gifted people walk beside us every day, so I imagined a realm where the supernatural played a role in human society, allowing some of their previous human qualities to emerge while they maintained their hidden talents.
I hope the series continues in other books. If so, where will the story take readers?
YES! There will be a third book, the final in the Immortal Wounds series. It is titled, Ravenglass, and it is where the prophecy will unveil. Ravenglass is in the early stages of writing but I am anticipating a publishing date late 2025.
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Family. Destiny. Magic. Lore.
Forced to leave behind her only known family, on the night of her eighteenth birthday Charlotte Delgado flees through the invisible veil that has granted her safety since birth, with only an age-old diary to guide her. Given less than a day to read the four-hundred year-old tales scripted amongst its pages, she barely understands the predetermined path her ancestor writes of, let alone believes it.
However, despite the dangers the journal warns of—supernatural creatures that will hunt her along her journey—it’s the ominous twist of fate that surrounds the last bloodline witch in her family that fills Charlotte with the most fear.
Is she that witch or merely a pawn moving the prophecy forward?
Strength and Resiliency
Immortal Wounds follows a woman with magical abilities who travels back in time after witnessing her mother and husband’s death by a vampire claiming to be her father. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Well, I have to confess that Immortal Wounds began because I got a bad case of FOMO (fear of missing out!). One evening during my night writer’s group many of the authors had started new stories, all of them about vampires. I was currently writing a crime thriller but thought “Hey! I LOVE vampires too!” I am definitely a “Twihard”, a loyal follower of Anne Rice, and who doesn’t love Dracula! At the time, I was also hugely obsessed with the series, Outlander, which was my definite inspiration for time travel. I immediately filed the thriller away and began a new story.
History intrigues me, particularly the times of the witch trials in both Europe and America and the suppression of women. I also find fascinating the idea of supernatural abilities, and how fear can force a (logical) belief when there is no viable explanation. I immersed myself in books like The Discovery of Witches, Practical Magic, and Hester, along with several other fiction books that contained excerpts of real diary entries from women who were accused of witchcraft. Then having no idea what I was doing I took a deep breath and started writing a story that entangled bloodline witches with my most favorite supernatural creature, the vampire.
How long did it take you to imagine, draft, and write the world your characters live in?
Once I got started on Immortal Wounds I would say it took about two years from the first rough draft to publication. My imagination went crazy with my story idea, but it was actually a 75,000-word manuscript I wrote two years prior, under a different title, and whose plot points came to me in a dream that brought the world of Immortal Wounds to life. When I finished writing that earlier manuscript I realized that the story had ended, but yet the whole story had not been told. Being a new writer it took me a few weeks to figure out that what I needed to do was write was the beginning, Immortal Wounds.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Family, individual strength and resiliency, naivety, and fate were the most important themes I hoped to portray. I strongly believe that these themes impact real life and our response to situations within each of them is what makes us who we are.
What is the next book that you are working on and when can your fans expect it to be out?
Luckily for fans, there is no wait! A Prophecy Awakened, book two in the Immortal Wounds trilogy, was released June 13, 2024. And while it does pick up where Immortal Wounds left off, there are also some new (amazing) characters that take the reader through the middle part of the story.
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After witnessing the brutal deaths of her mother and husband, Isobel overhears a confession from one of the murderers, a ruthless vampire who claims to be her father. For fear that she and her unborn daughter’s death could come next, Isobel uses the only magic she possesses and summons a portal to take her two hundred years into the past to revisit an ancestor in Scotland who she believes may know the truth of her parentage. However, in her haste, Isobel lands in the wrong century. Before she realizes her mistake, she stumbles upon a family: a ferocious Highland warrior and his two sisters, one of whom is a witch with secrets of her own who instantly draws Isobel in.
Isobel could not have prepared herself for what she discovers during her stay: the vampire who claimed to be her father, alive three hundred years in the past! With the help of Meg, the youngest sibling, and Mariam, both women’s ancestor, Isobel finds herself belonging in a world she never dreamed of—one entangled with vampires and webbed with revenge, curses, and a prophecy that has dictated all of their lives for the last four hundred years. Did Isobel make an error in landing in the wrong time, or was it part of her destiny?
Immortal Wounds
Immortal Wounds emerges as Angie Barton’s masterful confluence of historical fiction, fantasy, and gothic mystery. She captivates with a narrative where history and magic converge with haunting results, smudging the boundaries between epochs. The novel plunges into a gripping ordeal as Isobel confronts the gruesome murders of her mother and husband. A startling revelation follows when a vampire, claiming to be her father, confesses to the crimes. Driven by desperation and the magic at her disposal, Isobel flees through time to unearth her origins, only to land in an era not her own.
Navigating through this alien century, Isobel peels back layers of her history, finding herself woven into a dire prophecy that has shaped destinies for ages. Angie Barton’s narrative prowess shines as she transports readers to a time rife with witch burnings and supernatural schemes. Every element of the setting contributes to an ambiance filled with suspense and enigma, turning each shadow into a repository of secrets. Barton’s fusion of immediate danger with timeless conflict ensnares readers, propelled by twists that keep them perched on the brink of revelation.
Character development is rich; every figure is imbued with intricate motives and emotions, rendering them both authentic and engaging. The historical backdrop not only enriches the tale’s fantastical elements but also reflects the grim realities of past persecutions, mirroring modern themes of injustice and societal fears. Witch burnings become a grim metaphor for the perils of ignorance, while the seamlessly woven supernatural facets like time travel and prophecy amplify the narrative’s resonance.
Approaching its finale, Barton skillfully resolves crucial conflicts yet hints at more to come, hinting at a sequel that many will await with keen interest. Immortal Wounds transcends the typical vampire story, offering a deep exploration of human endurance, the tangled skein of fate, and the ceaseless potency of familial bonds and love. It stands as a compelling recommendation for readers of historical fantasy and those seeking a narrative that reverberates beyond the last page.
Pages: 317 | ASIN : B0D9XTF25K
LITERARY TITAN 