Author Larisa Walk

Hi all!

Please help me welcome Author Larisa Walk to my blog today!

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Larisa Walk, a native Russian, lives in California with her husband and two formerly homeless cats. She writes paranormal fiction that is more often than not populated by characters from the Russian fairy world. Her short fiction appeared in several anthologies and magazines. She has published a historic fantasy novel, A Handful of Earth, and a modern paranormal novel, A Witch Without Magic.

A Witch Without Magic

by Larisa Walk

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

When her neighbors accuse Belladonna of Satanism and making them age years to days, she must find who is behind it or face a modern day witch hunt. Her mysterious enemy knows where to strike to cause the most damage: Belladonna's only friend is losing his life-force; the garden that feeds her is dying; and her house ghost goes poltergeist. To save her neighbors and friends and prove her innocence, she must travel to the Otherworld where butterflies have razor wings and where her worst fears will come to life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCERPTS:

Excerpt One:

The mob on the other side of the wrought iron fence wore no tri-cornered hats or starched bonnets.  They didn’t brandish pitchforks or flaming torches.  Hell, they didn’t even bring a preacher to drive the Devil out.  Still, they had come to flush out a witch and the witch was me.

They were thirty all together, gathered outside my gate under the two California live oaks that shade the sidewalk in midday.  I had to squint into the still hot mid-October sun to study their unfamiliar faces.  The mob included several dwarves.  The youngest dwarf must have been in her forties, a tiny woman that for some reason wore a yellow, red and blue Snow White dress with an appliquéd picture of Snow White on the chest.  She didn’t look like a typical dwarf: no classically high forehead and her arms and legs were proportionate.  She was holding a fluffy purple teddy bear by a front paw and sucking her thumb.

In the sun my forehead sweated under the straw hat.  A mocking bird’s harsh chirrup burst from the oak on the right, piercing as a car horn.  I flinched.

I don’t much like or trust people in large groups - doing time in Greenville State Prison for Women had taught me that.  In prison the exercise yard is the most dangerous place to be: too many inmates in one area, too many chances to be stabbed with a shiv made from a sharpened toothbrush handle or from melted and hardened Styrofoam cups.

.

Excerpt Two:

The mob on the other side of the wrought iron fence wore no tri-cornered hats or starched bonnets.  They didn’t brandish pitchforks or flaming torches.  Hell, they didn’t even bring a preacher to drive the Devil out.  Still, they had come to flush out a witch and the witch was me.

They were thirty all together, gathered outside my gate under the two California live oaks that shade the sidewalk in midday.  I had to squint into the still hot mid-October sun to study their unfamiliar faces.  The mob included several dwarves.  The youngest dwarf must have been in her forties, a tiny woman that for some reason wore a yellow, red and blue Snow White dress with an appliquéd picture of Snow White on the chest.  She didn’t look like a typical dwarf: no classically high forehead and her arms and legs were proportionate.  She was holding a fluffy purple teddy bear by a front paw and sucking her thumb.

In the sun my forehead sweated under the straw hat.  A mocking bird’s harsh chirrup burst from the oak on the right, piercing as a car horn.  I flinched.

I don’t much like or trust people in large groups - doing time in Greenville State Prison for Women had taught me that.  In prison the exercise yard is the most dangerous place to be: too many inmates in one area, too many chances to be stabbed with a shiv made from a sharpened toothbrush handle or from melted and hardened Styrofoam cups.

Excerpt Three:

I tried to walk with an official swing in my step, clipboard under my right arm, the other arm at my side, desperately trying not to clutch at the fabric of my jumpsuit with a death grip.  Mice and rats darted in and out of bushes.  A large flock of crows cawed in the trees.  In one spot ants covered the sidewalk like spilled black pepper.  Dark magic was afoot and the vermin were drawn to it.

There were some kids with aged faces playing on the other side of the street.  I tried not to stare at them.  One kid, a boy of about seven, judging by his height, actually looked like he was in his eighties.  He seemed to have trouble breathing and had to stop often to rest.  My jaws ached and a sharp spike seemed to be embedded in my chest.  Goddess help me, but I couldn't blame their parents for hating me.  If I were in their place and thought I knew who was doing this to my kids, I'd go on a witch hunt, too.  I was lucky the cops didn't believe my neighbors that I was doing this awful life-draining stuff to them or I wouldn't have any protection.  I prayed hard that I'd find a way to stop the dark witch before anyone died from being too old at the age of seven.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Links:

See her quirky blog posts here: http://www.larisawalk.com

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/A-Witch-Without-Magic-ebook/dp/B009JGYOQM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363219858&sr=8-1&keywords=a+witch+without+magic+larisa+walk

Please thank Larisa for joining us today! Check out her websites and buy a book!

Keep Writing!

Jodie Pierce