I'm blogging at The Popculturedivas

Join me at The Popculturedivas for Re-launch -- New Cover, New Title -- Vampires, Saints and Lovers.

A to Z Blog Challenge - T

Welcome to Day 20 of the  A to Z Blog Challenge. Today:

T

is for

Tanwen

Tanwen is the main female character in my Dark Ages vampire novel, SAINT SANGUINUS. 

The daughter of the local chieftain, she was betrothed to warrior Peredur until he fell to a spear upon the battlefield.

For today's post, meet Tanwen in this excerpt:

Tanwen clapped both hands over her mouth. Her shaky breathing filled the hut as she realized Peredur truly lay at her father’s front door.

                “Tanwen,” he whispered. He regained his feet then reached a hand to her. “Come away.”

She looked back toward her sisters, at her brother curled by the fire, at her parents under the covers. So odd that none had awakened. Plucking a cloak from a peg on the wall, Tanwen wrapped it about herself, pushing aside the door flap to stride outside into the cold night.

                Her Peredur swept her up in his arms, running easily for a spell until he brought them far into the woods and out of the numbing wind. She clung to him, marveling at his solidness.

                How it hurt to be separated as he set her down on an overturned tree. He knelt before her on the thin powdering of snow. Tanwen clutched the woolen cloak tightly, her breath frosting white in the air between them.

                “I was told...” she tried. Reaching forward to touch his cheek, a part of her recoiled at the whisper of death she found there.

                Her beloved brought his hand up to cover hers. “Here I am,” he said at last.

                “But Cynfelyn,” she said. “He saw you fall. To a spear.”

                Peredur looked away.

                “How did you survive it?” she said, a tinge of fear underneath her words. She pulled her hand back, away from his face.

                “I didn’t,” he said simply, lifting his head to look her straight in the eye.

What could he mean? He was right here, solid and in front of her.

                “I did fall to a spear.” He lifted his tunic but there was no scar from the wound. His flesh was white as a corpse. She covered her mouth with her hand, but the shriek of pure panic escaped her.

                “I am no longer a man, Tanwen.”

                 Tears poured down her face. Why stop them?

                “I did not survive that battle. Cynfelyn was right to tell you what he did. I am no longer the Peredur who grew up here in this village.”

                “Why have you taken me here?” she asked, noticing the remoteness surrounding them as if for the first time.

                “I wanted to tell you I love you.”

                What he had never actually said to her in his life as an ordinary man, he said to her now as if that would help their plight. It just made her angry.

                “Why did you go off to fight, Peredur?” She no longer felt the need to hide her pain at being second-best after the adventure of war.

                He looked away from her. “I wanted to make a proper home. For you.”

                Tears dripped from her nose and chin. He held his arms out and she fell into them. It felt good to sob, Peredur caressing her hair, nuzzling her face.

                “I was visited upon the battlefield as I lay dying,” he said at last. “My curses brought him, Tanwen. I knew I’d never get a chance to do what we’re doing right now.” He could barely form the words. “So I cursed God.”

                She pushed back from his embrace. “What are you saying, Peredur?” An unbearable pit of dread formed in her chest.

                “I cursed Him as I lay dying,” he said. “I should have prayed and asked for forgiveness, but I didn’t.”

                “What do you mean?”

                “I am doomed.”

                “Doomed? What do you mean?” she asked, hearing the lunatic edge to her voice. “Tell me!” She let go of him, and the loss of him even for a moment took her breath away.

                He sat down heavily, seeming faint all of a sudden. “I live by drinking the living blood of people, Tanwen.” He bared his teeth, exposing two long fangs like wolf’s teeth.

                She couldn’t stop her gasp that seemed to pierce him. “I use them to get to the blood,” he said, a look of despair clouding his beautiful face. “I must feed soon. I must leave you or I will feed upon your family. And I won’t be able to stop myself.”

Copyright - Julia Phillips Smith - 2011

I'm guest blogging at Roxanne's Realm

Join me at Roxanne's Realm where I share the inspiration for my two main characters from SAINT SANGUINUS, Welsh warrior Peredur and his beloved, Tanwen the chieftain's daughter.


Be careful what you wish for


Both characters should have heeded that advice.


Roxanne has included an excerpt from Tanwen's point of view, as well.

Six Sentence Sunday - 6

Writers are encouraged to post six sentences from a work-in-progress or published piece. Sign into the Linky at Six Sentence Sunday, and visit other SSS participants.


This snippet from SAINT SANGUINUS takes place when Cavan, the son of the village wise woman was a boy of thirteen.


Here he watches as a spell launched against his rival--Peredur, future warrior for their 6th century Welsh village--shoots off in an unexpected direction.

~~~~~~~~

The sword master took his time and methodically drew a bloody pattern in his young student’s skin. When Tanwen finally arrived with her brother, dismay marred her features. I don’t know why that angered me, but it did.

It almost distracted me from the show Peredur performed so beautifully, his fellow students flinching in unison with every turn of the knife blade.

Peredur knelt there for a moment once it was over, breathless and shaking as the sword master rose and turned away.

Eventually Peredur pushed himself up, turned and quickly wiped his face as Owen walked toward the bench--this I hadn’t predicted at all.

Six Sentence Sunday - 2

Writers are encouraged to post six sentences from a work-in-progress or published piece. Sign into the Linky at Six Sentence Sunday, and visit other SSS participants.

Last week we were introduced to Dark Ages Welsh warrior Peredur, the hero of my debut vampire novel, SAINT SANGUINUS.

This week we meet Tanwen, the woman whose name was on his lips as he lay wounded on the battlefield.

After the wise woman purchases a ring from a peddler, her son Cavan returns the ring to Tanwen. Everyone in the village knows it belonged to Peredur.

~~~~~~~~

New tears began.

“I can’t,” she said.

Cavan pressed his mouth like a kiss near her ear. “Yes, you can,” he whispered.

Tanwen squeezed the ring in her hand until the edges bit. She took a deep breath, nodded and covered the rest of the space between herself and her home.

I'm being interviewed at the Romance Bandits - Scroll down for 5 on Friday - Set 101

Please join me for a rollicking good time over at the Romance Bandits, where I'm being interviewed by Anna Campbell, regency noir romance author extraordinaire.









Travis at Trav's Thoughts invites everyone to lay down a short set of music that takes their fancies for his 5 on Friday meme.

For my first set of the new year, I'd like to dedicate these tunes to my kick-ass main character, Tanwen, the Dark Ages Welsh chieftain's daughter who not only discovers her betrothed perished on the battlefield, but that her father expects her to marry another.

Let's just say Tanwen isn't the kind of daughter to take this news well...

1 - These Boots Are Made For Walkin' - Nancy Sinatra



2 - One Way or Another - Blondie



3 - Weapons - Carole Pope and Rough Trade



4 - Supervixen - Garbage



5 - God is a DJ - Pink



You can read about Tanwen in my debut novel, SAINT SANGUINUS.

5 on Friday - Set 80

Travis at Trav's Thoughts invites everyone to lay down a short set of music that takes their fancies for his 5 on Friday meme.

Before we get to the music -

May I present to you my second book trailer for my work-in-progress, Saint Sanguinus:



~~~~~~Roll Credits~~~~~~~

Tanwen - Stevie Cooper

Bearer of bad news - Scott Baker

Vampire Lord - Brad Smith

Producer - Tara MacDonald

Writer/Director - Julia Phillips Smith

Director of Photography - Luke Hudgins

Production Assistant - Caroline Ruyle

Picture/Sound Editor & Special Effects - Doug Woods

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

For this week's 5 on Friday, let's take a journey through Tanwen's character arc. Tanwen is the woman featured in the book trailer. She's the main female character in my Dark Ages vampire story.

I put together a previous set for Tanwen - you can check it out by CLICKING HERE.

1 - Paint it Black - The Rolling Stones

She begins the story in this mind frame.



2 - The Hand That Feeds - Nine Inch Nails

She soon realizes she's clashing with just about everyone in her family and her village.



3 - What Have You Done - Within Temptation

She makes a decision which has immense repercussions.

The clips featured in this video are from one of my favorite films, Day Watch / Dnevnoy dozor. If you're into urban paranormal stories and don't mind Russian subtitles, this is the film for you.



4 - Hyper Music - Muse

These are Tanwen's feelings about an unrequited love figure.



5 - Achilles Last Stand - Led Zeppelin

This is where Tanwen finds herself by the end of the story. Update on where I'm at with my manuscript requests: About to turn over the two partials for a final read-through. Then, they're off to see the Wizard.

Poetry Train Monday - 95 - God Knew Her Pledge

Today's found poem comes from my vampire WIP, featuring a Dark Ages Welsh warrior named Peredur. This poem introduces Tanwen, Peredur's betrothed. She waits for her warrior to return from the fighting against the raiding Irish - only to receive news she does not want to hear.

Ride the Poetry Train - click HERE.















God Knew Her Pledge


Fighter from Peredur’s war band
Stood with Father, talking
In a low voice
The two looked towards her

Tanwen’s pulse stopped

Mother stood near
Tanwen didn’t want her there
Didn’t want to hear words of comfort
Could not bear an embrace

That was not her beloved’s

Horrid shuddering started
Her teeth knocking together
Brother, sisters stared at her
One look in Father's eyes

And she knew

Tanwen turned, walked calmly from them all

Path before her shimmered
Tears balanced on lashes
She knew these dips, rises blind
Feet carried her to crag overlooking the bay

Dampness beaded her hair

Awash in tears, inside and out
Seeped unbroken stream
Thought her heart had broken
If she had a heart left to break

Sea birds glided between coast and surf
Crying out her anguish with their shrieks

Why?
Why love such a proud man?
Peredur never listened
She told him he was all she needed

He kept leaving her to fight

To win a name for himself, he’d said
So Father would agree to a match
Where did that leave her?
Betrothed to a corpse

Sobs punched their way through her chest at last

Curled into herself, clutched tight
With arms that could not stop the mourning
Could hear noises, wondered where they came from
Even as her throat ached from crying

She saw nothing except his green eyes
Felt nothing but the whisper of his breath
This couldn’t be real
He was too powerful

Too swift, too expert a fighter

To go down to a spear
The man was mistaken
Peredur was alive somewhere
He couldn’t be gone

Why did she totter on rocks
Slick with mist? Why did she want the
Pain in her chest to stop squeezing? Why
Wasn’t it Peredur arrived at her father’s door

To finally ask for her hand?

Wiping sleeve 'cross her face
Tanwen emerged from the darkness of shock
Felt a presence behind her
Tanwen paused as she turned

Cavan, son of village wise woman

Pale gray eyes gazed upon her
As though he knew
What lay screaming in her heart
Shaking her head, tears starting anew

“It can’t be! It can’t be true!”

Cavan gestured to boulder behind them
“Come and sit with me awhile.”
Cavan helped her to sit
Tanwen’s face felt pummeled

By so much crying

Where could tears come from
When she felt so numb inside?
Cavan turned object in his hand
Her gaze rested on a ring

The ring Peredur’s father had given him







“Where did you get that?”
“Peddler sold it to mother.
She held it in her hand
She saw it all before her.

Everything that happened."
Tanwen fought the urge to grab it
Cavan held it out, dropped it
Onto her outstretched palm

Metal touched her skin
She thought of the ring slipped
From Peredur’s cold hand
Reality ripped a gasp from her throat

Ring nearly tumbled onto scraggly brush

Cavan wrapped solid hands around hers
Ensuring her grip with his own
Tanwen sagged till forehead touched her wrists
If Cavan were not there she would pass out

Crying started again

She could not listen to it
As though
She were someone else
She would not hold her beloved’s ring

If he still lived

She never spoke her pledge of fidelity
Before the village
She’d said it often in her heart
God knew her pledge to be true

He knew that today she became a widow

- Julia Smith, 2009