Selkie's Song

Today's special guest is Clare Austin. Clare submitted her first manuscript to a publisher at the age of eight years. She wishes she still had that rejection letter.

Many years and not a few stories later, with characters knocking at the inside of her cranium and begging to be released, Clare’s romantic comedy, Butterfly, was published. There followed a suspenseful sequel, Angel’s Share, and Hot Flash, a women’s fiction/romance for mature women and the men who love them.

Clare lives in the beautiful Rocky Mountains and enjoys her horses, playing her violin, and traveling to Ireland every summer. 

ABOUT THE BOOK

They call her Selkie. Muireann O'Malley often felt she was born of the sea but refuses to let sentimentality stand in the way of her crusade to protect the shore she has wandered since a small child. A patch of West Clare, Ireland, and a derelict building are all that stand between the cliffs she loves and the callous grip of progress.

Tynan Sloane should be content with success, but a dream beckons. O'Fallon's Pub in historic downtown Boston is for sale and Tynan wants to make it his. An unexpected inheritance of land in the west of Ireland could provide the financing he needs. He doesn't expect his quick trip to sell the land to rekindle youthful passion.

 Fifteen years ago, they had an adolescent crush. Now disparate ambition and a legend as old as Ireland herself stand between them. Will love and myth collide to bring them together or tear them apart?

AN EXCERPT

The window was open and the breeze filled the

room with salty air. “It’s perfect, Mary.” Ty set his bag

down on the floor, his mandolin case on the bed, and

stepped to the window. He’d lived in Ireland most of

his life, but something about this place set the skin on

the back of his neck to prickle with unexpected

excitement.

Mary was puttering about, opening cupboards and

showing him where to hang his clothes, chatting to no

one in particular the whole time. “…and if ya happen

down to those cliffs—”

“What do you call them? Those cliffs to the west

there.” He pointed to a spectacular grassy paddock

dotted with sheep and bounded on the far side by a drop

of about five hundred feet.

“Ah, yes, now that headland is Ceann Na

Conghaile, Conneely’s Head.”

“I’m certain there’s a story behind that name.”

Tynan knew it wouldn’t take much probing to get the

whole tale from Mary. She was poised to give it—with

embellishments.

“True, oh, so true. Legend has it, long ago, the kin

of the Conneely were selkies.” She pointed, with a

slight tremor of her hand, for dramatic effect no doubt.

“A man needs to be cautious when he hears the selkie’s

song. I believe it’s not simply a tale, more than one man

has been lured from those cliffs…” She looked square

in his eyes and took a deep breath. “They can’t stop

themselves. Ah, it’s a tragic thing, it is.”

SPECIAL LINKS - AND A SPECIAL GIFT

Clare will be awarding a print (US only) or digital copies (international) of the first two books in the series, Butterfly and Angel's Share to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.
Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here:
http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/09/virtual-excerpt-tour-selkies-song-by.html

Website: www.clareaustin.com

Blog: http://clareaustin.wordpress.com/

Twitter: clareaustin@authorclare

Buy link for Kindle:  http://amzn.com/B00DNDK3MG