Please join me in welcoming paranormal romance author Helen Scott Taylor!

As a child, when Helen didn’t pay attention her teachers accused her of being away with the fairies. Things haven’t changed much! Only now, the fairies are tall and sexy and they live in her stories rather than just in her head. Helen resides in South Western England near Plymouth with her husband, two teenagers, two Shih Tzus, and a cat who rules the household with a velvet paw. With the rocky cliffs of the Atlantic to the south and the windswept expanse of Dartmoor to the west, she loves to walk in the countryside while she plots her stories. She believes deep within everyone there’s a little magic.

Helen would love to hear from readers. You can find her at www.HelenScottTaylor.com.  

Symbols in Fiction

Symbol Definition: Something used for or regarded as representing something else; a material object representing something, often something immaterial; emblem, token, or sign. (Dictionary.com)

I’m fascinated by the charms and keepsakes people have. In our society, Jewelry such as wedding or engagement rings and lockets have special significance when given by a loved one. When we attach emotion to an item, it comes to symbolize those feeling and the relationship.

Concrete symbols that represent important events or relationships between characters often have huge meaning in fiction. Even items that have no intrinsic value can become significant when they indicate the characters’ feelings. Although I’ve long since forgotten the plot of the first of J.D. Robb’s In Death series, Naked In Death, I still remember that Roarke found a button from Eve’s jacket and kept in his pocket through much of the story. This demonstrated beautifully his interest in her without the author having to stress the point.

Symbols are often used in paranormal and fantasy stories, including romance. They can signify emotions, relationships, conflict, or other important elements of the story. Concrete symbols such as rings or swords are used to make an intangible concept tangible so the reader is given a focus to follow that element of the story.

I’ve used tokens and symbols in my Magic Knot fairies series. The Magic Knot itself is symbolic of the person who owns it. Each character of fairy blood has a Magic Knot consisting of three linked stone rings that hold the essence of their body, mind, and spirit. Lovers exchange Magic Knots placing the care of their essence in the hands of their loved one, demonstrating the ultimate in trust and connection. Divorce is not possible in my fairy world. Once lovers exchange Magic Knots, they are bonded with one another for life. That’s a long time when some of them are immortal.

In The Phoenix Charm, the heroine is a sensual water nymph whose power has been bound with Celtic symbols painted on her skin. When she finally removes the Celtic symbols near the end of the story and releases her true nature, it is symbolic of her acceptance of who she is.

Can you think of any symbols used in fiction that you found enhanced your experience of the story?

Thank you so much for being here today, Helen! I love both of these books, and one of the first things that drew me to them was your use of Celtic symbols. I’m a huge fan of anything Irish.

Remember, the winner of this week’s Magic Series contest will receive a signed copy of The Phoenix Charm along with all the other tote bag goodies!

Magic Series Contest Question of the Day!

Today’s Magic Series question comes to us from A Stroke of Magic:

Alice’s grandmother, Grandma Verda, has an interesting method for ranking men. She uses fruit. From Verda’s perspective, rank these fruit from highest to lowest: Orange, Lemon, Pear, Apple, Pomegranate. 

E-mail the correct answer to tracy@tracymadison.com with the subject line Magic Contest no later than Saturday, May 8, to be entered to win the awesome filled tote bag shown HERE! 

Be sure to leave a comment to be entered to win one of the five random giveaways for this week. Winners will be announced on Monday!

Are you creating a magic spell to enter to win the Grand Prize package? You can write the spell as a poem, as a short story, as a recipe, or any other way you’d like! E-mail tracy@tracymadison.com with the topic Magic Spell no later than May 28, 2010, to be entered!

Don’t Forget

Clairvoyant Mediaum Dakota Lawrence is my guest tomorrow!

The Novel Girls are celebrating Mother’s Day all month long! This week, we’re talking about our favorite fictional moms, so head on over and say hi!

A Breath of Magic is available NOW!  

Are you a superstitious person? Even if you’re not, there are likely some superstitions that you’ve heard all your life that have stuck with you. I know there are for me. So, what I did was write down the first five superstitions that came to mind, thinking that those might be the ones I’m most glued to. One of them isn’t so much a superstition as it is a custom, but I left it in because the basis of the custom is superstitious.

Here are those five and a few quick facts I could learn about them:

1. Knock on Wood: Have you ever knocked on wood for good luck? I have. Supposedly, this superstition comes from the belief that protective spirits lived in trees, so knocking on wood was sort of a way to get their attention. 
2. Breaking a Mirror is Bad Luck – Seven Years’ Worth!: I totally used to believe in this…um, maybe I still do a little. This superstition can be traced back to the Romans, who believed that mirrors held part of the user’s soul. So yeah, I can see how breaking one might be considered a bad thing. 
3. Four Leaf Clovers: Four leaf clovers are said to be good luck, and I know when I was a kid, I’d search through the clovers in our yard for one for hours. I found one every now and then, too! Now, I’m not sure where the actual basis of this superstition comes from, but in 1620, Sir John Melton wrote, “If a man walking in the fields find any four-leaved grass, he shall in a small while after find some good thing.” 
4. What about the custom to say “Gesundheit!” or “God bless you” after someone sneezes?: There are lots of possibilities for this custom, but I like this one: people used to believe your soul could escape from your body when you sneezed, leaving you vulnerable to evil spirits, so this blessing was used to help shield the person sneezing.   
5. It’s Bad Luck to Walk Under a Ladder: Okay, I’ve never really had the opportunity to walk under a ladder, and I honestly don’t think I’d be tempted even without this superstition, but I’ve certainly known about this superstition for…well, forever. This superstition comes from the fact that a leaning straight ladder forms a triangle, and therefore, the trinity. Long ago, for this reason, the act of walking under a ladder was considered bad luck. In early Christian times, doing so might have resulted in being named a witch.

Of course, as soon as I finished this list, another dozen popped into my head. “See a penny, pick it up & all the day you’ll have good luck,” black cats are bad luck, if your ears buzz/itch someone is talking about you, shivers/goose bumps mean “someone is walking over your grave” (yeah, and that’s creepy), if you drop a spoon or a fork you’re going to have unexpected company, lucky rabbit’s foot, etc.

But you tell me — what are some of your favorite superstitions? Are there any you adhere to? I know this, if I were to find a four leaf clover, I would definitely have that good-luck vibe going. And, um, if I broke a mirror, I might be a little nervous.

Magic Series Contest Question of the Day!

Today’s Magic Series question comes from A Taste of Magic:

Elizabeth’s grandmother, Grandma Verda, has an orange tabby cat. What is the cat’s name and who did she name the cat after?

E-mail the correct answer to tracy@tracymadison.com with the subject line Magic Contest no later than Saturday, May 1, to be entered to win that fantabalous filled tote bag shown HERE!

Be sure to leave a comment to be entered to win one of the five random giveaways for this week. Winners will be announced on Monday!

Are you creating a magic spell to enter to win the Grand Prize package? You can write the spell as a poem, as a short story, as a recipe, or any other way you’d like! E-mail tracy@tracymadison.com with the topic Magic Spell no later than May 28, 2010, to be entered!

Don’t Forget

The Novel Girls is celebrating the release of A Breath of Magic and I’m giving away ONE signed copy. Head on over and leave a comment to enter!

A Breath of Magic is available NOW!

EDITED TO ADD: Right now, Dorchester Publishing is offering 50 percent off of all their titles as a Mother’s Day promotion! AND because A Breath of Magic is their “Hot & New” buy this month for only $3.50, you can grab it for $1.75 plus shipping! Just use promo code “Mom10” during the checkout process! (Which is like step 3 of the order process, after you put in your payment information). Just go to www.dorchesterpub.com!

I love the word “quirks.” I like how it looks, I like how it sounds, and I just like saying it. Quirks. Quirky. See? It’s a fun little word. Beyond the oh-so-coolness of its actual phonetics, I also like what it means.

Quirk has several definitions, but the one I’m talking about today is:

A peculiarity of action, behavior, or personality; mannerism. 

Why do I love that so much? Because we all have them. Quirks. And your quirks are likely different than mine, and mine are likely different than my neighbor’s, and on it goes. I pay attention to quirks. They tell me a lot about a person, just as mine tell a lot about me. Here’s a random smattering of quirks from people I know (who will remain anonymous for the sake of my safety):

One of my friends…

• has a wild personality, writes erotica, will talk about ANYTHING (and I mean ANYTHING), but doesn’t like to be touched. But while she’ll happily converse with you about any topic (nothing is taboo), just don’t try to hug her. Or touch her. I mean, do not even think about laying a hand on her shoulder–for any reason! She just doesn’t like it. I’m a hugger by nature, so I’ve had to work really hard to remember this when I’m around her–but what I LOVE is the contradiction in character.

Another friend of mine…

• is happy to talk about anything, as well. But really only through emails or IMs. She hates the phone. Hates it with a passion, and while she’ll humor me and talk to me on the phone if I need her to–she’d really prefer if I just stuck to the IMs. Again, I like the contradiction. She’s one of the nicest women I’ve met, is an amazing friend, will do almost anything for people she cares about–but truly prefers to not chat on the phone.

Someone else in my life…

• is quirky as far as colors go. She’ll only wear certain colors, and out of those colors, only certain shades of that color. And trust me–there’s only a handful of truly acceptable shades and colors that fill her wardrobe. But on the other hand, the actual styles of her clothing run the gamut from understated and classy to the wildly outrageous. Another contradiction!

Finally, I have a very good male friend…

• who refuses to date any woman who’s name begins with an “S.” He’s never explained this to me, and I haven’t asked, but I have to assume he’s had very bad luck with women who have “S” names. Other than that, though, he’s pretty open to appearance, age, career, etc.  It’s just that “S” thing! I keep hoping he meets someone named Cindy, falls in love, and then discovers her name is actually “Sindy.” I know, I’m mean, huh?

I have my own quirks. Like, I refuse to watch a movie (even if it’s one I’ve seen a dozen times) from the middle. If I can’t see it from the beginning, I’m not watching it. Oh-I also hate, hate, hate sitting in a public place with my back to the room. I’m not sure where this came from, but if I can’t snag a chair by the wall, I’m uncomfortable the entire time. Drives some of my friends nuts when we go out to lunch or dinner!

Besides giving us an indicator of the person, quirks are interesting, fun, and often–downright funny. Heck, without quirks, we’d be kind of boring. All of us. Which is why I notice quirks and think about them when I’m creating my characters for my books.

My heroine, Elizabeth, in A Taste of Magic is a little quirky for sure. She has the unfortunate tendency to get stuck in interesting places, for one. But it’s her Grandma Verda who steals the show as far as quirkiness goes. She was a hoot to write and some of her quirks came from my great-grandmother Verda Jackson, so the fictional Verda is even more special to me. Let’s just say I had a blast writing her!

For fictional characters to feel real, they must have quirks. Oh, they don’t have to be anything wild or crazy…and sometimes, tiny mannerisms or actions, etc., are the strongest in characterization. But they need to have something that makes them become real to the readers. Quirks help us indentify with the characters in the books we read, they help us see them as real, live people, and that makes it easier for us to care about them.

So-if you feel like sharing, what are some of YOUR quirks? I’ve shown you mine, show me yours!