The Pen Review & Interview with Miriam Newman

I love faeries and I love, love so, this story was for me. Those who enjoyed Confessions of a Cleaning Lady will be pleased to know this was the follow up story of the faeries. Although, it’s a follow up this story can be read alone. Stupid Cupid is an enchanting tale that lets us believe love and magic are still possible. This is a story that one must pick up not only for Valentine’s Day, but for everyday.

Blurb:

When the son of Zeus and Aphrodite bumbles into a meadow south of Killarney, he is met by a band of indignant faeries outraged by his target practice. Soon, however, all the supernatural creatures are overshadowed by an estranged couple intent on fisticuffs! Can Cupid effect a reconciliation between the humans? Or is just a wee bit of intervention by the Fae in order?

Excerpt:

“You, Fat Boy.”

Such an insulting tone from a faerie could only come from one with Vixen blood. Burlap took on the enemy.

“That’s Cupidon to you,” Cupid lisped in his irritating falsetto. “What do you want, Vix?”

“Yourself out of here. This is our meadow.”

“But my day is about to be observed. I have leave to pursue humans where I may.”

“Not from us.”

“This is a crucial time and those two seem to be in need.”

“Well, we’re sick of your bloody arrows and we want you out.”

“Take it up with my father,” Cupid yawned. “Right now I need a nap. That woman moves faster than fire from the sky.”

It was a none-too-subtle reminder that Zeus had fathered him and had dominion over the skies. Having been dislodged from one tree home by bolts from the heavens, the band had no wish to repeat the experience. Even Burlap was silent as Cupid took wing, fluttering in his usual lackadaisical manner into the fringe of woods. No doubt he would find the most comfortable roost well padded with moss or even a human tree house—he loved those—and pass the evening in comfort while the faeries picked his arrows out of their meadow.

“It was only the one.” Violet, ever the peacemaker, located Cupid’s projectile. “That’s not too bad.”

“Not yet,” Burlap groused. “But wait till all the young lovers start coming down here. They do, you know, every spring. Just like the salmon, spawning upstream. He’ll have his pick then.”

“But for now it’s too cold,” Blossom said authoritatively. “There won’t be much trouble yet.”

“Ye dinna call those two trouble?” Heather-Bloom snorted. “Rolling on the ground like hedgehogs in a fight?”

“Near as prickly,” Burlap agreed. “I give her the edge, though she’s smaller.”

“Weel, ye know what humans say,” Heather concurred. “Tisn’t the size of the dog in the fight, but the fight in the dog.”

“She’s got plenty,” Burlap said approvingly. She did admire moxie in whatever species.

“It’s none of our concern,” Blossom ruled, but she feared the band would ignore her. Living in forced proximity to humans for several seasons after they had been trapped in luggage and transported to a distant land, they had acquired a taste for gossip. Even now that they had been returned to their own fair Isle, the boundaries between human and Fae were growing ever more flimsy, in Blossom’s opinion. She feared for the future. This was but one more example. She sincerely hoped they had seen the last of the silver-haired man and his feisty mate.

Interview

Where are you from? Tell us a little about yourself! I loved the faeries and remember them from Confessions of Cleaning Lady! What inspires you to write? Do you find that your muse takes over when writing?

I was born in Bryn Mawr, PA, in the heart of the Philadelphia Main Line, and have lived in Pennsylvania most of my life. I attended George Washington University in Washington, D.C. But the lure of foxhunting and other horse-centered activities in Chester County, PA was too much! Those things took up most of my time when I was young, though I was always involved in writing and publishing poetry. Then I married a man with five children and worked in psychiatric social services for a total of 18 years. That kept me too busy for many other activities. When my husband died, I indulged a lifelong dream of going to Ireland and,returned with two fantasy historical novels completed. That was what kicked off my Muse and now she owns me.

Tell us a bit about Stupid Cupid. I have to say after reading Confessions I wished those faeries had their own tales. Will you plan to do more stories regarding the faeries?

Stupid Cupid is a spin-off from my first book, Confessions of the Cleaning Lady. In Confessions, a band of Irish faeries is accidentally transported in an airliner to the U.S. Pining and dying for their homeland, they are rescued by the one person able to see them–Shawna McCurdy, an impoverished young cleaning lady. For her kindness, the faeries reward her with “a good man.” And when Shawna overcomes her fears to follow that man to Ireland, the faeries go with her–smuggled aboard her carry-on!

In Stupid Cupid, the peace the faeries enjoy after their return to their home is short-lived. As Valentine’s Day approaches, their meadow is invaded by Cupid, carelessly loosing arrows in a hail of faerie-endangering fire. Worse yet, Alice and Liam Morrissey have chosen that place for meetings while they attempt to work out details of a distinctly non-amicable divorce. Beset by arrows and brawling humans, what’s a poor faerie to do? Work a bit of magic, of course.

What’s your formula for creating such great characters? Do you model them after people around you or do they have a bit of you in them?

Since the faeries seem to be acquiring their own little fan club, I do expect to be writing more about them. They have some interesting tales to tell. I suspect each of them represents an aspect of my personality.

Do you have any have any other works in progress that you want to share?

I have two works in production. Dancer-Dog is the true story of a pit bull that ate my house, a humorous tribute to a dear friend. Spirit Awakened is a fantasy historical about two people, isolated and emotionally wounded in a war-torn, pre-medieval land. It is one of my favorite manuscripts. I hope readers will enjoy the story of the reawakening of their spirits and that of their country.

What would be your advice to aspiring writers out there?

My advice to aspiring writers is pretty simple: keep writing. Even if you are not immediately accepted for publication, and few of us are, keep doing it. Each manuscript will teach you something you need to know on your journey.

What are your favorite books at the moment?

Right now I am reading King of Sword and Sky, Book III of C. L. Wilson’s amazing romantic fantasy series.

What is your favorite word? Least favorite?