WIP it Real Good with UF author Stephanie Mirro + giveaway

Hi everyone! I’m so excited to share the first page of my newest short story, The Morrigan. This story received an Honorable Mention from the Ron L. Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Contest and will be published in an anthology this fall. It’s a Cinderella retelling with Irish mythology mixed in for a dark twist.

One of the reasons I love this story so much is that I sat down and wrote the first draft in 3 days while on Christmas vacation last year. Normally, I’m a bit more of a plotter, so to be able to completely “pants” a story like this kind of blew my mind. I have yet to do it again, though.

Be sure to follow me on social media for the release date of the anthology!

THE MORRIGAN 

In two days’ time, life as I knew it would end. It would be the day I had been both dreading and anxiously awaiting for the last five years—the day my stepmother would choose my husband. At best, I would regain a level of freedom I hadn’t experienced since before Father died. At worst, I would become even more a slave than I was today.

“You’ve missed a spot, Lo.” Margaret’s shrill voice interrupted my dark thoughts as I scrubbed the last of the stone floor in the great hall where the gathering would be held. “And another one. And another.” My stepsister’s words punctuated each muddy footprint she left behind on the floor I had just spent the last few hours scrubbing clean. As I sat back on my heels to survey her work, my knees aching, she laughed, throwing back her head of perfectly coiffed brown curls. So unlike my own, even on the best days.

Margaret looked down her hawk-like nose at me. I didn’t have the time or energy to express my anger, so instead I focused on her brown eyes, set too close together, and her lips that were too thin. I knew she wanted to be a beauty, and I knew she wasn’t. At least I wasn’t as daft as she was.

“I guess you’ll just have to do it all again. Better hurry before Mother sees what a mess you’ve made.” She hoisted her pastel skirts up enough for her to kick the bucket of dirty water over the floor. “Oops!”

Her footsteps and laughter receded out the door and down the hall. I’d like to say her behavior was unusual, that she was acting out because I would be married off before the other two—and with a substantial dowry, thanks to Father’s will—but such acts were a daily ritual in my life. As was her nickname for me, “Lo,” which she liked to say referred to my station in life as well as to my given name Eloise.

I wrung out the rag and did my best to sweep the spilled water back over the muddy floor.

I knew I should have barred the doors.

Her Majesty’s Fury (Immortal Relics  Book 2)       

by Stephanie Mirro
Oct. 24, 2019 
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Tannhauser Press
ISBN: 978-1945994487
ASIN: B07YJ6RNFZ
Number of pages: 311
Word Count: 74060
Cover Artist: TS95Studios
When you're working with the Roman god of chaos, things can always get worse.

Bacchae, the supernatural creatures that spawned vampire lore, are real. For the last several thousand years, they’ve kept to the shadows. UNTIL NOW.

When the worst and most powerful of the Bacchae murders someone she loves, graduate student Serafina Finch, now aided by the ancient god Bacchus, sets out on a journey in search of new allies. They must act quickly before Danae, the Bacchae witch claiming to be Queen, figures out a way to restore the Bacchae to their full powers.

Sera is hellbent on killing Danae before she devastates the mortal world, and it becomes a race against time when the queen reveals her own dark alliances. Sera thinks things can’t get any worse, but when you're working with the Roman god of chaos, things can always get worse.

“Bacchus created us in his image—chaos. And chaos is what we will give them.”

HER MAJESTY'S FURY is the second book in the Immortal Relics series, a New Adult Urban Fantasy adventure. Fans of Deborah Harkness, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Roman mythology will love this blend of magic, mayhem, and wry humor.

Book2Read Amazon BN 

Her Majesty's Fury
EXCERPT:
A few hours later, as sunlight started to drift up over the horizon, a soft scratching sound came from the back door. Renee was still sleeping, so Sera set her cup of coffee on the kitchen table before approaching the door. She pulled the blinds back. A small, dark-skinned boy, who might have been in his early teens, stared back at her.

She gave him a questioning look.

Let us in, let us in, or we’ll blow your house down, a snickering voice echoed around her head.

Who are you? she sent her thought back.

Ah! So the rumors of your Gift are true. Your canine friend talked of a fight? We’re in. She could almost see the grinning smile in the shadows of her mind.

You didn’t answer my question, she said.

I am Eshu. So matter-of-fact, so not what she was looking for.

Sera muttered under her breath. Damn gods.

About the Author:
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Stephanie Mirro's lifelong love of ancient mythology led to majoring in the Classics in college, which wasn't quite as much fun as writing her own mythology stories as she did as a child. But that education, combined with an overactive imagination and being an avid fantasy reader, resulted in a writing career.

Starting her days with coffee and ending them with wine means Stephanie can usually be found juggling household chores, keeping the kids alive, and trying to write, edit, publish, and market the stories that haunt her dreams.

Born and raised in Southern Arizona, Stephanie now resides in Northern Virginia with her husband, two kids, and two furbabies. This thing called “seasons” is still magical.

Tour Giveaway 

1 $20 Amazon Gift Card