It's my pleasure to welcome C.E. Laureano to Ink Dots today. C.E. Laureano has held many jobs—including professional marketer, small-business consultant, and martial arts instructor— but writer is by far her favorite. Her first novel, Five Days in Skye, was recently chosen as a double-finalist in the RWA’s 2014 RITA Awards. Oath of the Brotherhood marks her fantasy debut.
Oath of the Brotherhood ~ An island at the edge of the world. An ancient prophecy. A reclusive warrior brotherhood. When evil encroaches, who will find the faith to fight it?
To his clan, Conor Mac Nir is a disappointment—gifted with a harp, but hopeless with a sword. To the beautiful young healer Aine, he’s one whose gift calls out to her own . . . and captures her heart. To the reclusive warrior brotherhood called the Fíréin, he may be the answer to an ancient prophecy . . . if he can be trained to fight. Can Conor and Aine find their true path as an ancient evil engulfs the isle of Seare? Must Conor sacrifice everything he loves, even Aine, to follow the path God lays out before him?
C.E. Laureano says...
If I could explore anywhere in the world tomorrow, it would be...Maui. If you had’ve asked me this question a month ago, I would have said Ireland or Scotland or Italy, but we’ve had a very strange spring in Colorado, including a major May snowstorm. I’m thinking beaches and trade winds sound like just the thing! Plus, I was pregnant the only time we went to Maui, so I didn’t get to hike the Haleakala volcano. You've had too much snow and we Aussies have had the looonges summer ever. We're still in short sleeves and on June 1 it will be the first day of winter!
The best thing I did today is... play softball with my about-to-be-five year old. Who would have known the little kid has got a killer swing?
A secret pleasure of mine is... knitting. I know it’s completely out of character for this fantasy-writing, black belt girl, but I can’t bring myself to sit and do nothing after I’m done for the day. Plus, it’s my sure-fire method for breaking writer’s block. Oh, I love knitting breaks, too. Great for the author brain. :)
I wish I could relive the day when I... moved into our current house eight years ago. We’d just moved from Los Angeles to Denver, and we drove the moving van into our pitch black neighborhood at 2am. We made a bed on the floor and went to sleep without even exploring our new place. I still remember the excitement of waking up and realizing our house, the neighborhood, and the Colorado sunshine was even more beautiful than I remembered.
When I was a child I dreamed I would...be a dancer. I trained seriously in classical ballet until I was seventeen, when an injury put an end to my hopes for a professional career. (But I do still take classes from time to time.)
I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but... I’m a terrible housekeeper. No matter how hard I try, our house always looks like a wreck. I’d like to blame it on my two little men, but I wasn’t much better before the kids. I’d rather read or write than clean! I'm sure your readers are thankful the floors at your place are a little less swept when they're in the thick of you books.
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Thanks so much for being with us this week, C.E. I've heard great things about Five Days in Sky as well as Oath Of The Brotherhood.
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If you'd like to win a copy of Oath Of The Brotherhood, leave a comment below. Tell us if the weather's been a little topsy turvey in your part of the world. Have you had too much of something? Snow/Wind/Sun...? I'll announce the winner of Oath Of The Brotherhood on Friday.
Good luck and happy reading,
