A letter from Rhys, Druid hero of Silver Silence

Silver Silence, book 3 of my Druids of Avalon trilogy is in bookstores Tuesday Oct 27. I'm celebrating with excerpts, lost scenes, an interview and a week-long contest!

To enter, just comment on any post put up between Wed Oct 21 through Friday Oct 30. Two lucky readers will win autographed copies of both The Grail King and Deep Magic, as well as an autographed copy of Romantic Times BOOKReviews magazine November issue, featuring me on the cover!

Please consider including your email with your post so I can contact you quickly if you win! And if you don’t…check out more chances to win at www.joynash.com.

By the way, if you're planning on buying Silver Silence, I hope you'll consider picking it up close to the Oct 27 release day, as any book's opening week sales are the most important to an author's publisher.

Thanks and good luck to all!

And now, a letter from Rhys, the Druid hero of Silver Silence:

To the Once and Future Readers of my tale,

I left Avalon as a lad of fourteen winters.

It was not my choice. The sacred isle was my soul-home. It was there I learned the magic of the Goddess. The white mists cast by Cyric, my grandfather, hid my clan from its enemies. To my mind, there was no reason a Druid should venture into the outside world.

Cyric knew differently. My grandfather's visions showed him a time when the Light would fade from Britain, when war and chaos would threaten the survival of our people. Only on Avalon, hidden in the teachings of The Lady, could the Light survive long enough, grow strong enough, to influence that grim future.

But we were too few on Avalon. We needed children touched by Druid magic, to be trained as Keepers of the Light. It was my duty and my burden to search for those children. I vowed to bring them to Avalon, whatever the cost.

And so began my exile. I was little more than a child myself, carrying no more than the clothes on my back and a harp made by my own hands. Frightened almost beyond my wits. Terrified by every shadow on the road. The first winter storm nearly killed me. I'd wanted it to kill me.

And then came spring. And Breena.

She was a small child when I first saw her. Round and grubby, always smiling. When I looked at her in just the right way, the white Light sang about her head and shoulders. A happy child, well loved by her parents, who were far too trusting in offering a bed to a homeless Celt bard--even one so young as I. For I'd recognized, at first sight, Breena's rare magic. She belonged to Avalon. I would take her there.

Eleven years passed before I succeeded. Eleven long years during which I was a frequent guest in Breena's home. Her family welcomed me, never dreaming I was a viper in their midst. By the time she grew to womanhood, she was deeply embedded in my heart. I did not dare reveal my feelings. Her brother was my friend—he knew Breena, in her innocence, fancied herself in love with me. That she spun happily-ever-after fantasies in her dreams.

She was so young--in years and in experience. A child. I was a man grown, hardened by duty and eternal wandering. Avalon, populated by the Druids I'd plucked from every corner of Britain, was no longer my home. At last, Breena came to dwell on the sacred isle. She learned to master her magic. I was sure she would take a Druid mate. I was even more certain that man would not be me. I remain a wanderer. I will ever be.

And then Myrddin arrived, crashing into my time and my life on a tide of arrogance and forbidden deep magic. The wily old Druid snatched Breena from the very shadow of Avalon, and plunged her into a future of war and chaos…and a deadly Silver Silence.

I followed.

~Rhys

Excerpt #1 coming on Friday! All the best!

Joy

www.joynash.com