In The Author Spotlight: Susan Laine of The Wheel Mysteries Series! (contest)

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Sparks & Drops (The Wheel Mysteries #1) and 

Devil’s Own (The Wheel Mysteries #2)

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The Wheel Mysteries by Susan Laine

Susan Laine is in the Author Spotlight today and she has brought along a contest to enter.  The winner can choose from either the first or second book in the series.  If the winner has read both, then they can choose a book from Susan Laine’s back shelf.  Just leave a comment and an email address where you can be reached.   Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.  Contest ends 8/27~

Wiccan Wheel & Murder Mysteries by Susan Laine

My name is Susan Laine. Iím the author of The Wheel Mysteries series which revolves around two men and their developing relationship as they get entangled in murder mysteries. Gus Goodwin is a laidback wiccan shopkeeper and Niall Valentine is a hardboiled private detective. Valentine is usually the reason he and Gus get involved in murder mysteries with occult themes. Where Valentine is a quiet, reserved ex-military man turned PI, Gus is a jovial, social entrepreneur and wiccan practitioner with a serious green thumb. Itís a case of opposites attract.

Wicca is a modern pagan religion, focusing on a balance between a mother goddess and a horned god. Their practices also center on magic and nature worship, notions of karma, morality and equality, ecological responsibilities and life-affirming rituals in moonlight (nudity is optional). Wicca is a pacifist faith with loose or non-existent priesthoods, as people can initiate and practice alone by themselves or become a member of a coven.

In Finland, wicca is not a registered religious community and has no official religion status, which makes it impossible for the practitioners to go to court when their rights are violated. I studied new religious movements at Helsinki University, so when I became a writer, I wanted to write something about wicca.

There are eight wiccan festivals, or sabbats, in a year that coincide with similar festivals in other religious and secular calendars: Samhain or Halloween, Yule or Christmas, Imbolc or Candlemas, Ostara or Easter, Beltane or May Day, Litha or Midsummer Festival, Lughnasadh or Lammas, and lastly Mabon which has no historical or modern equivalent. The cycle of these eight seasonal celebrations together forms the Wheel of the Year.

Each story in the series happens against the backdrop of one of these festivals. As such, this series will consist of eight stories in total. Two are out now Sparks & Drops, and Devilís Own and more are in the works. In Sparks & Drops, Gus and Valentine meet as Valentine gathers information from Gus about wicca due to a case involving a missing girl. In Devilís own, Niall investigates an attack on a classy married socialite by her husband, and things get complicated when the husband is found murdered inside a locked bedroom.

Thatís about it this time. Thank you all for accompanying me, and thank you kindly, Melanie, for having me here today 🙂

You can find Susan Laine on the internet:

• Dreamspinner Press: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/index.php?cPath=55_561
  The Wheel Mysteries: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/index.php?cPath=991
  Author Website: http://www.susan-laine-author.fi/
  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susan.laine.author
  Twitter: https://twitter.com/Laine_Susan
  Email: susan(DOT)laine(AT)hotmail(DOT)com

Thanks, Susan, for stopping by today and for the great contest prizes!  Don’t forget to leave a comment and your email address where you can be reached.