AtoZChallenge 2015: W is for Welcome

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AtoZ Challenge 2015 Wittegen Press WAtoZChallenge 2015: W is for Welcome

We’re galloping towards the end of the AtoZ Challenge now, and of our theme here at Wittegen Press, ‘why’, specifically, why have we, as authors, written the titles we have. And, each day, the book we’re talking about will be FREE.

Being welcoming is something my family has always prided themselves on, and Tash and I wanted to be just as welcoming to our readers. So, we decided to each write a story for our readers to welcome them when they joined our mailing list. That was how Curse of a Banshee, my title today, was born.

Tash and I wanted to write two stories that would be popular, so we asked our existing subscribers to vote on their choice of genres. I, thus, ended up with contemporary fantasy.

I’m a big contemporary fantasy fan, both reading and writing, and so I’ve already written a selection of stories in the modern world with a fantastic edge. So, I had to sit and have a think about where I wanted to take this genre. I decided on fae, because it’s a wide mythology for me to draw from, but I could also put my own stamp on the fairy world.

Even after I’d nailed my universe, I had so many ideas darting around in my head that it took me a while to close down on one. I wanted to mix technology and magical lore in a modern world, but I also wanted it to be a down-to-earth kind of setting. In the end, it was a dream that inspired me to create B. She popped out of my subconscious pretty well formed, and then the rest of the story settled down around her.

B’s a pragmatist, someone who has had to work around what (if they were translated into a human concept) might be called disabilities. She knows her limits and she operates very successfully within them. She’s a bit of a sucker for a hard-luck story and helps those whom others pass by, but she’s also canny and can have a hard edge. I like her, but I wouldn’t want to cross her.

This story is the first in the Darwell (Magical) Cleaning Services series. I don’t have another one formed in my brain, yet, but there will definitely be more titles featuring B and her team. So, I hope our readers like this little welcome to our mailing list.

What’s the best welcome anyone has given you?


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Curse of a Banshee by Sophie Duncan - Wittegen PressCurse of a Banshee by Sophie Duncan

B, a djinn/banshee low fae, runs Darwell Cleaning Services, a business that specializes in tidying up magical crime scenes. She’s managed her company with her friend and business partner, Jean, for over one hundred years without any complaints, or problems. She keeps her head down and offers a job to those whom higher fae look down on for their lack of personal magic.

B and her team are expecting an ordinary night of clean-up when they arrive at the aftermath of a spell battle in the middle of an English woodland. However, when a terrified djinn boy appears in the middle of their job, B finds the mix of her djinn and banshee instincts, which she normally keeps under strict control, beginning to rise. The boy is not alone, he is being chased by criminals intent on selling him to become a genie, the same gang who took B’s father a century earlier.

B must struggle with her own unsettled powers and fight the slavers for the boy’s freedom, risking her own life and those of her friends in the process.

Curse of a Banshee is fast-paced fantasy taking a fresh look at ancient powers in a contemporary British setting.

*We’ve cheated a little today, the title is totally free, but you have to join our mailing list to get it. We never spam and we never give away your details. Just scroll down to the form at the bottom and you’ll get both books shown for free.


 Our other AtoZ blogs: Tasha’s Thinkings | Sophie’s Thoughts and Fumbles| FB3X (AC)


AtoZChallenge List 2015 click to see other participants.


If you enjoy our daily free books you’ll really love our permanently free books, including the two FREE ebooks we’ll give you just for joining our mailing list.

Wittegen PressWe'll send you details of book releases, competitions and other news from our authors, BUT we WON'T spam you, or pass your details on to anyone else.

We will also give you 2 FREE ebooks just for signing up.
Curse of a Banshee
Sophie Duncan
Assassin's Blood
Natasha Duncan-Drake
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8 comments

  1. Great way to determine what you can write that will be a commercial success. Good idea. I guess my best welcome always comes from my family. Next to that you couldn’t beat the welcome I got from my dog and cat!

  2. I always get such a nice welcome when I go to the Conservative synagogue in Niskayuna. The people there are so friendly, nice, and welcoming, in comparison to how few people say more than a few words to me at the Albany synagogues. It’s nice to be welcomed instead of treated like invisible when you’re by yourself, without any husband or children.

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