Your Mistress is really new to this sort of thing, hosting a guest blogger, but here I am, hosting one of the morgue coolest chickadees, I know...my pal, Juli, also known as, J.D. Revezzo.
Have a read, a glimpse, take a trek into her world...and you'll see that she's quite the storyteller...
How a cat burglar was born
Then there are the other ones. You know the ones. The ones that watch you wherever you go. The ones tear up your favorite pair of socks, or your newspaper. The ones that roll in your garden.
The ones that watch you warily and don’t come when you call.
What is up with that? Could it be they’re up to mischief?
I wondered that when I sat down to write to write my story, “What Sekhmet Keeps”. What could that innocent little feline in the front yard be looking for?
My cat was keeping an eye out for thieves. She’d been watching out for them for, oh, three thousand years or so. Ever since the day Sekhmet cursed her.
Who’s Sekhmet and why would she do that?
Modern day pagan belief holds that Sekhmet is a goddess of healing and love, but there’s a dark side to the cat as well.
Egyptian mythology says she owns a staff that spreads plague. Also, there’s a tale that, millennia ago, the human race angered the Sun God Ra. We’d done, gods know what, and he’d had enough of our shenanigans. The lion goddess, Sekhmet, had the honor to follow in his footsteps, guarding the rise and setting of the sun each day. So, Ra called on her to do his dirty work. She went across the land, slaughtering and devouring every wicked soul she could find. Then she turned her wrath on whoever was left—and by that time, there wasn’t many. So few, that Ra became concerned. Without humans, who would be left to worship the gods, after all? So, he drugged her. She fell asleep and when she awoke, fell in love with the first man she saw…
So you see, it’s not wise to anger the lion goddess. It’s even less wise to steal something she considers of value. That’s exactly what my poor little cat shifter faces. Want to know how she gets out of her predicament?
Well, check out “What Sekhmet Keeps”
by J.D. Revezzo
Betrayed by a false lover, cat shifter priestess Onfalia Mau lost her lioness soul and freedom to her lover's treachery and Sekhmet's wrath. Now, after three thousand years, Donquar has returned with one thing in mind: to steal the goddess's scepter. Onfalia knows that to do so means to unleash Sekhmet’s unholy, bloody Slaughter on the world and she'll stop at nothing to foil Donquar's plans.
Excerpt:
Claws dimpled his skin, as if she sought attention. She nuzzled her head into his hand, and purred. Chibale tapped her on the nose. “Now, don’t try to charm me, kitty. I can’t keep you. Out.”
She purred louder and nuzzled his chest.
“Oh, hell.” He carried the cat into the kitchen and poured her the last of his milk. “I don’t mind black coffee, anyway. But tomorrow, we’re finding your owner.”
He dropped his jacket onto the chair, then set down before his computer. The cat leapt onto the desk as he went to work. When he misspelled the goddess’ name, the cat reached out a paw and hit the delete key back to the S-e-k. Chibale stared at her. “Did you belong to an English teacher?”
The search engine suggested Sekhmet, and he carried on with his work. The cat slipped into his lap as he read the first promising page.
Goddess of Lions. A daughter of Ra; represented the scorching power of the sun. “Lion. Sun.” He shook his head. “Never did understand these stupid stories. ‘When mankind rebelled against Ra’s domain, Sekhmet attacked, slaughtering thousands and drinking their blood.’ Sounds like a nice wholesome girl.” The cat shifted in his lap and stretched up, resting her paws against the edge of the keyboard. “You’re so interested in mythology, should I give you to Onfalia?” She looked at him, and he scratched her ears as he returned to his search.
Scepter, Sekhmet. “How does this tie into the stolen scepter? Any idea, kit?”
Two hours into his search, a headline caught his attention: Slaying uptown. Occult in Nature?
“So obvious.” The cat meowed and Chibale looked down at her, meeting her tawny eyes. “Oh, you think so too, do you?”
Festival to appease Sekhmet’s slaughter.
“Hopefully they won’t do the opposite, eh kitty?”
All proceeds from the sale of our anthology will go to Cat House on The Kings, a no-kill cat sanctuary in California.
Their URL
http://www.cathouseonthekings.com/
Buy links for the anthology:
In Kindle and paperback at Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/DARK-THINGS-II-Crimes-ebook/dp/B006O15YBE/ref=tmm_kin_title_0/185-0297248-1137456?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2
And in Epub at Lulu.
http://www.lulu.com/shop/compiled-by-patty-g-henderson/dark-things-ii-cat-crimes/ebook/product-18787458.html
About J.D. Revezzo:
J.D. Revezzo has long been in love with writing, a love built by devouring everything from the Arthurian legends, to the works of Michael Moorcock, and the classics. Her short fiction has been published in Dark Things II: Cat Crimes, The Scribing Ibis, Eternal Haunted Summer, Twisted Dreams Magazine and Luna Station Quarterly.
You can learn more about her works at:
Her site:
http://harshadpassion.wordpress.com/
or if you wish, follow her on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/JD-Revezzo/233193150037011
Or on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/#!/juliannewrites/
I hope you will enjoy What Sekhmet Keeps, and all the tales in Dark Things II: Cat Crimes, and remember all the proceeds go to Cat House on the Kings, no-kill cat shelter. So, you’ll not only gain fuel for a few good, *ahem* nightmares, maybe you’ll help a kittie in need, too. Enjoy! And thank you, Calisa, for hosting me today!
(link for Cat House on the Kings)
http://www.cathouseonthekings.com/
I hope you enjoy the stories! Thanks, Andrea for letting me be here today. Blessed be everyone!
