Come meet Anida Adler! Join us as we discuss her latest novel, The Ancient (available at Loose ID) and writing.

Keira:  Morrigan sounds like Morgan Le Faye, is there any correlation?

Anida: No, there's no connection.  Morrigan is a figure from Irish mythology, also known as the crow goddess.  She features especially in the story of Cuchullain.

Keira:  Was she the original inspiration for the novel?

Anida: Morrigan and Tadhg appear in my first novel, The Pebble (http://www.amirapress.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=37_43&products_id=209 published under author name Nadia Williams).  I became intrigued by these two, and just had to write the story of how they got together.

Keira:  How does one have sex with the goddess of death? How does it change the hero?

Anida: Very carefully, haha.  Tadhg is fundamentally changed over the first three times they have sex, but explaining the precise nature and scope of the change will be giving away much of the story, so my lips are sealed.

Keira:  What would you do if you fell in love with the god of death? Would your actions and reactions be similar to Tadhg Daniels?

Anida: When I fall in love, I focus on being myself and being patient.  If it's meant to be, the guy will fall for me sooner or later.  If it's not, then he won't, and I'll get over it.  One thing I believe is that even the biggest celebrity should be treated like any other person: with respect, but not reverence.  The god of death will unfortunately find he's no exception to that rule.  My actions would indeed be very similar to Tadhg's.

Keira:  What was your favorite aspect of research when it came to the fantasy and Irish pieces of The Ancient

Anida: This is an interesting question.  Part of the answer will require a description of a situation that came up just a few days ago at the writer's workshop for teens which I lead at the Apple Tree Foundation I spoke to these Irish kids about how one can draw inspiration from mythology, but then play with it and change it to suit your needs.  Their jaws dropped when I started referring to this character and that character, this god and that god - they had very little knowledge of their own heritage.  As an outsider (I'm an immigrant from South Africa), it seems I have a greater appreciation for just how rich and wonderful Irish mythology is.

I adore this country's legends, and never thought of the reading I did as research.  It's pleasure reading for me.  I'm shamed to admit that except for reviewing purposes, I seldom read romance novels myself.  My reading tastes veer toward non-fiction, fantasy, mythology and biographies.

Keira:  What are some innovations you created and added to the story? Which is your favorite?

Anida: Irish mythology as it stands is in fact very corrupted.  The ancient Irish did not write things down, except for a very few Ogham inscriptions.  Even these date only from around the fourth century, not earlier, and the vast majority of the surviving inscriptions are personal names.  Legends and stories were first written down by Christian monks, and from what I remember reading, they changed these stories to better fit their beliefs.  Therefore, the original, uncorrupted Irish mythological stories are lost.

I therefore felt no compunction with creating a magical world founded on legend and mythology, but altered to better suit my likes and dislikes.  It was particularly pleasing to me to make things work, to think of the underlying rules that govern the use of magic, for instance.  I also love to set my mind to explanations for some seeming incongruities.

Keira:  If you had to describe Morrigan and Tadhg in five words or less how would you do it?

Anida:

Morrigan: A cynical, passionate, disappointed, hopeful immortal.
Tadhg: A sensitive, kind, strong poet-soul.

Keira:  When it comes to writing which do you like more: finishing a book or starting a new one?

Anida: Starting a new one, but it's a difficult question to answer.  Usually, I have plots queueing to be written in my head.  It's often a relief to finish one so I can silence the clamouring of the next one.  But there is something magical about writing "Chapter One" at the top of a blank page.

Keira:  What are the first steps you do when it comes to writing a new story?

Anida: By the time I sit down to write it, the story will have been fermenting in the back of my mind for a good long while.  I know the characters intimately by then, and have a good idea where I want them to start and where I want them to finish.  However, I have been unable so far to write down any planning I do.  It's all in my head.

Keira:  Anything you want to add?

Anida: Thanks for having me.  I appreciate it.

Excerpt from The Ancient:

“Look above you.” He searched the ceiling. “No, I mean at the bedstead.”

Tadhg shuffled his elbow under him and studied the ornate wrought-iron metalwork. For a moment, he didn’t know what she meant, then he saw the chains and blanched. He turned to Morrigán. “No. The shackles in that poem were a metaphor, Morrigán. I don’t do that sort of thing.” Except in his fantasies, but he’d die if she discovered that.

“I’m not asking you to. The shackles are not to bring pleasure to either of us, it is for my protection.”

He frowned and sat up. “Your protection? What the hell kind of man do you think I am?”

“I’m sure you’re very honourable. I told you, the change you’ll go through will be difficult. Just because I’m immortal doesn’t mean I can’t hurt and bleed.”

Tadhg felt cold dread trickle from his scalp down his neck and over his shoulders. What was he letting himself in for? He remembered the panicked feeling of his lungs filling with blood, the horror of his airway blocked. He lay back, stretched out his arms. Then he closed his eyes and slipped his wrists into the old-fashioned shackles hanging from chains on the bedstead. Every muscle in his body was tense as a bowstring.

He heard the rustle of fabric as she came closer, felt the dip of the mattress as she knelt beside him, making the sheet slide over his skin with a tantalising brush. For a moment, he wanted to snatch his arms from the shackles, but he forced himself to keep still as Morrigán closed first one, then the other bond, slipping the pins that held them fast.

The sound sent a rush of blood to his cock.

This title is available at Loose ID.

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