Brook Cottage Books: Mortiswood Evil Rising by Gina Dickerson: Guest Post

Mortiswood Evil Rising by Gina Dickerson

Series: Mortiswood Tales #3

Release Date: 23rd March 2018
Publisher: Authors Reach Ltd

Genres: Fantasy

The problem with secrets is they don’t always remain secret, no matter how long they’ve been buried.

The dark side of magic beckons to Kaelia. It whispers in her ear, seducing her with the promise of yet more power. Having discovered the truth behind the goddess Hel’s connection to Bran the necromancer, Kaelia is finding it increasingly difficult to tell who is on her side and who is against her.

Drawn into an age-long battle, she must fight to protect not only those she loves, but also the humans that her enemies, The Salloki, would devour. Confronting an evil never seen before outside the realms of myth and magic, Kaelia is torn. Should she join with Bran? Is he really as trustworthy as he says?

But trust cuts both ways as Bran too discovers, unearthing both secrets and lies about his true identity. There is also someone he wants to protect above all, even if that price is unleashing upon Mortiswood the fearsome Vanagandr.

As secrets, lies, magic, and emotions weave their tangled web, who will lose their hearts and who will lose their lives?

Sometimes the line between good and evil is so blurred it fails to exist…

GUEST POST

A little about the real places behind the series

As well as having crossovers into the realms of Norse mythology – and of course the magical Mortiswood – the Mortiswood Tales series is also set in the coastal town of Margate, Kent. Here are some of the real life places which features in the books:

Botany Bay, in Kingsgate. There are some terrifying scenes which take place here, particularly in Evil Rising. I think this beach is beautiful; I love how it doesn’t have a concrete promenade. Sand drifts up against the cliffs and grassy mounds emerge from the dunes. Just past the chalk column in the above picture is another bay where there are some caves set up in the cliff face. They were smugglers’ caves used for storing and transporting contraband from the sea to land. One cave leads up onto the scrubland above. This bay has also featured in quite a few TV series and adverts. Here are the caves:

The Stone Pier in Margate is a significant feature in the Mortiswood Tales series. In Evil Rising there is a very important scene set here. The Stone Pier was originally built between 1810 - 1815, and parts have had to be rebuilt over the years due to storm damage, and bomb damage in WWII. Some of the stone used in the pier originally came from Whitby.

While Kaelia is growing up she spends a lot of time with her best friend, Bay, in Northdown Park. It’s a setting for one of her greatest losses – which readers of book one will already know! The real life Northdown Park was one of my favourite haunts as a child and teenager. Local ghost stories tell of the ghost of a woman who haunts the old Georgian house (Northdown House). As a teenager I spent many summer evenings sitting on the grass outside the house which allows views to the window where the ghost was supposed to be easily seen… sadly, to this day I’ve never seen her! A glimpse of the house is just visible in the photo above, between the trees to the left hand side. The dog is mine and the inspiration behind the main Vallesm character in the series!

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing some of the real places behind the magic of Mortiswood!

About the author

Gina Dickerson lives by the Thanet coast on the north-eastern tip of Kent within the UK, with her family and bouncy Siberian husky.

Having previously worked for a Local Authority, and been a Systems Supervisor for the departmental database, Gina is now a full-time author and designer. Her books include the dark urban fantasy Mortiswood Tales series, Lies Love Tells - part of the thrilling romantic suspense Eastcove Lies series, dark fairy tales The Pennington Christmas Curse and Always Golden, as well as a collection of her dark short stories, Underleaf.

Gina has also written newspaper articles, and was a fashion and shopping columnist for her local newspaper, as well as having had short stories and poetry published in anthologies. She designs book covers and other promotional material under the name RoseWolf Design, and belongs to the author co-operative Authors Reach.