The Lady Raven by Rebecca Henry Book Tour and Giveaway :)
The
Lady Raven
A
Dark Cinderella Tale
by
Rebecca Henry
Genre:
Dark Fantasy
In
The Lady Raven, Rebecca Henry tells the tale of Zezolla, a little
princess abandoned by her father into the hands of her evil
stepmother and wicked stepsisters. A familiar fairy tale you may
think but all is not as it appears. The reader is soon drawn into a
web of witchcraft, lies and deceit, and gradually realises that this
is no typical fairy tale but a dark and macabre take on one. Zezolla
is treated with the utmost cruelty, neglected and vilified, and left
to live in the damp cellars of the castle. The only friends Zezolla
has are her beloved raven and her pet wolf. Her only comfort lies in
the loyalty of the creatures of the forest and her mother’s hazel
tree. Will Zezolla have the power to escape her torment and
ultimately save herself from the unscrupulous clutches of the king?
The Lady Raven is a compelling tale and one that is not for the
faint-hearted.
Zezolla
entered the forest, twig in one hand, shattered glass in the other.
She moved effortlessly through the night as if she herself had wings
which carried her. She came to a clearing, a streak of moonlight
shining on the frozen ground. “This is the spot, my love.” The
raven flew into the sky circling Zezolla as she dug into the ground.
“Remember the order, my princess. Plant the twig and then the
glass.” “I
call upon the spirit of my mother. I command you to leave the grave
in which my mother’s body rests. Awaken now and bring forth the
tree of life!” Zezolla held her hands up to the moon invoking its
powers. “I am the daughter of the witch Avelina. I invoke the
powers of the night. Come to me, my mother’s spirit. I welcome
you!” A silver mist traveled above. The raven flew down to his
princess. “She is coming, princess.” Zezolla
watched as a tiny branch came forth from the dirt. Slowly it grew,
taller and taller. More branches came. Zezolla thought she saw the
figure of a woman in the tree. Shards of glass formed together
creating glass leaves, dangerous to anyone who touched it - anyone
but Zezolla. The princess stood up amazed by the beautiful sight
before her. “It is complete, my love. My mother is here and her
spirit resides inside the tree.” A remarkable hazel tree stood
before her, 15 feet tall with a small opening at the base big enough
for Zezolla to fit through. She examined the leaves running her long
fingers over the glass. “It cannot cut me my love.” She held out
her arm for the raven to perch. “But it will be dangerous to anyone
else who tries to touch it.” The
two men made it to the barrier, gasping in horror. “What entrance
is this!?” cried out Jack. “This was never here. There has never
been an entrance to the forest.” Jack backed away, terrified that
Zezolla awakened a spirit inside the forest. “It’s just a narrow
passage. It must have been caused by the cold ice.” concluded
Edward logically. Jack shook his head. “No, Hexe did this. She has
opened the forest. Who knows what evil lurks inside? These grounds
are now cursed.” “If that is true then I will not venture in.”
Edward turned to leave but Jack stopped him. “This might be
valuable to me Edward. If Hexe possesses some magical entity inside
the forest then I want it.” Jack grabbed Edward by the collar and
moved him through the opening. Edward clung to his knife, jumping at
the sounds around them. “There is a light coming from beyond the
trees. Could be lightening. Let’s go see what Hexe is up to.”
Edward tried to turn back, but Jack had a strong hold on him.
“Courage man! You’re no better than a scared boy.” snarled
Jack. Zezolla, unaware of the servants approaching, entered the hazel
tree. Edward ducked down behind a bush as he saw Zezolla disappear. “We
must leave now! I told you this would be our death! She is a witch!
Did you just see how she entered that glass tree?!” Jack was too
fascinated to leave. He had never witnessed true magic before. “I
want to take a closer look.” “What? Are you mad! If you go near
that tree that will be the end of you!” Jack did not listen to
Edward and walked over to the magical tree which was shimmering in
the moonlight. “I just want to see it. Stay where you are if you
are afraid,” Jack snorted. “To hell with curiosity. I don’t
want to end up without my head like Princess Guinevere. Go on then,
you fool! Go see your magical tree.” The tree seemed to call to
Jack, beckoning him forward. “It’s so beautiful. Look at the
sparkling leaves.” He reached out to touch one. The branch moved
slicing his finger off his hand. Jack screamed in pain, clenching his
finger to his chest. He tried to run away, but the tree caught him in
her branches. Edward stayed hidden, watching in horror as Jack cried
out for help. “Edward, help me!” “Stupid fool. I told him not
to get closer.” muttered Edward The tree tightened its grip around
Jack, cutting him as it squeezed. “Please! I am sorry! Please let
me go!” The tree would not accept Jack’s pleas and brought down
another branch lined with razor sharp leaves. “No! No! Please, I
will do anything! I will protect the princess from her stepmother. I
swear to protect her as long as I live! Please, spare me!” The
branch came down, slicing Jack’s throat with a row of deadly
leaves. “She needs no protection. I am with her now.” said the
tree.
Rebecca Henry is a newly published author. Her debut novel is The Lady Raven, A Dark Cinderella Tale, which was published in 2017. The Lady Raven, is for those who have an infinity for fairy tales retold with a link to witches, magic and the macabre. Her second novel, Louisiana Latte, a chick lit comedy was released February 28th 2019. Louisiana Latte, is a feel good comedy that focuses on the bonds of sisters, and how audacious life can be when you have a diva for one! Both books are available on amazon as well as Barnes & Noble.
Rebecca
Henry is a world traveler living abroad in England. Besides being an
author of two published books, Rebecca is also a podcast talk host on
the show The Latte Talk. The podcast was inspired by her latest
novel, Louisiana Latte and her diva sister Deb. She is a serious
vegan, gardener, crafter, wife and mom who practices yoga. She loves
to laugh, her drug of choice and loves all things witchy with a hint
of the macabre. Her favorite holiday is Halloween and her favorite
movie of all time is Practical Magic.
Tell us an interesting experience
that happened to you.
I believe in the possibility of the
paranormal. With that said, I do have an experience to share, but
whether or not it was a product of the paranormal, or a shift in
energy which can be determined through scientific explanation, I
don’t know. But, I’ll leave that up to you to make the decision.
It’s a bit more interesting that way. The first time I moved to
England I was in my twenties with my husband and our daughter who was
a toddler. We lived in an older brick townhouse. About two years into
our move I began to notice strange happenings in the house. My
daughter’s room was riddled with all your quintessential toddler
battery operated toys. One of my daughter’s favorite toys was a
Disney speaking kitchen oven and stove combo. Snow white would say
“It’s a beautiful morning!” and other sweet phrases. I was
sitting at the dining room table with my little girl, Penelope, when
I heard the familiar sound of snow white’s voice saying from the
upstairs bedroom “It’s a beautiful morning!” followed by the
sound of an egg frying. I went upstairs to check on the toy oven to
discover it was turned off, and obviously the room was completely
empty of people. That was the first of many odd happenings in my
daughter’s room with her toys. Over the next year this would happen
weekly. Battery operated toys turning on and making sounds. Things
eventually progressed to my kitchen radio switching on while I was
cooking dinner. I was never frightened by the occurrences, but rather
puzzled and alarmed by why this was happening. I used to investigate
the wires and batteries and finally began removing batteries and
unplugging the radio when I wasn’t using the items. This remedied
the situation until the lights in my bedroom began to turn on not
off, but on in the middle of the night waking me up. A few months
before we moved my neighbor who lived in the adjacent townhouse came
over for a cup of tea. She mentioned something that shook me to the
core, making the hair on the back of my neck stand up. She said
“Rebecca, I had the weirdest dream last night. I woke up in the
middle of the night to a little girl dressed in old fashion clothes
standing at the foot of my bed. She didn’t say anything but when I
turned on the light she was gone.” I never did tell my neighbor
what I was experiencing as I didn’t know what I believed it to be.
A shift in energy? A current of magnetic energy? Loose wiring? I
didn’t know so I didn’t say, but I did start to yell out into the
room whenever my radio would turn on “Don’t do that. Please stop
now.” Just in case it was a little girl who needed a mother’s
direction. I moved shortly after and my daughter’s toys never did
spontaneously turn on again.
Tell us about your main character in
the book.
Zezolla is the main character in The
Lady Raven, A Dark Cinderella Tale. Essentially she is my take on the
classic story, Cinderella. I named her Zezolla, from the original
version, The Glass Slipper which was a dark folk tale. Unlike the
Disney version of Cinderella, I made Zezolla a witch. Born from a
powerful white witch, who preserved her soul inside the twig of a
hazel branch, so Zezolla could plant it and communicate with her
departed mother. This is how Zezolla learned to use her powers and
become a grand witch herself. Zezolla is not a product of her
environment. She does not wait to be rescued in The Lady Raven, she
instead rescues herself through her magic, her bond with her pets and
her mother’s spirit inside the tree. Zezolla is a believer of
justice and balances the scales of her life to find completion. She
is extremely loyal to her pet Raven who she refers to as “my love”.
Zezolla also has a pet wolf who she rescued and now cares for and has
developed a deep love and appreciation for him. Zezolla embodies the
strength I see in solitary women who are not afraid to be their own
person, live their truth and seek justice when they know it’s
deserved.
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the tour HERE
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