New Year's Stories

New Year's Story available.

New Year's Warrior Tale Seventeen available at Amazon.com

Link for Tale Seventeen from Tales from Gulinger High

Religion in the Hallowedspell Universe

When dealing with monsters, demons, witches, elves, and magic - often writers tend to skirt around the question of God. One of the questions asked is if all these things exist, is there a God?

 
When I look at all that I have to ask - "How could there not be after all this evidence????"

So the next question is "What kind of god is the God in the Hallowedspell Universe, then?"

To be honest, it is a really sticky question as so many readers believe in different kinds of God - and that is just within the Christian set. So, for the record, the Hallowedspell Universe will be strictly non-denominational. Why? You might ask...

Well, to avoid a fight, really.

The Hallowedspell Universe will not be a venue for teaching religious doctrine which I hold sacred. I have another location for that. However, I will say that the God I will present here will definitely have the attitude of the God I believe in. That is, one of Love. Also, one that is quiet that gives mankind freewill.

That said, what the characters believe and stand for will not be my standpoint, but their own. Lots of my characters are rather ambiguous in their religious beliefs - or undeclared.  However, I do have a few with definite stances. For example, Andrew Cartwright is the grandson of the pastor of the Middleton First Church of Christ. So he is a definite mainstream Christian. The McAllisters regularly attend their local non-denominational church in California and wear crosses - something I don't do. And Hanz Johaansen is a Mormon.

The rest I leave ambiguous because, like with most people, we each have to decide what we believe on our own time. And characters like Rick Deacon (who is both wolf and human) and Tom Brown (who is half imp [a little devil] and human) find it harder to reconcile their places in the universe.

Which leaves me to Eve McAllister. Born a demon. Not human at all, Born to kill 7 chosen warriors for God... Where does she stand?

As a character, she intrigues me because it asks two big questions:

1. Are we what we are born as, or do we choose our future?

2. Can anyone be redeemed?

I like Eve. She is at the core good because she can see so plainly the choice between Good and Evil - and she has willfully chosen good despite knowing she was born for the side of Evil. She is one of those people that does not sit on the sidelines and go with the crowd. She was rejected by the crowd anyway. And I think I will explore the serious choice Eve has made in a later novel...plotted out, but yet to be written.

For how will the Angels of Heaven react to a demon on her way to redemption?

Christmas Stories Available

To start off December right, I decided to post links to my Christmas stories in the Hallowedspell Universe. So. Here. We. Go.

#1 Mistletoe is a Vampiric Plant - Book 2 of the Vimp novellas.
Naughty or Nice...Going to Grandma’s for Christmas never got so complicated. The McAllister family had yet to tell Gran Wilson that they had learned the adopted daughter they had raised from a baby was a Vimp—a demon that was a cross between an imp and a vampire. They had learned it just last Halloween. But since they hadn't told her on Thanksgiving--it was Christmas or never. Can a demon celebrate a Christian holiday?
Print  Copy     Digital Copy




#2 Tales from Gulinger High Tale Eight: What a Ball
Selena has blackmailed Rick Deacon to be her society escort--starting with the Christmas Ball at the Plaza Hotel. And though Rick tries to do his part, he has no idea why Selena chose him out of all the people in Junior League and Gulinger High. Especially since he is 3 years younger than her. For she, who is a sneaky and manipulative siren, must have some ulterior motive. But even Selena is not prepared for what will take place at that Christmas ball, nor the repercussions it would hold for her or Rick in the years to come.
Print Copy  Digital Copy

#3 Hallowedspell Book 3: Stranger and Stranger
The weather outside is frightful, very frightful. The Christmas season has come to Middleton bringing in more than just snow. A stranger blows into town, the Ladies Aid Society unexpectely invites Jessica Mason to join Junior League, and Michael Toms returns to the town for a Holiday visit--a recipe for disaster in this cursed town. As the eight pals seek answers to the mysterious stranger, Michael goes missing, Peter gets paranoid, Jessica gets a fancy dress, Andy get's tickets to the ball, and the town gets covered in heaps of snow--and they uncover one of the biggest secrets Middleton Village has been hiding for centuries... With Winter Solstice only a week away, what can happen in the most cursed town in North America?
Print Copy   Digital Copy unavailable at this time.

Hallowedspell Tales from Gulinger High Calendar available

http://www.lulu.com/shop/julie-steimle/a-year-at-gulinger-high/calendar/product-21928679.html