Michelle Miles, author extraordinaire, returns to tell us about her new time-travel romance set in medieval Scotland. 

There will be jousting. 

And sexy rogues. 

And stand-up knights with brogues.

The generous Ms. Miles is giving away a free copy of One Knight Only  to one lucky commenter! 

Let us waste no more time with introductions…welcome, Michelle!  Can you tell us a little about your new book, One Knight Only?

One Knight Only is set during a jousting tournament in the Middle Ages. It’s the story of Maggie, a woman from the present day, and Finn, a Scottish Knight with a gambling problem. It also has some paranormal elements that were a lot of fun to mix into the story.

Here’s the blurb:

A snarky Faery princess, a Scottish knight with a gambling problem, and a murderous earl all add up to one thing: Trouble. Maggie’s medieval education never prepared her for life in the Middle Ages!

Do-gooder Maggie Chase throws her thesis out the window when she wakes up in the arms of a hot Scottish knight. When she realizes she’s somehow ended up back in time, she embraces the persona of Lady Margaret. But she may be in over her head when she realizes she has to keep the sexy knight alive during a jousting tournament in order to get back to her own time.

Sir Finian “Finn” McCullough is a gambling man and owes a very large debt to an evil earl who is after his family estate. When the beautiful and outgoing Maggie arrives in his bed, he can’t remember tupping her the night before and thinks she’s a spy for one of his neighboring clans. He intends to find her kinsman and return her safely but he can’t resist her charms, her smart mouth or her sex appeal. Instead he keeps her close, taking her with him to an important jousting tournament—one he has to win or lose his castle forever.

What’s your favorite moment in this novel?

There are so many! I had so much fun writing the entire book that it’s hard to pick just one. Maggie has a lot of funny dialogue with Elyne (the Fae princess). Plus Elyne butts heads with Finn because she thinks he killed her love, Derron, on purpose during a joust. There are two scenes I really like: when Maggie jousts in Finn’s place (you’ll have to read the book to see how she ends up in the saddle) and when Finn is in the gambling tent playing cards.

What do you like about the time travel genre?

I like the idea of taking a modern character and sending them back in time to experience the wonders of the past. I’ve done it more than once – the Ranson & Fortune series with Samhain is a time travel.

Are there paranormal or magical elements in OKO besides the time travel?

Oh yes! I have a Fae princess, Elyne, who uses magic to alter time and other things. I don’t want to spoil the surprise. She’s in love with a Fae knight who is jousting and masquerading as a human. But Elyne’s use of magic in the human world is strictly forbidden by Fae law and she gets in trouble with Mom, the Queen of Faery.

What was the most interesting thing you learned while researching this novel?

Aside from jousting itself, I did a lot of research on games in the Middle Ages. Specifically card games and dice games. Hazard is the predecessor of Craps. Playing cards were actually introduced to the Western Anglo world in the mid-1300s. The suit system we know today was adapted by the French in the fifteenth century and referred to as a French deck. Other regions had their own suits (e.g. Germany, Italy, Spain). Some of the earlier suits had cups, swords, coins, and batons; others had animals, flowers, etc.

In what ways are you like Maggie, the heroine of OKO?

Oh, that’s a hard one. I think there’s a little bit of me in every character. With Maggie, it’s her stubbornness. She’s a do-gooder who wants to help everyone and she won’t let anyone, not even an evil Earl, stand in her way.

If you could travel back in time to experience one event in history, where and when would you go?

Just one? Hm. Queen Elizabeth I’s coronation, to see the beginning of her reign, which I think would be awesome!.

Derron the seductive rogue or Finn the honorable knight — if you were going to get to spend a night with one of these characters from OKO, which one would you choose?

Ooo! That’s hard! But I love all things Scottish and that includes beefy men with a brogue. Finn wins this one. (Poor Derron.)

You’ve been writing a lot of contemporary romance (the uber-sexy Coffeehouse Chronicles, for example). Is OKO your first paranormal romance release?

I have a time travel series with Samhain Publishing—the Adventures of Ransom and Fortune. The first book is A BEND IN TIME. When hit man Dane Fortune was hired to kill Skye Ransom, he never counted on her leading him on a game of cat and mouse through time…or that he’d just as soon kiss her as kill her. He chases Skye Ransom, who knows she’s his next target, but she inadvertently transports herself back in time—with Dane.

I’m also one of eleven authors in the ENTANGLED paranormal anthology. All proceeds are going to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, so I’m very excited I was asked to be part of something for such a great cause.

How did you get involved in that project?

My good friend, Misty Evans, asked me one day if I would be interested in doing a short story for a paranormal anthology releasing around Halloween. Of course I said yes! It was also a great way to give back to a community that writers don’t often have an opportunity to give back to. All the proceeds from the sales of the anthology go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
The book is for sale through Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, Smashwords, All Romance Ebooks, and other online distributors. So far, we’ve sold over a thousand copies and I hope there are a thousand more to come. My short story is SINFULLY SWEET and is the story of a witch who bakes a little magic into her cupcakes.

Do you take a different approach when writing contemporary romance vs writing paranormals?

I think I take a different approach to each and every book. They all come about in a different way. Some I just start writing because a character showed up in my head and demanded attention. Others start with the seed of an idea (“I’d like to write a book about INSERT SUBJECT HERE”). And still others start with a snippet of dialogue that nags at me until I start writing.

What was the first paranormal romance you ever read? What paranormal romance authors have influenced you?

Karen Marie Moning’s Highlander series was the first paranormals I ever read which are all time travels and—surprise!—Scottish romances. So she’s definitely influenced me and I devoured her Fever series. Plus I enjoy reading Sharie Kohler/Sophie Jordan, Gena Showalter, Nora Roberts, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Kim Harrison. I also read a lot of fantasy. Authors I like: George R. R. Martin, Patricia A. McKillip, Terry Goodkind.

Are you planning a sequel to OKO, and if so, do you mind giving us a preview?

Yes, I’ve already planned out the next book which will be about Elyne and Derron. It picks up where ONE KNIGHT ONLY leaves off with Elyne in some hot water with her mother, the Queen of Faery, over Elyne using magic in the human realm. Her mother is making an example of her and sends her off to Fae prison, where she’s stripped of her powers and left to think about her actions and the consequences.

Meanwhile, Queen Maeve has asked Sir Derron to go in search of his missing father, Guardian and Lord of the Sword of Light. The sword is also missing, causing the queen much concern. She bides him to bring them both back and Derron readily accepts the challenge. But not without busting Elyne out of prison first. I have lots of fun things planned for this one that includes dragons, dark Fae kings, and kick-ass Elvish warriors.

ONE KNIGHT ONLY EXCERPT:

“Who are you? How did you send me back in time?”

“I am Fae royalty, a princess of the Otherworld—you humans call it Faery—and you’re nothing but a gnat on the map of the world.”

“Fae?” Dawning began. “You seriously can’t mean Faery?” Then snorted. “You’re telling me you’re part of the Tuatha dé Danaan? Yeah, as if.”

“Believe it, human.” The Fae princess glared at her, a hint of an Irish lilt coming out in her speech now. “I’m a direct descendant of the Daughters of Danu, the royal bloodline who protects all Fae magic and those within the Otherworld realm.”

“If you’re Fae, then how old are you?”

“Older than time itself,” Elyne said. “Older than you can comprehend. I’ve seen your past, your present and even your future. A future you could not imagine.”

“So you just snapped your fingers and poof here I am.” Maggie snapped her fingers to enunciate her point.

“No, I did not snap my fingers.” Elyne snapped her fingers back. “It took a lot of effort to sift the sands of time and put you here, where you certainly do not belong.”

“Did you wave your magic wand? This fairy tale—sorry, no pun—just keeps getting better and better.”

Maggie giggled and perched on the edge of the bed. She could believe in standing stones that possessed a certain magical ability on certain days of the year such as Beltane and Samhain. In fact, she did believe in them. But magic? Magic wasn’t real. It belonged in bedtime stories. The ones Dad used to read her before she’d fall into blissful slumber as she dreamed of fair princesses in towers and sugarplums that danced in her head.

“You would be wise not to mock me, human, or I can make your life a living hell while you’re here in what you refer to as the Middle Ages. I am a princess and you will address me as such.”

“I know history, your highness,” Maggie said, thumbing at herself. “I’ve spent the last six years studying it and I’ve never heard of the Fae meddling in ‘human’ affairs. It’s not history. It’s myth and legend.”

Elyne took a step toward her, standing toe to toe. “History,” she hissed. “Not myth. Not legend. History. My history and I’ll thank you not to mock it, or me.”

Touchy, isn’t she? Maggie held up her hands in surrender. “Sorry.”

Elyne crossed her arms, giving Maggie a superior look. “It happens among you lesser folk. At any rate, your knowledge should come in handy where you’re going.”

“And where am I going?”

“Like Finn said. To tourney. Middleham, England, if you must know. South of the Scottish border. It’s about a week’s ride from here.”

“You can’t make me do anything.”

Maggie’s eyes narrowed as she looked at the blonde-haloed wispy woman. She didn’t look all that tough. In fact, she looked nothing more than a servant girl. Perhaps she was playing an elaborate hoax on her.

Or somewhere in her sleep-deprived mind, her imagination had run amok.

Elyne laughed, a surprising bellow of a chortle from the pit of her lungs. “You silly human. You think you have so much control.” She punctuated the sentence with a lift of her head, looking down her straight, pointy nose at Maggie as though she were nothing more than pond scum. She leaned forward, her voice dropping to a dangerous level. “You have no control of your own destinies. You are nothing but simple fools.”

A pounding on the door made them both jump. “Lassie?” It was Finn, his voice muffled through the thick chamber door.

Maggie huffed out a breath. “Not ready yet,” she called, hoping to stall.

“You best be in the next few minutes or I’ll be dressing you myself.”

Maggie tried not to think of his hands on her trying to dress her. It sent too many erotic images through her fertile imagination. She held her breath, waiting for him to boom through the door again but he must have left since all fell silent. She turned back to Elyne.

“Send me back.”

“As I said, I cannot. Not until tournament is over.”

“And what if I can’t keep Finn alive? Then what?”

“Then…well… Then that’s on your pretty head, isn’t it?”

Available for purchase at Ellora’s Cave and Amazon.Com

Michelle Miles found her love of writing buried in the fantasy books of Patricia A. McKillip and the beautiful romances of Victoria Holt. It wasn’t until her high school years she decided to take up the pen and try her hand at writing. She created faraway lands, space adventures, and even princesses who just wanted to be saved. Never learning to plot, she always believed that jumping in feet first was the way to go and has since become a self-proclaimed Pantser, writing sexy contemporaries and sizzling paranormal and sweeping fantasy.

A Native Texan, she loves hockey, football, baseball, drinking coffee, cross-stitching, and shopping for shoes and Coach handbags. You can read her daily antics at her blog, Ye Olde Inkwell. Michelle is also a regular contributor to Pop Culture Divas  and Plotting Princesses.

Now, on to *your* contest…I’ve drawn the names, so here we go:

Winners of Faery’s Bargain and Blood Hero:

J.W. Isley
Earlene Gillespie
Kimmie Lange
Suzy Roy
Kat Duncan

And the winner of the $25 Amazon gift certificate is:

Sue Duncan

If your see your name here, please contact me on Facebook or by email (maddydrake AT gmail DOT com) and so I can send your prizes to you.

Regards,

Maddy

To celebrate, I decided to give away copies of Blood Hero and Faery’s Bargain to five people who’ve “Liked” my Facebook author page.

This week, I’ve learned that my erotic urban fantasy, Faery’s Bargain, has been nominated in the Romance Short Story category of the Preditors & Editors Readers’ Poll!

More celebration is in order.  :)

Rather than create a second contest, I’ve decided to add to the pot that’s already up for grabs:  in addition to giving Blood Hero and Faery’s Bargain to five fans of my Facebook author page, I’m going to also give a $25 Amazon gift certificate to a sixth fan.

You don’t have to vote for Blood Hero or Faery’s Bargain to enter — all you have to do is “Like” my Facebook author page before February 1st:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Madeleine-Drake/342173467949

Hope to see you there!

Maddy

Siren Book Reviews’ “Best Books of 2010″ contest is on, and Blood Hero is nominated in the Paranormal Romance category!

To celebrate, I’m giving away copies of Blood Hero and Faery’s Bargain to five fans on Facebook.

To enter, all you have to do is “Like” my Facebook author’s page by February 1st:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Madeleine-Drake/342173467949

Siren is also holding a giveaway for voters, so don’t forget to vote!

POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT: I’ve made an effort not to reveal anything about TRON: LEGACY that you wouldn’t get from the trailers, but I can’t guarantee that I haven’t mentioned something that you might consider a spoiler.

Virtual reality is practically a science fiction cliche these days.  The holodeck on the Enterprise.  The Matrix.  The “Better Than Life” game on Red Dwarf.

But in 1982, when the first TRON movie was released, the idea of a human being experiencing a computer-simulated world was new and exciting.  This was two years before William Gibson’s Neuromancer–the book that introduced the term “cyberspace”–would be published.  In 1982, personal computers were primitive and considered the province of nerds, modems had just gotten sophisticated enough to spur the rise of BBSes (bulletin board services), and we were still seven years away from the inception of the world wide web by computer scientist Sir Tim Berners-Lees.  If you wanted to play a game on your PC at home rather than at the arcade, you could choose between text adventures like Zork or games with extremely simple graphics by today’s standards.

You can see why my 14-year-old mind was blown by the idea of anthropomorphized programs living in a computer-based reality and worshipping their users.  Plus, that mind-blowing idea was tricked out with amazing special effects and a love story set in the midst of revolution against an unjust corporate overlord.  How could I not love TRON?

So when I heard that Disney was making a sequel, I had mixed feelings.  I love TRON.  But in the 28 years since the original movie was released, we’ve seen much more sophisticated depictions of virtual reality.  How could Disney possibly return to the TRON universe and come up with something that would grab me today?

As it turns out, I liked TRON: LEGACY–but not because Disney came up with a newer, better twist on virtual reality.  Sure the 3D graphics were stunning, the action sequences were intensely exciting, and the TRON universe was brought to life even more vividly than the original.  But that’s not what grabbed me.

Disney got me with good old-fashioned storytelling.  More specifically, they got me with theme.  The plot of the movie was simple, but it had multiple themes running through it that added complexity and emotional depth:

• The Revolution: as in the original, the villain is a powerful overlord who deserves to be overthrown
• Absent Father, Lost Son: a father who disappears because he’s literally gotten sucked into his career, leaving his stuck-in-childhood son struggling to grow up emotionally
• Religion Gone Awry: the villain’s story is also a metaphor for how religions get started and how they become corrupted
• The Perfection of Imperfection: in his quest to create a perfect world, the villain fails to recognize the beauty and goodness that already exists in the imperfect world, and as a result, destroys it

Yes, TRON: LEGACY is mostly high-powered action scenes interspersed with brief exchanges of dialogues, but because these themes drive the plot and motivate the characters, what could have been a mind-numbing onslaught of explosions and special effects is transformed into a coherent, emotionally-engaging story.

That’s the power of theme.

Thanks for joining us today, Michelle!  Tell us about the Coffee House Chronicles.  What are they about?  How do the individual books in the series relate to each other?

Thanks for having me! All the books are set in and around a coffee house – The Bitter End.

TALK DIRTY TO ME (Samhain, 2006) is about Claudia, who is a phone sex operator, and Blake, a lonely doctor looking for love on the other end of the phone. A chance meeting brings the two together and Claudia realizes the hot doctor could be the sexy voice on the other end of her phone.

NICE GIRLS DO (Samhain, 2007) follows ex-stripper, Cara, on her journey to reinvent herself and gets a job at the local coffee house, The Bitter End. But things go awry when she meets bad-boy Mark and son of the coffee house owner. Especially when he and his brother, David, vie for her affections. When Cara and Mark learn the coffee house is in danger of closing, they team up to keep the doors open and rescue the coffee house.

TAKE ME I’M YOURS (Cobblestone Press, 2009) goes in a little bit different direction with Graeme, whose love is painting but whose bread and butter is designing adult websites. When Marion, the jilted bride of his ex-best friend, comes back into his life, he sees it as a chance to get the woman of his dreams—and paintings. Marion is encouraged by her fashionista best friend, Delilah.

SEX, LUST & MARTINIS (Cobblestone Press, 2010) picks up where TAKE ME I’M YOURS left off, but this time Delilah is in the driver’s seat. Meeting up with her ex-husband after a long separation makes her realize she still has feelings for him, but he’s never been the responsible type. Sam does everything in his power to make her see he’s changed…and he wants her back for good.

THE COFEE WARS is a short novella where David finally gets his turn in the starring role. He meets Lily but there’s definitely more to her than meets the eye.

All the books have one thing in common—love conquers all. Oh, and lots of hot sex.

What inspired you to write contemporary romances revolving around a cafe?  Did you set out to write a series?

It was all sort of an accident. I wrote TALK DIRTY TO ME in about six weeks and at the time, a friend encouraged me to submit it to Samhain, who was new and looking for submissions. On a whim, I did and about two weeks after submitting, I was offered a contract. The actual coffee house came from a NaNoWriMo novel I wrote in 2005 (which was dreadful). I threw everything out but the coffee house. *grin* I had so much fun with TDTM, I started writing a second one. And then a third…and the rest, as they say, is history.

Do the books need to be read in order?

Not at all. You can read them in any order. They’re all written as stand-alone.

Is The Bitter End based on a real cafe?

It’s one I made up. I wanted a place to sit and drink a latte.

How about a blurb or a summary for The Coffee Wars?

Get ready for a throw down!

Lilly owns the new up and coming, Java Perks. She’s determined to be the number one coffee house in town, crushing her competition down the street, The Bitter End.

Meeting a mystery woman in his coffee house, David immediately wants her for himself. After a hot encounter on his desk, he can’t stop thinking about her. Until he learns she’s the owner of the place trying to put him out of business.

When David confronts Lilly accusing her of using him, she throws down the gauntlet. Now the two are at war and may the best woman win!

What’s your favorite moment in The Coffee Wars?

All the sexy fun on the desk!

Do you plan to write more in this series?

I haven’t quite decided yet. I thought I was done with Delilah’s story but then an opportunity presented itself and I ended up writing THE COFFEE WARS in four weeks to submit for the Christmas line. I may have more stories to tell at The Bitter End.

I have a magic lamp, and I’m going command the genie inside it to bring one of your Coffee House Chronicles heroes to life for a night.  Tell me about each of these sexy men, so I can decide which one I want to meet.

FUN! Okay. Let’s see…

Blake (TDTM). He’s a hot, suave doctor who likes to tease. He knows what words to use to turn a woman on and how to get her right where he wants her.

Mark (NGD). Total bad boy. Knows what he wants and how to get it. He won’t let anyone get in his way (even his brother) to get what he wants. Tall, dark, seriously good-looking.

Graeme (TMIY). Mmm. I love Graeme. He’s the epitome of a passionate guy. He’s a painter, after all! He loves women. He loves loving women. But there’s only one that can turn him into the monogamous guy he’s always wanted to be.

Sam (SLM). He’s the strong silent type who tries to do the right thing. He suffers in silence and pines away for the woman he loves. He goes out of his way to do nice things for her and woo her.

David (TCW). He’s a lot like his brother, Mark, except without the bad boy attitude. He also knows what he wants and this time, he’s not going to let his brother take her away from him.

What are the key elements of a Michelle Miles story?

Sarcasm and a lot of hot sex. I really want my stories to be entertaining and fun.

What’s your favorite thing about writing contemporary romance?

Even though there’s still worldbuilding, it’s not as intense as writing fantasy. When I want to bang out something quick, it’s a nice change.

How do you balance the erotic and the romantic in your stories?  How do you see those two aspects conflicting or working together in fiction?

I really think they work well in fiction together. I like to let the story dictate how much “erotic” and how much “romantic” there should be. It just depends on the characters and the storyline.

How old were you when you read your first romance, and what was it?

Oh, I remember this vividly. It was Victoria Holt’s The Road to Paradise Island. It’s the story of Annalise Mallory who finds the diary of her long-dead ancestor with a map to a mysterious island. Her brother set sails to find it, but never returns. Annalise decides to find him and is drawn to an island in the South Seas where there is lots of action, adventure, and a bit of romance. It’s a wonderful story.

What was the first story you ever wrote?  What was it about?

Well, the very first thing I ever wrote was fan-fiction (Star Wars/Star Trek/Indiana Jones). The first full-length novel I ever wrote was a fantasy romance and clocked in at nearly 100k. It’s a story that’s still near and dear to my heart but needs a lot of work to be publishable. Maybe someday.

How long was it between when you first started writing fiction seriously and your first publication?

I got back to writing fiction seriously when I was on maternity leave with my son. That was in the fall of 2001. My first novella was released with Samhain in the summer of 2006. Before that, though, I wrote two serials for a now-defunct online magazine called Keep it Coming. One of those serials was actually how my time travel series was both (both books are available in print and ebook from Samhain, A Bend in Time and A Break in Time).

How does your family feel about the fact that you write romance?

My man thinks it’s awesome. *grin* He loves that I’m a romance writer and he gets to be the subject of “research”.

Who inspires you?

In the big-name world, Nora Roberts. To put out the volume of books she writes is amazing. In the real world, there are several people who inspire me. For one, my fabulous critique partners. I couldn’t function as a writer without them.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

I love to read. I also cross-stitch. I find it very meditative. And when I’m not doing any of that, the Man and I like to watch sports: football, hockey, baseball.

What are you working on now?

Honestly, nothing. I’ve been wrapped up in getting a wedding/honeymoon out of the way. *grin* By the time this posts, it will all be behind me. I’ve got plans though! I’m going to finish edits for a book I’ve been working on way too long and trying to sell, plus finish writing a time travel. I also have an idea for something that has cowboys in it. That idea is definitely still in its infancy. I have big plans for 2011!

The Coffee Wars is available from Cobblestone Press:  http://www.cobblestone-press.com/catalog/books/coffeewars.htm

FIRST DATE

Homicide Detective Joe Brennan is sure he knows who’s making the snuff videos that have recently surfaced online–his dreams point him toward the killer. But he needs proof that will hold up in court. When he asks for help with an undercover operation, he has no idea that the woman he lusts after will be his new partner.

Kallista Ophiades is a member of the Guard, the police force for the supernatural community. When Joe unknowingly targets a monster, Kalli persuades the Captain to include her, so she can determine whether the Guard should intervene. But when the operation goes south, Kalli must choose between protecting Joe and keeping her own dark secret.

EXCERPT

Homicide Detective Joe Brennan watched the woman of his dreams float into the room.  The Captain’s secretary dressed like a librarian:  calf-length skirts, tailored shirts buttoned to the neck, wavy black hair twisted into a knot and skewered with a pointed wooden stick.  She spoke in prim, quiet tones, and she even wore those old-fashioned wire-rimmed librarian glasses.

But Kallista Ophiades didn’t walk like a librarian.  She moved with the sinuous grace of a belly dancer, the smallest shift of her hips enough to send the blood meant for his brain on a detour to his groin.  He couldn’t help remembering how she’d looked in his dreams, her hair writhing free over her shoulders as she rode him, her eyes gleaming with ecstasy, and her nails digging into his chest.  He’d never seen her naked, but his subconscious insisted that he dream her with a tiny emerald snake tattoo coiled around her navel.

That’s the only way I’ll ever be with Kallista.  In my dreams.

Oblivious to his distress, she crossed the room, nodding politely at each person she passed without breaking the demure eyes-down manner she maintained. In another woman, it would have seemed pretentious, but on her it came across as polite.

He waited next to her desk, file in hand, mentally rehearsing what he was going to say.  When’s the Captain due back?  But it was impossible to focus on the words when his brain superimposed sexy dream-Kalli over the real Kalli.  Every time he tried to talk to her, his thoughts evaporated, his mouth went dry, and he blurted out something stupid.

Like, “I need a date.”

This story is in Round 2 of the ARE “Just One Bite” contest.  You can read the rest here:  http://www.allromanceebooks.com/contest.html

If you like it, would you please vote for it?

Faery’s Bargain will release October 8th:

Kane has what Tara wants–how far will she go to get it?

Tara’s witchcraft has failed to save her naga-bitten nephew:  the only cure is a rare Faery herb, nearly impossible for a human to obtain.

Kane, a warrior of the Morrigan tribe, is bound to a baigh-duil.  He needs a witch to help him send the soul-devouring creature back to its own realm, and he’s willing to bargain.

It seems like a fair trade–the herb for help with a single spell.  What’s the catch?  As a follower of the Irish goddess of love and war, Kane can only work sex magic and death magic.

1.  Check out this Author Spotlight at Joyfully Reviewed.

2.  Return here and tell me about yourself by answering the either 7th or 8th question that J.R. asked me–post your answer as a comment to this post.  Be as creative as you like.  <g>

Winners will be drawn at 10 a.m. Monday, September 20th.

When I first saw an ad for Warehouse 13, I thought, “SyFy made a show based on the last 30 seconds of Raiders of the Lost Ark?”

It was the punchline of the whole movie:  Indiana Jones goes through hell to retrieve the Ark of the Covenant from the Nazis and outwit unethical archaeologist Rene Belloq, so that the U.S. government can crate it up and stuff it in a warehouse.  It was also Spielberg’s homage to Citizen Kane, a note of comic relief that had personal meaning for him.

Since Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of my favorite movies (and I’ve been hoping for a reason to forgive SyFy since they cancelled The Dresden Files), I was tempted to watch an episde.  But did I want to watch a show about a warehouse full of stuff?  Even if it was magical stuff?

Like most human beings throughout history, I’m fascinated with artifacts.  Our literature is filled with objects that serve as a focus for power.  Gilgamesh’s pukku and mikku–we no longer know what these objects were, only that Gilgamesh valued them so highly he allowed his best friend Enkidu to die searching the netherworld for them.  Excalibur, the sword that conferred kingship on Arthur when he removed it from the stone in which it was embedded.  Sauron’s Ring, which Frodo and company risked life and limb to throw into a volcano.  We love the idea that the objects around us could have hidden powers or personalities.  A world where a hair comb can channel the personality of Lucrezia Borgia and a pair of old gym shorts can turn an ordinary man into a superhero is a world where anything can happen.  A world where adventure lurks beneath the surface, and anyone who’s lucky enough to find just the right THING becomes special.

Artifacts appeal on a deeper level too, as an external symbol for elements of our own psyches.  Finding an artifact that gives you new abilities serves as a metaphor for self-discovery.  Sure, you could come across a jewel-encrusted Renaissance comb and find yourself gripped with the murderous urges of a Borgia ghost.  But you could also, in a moment of honesty, admit that we all have a little Borgia in us–a dark, manipulative side that we restrain every day for the sake of functioning in society.  Watching a story about someone whose inner Borgia is set free by a magical artifact is a safe way to explore our own inner darkness:  as long as the artifact is active, we voyeuristically experience the havoc wrought by unrestrained selfishness, and as soon as the artifact is contained again, whew, the threat of that inner darkness is contained again.  By manipulating the external symbol, we gain more control over the invisible internal–that’s the basis of ritual, and it’s one of the most powerful of psychological principles (just look at any religion that’s ever existed; it’s their primary method for motivating/manipulating their followers).

There seem to be two kinds of artifacts in the Warehouse 13 universe:  intentional and accidental.  Intentional artifacts are the kind we’re used to, crafted by wizards and alchemists, gods and mad scientists.  They’re artifacts that were created for a specific purpose, often for a specific individual to wield, and they’re in the warehouse now that they’ve served that purpose.  I’m even more fascinated by the accidental artifacts–according to the Warehouse 13 mythos, these are objects which gained powers by being used by someone who was unusually skilled or talented (almost as if some of that person’s spirit or talent is transferred to the object).  My favorite accidental artifact so far as been the pen of Edgar Allen Poe:  you can use it to write an action down, and anyone who reads it is forced to perform that action.  In the Warehouse 13 world, new artifacts are created all the time, and no one knows it until someone inadvertantly activates the new artifacts’ powers.

Think about what that implies:  everyone in the Warehouse 13 universe is potentially an unwitting mage, imbuing the world around them with their own personal magic.

How cool is that?

If the Warehouse 13 folks had simply chosen to focus on the powers of the artifacts themselves, the show would have quickly fallen flat as they struggled to come up with new and unique attributes for each new object.  But by making the artifacts an extension of human will, and stating that we are creating these artifacts by the good and bad actions we choose to engage in, they’re saying that the show is about humanity’s struggles with ourselves.  The artifacts are concrete manifestations of the emotions and desires that we all wrestle with–and every time the Warehouse 13 crew safely contains another artifact, one more dangerous aspect of the human psyche is symbolically brought under control.  The search for artifacts becomes a metaphor for the search for morality and the struggle to become a better person.

Couple that universal theme and intriguing use of artifacts with strong, action-filled plotting, excellent writing, and great acting–kudos, creators and writers of Warehouse 13.  You hooked me!