Qwana from The Last Priestess Series

Tell us about your heroine --- the female lead in your book.: Qwana is the heroine of The Last Priestess trilogy set in ancient Peru. She is the last priestess to the Moon Goddess in a time when religion turned to sun worship. Those who worshiped the moon practiced a gentle, nurturing religion. Those who worshiped the sun practiced ritual sacrifices, terrorizing the populace of Loa, a city on the Nazca Plain.

What's her name? Qwana

Why did you pick that name? I have no idea. I was in a rock shop and the proprietor had a holey stone (it had a hole in it, considered to be very powerful by crystal enthusiasts) from her trip to South America on the counter. I picked it up and must have linked into the story at that point, because I was compelled to write this history about a woman who lived on the Nazca Plain and who became the last priestess in the temple of the Moon Goddess.

Give us a brief description of how she looks. Qwana is beautiful in the eyes of her people: short, compactly built, with dark eyes and hair. Her nose is hooked, her skin is dark and she is dressed in fine, brightly colored garments woven from the wool of llamas and vicuna. Qwana would probably not be considered beautiful in our culture where thin, blonde beauties are the ideal.

Is there anything unusual about her appearance? Not really. Other than the fact she may have richer garments than the common woman of her time due to her special position, she looks like any woman who might have lived in that time and place.

Who does she love? Qwana loves the Moon Goddess and although she is the only young woman of her generation destined to serve in the temple of the moon, she believes it is the proper thing for her to do. She loves the two remaining elder priestesses: Aruz and Mix’la who taught her the rituals of the temple. She also loves Rowland, a visitor from the planet Deesa who has come to this world to see the wonders described by his father, who was also a galactic traveler. She also loves and protects a baby she found abandoned in the Andean foothills.

Does this person love her? In that culture, it was believed the Goddess loved all of her children. The two older priestesses love Qwana as their daughter and are proud of her, although they worry about her solitary state. Rowland, who grew up hearing stories about the wonders of Earth, loves Qwana from first meeting – although she resists his love – believing that she will betray the Goddess if she offers her life and love to the visitor from a world beyond the stars.

Tell us about her family. Qwana’s family does not figure into this tale, she is dedicated to the temple of the Moon from birth. Her “family” are the people who love and depend on her.

Where is she from? Qwana is born in Loa, a city situated on the Nazca Plain, near the foothills of the Andes Mountains.

Does her hometown affect her behavior, thoughts and attitude? The people of Qwana’s city have been swayed to the bloody rituals of the Sun God. They are mesmerized by Xilpu, the high priest of the temple of the Sun. Xilpu is cruel and practices a brutal religion that strips families of their young men and women who die in agony on the stones of the temple. He leads a virtual army of priests that he uses to keep the city in line.

Qwana believes that these bloody rituals are wrong, and while she is forced to witness these brutalities, she longs for a way for the people to be rid of the high priest who uses her as a sexual slave, even though the priestesses of the Moon are supposed to be virgin.

Qwana feels fear and horror at the way Xilpu treats those who follow the religion of the Sun God, but she is powerless to correct the situation and convince the people to return to the worship of the Moon. She wonders if the gentle religion will die if no new girl children are dedicated to follow her in the temple of the Moon.

When Rowland arrives from the planet Deesa, the high priest sends Qwana out on the plain to examine the fallen star, hoping she and her elders will die from exposure. Bewitched by the young priestess, Rowland follows her back to the city, where he witnesses the brutal rituals that honor the Sun God and swears he will release the people from their bondage to the religion that requires a sacrament of blood.

What does she want out of life? Qwana wants to do her duty and serve the Moon Goddess. She is dedicated to this task and believes it to be her life work. Although her initiatian vision indicates she will mate the condor, she believes this to be a prediction of her victory, and not the true ending her story reveals.

What's her biggest secret? Qwana is much stronger than she might have believed. She grows as she protects the elders as they flee from Loa and she comes to understand that true love is an appropriate thing for even the last priestess.

Did you write more than one story about her? Qwana’s story is told in three books: The Last Priestess, Nazca Star and Bride of the Condor.

How would she describe you? I imagine Qwana would see me as a sorceress who is able to record stories in strange boxes and send them out for the world to share. She would probably be shocked at the sort of clothing and lack of reverence exhibited by today’s woman.

Is there anything else about your heroine that we need to know? Qwana is like all of us who are placed in difficult conditions and learn the true depths of our courage.

Please provide your website link. http://www.terrylwhite.com

What is the link to buy your book? www.ebooksonthe.net, or www.Amazon.com in the Kindle section. The Last Priestess Series are also available at Fictionwise, All Romance Ebooks, and other venues.

NOTE: This is a new edition of The Last Priestess story, and is available only as ebooks at this time

Chesapeake Harvest by Terry L. White

Tell us about your heroine --- the female lead in your book.: The heroine in Chesapeake Harvest is a woman named Mary Charles. The daughter of privilege, Mary follows her heart to the streets of London where she is abandoned by her seducer, and must make her way through the highways and byways by selling first her clothing, then her person. Starving, Mary steals a bite of bread and lands in gaol, where she learns the true meaning of misery. When she thinks all is lost, Mary is brought before a judge and sentenced to deportation to the New World and Maryland colony. Her passage across the Atlantic is another chapter written in misery and it is only by chance that she escapes the sickness that breaks out during the voyage and lives to be sold on the block to a man willing to pay the price of her indenture in return for her services.

What's her name? Mary Charles.

Why did you pick that name? I find that my characters come to me with their stories – and their names -- in their pockets. Mary is representative of hundreds of victims of poverty who were transported to the colonies in order to empty the jails of petty criminals who cost the crown more than their worth to support, even in great privation. Those transported were charged with their own passage, which they had to work off in a state of enslavement for five years on what is now Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Mary seems to be a common name in most epochs of English history, and Charles sounded like a name given to members of the gentry.

Give us a brief description of how she looks. Mary once wore silk dresses and shoes of the finest leather, but her fall from the world of ease leaves her dressed in her mistress’s cast off clothing and garments of rough linen or wool that are more serviceable, but hardly alluring. Her hair is scraped back in a rough knot or braid and her hands are red and calloused from work.

Is there anything unusual about her appearance? Mary is the servant of a man who has connections to royalty, but in the colony even those born with status wear plain clothing that will stand up to the hard work of a frontier farm.

Who does she love? Mary loves Tom, a fellow indentured servant, but she is married to her Master William Baron, who chooses her as a wife when his dear spouse dies of marsh fever. Mary is grateful for the match, for she was raped earlier by the farm’s first male indenture, and she feels that her daughter will be safe if she marries her master. This change in status does not mean her work is lightened, only that she has traded one form of enslavement for another.

Does this person love her? William does not love Mary, although he honors her worth by offering her marriage, a custom of the time when there were fewer marriageable women than men due to the hard work and unattended childbirths they must endure. Tom does love Mary, but she turns him away when he finishes his time of indenture because she is carrying William’s child. In her heart, she would like to put aside her loveless marriage to follow Tom to the mountains of Virginia, but her sense of duty keeps her tied to William and the management of his farm. William leaves the farm often to dabble in politics, and eventually is killed when he is on the way to London to pursue business matters and his ship is caught in a violent storm..

Tell us about her family. Mary has her daughter, fruit of the rape, and several of William’s children, all of whom she loves dearly. She is responsible for raising these offspring and for the management of the plantation in her husband’s absence. After Tom leaves, William presents Mary with a family of slaves, a husband with wife and children. With so many mouths to feed, Mary works very hard to maintain her family.

Where is she from? Mary is from London, but her indenture brings her to the area that is now known as Somerset County on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

Does her hometown affect her behavior, thoughts and attitude? Mary is responsible for a great deal as the wife of a plantation owner, however, she is grateful for Sir Williams, whose wife Sallie adopted and legitimized her bastard child. Mary is also mindful of her luck in being transported rather than being left to rot in a London gaol. While her marriage has elevated her to a similar status as that of her birth, the circumstances of life in the colony leave her with a great deal of responsibility, especially when her husband is killed. Mary lives in a world where women are secondary to men, but she is not unmindful of the good fortune that has followed her to the New World.

What does she want out of life? Mary would like very much to be loved, but she is dedicated to her children and the land, which she discovers is very important to her as she grows from the abused daughter of privileged to the manager of a large plantation in the New World. Mary is not a woman to feel sorry for herself and she often counts her blessings as she tells her story.

What's her biggest secret? Mary loves Tom for his kindness, even when he leaves the farm when she says she cannot come with him. That said, she puts the love aside and does not pine for what might have been.

Did you write more than one story about her? No. I have told Mary’s story, or rather Mary has sent her story through me for others to enjoy. I believe Mary had an eventful life, but that she took the events as they came and was aware that she was blessed as those events shook her world.

How would she describe you? I believe Mary would see me as a sister, a woman who had similar experiences and who is grateful for the good things life has given her.

Is there anything else about your heroine that we need to know? Feel free to share. I think it is important for the reader to understand that Mary is a responsible person who understands what is important in life. I do not know how her story came to me, but I believe there is a channel that opens and allows me to know the women in my stories and to tell their stories. I believe that women have suffered greatly in the past and that their stories hold the seeds of love for the women of today who may live in misery – then read a book and see that there is a clear path for them to the future.

Please provide your website link. http://www.terrylwhite.com

You can find Terry L. White's books at www.ebooksonthe.net, Fictionwise, Mobipocket, Kindle and Amazon.com by typing her name in the search engines. Look for Runaway Hearts, Mystick Moon, Ancient Memories, The Last Priestess, Mustard Seed, Crazy Quilt, Hang Your Head Over, Imagine, Hell or High Water and Chesapeake Harvest and more. Terry is also a bead artist and musician.