Guest Post Divine Scales ~ Bookish Madness

Guest Blog Post Lesser Known Creatures in Divine Scales

I use a lot of different mythological creatures in my writing. Some of them are easily recognizable, such as angels and mermaids. However, I do try to include some lesser known creatures, along with creatures that I’ve sort of created or twisted myself. The following are some of those creatures that can be found in Divine Scales:

Anjanas - These fairies come from Cantabrian mythology (Cantabria is a Spanish historical community). They are kind and protective of humans, defending them from their enemy the Ojáncanu. Anjanas are very small, only six inches in height. They have pale skin, long black or golden braids, and slanted eyes with either black or blue pupils. Their voices are sweet and they have thin, translucent wings. Some myths claim they are the spirits of trees who take care of the forests. They are often seen wearing crowns of flowers and they carry a stick of either wicker or hawthorn that shines with brilliant color. They help humans, plants, and animals that are harmed by storms or the Ojáncanu. If summoned for help by a kind person, they will grant their assistance. However, if summoned by someone with evil intentions, they will also inflict punishment.

Aura - An aura (aurae plural) is the personification of the breeze in Roman and Greek mythology. They are depicted as winged nymphs and are claimed to be the daughters of the god of the wind (which god that is varies).

Cuelebre - The cuelebre hails from Cantabrian mythology. It is a giant winged serpent that guards treasure and eat humans and cattle on the rare occasions it decides to move.

In Divine Scales, I took considerable liberty with the cuelebre. My cuelebre is very small, and more interested in poking his snout into other people’s business than he is in treasure or eating anyone. I liked him so much that he’s making another appearance in the first book of the spin-off series.

Ojáncanu - This is the Cantabrian version of the Greek cyclops. He is a monstrous giant who terrorizes the land eating humans and cattle, destroying homes, and blocking water supplies. He has a red hair and a long beard and his hideous appearance is said to frighten even the bravest man. His evil deeds are battled by the good fairies called the anjanas. He can only be killed by someone who can manage to find the one white hair in his beard and pull it out.

Oprichniki - Servants of the Russian tsar Ivan the Terrible. They were feared by all as they rode out over the country on fierce black horses, their faces obscured by black cloaks. It was their job to seek out any threat against the tsar or his family and report all information back to their master. They were infamous for torture and cruel executions. Their cloaks bore an image of a severed dog’s head, symbolizing that they sniffed out threats against the tsar and nipped at the heels of his enemies.

In Divine Scales, I took some liberties here and actually made the Oprichniki demon dogs who act as spies for my vampire prince Kirill.

Polypis - These are creatures mentioned in the original Little Mermaid fairy tale. They are half animal and half plant. They are tall like giant seaweed with long, thin, ribbonlike arms that grasp and clutch anything that comes near them. They grow in a sort of forest around the home of the sea witch and anyone passing through them can see the unfortunate creatures they’ve managed to ensnare, most of them now no more than skeletons.

Sirena - This is another word for mermaid.

About Divine Scales

Title: Divine Scales

Author: Jennifer Blackstream

Genre: Fantasy Romance

A warrior with a hunger for sin . . .

Driven by a terrible hunger for the black souls of evil men, Patricio, divine executioner of the gods, patrols the kingdom with blood on his hands and ice in his heart. The families of his victims sing his praises–the result of a witch’s cruel curse that condemns him to be forever surrounded by false adulation. When the curse sours the first hint at romance Patricio has had since becoming the king’s heir, his rage is all consuming. Disgusted, he leaves the mermaid in the sea and returns to the palace…only to be shocked when she bargains for the legs to follow him.

A mermaid out of her element . . .

Marcela’s world has been turned upside-down–literally. Once a proud member of her father King Triton’s royal guard, she’s now the victim of an angel’s curse. Enchanted into false adoration bordering on obsession, she traded her tail–and her voice–to the sea witch for the legs she needed to pursue the object of her desire. In a cruel twist of fate, the very magic that gave her the means to pursue her passion also broke the spell that caused it. Now she’s in the angel’s arms, but how can either of them trust the desire churning inside them when so much magic has muddied the waters?

Trust isn’t easy when nothing is as it seems . . .

A mermaid with legs and no singing voice. An angel with a curse. A witch with a chip on her shoulder. The world is full of magic and mayhem, and for an angel and a mermaid, it will take more than a kiss to balance…the Divine Scales.

Author Bio

Jennifer Blackstream is a psychology enthusiast with both a B.A. and M.A. in Psychology. Her fascination with the human mind is most appeased through the study of mythology and folklore as well as any novel by Sir Terry Pratchett.

Jennifer enjoys listening to Alice Cooper, trying new recipes (to which she will add garlic whether it calls for it or not), watching television with her family, and playing with her woefully intelligent young son. She lives in Ohio.

Jennifer spends most of her time drinking coffee from her X-Men mug and desperately trying to get all her ideas written down before her son can find that all magical button on her laptop to make her latest work vanish.

To learn more about Jennifer Blackstream and her novels, visit her website at http://www.jenniferblackstream.com.