Submitted by GJ Scherzinger
When an enchanter begins stealing the souls of animals to haunt the dreams of men, Ashia Verena, one of the ageless Guardians, is drawn into a confrontation that resurrects a dangerous secret of her past. A native girl stows away on Ashia’s journey and becomes irrevocably entangled within the nebulous realms of magic and dreams. As the circle tightens, experience and innocence must join in hopes of overcoming the sorcerer’s lust for power and revenge.
Blue Rune Publications is excited to announce its debut publication, the fourth novel by long-time Friday Harbor resident and critically acclaimed novelist GJ Scherzinger, “The Henna Witch.”
Magic is the key ingredient in fantasy fiction, and in this book it is sorcery misused for a corrupt system by attacking the dreams ofthe common man. Standing in the face of this treachery is the wisdom of age found in the title character and the innocence of youth portrayed by the native girl O’la.
Unlike many fantasy novels inhabiting worlds of medieval strongholds and charmed swords, this book evolves in remote jungles, and the most potent magic is the power of nature itself.
“I found this book both intriguing and engaging on many levels. It exceeds the usual narrative of the genre, discovering relationships with man, beast and nature alike. Scherzinger takes you on an exciting journey of discovery, which had me anxious to read on to its fantastic conclusion. I found his characters both engaging and interesting, the female and animal characters in particular. This is a magical work that transports you to a lush green world where anything is possible.” – Susanne B., Wales, U.K., Amazon review
In a recent Facebook post, the author related the processes taken in writing “The Henna Witch.”
“I was still recovering from the final surgery to my cranium when I started the novel, initially intended as a follow-up to my third book, ‘The Wizard of Grimmer’s Wharf.’ Before I had finished a dozen chapters, I realized that the title character needed her own story and most of it was scrapped. Because of that, ‘The Henna Witch’ was truly an evolution as I wrote. The antagonist changed as did the setting and I was forced to build an entirely new environment to accommodate it. Some characters are meant to tell their own part of the story and then disappear. Some come in with that intent and then they are impossible to put down. O’la, the native girl, was one of those,” he said.
Scherzinger used the bulk of his formative career to ski as much as possible while finding gainful work as a TV producer and director. He left the broadcast business and his skis to spend the next 13 years living on a 41-foot yawl in northwest Washington. In various adventures, he sailed the Inside Passage, the Gulf of Mexico and the Bahamas. His first novel was penned while residing in the San Juan Islands. He lived for a while in Todos Santos on the Baja, Mexico, where he continued writing and was adopted by a stray dog who is still with him. He currently lives on a small farm in the coastal hills of his native Oregon and has just completed the first draft of his fifth novel, “The Deck of the Numinon.”
All of the author’s books, including “The Henna Witch,” are stand-alone novels of magic, mystery and adventure.
