Guest Blog Post by Maggie Blackbird

What inspired me to write Born for This, book one in the Maizemerized series, a time travel historical romance?  Well, the idea came about by an author friend.  She asked me and two other authors if we’d be interested in writing something for Halloween that involved a corn maze and a scarecrow that we could pitch to our publisher eXtasy Books.

Since Mandaamin is corn in Ojibway, and also the corn spirit of the People, I knew right away what I was going to write, because the proposed time of the novels is set during Halloween, and the Ojibway celebrate their fall feasts around this same time, and one of the main foods served is corn.  As for the scarecrow, I knew he’d make a great Mandaamin.

So the series was born for me LOL.  There will be two other books coming out.  One involving the heroine’s older brother and another starring the heroine’s younger sister.  I hope you enjoy Edie Whitecrow’s adventure into the past as she meets her Ojibway ancestors and the man she keeps dreaming about since childhood.

One of the three authors did submit their novel with mine.  D.S. Dehel’s Nine for a Kiss was released the same day on October 29, 2021.  The other two had other obligations and had to back out.

I am much obliged to my author friend who suggested the idea, even though her novel won’t come out until March of 2022.  Her idea made me become very creative with my storyline and how I could tie it in with Ojibway lore.

As for the fourth author who didn’t make the deadline, she did find a home for her story Eternity’s Gamble.

I hope you enjoy the first book in the series as much as I enjoyed writing Edie Whitecrow’s story.

Born for This – Maizemerized, Book One

She’s always been obsessed with her ancestors, and now he’s offering her a chance to live with them…forever.

Blurb:  Second-year university student Edie Whitecrow gobbles up each course on Indigenous studies.  If only she could experience the lives of her Anishinaabe ancestors instead of reading about them.  On her way to a Halloween party decked out as a historical Ojibway maiden, she spies a corn maze in a spot known to be barren.

A scarecrow figure beckons Edie to enter with the enticing offer of making her biggest wish come true.  She jumps at the chance and finds herself in the past, face to face with the man who haunts her dreams—the handsome brave Thunder Bear.  He claims he’s spent twelve years waiting for Gitche Manidoo to send her to him.

Life in the eighteenth century isn’t what Edie romanticized about, though.  When her conscience is tested, she must choose between the modern day or the world of her descendants—where the man she was created for resides.

Genre(s): Time Travel, Historical Romance, Contemporary Romance, First Nations Romance, Cultural, Adult.
Heat Rating: Level 3
Publication Date:  October 29, 2021
Publisher:  eXtasy Books

Add to Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59230762-born-for-this

Purchase at eXtasy Books:  https://www.extasybooks.com/Born-for-This

EXCERPT:

Edie shucked aside the phone. She shut off her car and got out. A hint of a breeze ruffled the fringes on the bottom of her doeskin dress. There hadn’t been a smidgen of wind earlier, even all day, so why now?

The breeze seemed to push on her backside in the direction of the scarecrow, as if Animkiig, the Thunderbirds, were guiding her forward. Impossible. There was no storm. Not one cloud lazily floated in the midnight-blue sky.

Movement came from the scarecrow. Its hanging head creaked in her direction.

A shock of fright gripped Edie by the spine. She tried to halt, but the breeze continued to nudge her forward, as if reassuring her there was nothing to fear.

She shuffled her moccasin-wrapped feet forward. The alarm didn’t dissipate. She bit down on her finger, nibbling at the skin of her index so she wouldn’t bite her long nails she’d had manicured for the party.

The scarecrow raised its hand and curled one bony finger at her.

Ghastly. From what she could see, there wasn’t any muscle on the being, only bone and flesh. The tattered clothing hung on the creature that lacked anything firm beneath to fill out the material of flannel and denim. The shredded shirt and pants covered the scarecrow from head to toe. Even the straw hat hid its face.

Edie slapped her hand to her mouth. Could this be Mandaamin, the corn spirit of the Anishinaabeg who’d sacrificed himself centuries ago to feed the People? Of course. Who else could summon a maze from nowhere? Who else could call the Thunderbirds to coax her forward, even when terror racked her body?

Suddenly, the grip of dread holding her spine vanished.

The scarecrow kept curling its finger.

“Mandaamin, is it you?” she called out.

The long-sleeved plaid shirt and jeans ruffled in the slight breeze. The scarecrow pointed at what was the entrance to the maze.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

An Ojibway from Northwestern Ontario, Maggie resides in the country with her husband and their fur babies, two beautiful Alaskan Malamutes.  When she’s not writing, she can be found pulling weeds in the flower beds, mowing the huge lawn, walking the Mals deep in the bush, teeing up a ball at the golf course, fishing in the boat for walleye, or sitting on the deck at her sister’s house, making more wonderful memories with the people she loves most.

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