Publishers Marketplace: Marissa Campbell

Vikings are the new vampires!

Targeted to fans of Diana Gabaldon, George R.R. Martin, Philippa Gregory, Anya Seton, and Bernard Cornwell, Raven's Blood is a 91,000 word historical novel with a tantalizing pinch of fantasy.

What do you get when you push the headstrong and fiercely independent daughter of a powerful earl up against the wall?

For nineteen years, Avelynn, the beautiful and secretly pagan daughter of the Ealdorman of Somerset, has lived in an environment of love, acceptance, and equality. It is the year 869, and Somerset, England has flourished under twenty years of peace. But with the whispers of war threatening their security, Avelynn's father makes an uncompromising decision that changes her life forever.

Forced into a betrothal with Demas, a man who only covets her wealth and status, Avelynn's perception of independence is shattered. With marriage looming, she turns to her faith, searching for answers in an ancient ritual along the coast, only to find Erik The Blood-Axe and sixty Viking berserkers.

In a year of uncertainty that sees Avelynn discover hidden powers, stumble into a passionate love affair with Erik, and lead men into battle, Avelynn must walk a dangerous line as her deceptions mount and Demas’ tactics to possess her become more desperate and increasingly brutal.

Within the political turmoil of Alfred the Great's England, Avelynn and Erik are caught in the throes of fate as they struggle to find the path back to themselves and onwards to each other.

I envision at least three books in The Raven Series, and underlying each story is the development of striking parallels between Arthur of Camelot and Alfred the Great, and my heroine Avelynn and the enigmatic Morgan Le Fay.