An Interview with Penny Ash's character, Kian Sean Puca!

With the release of Penny Ash's book about him on Amazon.com, I managed to track the Puca down and ask him a few questions.

Alisha: Why don't we start with introducing you to our readers.

Puca: A brilliant idea. I am Kian Sean Puca and a Puca is what I am.

Alisha: And what exactly is a Puca?

Puca: Ah, we Pucas are true shape shifters. We are part of the Fae of the Unseelie Court. Fine creatures we are to be sure, changing into many forms.

Alisha: What is your favorite form?

Puca: I rather enjoy turning to fine silvery smoke, although tis not always wise on a windy day. And mostly I shift to Wolfhound so I can lick Emma's ankles. It makes her cranky.

Alisha: Oh my! How old are you?

Puca: We don't count the years as humans do but in your terms I am over 700 years old.

Alisha: So you've seen a lot of history, what time period did you like living in the most?

Puca: I love living in this time, I adore chatting with my friends on the internet and I am quite partial to gaming.

Alisha: Very interesting. Why do you like humans so much?

Puca: Humans are so volatile and imaginative; well my Emma is anyway, especially after she watches some of these actors on the dvd.

Alisha: What does a Puca do on Saturday night for entertainment?

Puca: Ah, Saturday night I like to go and have a wee drink at Joe's bar. Sometimes we even enjoy a bit of a brawl there.

Alisha: We love the same things...lol...just kidding. If you were on a date with the girl of your dreams, where would you take her and what would you do?

Puca: Oh my, the girl of my dreams. Should she appear and I be able to escape my fine Emma's clutches I would take her for a ride through the forest and make love to her under a canopy of stars...Oh, wait I did that with Emma. Twas quite fun.

Alisha: I've heard you don't get along with elves much. Why is this and how did the hatred get started?

Puca: To be blunt Finvarra is jealous. It seems I am rather more generously endowed than the King of the Fae and he does not take it well. I think that is why he wants me dead. He has tried to kill me several times and I can deal with that, but when he attacks my Emma that is intollerable...

Alisha: What are your plans for the future?

Puca: I've a scheme to get my brother Aiden together with Emma's best friend. She'll lead him a merry chase.

Blurb:
Exiled from his home as a young Puca, Kian, takes his search for true love out into the world. A shape shifting trickster he’s still looking for that perfect woman when he settles into the forest that surrounds Enchanted Grove, Oregon. Joined by other denizens of the fairy world life settles into a comfortable routine.
Emma O’Neill is having boyfriend trouble when she inherits the Toddle House Bed and Breakfast. Hoping to start a new life she makes the trip to the house where Brownies run things and the guests are looking for fairies in the flower gardens. Kian Puca is the handyman and keeps the house supplied with firewood.
From the first moment he sees her, the Puca knows she’s made for him. Emma doesn’t quite believe in fairies and elves but Kian is just about the sexiest thing she’s ever seen. Will their budding relationship survive when Kian’s past reaches out to destroy them both?

Excerpt:
No human was near; there were none to witness the convocation of the courts of good and evil, save for a family of foxes. The night was quiet, clear and cold; the stars were bright points of light in a moonless sky. A faint glow came from an opening in the side of the hill of Tara as both the Seelie and Unseelie courts filed in. It was a rare occasion requiring both courts to convene. The chittering, grumbling crowd of otherworldly beings mingled in an uneasy truce to watch one of their own be sentenced for treason against the Sidhe.
Kian Sean Puca, shapeshifting trickster and member of the evil Unseelie court, hung his head. He waited, bound with cords and spells and his mouth gagged with silken scarves, forced to kneel before the hated dark Elf Finvarra, the King of the Daoine Sidhe.
Kian glanced to the side where the rest of the court stood in uneasy silence. Their bejeweled silk and velvet robes glittered coldly in the firelight. He saw none there sympathetic to him, other than his family.
Finvarra stood and looked down at the Puca, barely contained rage on his saturnine face. The Puca returned the King’s glare, refusing to be subservient to the arrogant Elf. He was not fit to rule, so he wasn’t, Kian thought hotly. No, not when Finvarra could not keep his filthy hands from the innocent human women, even though the beautiful Donagh graced his bed.
Kian thought about the events that had brought him to this point, and his secret and desperate wish to be accepted by humans, to live among them without having to hide what he was. A picture flashed through his mind’s eye. He replayed the memory of the day he’d gotten a wicked thorn in his paw and the fair daughter of the O’Neill clan that had nursed him. He had not forgotten his vow to watch over the girl and her family. He knew she was not the one who would grant his heart’s desire, but still he could not allow her to be despoiled by Finvarra. Spiriting the girl and her new husband away to enjoy their wedding night unmolested had led him here. And if the death of a few of Finvarra’s cattle had been required for the diversion... well, it was no more than the lecherous Elf deserved.
The Puca watched Finvarra. The King sat and stared at him for a long, tense moment. The Elf stood at last, walking slowly toward Kian, stopping just a few feet in front of the mischievous shape shifter. The Puca knew the loss of a night of pleasure with the human girl was galling enough for the evil Elf, but the loss of several of his prized cattle was intolerable. Kian watched as the King walked around him, examining him from all angles before stopping in front of him once again.
“Tis a strange thing indeed, a Puca caring for aught but causing mischief. Puca Kian, you have interfered with my pleasures and made me look the fool before my subjects. What have you to say for yourself?” The King reached out, impatiently jerking the gag from Kian’s mouth and knocking the bound Puca to the cold stone floor.
Kian’s eyes narrowed slightly, flaring red for a second, a low growl sounding deep in his throat. He snapped his teeth, earning a kick to his ribs from his captor. A negligent wave of Finvarra’s hand sent a trio of pixies scurrying toward him. They tugged and pulled at him with much swearing and grunting, finally levering him up to his knees once more.
“I did naught but repay a debt; the only one to cause you to look the fool is yourself,” the Puca said defiantly. He shrugged the pixies off and wished he could shift into one of his many forms. Fire would be nice, to burn the whole treacherous court, but the spells that bound him prevented him from even his favorite wolfhound shape. Sighing heavily, he closed his eyes, clenching his teeth in frustration. He’d not be captured now but for a trap baited with a choice piece of honeycomb and his weakness for sweets.
Memories rose in the Puca’s mind like specters. He watched the people of the village going about their business. A young couple caught his eye, and he laid his head on his outstretched paws. Obviously in love, the young man and his sweetheart strolled past the Puca lying in the shadows of the tavern. The Puca felt the tiniest stirrings of envy begin to make itself known to him. His chest felt tight and he lifted his head, whining softly to himself as they walked past him. To know that perfect acceptance, that unquestioning and solid love, was his greatest dream.
Kian sighed and laid his head on his paws once again. According to the legends, his father told a Puca could be tamed and bound only by the love of a very special human. His one experience of human compassion had left him wanting more. His search of the old stories told him that it had happened at least once before. And if it could happen once, it certainly could happen again. He could see no reason why such good fortune could not be his. He jerked his wandering attention back to the King.
“A debt? To a human?” Finvarra laughed, a cold, joyless sound. “What debt is it that requires your life, Puca?”
“I’ll not be besmirching a lady’s honor by telling the likes of you,” Kian said haughtily. He blushed deeply at the gasp that rose from the assembled court. They thought the girl his lover. They were wrong. The Puca sighed. Killing the Elf King’s cattle still held far more attraction than the fleeting pleasures of a woman’s bed, although that was quite enjoyable as well.
“Then it is to your grave you’ll be going, Puca, a fine example and warning to those who think to defy my will and destroy what is mine.” Finvarra snapped his long, bony fingers, waving the waiting executioners forward...

The Video


Buy links
Amazon


Mojocastle


Puca
Publisher: Mojo Castle Press (2008)
ISBN-10: 1601800711
ISBN-13: 978-1601800718