Greetings readers and Happy New Year! I am more than ready to welcome a fresh, and hopefully less stressful, shiny new year. I'd like to start that year out with an EXCLUSIVE interview with my main male protagonist from the Otherworld Series, Caedehn MacRoich. Several weeks ago, Cade agreed to sit down with the fabulous Katrina Curry of Paranormal Romance Trance to answer some questions. Don't worry if you haven't read the books yet; Cade was very careful not to give too much away ;). Anyways, I hope you will enjoy this conversation and don't be afraid to add your own questions or comments below! I also want to thank Katrina for the interview. Be sure to check out her Facebook page where she hosts giveaways and author spotlights for many paranormal romance writers.
-J.E. Johnson
Katrina Curry with Paranormal Romance Trance Interviews Caedehn MacRoich of the Otherworld Trilogy
KC: First, if you could please state your name:
CM: Caedehn MacRoich, but most who know me call me Cade.
KC: Your place of birth?
CM: Eile, the Otherworld.
KC: Can you tell us a little bit about your heritage?
CM: For the sake of new readers, I won’t go into detail here. Let’s just say I have some interesting relatives and that fact has gotten me into trouble more often than not. By the end of Dolmarehn you’ll find out more about my bloodlines.
KC: What is your eye color?
CM: They’re changeable, but most often green.
KC: How about your hair color?
CM: Dark chestnut red.
KC: Where are some of the places you’ve lived?
CM: All over Eile. I’ve lived in the Morrigan’s realm, the Dagda’s abode, the Weald. Currently I live in my ruined castle, Luathara, in the low hills of southwestern Eile. I also maintain a small apartment in the mortal world where the Morrigan’s faelah like to frequent the most.
KC: Do you have any friends?
CM: Fergus, my spirit guide, is my closest friend. Enorah, my half-sister, is also dear to me. I’d also like to say that Meghan Elam is a friend, but she’s far more to me than that.
KC: How about enemies?
CM: Mostly the Morrigan, and all those who offer their allegiance to her.
KC: How about your dating history?
CM: Being the Morrigan’s puppet, I never got the chance to date much. The first woman I ever had any interest in turned out to be just as selfish and manipulative as the war goddess who controls me. For a long time, I avoided romance altogether. It wasn’t difficult, and by the time I grew interested in dating once again, somehow or another, the women I pursued found out about my past (and heritage) and quickly lost interest. I had been unattached for a very long time before finding Meghan.
KC: Who do you admire most?
CM: I mostly admire my foster father, the Dagda. He has never given up on me, despite the things I’ve done in my past. Enorah, my sister, is someone else who has always been my rock. She and the Dagda have been my only family throughout the years. And Meghan, of course. Despite the fear and confusion she must be experiencing from all the information she’s gathered of late, she has yet to back down from any of it.
KC: What is your overall outlook on life?
CM: I’ve had a very long time to dwell on this question. Before meeting Meghan, I would have to admit my outlook on life was very dismal. Being the Morrigan’s slave and being forced to bend to her will had me considering immortality a curse. After Meghan came along, however, I found something worth fighting and living for.
KC: Are you lying to yourself about anything?
CM: It is a general habit of mine to lie to myself about many things, the biggest being that I wasn’t falling for Meghan. My sister and the Dagda would tell you of the many other things I might be keeping to myself, so you would have to ask them.
KC: How would you say you are viewed by others?
CM: I know, from experience, that those in Eile see me as someone to avoid. I am Ehriad, a wandering warrior with no clan or family connections. I have those few who care about me (Enorah, the Dagda, and Fergus), but those who do not know me either fear me or look at me with mild revulsion. I think this is one of the reasons I so easily fell under Meghan’s spell: she didn’t know any of this when we first met and she looked at me with fresh eyes, not ones with years upon years of terrible tales and rumors to consider.
KC: Do you have any pets?
CM: Fergus isn’t really a pet, but he is my spirit guide wolf hound. And of course there is Speirling, my horse. But in all honesty, all horses belong to Epona and only wander away from the herd if they wish to stay with a Faelorehn master. I’ve been blessed to have Speirling stay by my side for many years.
KC: What do you most dislike about yourself?
CM: I most dislike the Morrigan’s hold over me. It makes me feel weak, although it is a geis that could only be broken if I was willing to forfeit my life. The things the Morrigan has made me do have tempted me on many occasions to break my geis just to end the torment, but it was only when … well, maybe I should stop there. Don’t want to give too much of the story away.
KC: Do you get along well with others?
CM: I do my best to get along with others. When I was sent on a mission to aid the Amsihria women with their draghan, I got along well with my travel companions. Normally, I avoid other Faelorehn men and women. I know what they believe of me, and there is no reason for me to try and prove myself otherwise. I prefer to be alone on the most part.
KC: Do you have any tattoos/piercings/scars?
CM: Tattoos, yes. A knot work sun pattern over one pectoral denoting my ties to the Morrigan, and a few others. No piercings, but too many scars to count.
KC: What do people notice first about you?
CM: This would be a good question for Meghan to answer. Probably my height. I’m well over six feet tall.
KC: What about your sense of style. Do you have a trademark look?
CM: I wear the typical clothing of the Otherworld: deerskin pants, a plain tunic. Sometimes I wear a vest if the occasion calls for it, and I might even change into something nicer than my travel and battle clothes if I’m in the mood. In the mortal world, I prefer jeans, T-shirt and jacket. Often times my trench coat.
KC: What would you say are your strongest and weakest character traits?
CM: My strongest character trait would be my patience. Despite the aggression I often have to keep a tight hold on, I am also capable of patience. Perhaps this is from years of practice. My weakest character trait would be my self-doubt. Years of receiving emotional and physical abuse from the Morrigan has left quite a mark and I sometimes find it hard to acknowledge that I’m not what she has painted me to be.
KC: How much self-control and discipline would you say you have?
CM: More than the average Faelorehn, but there is always the chance I might lose control of my glamour. That only ever happens in battle and when I am fiercely angry or terrified.
KC: What are some of your fears?
CM: Being trapped in the Morrigan’s employ for all eternity; losing Meghan or my sister.
KC: Do you collect anything?
CM: Not really. I’m too often wandering the wilds of Eile that I’d lose whatever I managed to accumulate. Once I’m more fully established in Luathara that might change.
KC: What are some of your talents?
CM: I am quite good with a bow and a sword.
KC: What would you say people like best about you?
CM: According to those who love me the most, I have a good heart.
KC: Do you have a favorite food or drink?
CM: I prefer mead during a celebration, tea in the mornings or afternoons, and clear, clean water from the rushing streams of Eile. I’m not too picky when it comes to food, and I enjoy preparing it myself. The best meals are those gathered and prepared in Eile, especially at one of the Dagda’s parties.
KC: What is your favorite music?
CM: I don’t care so much for the music of the mortal world. I much prefer the natural sounds of Eile and the wind and pipe instruments the Faelorehn have invented over the ages.
KC: Your favorite color?
CM: Brown and green.
KC: Do you have a vehicle?
CM: I own a classic Trans Am that resides in the mortal world. I hardly ever get to drive it, but it’s there in case I need to travel somewhere quickly. When in the Otherworld, I’m either walking where I need to go, using the many dolmarehns, or riding Speirling, my black stallion.
KC: When would you say you are most happy?
CM: I’m happiest when in the Otherworld, watching the seasons color the land with their changing. I enjoy roaming across Eile’s vastness with Fergus, my spirit guide, and breathing in her beauty and wonders. I prefer to be alone, and was happy that way for many years. Since meeting Meghan, however, I’m quickly changing my opinion on that. Being alone with Meghan is now my idea of happiness.
KC: When are you most sad?
CM: I tend to retreat into myself when I am sad. This happens when I spend too much time in my own head, or when the Morrigan reminds me of some of the things I’ve been forced to do under her rule.
KC: What’s it like when you get angry?
CM: If I get too angry, my glamour flares and my riastrad takes over. I get angry when my friends and family are in danger, and when innocent people are being hurt or exploited.
KC: What do you laugh or jeer at?
CM: I enjoy laughing, but up until recently, I found little occasion to take part in it. I don’t really jeer, but if I did, it would be at something the Morrigan said, most likely. She may be a powerful goddess with a hold over me, but I’m not afraid to let her know how I feel about her.
KC: What’s a way someone could cheer you up?
CM: A good, old-fashioned bonfire with lively music and pleasant company would probably put me in a good mood.
KC: What are some ways someone might annoy you?
CM: Rub my mistakes in my face, or my weaknesses. Or try to make my compassion appear wake. The Morrigan is very good at this.
KC: What are some of your hopes and dreams?
CM: I dream to one day restore Luathara to its former glory and to raise a family. For too many years I’ve simply existed under the Morrigan’s tyrannical reign. It would be good to live once again.
KC: What is the worst thing you’ve ever done to someone and why?
CM: I’m not ready to talk about this. It will crack open a dark past I have worked hard to bury.
KC: What has been your greatest success?
CM: Again, telling you would be giving too much of the story away. Let’s just say it involves sacrifice and hard work, but it was all worth it in the end.
KC: Your biggest trauma?
CM: My biggest trauma to date happened at the end of Dolmarehn. But I can’t go into too many details because I don’t want to give away any spoilers.
KC: What do you care about most in the world?
CM: Meghan’s happiness. Also, my sister’s happiness as well. Enorah’s past is even more haunted than my own. I would love to see her shake the shadows that plague her and find someone to love as much as I love Meghan.
KC: Do you have any secrets?
CM: I still have many secrets, though not as big as the two I finally revealed to Meghan.
KC: Most embarrassing thing to ever happen to you:
CM: The most embarrassing things happened to me when I was in my youth. The Morrigan was pretty good about bleeding that particular emotion out of you.
KC: Most amazing thing to ever happen to you:
CM: Meeting Meghan and then the realization that, even after learning who and what I was, she wanted to remain by my side.
KC: If you could be anything or anyone else:
CM: rowing up, I had wanted to be anyone but myself. I would have given anything to be a simple Faelorehn boy who didn’t have unruly glamour and who wasn’t geis-bound to the Morrigan. Now, although I know there is still much room for growth and improvement, I am happy with where I am in my life.
KC: You are the kind of person who:
CM: I tend to run head-on into danger to prevent others from getting hurt, even when it is almost guaranteed that I will injure myself.
KC: Why might the reader sympathize with you right away?
CM: If you asked Enorah, or the Dagda, this question, they would tell you that although I’m a bit rough around the edges, my heart, and intentions, are well-placed. I think I present a mystery to most people. I try hard to keep my darkest secrets to myself (and I have many), and somehow I think that fact gets picked up by people. People tend to gravitate towards those they find intriguing or shocking, and I think I contain a little bit of both those aspects. I am also fiercely loyal to the ones I love, and that, too, is something people find appealing in others.
KC: What, if anything, keeps you from pursuing your passion?
CM: My many fears, mostly fears about how my negative associations and terrible past might affect others.
KC: What are your views on having children?
CM: I would love to be a father. Before that can happen, however, I need to make Eile as safe as possible. That means I have a lot of work to do in cleaning up the mess the Morrigan left behind before I can start a family.
KC: What are your views on marriage?
CM: In Eile, we have a binding ceremony. I never thought I’d ever be the type of person to take part in a binding ceremony, but that was before I met Meghan. Marriage to me is not about the ceremony, but the commitment between the two people who decide to share a life together. I am looking forward to sharing my immortal life with Meghan.
KC: Plans for the future?
CM: Although I have successfully put my unsavory past behind me, I know there will be more trials and tribulations ahead. The difference, this time, is that I have Meghan by my side to help me through them, as well as my sister and my other friends, old and new. The Morrigan is gone, for now, but her dark magic still lingers. I expect many challenges for the future, but I have a much stronger purpose now.
