An Introduction to Do Not Drink the Holy Water

Okay, so I said that the month of July I would use to do some planning on my next Camp NaNoWriMo novel, Do Not Drink the Holy Water. Since it is such a long title, from here on out I will just refer to it as Holy Water.

Originally the idea for this novel came to me when I was walking through an outdoor Catholic shrine near a friend's house while in college. Right next to the small indoor church was a huge plastic tank that was filled with holy water. At the water spigot a sign had been posted, saying: Do Not Drink the Holy Water. I took a picture of it on my phone and then an idea began to form. I began to envision what it would be like if even just in one place, Catholics and Pagans could get along. An outdoor shrine seemed like the perfect place. All the natural beauty and features would work well for Pagans, but there were still all sorts of saints along the numerous pathways.

The holy water sign also gave me more of the idea, that the holy water isn't just holy water and that drinking it will awaken the latent abilities within a person. This water is guarded by monks who are not exactly from our realm, because the shrine is located at a point where the veil between our realm and a realm of magic is located.

Now, I'm still working out all the little plot details and such, but I'm finally going to write this story. The idea came to me back in 2007, and it was going to be my NaNovel in November, but then another story kind of popped in and took over. Below I will post the front cover I designed for Holy Water, as well as the story summary from the back cover and the author blurb.

Inara Cooper always dreamed of going on an epic adventure, but she never dreamed that a rule she broke when she was five would be the event that would change her life forever. When the truth comes out, Inara finds that she is swept off from everything she thought she knew, and is set down right in the middle of a resistance trying to protect their realm from a dangerous man calling himself The Hood.

Now, with the help of her Guardian and mentor--a warrior monk named Calder--as well as her Protector Kellan, Inara will have to harness her new abilities and pull together the struggling resistance. If she fails then The Hood will destroy everyone she has begun to care for.

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Danielle Thamasa has been writing with the hopes of someday being published ever since she was in the seventh grade. She was published multiple times through junior high and high school in her county's annual creative writing publication. She further honed her writing skills in college, where she worked on the school newspaper for four years.

In her free time Danielle does a lot of reading and writing, as well as spending a great deal of time with fellow authors she met by participating in NaNoWriMo.

You can find Danielle on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

I have also worked out a little bit of information for the sequel to Holy Water: Please No Ritual Sacrifices. More on that another time.