 Kylie Griffin’s Superhero Alliance! Posted by Anna Campbell Jul 6 2012, 12:02 am
I’m delighted to welcome back my very talented Aussie pal, Kylie Griffin. Kylie’s first book VENGEANCE BORN received great buzz in Romancelandia and her second book ALLIANCE FORGED looks like it’s going to continue the magic (pun intended). To give you an example, RT Book Reviews said of ALLIANCE FORGED that, “Griffin does a stellar job envisioning her world and its compelling protagonists. Well worth your time!” You can read an excerpt of ALLIANCE FORGED here: http://kyliegriffin.com/AF_Excerpt.html Kylie, welcome back to the lair! Congratulations on the success of VENGEANCE BORN, the first book of your Light Blade series. Now the second book ALLIANCE FORGED has been released. Can you tell us about this story? Anna, it’s wonderful to be back in the lair. I received such a warm welcome last time from everyone that I’m really looking forward to this visit!
Let’s start with the blurb. There is no mercy in the demon realm. No escape. In this place of desperation and conflict, anyone who is not purebred is virtually powerless. Until a blind priestess lays claim to a half-breed warrior, body and soul… Hunted and marked for death by Na’Reish demons for their half-blood heritage, the Na’Chi are searching for a new home—something an alliance offered by the human leader could provide. With both races divided by prejudice, when Light Blade rebels brutally attack the Na’Chi, the alliance seems doomed to fail.
When the Na’Reish raid human territory for blood-slaves and kickstart a war, the key to the survival of both races—Na’Chi and human— is an alliance. However, when Kymora is kidnapped, pitting human against human, Varian realizes he must embrace his darker half, not only to save the alliance…but also the woman he loves. ALLIANCE FORGED picks up just a few short months after VENGEANCE BORN finishes. The humans and Na’Chi (half-bloods) have formed a tentative alliance but there’s still a lot of uncertainty from both sides as to whether this partnership will work. Prejudice and acceptance of those with differences were themes explored in VENGEANCE BORN, and they weave their way through ALLIANCE FORGED, but the theme of journeys and the significant lessons they teach us is also explored.
Varian, the warrior-leader of the Na’Chi, a half-human half-demon race, fights to protect his people from those who consider them abominations because of their mixed blood heritage. He seeks a safe haven for them. As you can see both Varian and Kymora start on very distinct paths, ones well defined, but it isn’t long before they discover how quickly events can change and their journeys twist in a direction they least expect. Whether Varian and Kymora end up at the same destination…well, that’s something readers will have to discover for themselves! Sounds great! What were the inspirations behind this book?
At the time I was writing VENGEANCE BORN vampires, werewolves, and shifters dominated the market, and the stories were set in a contemporary world or very urban fantasy based. Creating a fantasy world with different races (al la LORD OF THE RINGS style) really appealed to me. It’s as simple as that. But why demons? No idea. All I can tell you is they’re not styled or based on any familiar mythology. In the Light Blade world my demons are known as the Na’Reish and they’re all-powerful, dominating the humans physically as well as in numbers. They’re taller, built larger, have enhanced senses and strength and the balance of power lies in their favor. In VENGEANCE BORN, it’s revealed that humans and demons once coexisted peacefully and that with the pairings of human and demon couples hybrid children could be produced. The revelation that anyone who possessed a Gift (as these special abilities are known) – Na’Chi or human – came from a mixed bloodline, something that shocked and appalled many. Annika, the heroine from VENGEANCE BORN, has remarkable healing abilities that can also be used to kill. In ALLIANCE FORGED readers will get to see some of the different abilities of the Na’Chi (the hero Varian), as well as those humans who possess Gifts (the heroine Kymora).
I’d love to share the blurb for ALLEGIANCE SWORN but it contains information that will spoil a secondary plot twist from ALLIANCE FORGED, so I won’t post it here. All I can say is that one of the characters in this story has already appeared in VENGEANCE BORN and ALLIANCE FORGED. The hero and heroine are an unlikely pairing, and one of them must overcome a tormented past in order to move forward. Readers will see the plot move from human territory to deep within Na’Riesh territory. They’ll learn more about the demon’s caste-based lifestyle and brutal culture of slavery. And the war between the humans and Na’Reish concludes in ALLEGIANCE SWORN and finishes off an over-arcing storyline that I began in VENGEANCE BORN.
Your first book VENGEANCE BORN came out in February, 2012. What have your first few months as a published author been like? Any surprises? Phew, where to start! A little background would probably be helpful before summing up the last few months in one word. After taking a two-year sabbatical, I returned to teaching. The school term began just as VENGEANCE BORN was released, and I began my February blog tour. On top of that I was juggling line edits for ALLIANCE FORGED and writing the first draft of ALLEGIANCE SWORN. So the term I’d use is manic. It’s been a lot of work, but honestly, I wouldn’t swap it for anything!
The real kicker were the men who’ve read VENGEANCE BORN, enjoyed it, and let me know! One fellow said, and I quote, “You could have cut back on the mushy stuff but the rest was pretty good.” High praise considering I hadn’t expected a lot of men to read a fantasy romance! I’ve always been so impressed that you’re not just a brilliant writer, but a superhero! Can you tell us about your work with the Rural Fire Service and the NSW State Emergency Service? I bet you’ve got some great stories! I don’t know about the superhero bit, Anna! LOL
Our little rural village has a local pub, a one person police station, a one teacher school with 10 children, two churches, a general store that doubles as a post office and an agricultural supply business. Being so isolated where we are, it can take emergency services up to an hour to respond to emergency calls from the nearest towns. Our volunteer fire brigade consists of five members – I’m the deputy captain and only female in the unit and we respond to both bushfires and structural fires. The SES unit helps out in floods and storms and because of our isolation, we’re also tasked with the responsibilities of search and rescue, road crash, and community first response (aka ambulance calls). With only six members (and two of us are in both organizations) I’ve been Controller, deputy controller and grunt in this organization.
And yes, some of our call outs are quite memorable.
A more light-hearted and amusing call out involved us heading out to assist a woman who’d gone into labor. She lived on a property in the middle of the bush and to get to their place we had to traverse a goat track, in torrential rain (which had been coming down for hours) which made driving the dirt track hazardous. There were three of us on the call out. When we got there we made the decision to evacuate the family of five as we knew we’d never make it back in there a second time. With two of us in the front of our 4WD vehicle, the pregnant woman and her family piled in the back seat and me in the canopied back sitting on top of all our medical supplies, we only just made it out of there.
I’ve been to catastrophic bushfires, house-fires, motor vehicle fatalities, searches for missing people (whom we’ve found alive and deceased), ambulance call outs involving amputated limbs, heart attack casualties and emergencies where I’ve used CPR to sustain life.
Wow, Kylie, I’m not joking with the superhero moniker! Is there anything you’d like to ask the Banditas and Bandita Buddies? Anna, thank you so much for hosting me here in the lair again. I’ve had a great time sharing a little bit about ALLIANCE FORGED (and a lot about my volunteer work! ). I’d love to ask you readers if they have any interesting tales about emergencies they’ve experienced. Are there any fellow fire fighters or rescue workers out there? Or volunteers of any sort, who help out their communities? I’d enjoy hearing your stories. Kylie has v Tweet Posted in Alliance Forged, Anna Campbell, Australian Author, Bandita Booty, interviews, Kylie Griffin, Light Blade Series, Paranormal elements, romantic fantasy, series, Vengeance Born, writing life Comments111 thoughts on “Kylie Griffin’s Superhero Alliance!” |
  
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by Anna Campbell
I notice that book 3 in the series, ALLEGIANCE SWORN, is available next April. Can you give us any hints about this story and where it takes the series?
ery generously offered a commenter today a copy of her latest book ALLIANCE FORGED (international giveaway). So get commenting people! Good luck!
Emergencies..eh, no. Once a kid fell and I cleaned the wound. Which not really was a wound but he was sad. But I am lucky. I do not want to handle a bit emergency
Blodeuedd, good on you, helping that poor kid!
Blodeuedd, it’s not the size of the emergency, it’s all about stopping to help. I think in this day and age, doing that is a lost art.
I’ve seen so many people walk on past when someone needs help, whether it be tripping over or even just looking lost.
Blodeudd, congratulations on nabbing the Golden Rooster!
Congrats on the Alliance Forged. I’m planning to buy my copy at the conference so I can get you to sign it!!
Emergencies – I was once on a train in Spain that caught fire and I seemed to be the only one who noticed. I couldn’t remember the Spanish word for fire so just started shouting salida (which I think means exit) and trying get people to get off the train. People were calling me all sort of names (they thought I was nuts) until the carriage filled with smoke and we all leapt off the train (which fortunately quickly came to a stop).
The only time I think I’ve been a hero (well in my own mind anyway) was when a chased two burly robbers out of the house. They were trying to steal a computer and my kids were asleep right nearby. I just saw red! Don’t between a mother and her kids!
Wow, Jen, talk about mother tiger! Good on you. And how scary about the fire in Spain!
You took on burglers, Jen?!?!??! Hats off to you – I’d be the one hiding under the bed! Gimme blood and broken bones any day.
Fire on a train would be a nightmare because of the fact you couldn’t get off – so glad to hear it stopped! I’ve been in some hairy bushfires and the idea of being burnt and not being able to do anything about it is very scary.
And I can’t wait until conference! Be more than happy to sign a book for you!
Hi Kylie and Anna
Loved reading that post how interesting and Kylie you rock Lady and deserve a medal for all that you do it must be very hard sometimes and very rewarding at other times. I live in the suburbs of Sydney but spent a fair bit of time on my grandparents hobby farm as a child and bush fires were always scary they came close a few times but we were always very lucky. I haven’t been through any such disasters but I really thank people like you who get out there and volunteer to help everyone.
I am hanging my head in shame at the moment I do have Vengance Born on my
e reader but have not gotten to it yet I know I am missing a great story I will be off to get the new one very soon then I can read them one after the other. My fridge magnet takes pride of place on the fride I love it can’t wait to read these books. Huge congrats Kylie hope to meet you at RWA in August not long now.
Have Fun
Helen
Helen, so looking forward to seeing you in August!
Helen, conference time is such an exciting place to be – getting to put names to faces, meeting up with old and new friends. Can’t think too much about it or I’ll not be able to sleep tonight – it’s one of my favorite times of year!!!
No worries about not having read VB – good plan to get both and read them one after the other – it’s how I like to read series.
Looking forward to seeing you at conference! See you soon.
Kylie – Hugs to you on your service and a high five on your release.
Emergencies…hmmm….my son managed to lose half a finger in a swing accident. I got him and the top half of the finger to the ER. It was reattached and all is well – but the whole experience aged me decades.
Can’t say I’ve been in any community emergencies – but i have driven a firetruck (difficult due to the wheels being behind the driver’s seat), worn a fireman’s turnout suit, and crawled through a house full of smoke – all as part of a fire dept. civilain auxilliary class. Does that count?
Best of luck with your new release!
Donna, wow to the finger story! Must say that kind of stuff absolutely gives me the willies!
Amputated finger – cringe – that is so not pretty but I’m very glad you had a HEA there with that one, Donna!
Now, I do hope with that fire truck event you had some hunky firefighters accompanying you! Sigh. That would be one hot ride! ;-D
Hi, Kylie!! Welcome back to the lair! Huge congrats on Alliance Forged–can’t believe it’s out already! What a whirlwind year it’s shaping up to be for you! So happy to hear Alliance Sworn is in the works, too! Will your series end there, or do you have more planned for this world after that?
As for emergencies, thankfully we haven’t had many up close. Since I help out in the kids’ school office, I do see a few minor student emergencies–the worst so far was a boy who fell hard on the playground and bit his own tongue so hard it was punctured and bleeding. It was all I could do to help him stay calm and offer some comfort while we called his parents. Hats off to you and to all emergency personnel–you do a wonderful work, often unheralded!
Fedora, ouch to the tongue!!! Some of these stories really ARE giving me the willies. I think I need a good long drink to restore my backbone! Cabana boys, approach!
G’day, Fedora, and OUCH, OUCH, OUCH on the tongue incident – that makes my eyes water! Kids are one of the hardest emergencies to attend. While we maintain a professional distance from them when they’re hurting it’s hard not to want to cuddle them up and sooth their pain. Not so bad when you know the children and/or family but total strangers it’s a bit risky.
Thank you for the congrats. Time has flown but it’s been an amazing year so far.
To answer your question, I’m contracted for 3 books in the Light Blade series with Berkley. So far. My agent and I will be discussing plans and talking with my editor shortly.
While there may only be 3 books at the moment, I can tell you there are 4 other secondary characters screaming out to have their stories told. I’m hoping my editor might like them…just have to wait and see.
As I mentioned in the interview, I have one over-arching plot line that will tie up by the end of Bk#3, just in case the series has to end there. If I’m contract to write more then I have ideas for a new plot line or two.
Fingers crossed!
YAY! Thanks for the news, Kylie! Will definitely be keeping my fingers crossed for more
And I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to maintain one’s composure and professionalism in the face of some emergencies
Hugs to you and others who serve in this capacity!!
Great news about the possibility of more, Kylie!
Kylie, I’ve said it before but I want to say it again, you and your fellow volunteers are just AWESOME! I always find it fascinating when you share some of the stories about your work with the RFS!
I’m lucky in that I haven’t been involved in an life or death emergencies but we did help a lady who fell and broke her arm in the park one day. Ummm, at this point perhaps I should point out that she fell over our dog which was fleeing in terror of HER dog! Mmmm, might have been quite comical except for the pain of her broken arm!
Congratulations on the release of Alliance Forged! I might have to take a leaf out of Jenn’s book and get my copy at the conference so you can autograph it!
Great interview, Anna and Kylie!
Sharon, so glad you enjoyed the interview. Always fun to have a buddy on as my guest (as you know!). Wow to the broken arm thing!
Sharon, great to hear you’re coming to conference – can’t wait to catch up with you!
And you’re spot on about our volunteers – hats off t where.o all ike that everyof them, no matter the work they do. It’s getting harder and harder to find people willing to commit time and energy to community projects or organisations. I’m sure it’s like that every where. So value them and tell them how much you appreciate them when you do see them! (off my soapbox now!)
Sorry, but I had to giggle at your story. I could envisage your dog and her dog and the event that followed. I hope the break wasn’t too bad and that she was OK.
That should read – And you’re spot on about our volunteers – hats off to all our volunteers, no matter the work they do.
Not sure what happened there…
Hey Anna and Kylie *waves madly*
With 3 daughters in the house you wouldnt think we’d have many emergencies…boys cause all the trouble dont they?? Not so!!
I rushed my middle child (then 3) to emergency when she jumped from the top bunk, landing heavily on the floor head first and stabbing herself under the chin on a pencil! (it didnt quite go all the way through!)
My youngest (then almost 2) was rushed to the hosp and operated on after a slamming door chopped the tip of her pinky finger off.
My oldest (then 2) fell off a round-a-bout head first and broke her 2 front teeth, busted open her lip and tearing the fleshy part that attatches your lip to your face!
And my youngest child has been taken by ambulance to hosp 3 times with bad athsma attacks. We’ve also had several trips to the emergeny room for items stuffed up noses, numerous cuncussions, and suspected broken bones!!
Girls these days are just as accident prone as boys ever were, and there’s never a dull moment with my 3 running around!!
Dont enter me in the giveaway please, I have AF winging its way to me as we speak
Thanks for another great interview ladies <3
Hi Cath! Great to see you. And aren’t you lucky already having AF on its way to you. Wow, what a list of catastrophes! Or perhaps we should call them Cathastrophes! That pencil story is amazing, scary but amazing!
Cathastrophes indeed!!!!!
LOL…the screaming started when she pulled the pencil out and the blood went everywhere, otherwise she wasnt really bothered by it, she was more disappointed that her attempts to fly hadnt worked!!!
Head wounds of any sort bleed like the dickens! LOL on being more disappointed by not being able to fly. I can relate to that!!!
LOL, she’s ‘flown’ off the tramp a time or two!!
Hells Bells, Cath! I think you should take shares out in your local hospital or some medical supplies company at the very least!!!
I wonder if your girls will remember these emergencies as they get older?!?!
Glad you enjoyed the interview!
And woohoo on your copy of ALLIANCE FORGED winging its way to you – hope it gets there safely (unlike last time).
I’m really hoping that the intl postal service is my friend for this delivery – I need me some Varian!!!
Hi, Cath–Good to see you again! Wow, you’ve had a lot of emergencies to deal with. You seem to take them all in stride, though.
Hi again Nancy
I’m pretty good under pressure, but once the emergency is over and my brain starts to actually compute whats occured I fall apart BIG time!!
Funny how some of us can deal with the pressure of a crisis and once it’s over the brain/body says “OK, you can fall apart now!”
Holding my youngest while they put her under for her op and then handing her over to them was the worst thing I’ve ever had to do, I literally fell apart outside the operating theatre
The most recent emergency was The Great Flood that swept through town here in January 2011.
We had rain for months. About 75% of QLD was under water.
The night before & that morning we had heavy rain & then the storm hit. For over an hour the storm cell sat over the town. The creek rose from a few feet to 8 metres in 7 minutes.
East Creek runs down the bottom of my street. We could not believe it. It was a living entity.
The water roared through town. The destruction was devastating.
The worst was further on. As the water raced down The Range it practically wiped the town of Grantham off the map.
Toowoomba was cut off from the world for 10 days. Often the only sound we heard were the military helicopters overhead. Taking military personnel down The Range & bringing bodies back.
You can still see some signs of the flood around town. On the back wall of the town library someone has made a mark & put up a notice indicating the height of the flood water.
Mary, I cried when I saw the disaster in Grantham and the devastation that was wrought all over the east coasts of Australia in Jan. 2011 – it was heartbreaking to see so many people affected, and the loss of lives … there are no words to describe that.
I hope you and your family weren’t too badly affected by the physical side of the flood.
But the one thing I can remember from that time was how people pulled together and helped each other out.
Donations, man power, letters … so many wonderful tangible ways of helping, and not just from volunteer organisations or private corporations, but the next door neighbour, the person from the next town and so on. it was a wonderful thing to see.
Thank you for sharing such an emotional memory.
Mary, that wall of water through Toowoomba was biblical in its proportions, wasn’t it? I think I’ve told you my brother and sil live outside Toowoomba in a farming hamlet. She was in town the day of the flood (other end of town, luckily!) but she and my niece were trapped in Toowoomba unable to get home for a couple of days afterwards. Landslides on the roads. How scary is that?
Kylie,
Just waving a quick hi on my way through. And I have to ask how you managed to get such terrific covers for your books. Talk about tempting! Just the sort of thing to drag any reader over for a closer peek.
Thanks for sharing your stories of volunteer work – it sounds challenging but wonderful. Our most recent calamity (a cyclone and we don’t live in a cyclone prone area) had the SES overworked. They were wonderful but the size of the disaster meant that it was mainly just neighbours out the day after the storm clearing up what they could safely. The dangerous jobs got left for the trained volunteers. I take my hat off to you, doing this work, Kylie!
Hey, Annie! Glad you could stop by and thank you! I really enjoy my volunteer work (as you can probably tell).
I was indeed blessed to have Gene Mollica chosen as my cover artist. He’s done such an incredible job with the three covers so far. I’ve just seen Allegiance Sworn’s cover (Bk#3) and it’s gorgeous!
Gene took so many details from the cover notes Berkley and I came up with and worked his magic. He conceptualised them so darn well! I think he might be a magician or wizard.
BTW, Gene was nice enough to let me know who modelled for the cover of Alliance Forged – his name is Matthew D.Fox. A 6ft 2inch, 27y.o. New York model. If you’re interested, Google him – his portfolio of photo’s are to die for!!! (fanning face here)
Annie, thanks for swinging by. I’m so glad everybody has enjoyed hearing about Kylie’s other life! I hoped they would! Great to have a superhero visiting in the lair.
It would be lovely to hear if anyone has been inspired to check out their local SES or RFS units, or any other volunteer organisation. Helping others is an incredibly rewarding and satisfying thing to do AND you learn some great skills!!!!
Hi, Kylie! Hi, Anna and the lovely Banditas!
Kylie, super congrats on the release of your second book! Sounds like you’ve been on a fantastic and well-deserved ride. I’m in awe of your volunteer work with the SES. I haven’t experienced any major disasters lately, knock on wood. I *just* managed to escape Brisbane in January last year when the floods roared in. Got one of the last planes out. It was heartbreaking to see my home town inundated like that. The volunteer effort in the aftermath was extraordinary.
Wishing you many happy sales, Kylie!
Hello, Vanessa!
Oh, I remember you mentioning you were on one of the last planes out around the time those floods occurred in Brizzy. The view from the air certainly gives you an amazing perspective of the widespread devastation, doesn’t it?
Thank you for your good wishes!
Kylie, you’re right about the aerial thing giving such a different perspective. I moved to Sydney in 1994 and I remember flying in over the bushfire devastated suburbs. Just horrible! That was the year the fires came right in close to the suburbs on the north shore across from the Opera House.
Yes, I flew in from a holiday in New Zealand that year and it was jaw dropping to see those fires encroaching on the Sydney suburbs!!!
I think in some ways I’d prefer floods to fires – I mean, I know both can be devastating but at least with floods the water eventually recedes while with fire usually nothing is left but ash.
V, poor old Brisbane has been in the wars the last few years, hasn’t it? The WATER wars!
Congratulations on your new book and I think you are great to volunteer and be so enthusiastic about the SES. My daughter’s boyfriend is a volunteer firefighter and the odd thing was that he has been going to car accidents for years but after he started dating my daughter and went to an accident involving a young woman he was very upset by it.
Maureen, it is amazing the reactions that come from being in an organisation like the SES or RFS – some things you can witness without batting an eyelid but when something hits home, as it did with your daughter’s boyfriend, it hits hard.
I hope he’s been able to talk to someone about how it’s affected him – I think most volunteer organisations in most states now have a Chaplaincy program or Critical Incident program in place for times like this. It’s a valuable service and can be done over the phone if need be.
Having been to some events over the years I’ve accessed this service more than once. Can’t speak highly enough about it.
Thank you for sharing your story, Maureen!
Maureen, what an interesting story. And good on your son for doing his bit!
Sorry, daughter’s boyfriend. I’m VERY dopey this morning. It’s cold and I’m not long up!
Thank you so much everyone for being so willing to share your emergencies and volunteer stories – big and small.
I’m heading off to bed now but will check back in early tomorrow morning before I hit the keyboard for my daily word count.
See you then!
Thanks for swinging by and responding to everyone, Kylie! And for giving me nightmares about some of these emergencies. Ouch!
I’d love to ask you readers if they have any interesting tales about emergencies they’ve experienced. Are there any fellow fire fighters or rescue workers out there? Or volunteers of any sort, who help out their communities? I’d enjoy hearing your stories.
I volunteer at the Logan Art Gallery here in Logan City… we have to have a First Aide Certificate (which came into play when an elderly gentleman who was visiting wasn’t feeling too well one day and we had to call an ambulance for him. It turned out he was having the beginnings of either a stroke or a heart attack, we couldn’t tell; but we didn’t want to chance him leaving the place and becoming worse. So, the Logan City Council made all the volunteers get our First Aide Certificates).
Years ago – before I got my First Aide Certificate – I remember I was living at Runcorn, here in Brisbane and the two guys I was living with were both working night shifts. After a long chat with a friend on the phone, I found there was a message waiting for me and I checked it. One of the guys had tried to contact me and he told me that a friend a few doors down had had an accident only minutes before and needed my help.
And his Dad was forever grateful.
I raced outside and found her in the middle of the unit complex in tears holding close to her the young boy she was baby-sitting, who was beside himself in pain. I found out he had burnt his hand on an electric element on the stove. These elements didn’t change colour when they were turned on; so we didn’t know they were on half the time until you were too close or put your hand on them… this wasn’t safe. I took a quick look at his hand and found it had blistered and he wanted to pop one of them, but I discouraged him from it; telling him I had ‘magic honey’ at my house (really it was organic honey my Dad had robbed from his hives from Rocklea only the week before! So, really it was magic because it was wonderfully pure). The boy bought the story and came home with me – along with the distraught baby-sitter. I made a poultice of honey and wrapped a field bandage around his hand and hot cup of tea for her. He had a great time eating a slice of bread with honey on it as we chatted and waited of the young boy to nod off on the lounge.
Three days later, he came up to me and showed me how the burned skin had peeled right off and he had no scarring or anything and the doctor said he was lucky that I had put honey on it and not butter or anything else. Within two weeks, his hand looked as though he had never burned it.
Wow, Mozette, I had no idea honey was great for burns. You live and learn. And good on you for the fast thinking!
Oh, yes. Dad taught me years ago about it. And I found that when you put it onto a burn the way I did and leave it there – all bandaged up – the better it’ll heal as it’s right there against the problem area.
A few years back, I burned my wrist and part of my hand against the stove here at home and ended up dipping my hand into a shallow bowl of honey (Dad was still a beekeeper too, I had plenty of the stuff to pour out). Fortunately, Dad dropped by to help me make a poultice just like I did for the young boy years ago, and wrap my hand up for the night. The next day, when I took the bandage off, the burn had settled and wasn’t as nasty.
Now, there’s no sign of scarring or me ever having burned myself. So, the healing properties are very good with honey.
I really like the idea of natural remedies. Thanks for sharing this, Mozette.
Honey for burns, now there’s something I’m going to go look up and research some more – fascinating!!!
With the ambo response unit I’m in we have these incredible tea tree gel pads of all sizes and a roll of Cling wrap (not sure what everyone else calls it but it’s a thin film of plastic you can use to wrap sandwiches).
We had a burns emergency the other night – hot water spilled over an arm – and we used almost all of one burns kit of pads and wrapped the Cling wrap around them and the arm until the ambo’s arrived.
Best thing though for burns is to run cool (NOT ice cold) water over the affected areas to take the heat out of the seared nerve endings – the relief cool water can provide is amazing.
Too true. The amount of times, I watched as people pull out the butter from the fridge and try to apply it …. jeez.
Honey has been around for thousands of years and was found in the pyramids when they reopened them. The explorers ate the stuff from the urns on their toast the day they pulled the items from the tombs. What killed them wasn’t the foodstuffs found there, it was the air escaping; as there was a of different pollens and pollutants around in those times that had been trapped for a very long time.
We know that now, but they didn’t then. But so long you keep water out of honey, it will keep for years.
Hi Anna & Kylie,
Another great interview ladies!
Many a time the skills I have learnt from St John Ambulance & later, SES have saved the life of a family member. So I can honestly say that I have got more out of these organisations than I have put in.
Being part of a great team makes the work that we do so much easier.
The worst thing that has ever happened is being called to someone who has driven into a flooded creek & being unable to get near them because other creeks between them & us were also flooded with huge trees floating down. A life was lost that day that shouldn’t have been.
Waiting patiently (just) for the next book!
Oh, Robyn, how sad about the person trapped in the flooded creek. Actually often when there are disasters, I wonder about the definition of humans as intelligent life. They do nothing but warn people about the dangers of flooding, including driving through flooded creeks, when something like this is happening and still so many lives are tragically lost.
You’re right, Anna, unfortunately some people’s brains tend to disconnect when faced with mother nature – they can have the “I’m indestructible, it won’t happen to me” attitudes big time!
Hey, Robyn – everyone, Robyn is one of my fellow partners in crime in the SES/CFR team where I live. In the photo where we’re all wearing the yellow fluro CFR vests, she’s the woman on the far right.
Robyn also takes a day every week to travel into our nearest largest town to volunteer with the NSW Ambulance service going out on call outs. She’s getting experience for the day she can study to be a full time ambulance officer.
Kylie, welcome back and congrats on your new release! This sounds wonderful. I love fully developed fantasy worlds and am glad to see true fantasy romance gaining in the market.
I think your fire department service is terrific. I used to volunteer at my son’s school but gave that up when he hit middle school and they didn’t seem to need parents so much. Now that he’s in college, I’m at home most of the time. I’m happy to say our lives have been largely emergency free.
Nancy, I know how you love a bit of fantasy with your romance. This sounds right up your alley.
Nancy, fantastic that you volunteered your time! It can be such a rewarding thing, can’t it?
And yes, I do hope fantasy romance will gain some popularity in the marketplace. I’d love to see more of it on the shelves.
Congrats on your book!
The only emergency that I can think of was when my niece got into an accident and we had to call an ambulance. She was really scared and panicky but the people who came were great and calmed her down (well… as much as possible for a 3 yrs old anyways….) Luckily, she was okay and no harm done.
May, so glad that story has a happy ending! It’s so heart-wrenching when it’s a little kid or an animal, isn’t it?
Thanks for sharing May Pau. One of the things we carry in our rescue truck and CFR vehicle are “trauma” teddies – teddy bears knitted by the local Country Womens’ Association. We hand them out to any younger children who are in accidents or emergencies. It helps to calm them sometimes, plus they like seeing bandaids and bandages put on them at the same time.
Blodeuedd will NEED emergency services today! She got the GR !!
Fabulous interview, La Divina Campbell and Kylie!
First of all, LOVE those covers, Kylie and I cannot WAIT to read these books. They are right up my alley!
And my hat is off to you working in emergency services in the Australian outback. It takes a special kind of hero to do that!
We have a volunteer fire department in our community and they really are the best. I had need of them a few years ago when my neighbor’s attempt to burn some old stumps ended in a fire racing across his pasture and trying to incinerate a few of my acres. It got within about 50 feet of my house, but those firemen stopped it cold!
The only other emergency I participated in was many years ago when a horse escaped the Paso Fina horse farm a few miles up the road. He ended up getting hit by a car and was knocked into a ditch. I pulled over to find the person who hit him completely freaked out and a lone groom from the farm trying to calm the horse. We got the driver to call the emergency vet and I crawled down into the ditch with a blanket from my car and helped the groom to keep the horse from getting up until the vet got there. I sang to the horse actually and it worked! Fortunately nothing was broken and the horse made a full recovery. My clothes, however, did not! LOL
Louisa, thanks for saying you enjoyed the interview. It’s always fun to have Kylie to visit. Wow, singing to the horse! What a fantastic thing to do. And phew to the fact that story had a happy ending too. Speaking of animals, one of the dangers of driving in the Australian outback is getting a kangaroo through your windscreen. They just come out of nowhere and at such speeds, it’s awful.
Oh wow! I cannot begin to imagine what a kangaroo through the windshield would do! Here in Alabama the danger is deer crossing the roads, especially at night. They are frozen in place by the headlights or worse they leap into them. Cars have been totaled after meeting up with a deer.
The same hazard applies with kangaroos, Loisa. I can remember the night of my 21st b’day I ran into a ‘roo, totalled the panelling along the drivers side and the radiator was pushed almost back into the fan belt. The car was almost undrivable. Cost me almost as much as I paid for it to get it fixed. An expensive b’day!!!
Oh, no, Kylie! Talk about the dramatic way to mark a birthday!
Fantastic to hear the Light Blade series is up your alley Louisa! I hope you enjoy reading them!
What an amazing story about the horse! It’s awful when animals are injured in an accident, so I’m glad to hear the horse recovered!
I joined my local rescue squad during high school as a cadet and was a member for 7 years. I finally had to quit when I got a job an hour out of town.
Good on you, Sandy!
Hats off to another volunteer – it’s great to hear so many of you have helped out your local communities in so many different ways!
my co-wooker friend is joined on social dept who love and care for nature and one way they do is collect scrap for recycling
Eli, the whole rescue thing is wholistic, isn’t it? Every little bit helps.
Hi, Eli, now that’s a great cause to be motivated to help – the environment!
In Australia every year we have a “Clean Up Australia Day” – it started about 20 years ago and it’s amazing just how much rubbish is collected on that day. A bit sad actually but the groups that band together and go out to clean up their local areas do such a great job.
Hi Kylie, welcome to one of my fav blogs!!
Hey, Dina, thank you for saying that! We always love to see you too!
Thanks, Dina, lovely to meet you! The Bandits are a friendly bunch, aren’t they?
Enjoying the post very much, Kylie and Anna!
On the Texas Gulf Coast, we mostly have to
face hurricanes and the problems they bring
along. With Tropical Storm Allison, there was
flooding. DD2 and son had to be rescued from
their home by boat. During Hurricane Ike, it
was power loss for the entire city with our
section of the city dark for 13 days. Last year
the chief difficulty was caused by wild fires
just to the northwest of DD2′s home. In all these areas and many more, we must thank
the firefighters and all first responders in the
city. We also cannot forget the volunteers who came from all over the country to help us!
Pat C.
Pat, I know the Aussies and Americans both dig in to help when there’s trouble in either country. When we have big bushfires (sadly a regular occurrence in our wide brown land), specialist crews from the U.S. fly in to help. And I know we send teams when you guys have fires too – California and Colorado have such a bad time with fires! Yuck to the hurricanes. We call them cyclones and I’ve been caught up in a couple – terrifying the power of mother nature!
Like Anna said, it’s great to see international assistance when it counts the most. I think the US lent Australia the big Elvis helicopter water bombers during our bad bushfires a few years back. They were so effective I know one or two were purchased by the gov’t/Fire Dept the next year.
I’ve seen the aftermath of cyclones and tornadoes (yes, we’ve had a couple of really small ones here where I live). It’s amazing what Mother Nature can throw at us, isn’t it?
Thanks for sharing!
Hi Kylie and welcome back!
Your series is really intriguing and you have the best covers!
But I particularly love the tales of your volunteer service. I do some of that here and I bet the two of us could swap some good stories, though I think you are in a more rugged area.
I don’t fight fire though. I’ve never had the desire to do that. If the volunteer fire department here were shorthanded, I expect I would. Is that why you joined? Because they needed you? Or did you have a desire to learn firefighting?
Between teaching their children, and volunteering for fire and rescue, I bet you know EVERYBODY in your community.
Cassondra, I can remember you sharing some stories of your volunteer work with the Banditas. Thank you so much! I so admire people who do this stuff and put themselves in danger to save other people.
Cassondra, I think we’d probably fill an afternoon of swapping tales about our respective volunteer work! LOL
While I never imagined joining any emergency service organisations when I first graduated from university, considering where I was posted for my first teaching job (in an isolated rural village much like where I am now), so many of the “services” within the village relied on volunteers.
The local Progress Association, the village library, the SES, the RFS, CWA, Community Transport, Meals on Wheels and so on.
The services are essential because without them, in any emergency people can wait up to an hour or more for help, or projects just don’t happen or they have to travel long distances to attend social events (eg.ANZAC Day (that’s like Veterans Day), Christmas Chocolate Wheel, market days, Sporting events).
I think these sorts of organisations are part and parcel of living in smaller rural communities. You’re always helping each other out because you know one day the time will come when you need someone’s help. So everyone pitches in when they can. Some of us just do it on a more regular basis ie.SES/RFS. LOL
I joined the SES first – the other teacher at the small school where we taught was a member and he roped me in when I first arrived so I could get to know some of the locals.
Turned out the roles we played in that organisation had some amazing skills to learn – search & rescue, chainsaw/tree loping, abseiling, road crash rescue, first aid, floodboat & storm damage assistance, communications operations and so on.
Once I joined the SES, some of the members were also the local RFS (fire brigade) and they invited me to go along to a training session. They were short of members. even now there’s only 5 of us.
I have to admit I was hooked from Day 1. Again more skills that were so different to teaching and a great bunch of people to work with.
And yes, you do get to know quite a few people in the local areas where you do this volunteer work.
Sorry about the long winded answer but having lived in outback Australia most my adult life, it’s something I feel rather passionate about.
I love the sound of your books and what gorgeous covers! I have never dealt with emergency crews but I appreciate everything they do. I did take a CPR class once but luckily never had to use it.
Catslady, good on you for being prepared! Kylie’s covers are gorgeous, aren’t they?
Thank you for your comments on the covers of my books, Catslady. As I think I mentioned before I’m blessed to have Gene Mollica as my cover artist!
And good on you for learning CPR, it’s an important skill to know. I hope you never have to use it!
Kylie has definitely earned superhero status.
I do have a story about helping someone. It was after a wedding dance and groups of us were going to stop at my sister-in-laws for food. We were following a friend of my husbands when he went off the road, hit a field approach launching him into the air and taking out a telephone pole. The four of us got out and ran down to check on him (no shoes even). Our friend was laying half out the passenger door, talking but making no sense. I braced his head and neck with my arms to keep him still and directed the others to check the field for his girlfriend (who thankfully wasnt in the car but we didn’t know it at the time). The local cop showed up and was at a loss of what to do (young new person) so I directed her to help look in the field and make sure the power lines were not in people’s way. When the EMT’s showed up I stayed holding on until they were able to remove him from the car and onto a board. It was scary and I hope to never have to do it again. But it also taught me that I can handle it, I felt calm and collected (till later). S kudos to all of the volunteers out there who do this over and over.
Wow, Lexi, what a great story. Gosh, that guy was lucky you were there, especially when the policeman was relatively inexperienced and had no idea what to do. Good on you too! Goodness me, I feel like I’m surrounded by superheroes today!
Lexi, what a wonderful story! And good on you for knowing what to do for your friend and stabilising his neck/spine, particularly after a car accident.
Anna, we have a whole bunch of heroes with us today!!! It’s wonderful to see!
Very nice post. I can’t think of any emergency situations.
Hi, bn100 – thanks for dropping in!
Hi BN! Thanks for saying you enjoyed the post!
Welcome back to the lair, Kylie and congrats on your latest release! Love your covers *g*
Two of my brothers-in-law are volunteer firefighters and we’re very proud of them and are so grateful to all volunteers!
G’day, Beth, and thank you! It’s been lovely to revisit – again I’m overwhelmed by the warm welcome I’ve received and it’s been a hoot getting to know more about some of your readers!
Hats off to your B-I-L’s fire-fighting!!! Say hi to them for me!
Beth, how wonderful of your brothers! Yay for your family!
Hi Kylie,
Just stopping by to say hi and say that what you do is just brilliant.
Congrats on the new release and I’m sure it’s going to rock just like Vengeance Born did.
Love the cover art of your books. They are absolutely gorgeous.
Smiles,
Effie
Hi, Effie! Than you for the compliment on the covers. I let Gene know periodically how much people are liking his work and he’s chuffed!
Fingers crossed AF goes as well as VB!
Hi Effie! Always great to see an Aussie doing so well on the international stage, isn’t it? Yay, Kylie!
I’ve been fortunate enough not to have experienced any real emergencies. There were people at work who needed paramedics at times, but none of them were downright emergencies and all were fine after a trip to the hospital. I work for the city (in HR), so I’m around firefighters and police officers quite a bit, but that’s as close as I come. I truly admire them for the great job they do, and I’m touched by their dedication to public service.
Barbara, I really admire the emergency service workers who do the job full time – it must be a double edged sword at times – helping others but emotionally draining.
Barbara, they’re a special breed, aren’t they?
Thanks, everybody, for a great day in the lair. Thanks, Kylie, for being such a great guest and sharing your volunteer service experiences with us.
Don’t forget to check back in the next day or so to see who won the copy of ALLIANCE FORGED!
Phew! Anna, this has been another incredible visit to the Lair!
Thank you so much for having me and thank you to everyone for engaging and sharing so many wonderful stories! I’ve a had a ball!
Good luck in the draw, everyone!
Hi Kylie! I’m so in awe of your selflessness in your volunteer work. I’m lucky not to have been involved in any emergencies *touch wood*; I’d probably be the 1st one to faint!
Hi Linda, wow, you’re so lucky not to have been involved in any emergencies so far! May that continue!