Thank you for joining us on the Virtual Book Tour for Athena's Secrets, a Romantic Suspense with ESP elements by Donna Del Oro (16 October 2015, The Wild Rose Press, Inc, 242 pages). This is the first book in The Delphi Bloodline series.
PREVIEW: Check out the book's synopsis and excerpt below, as well as the guest post by author Donna Del Oro, "Behind Athena's Secrets and The Delphi Blood Line Series: My ESP Workshop". Read the first three chapters with Amazon Look Inside.
Author Donna Del Oro will be awarding a print copy of The Delphi Bloodline, Born to Sing, Scheming, or Dreaming in Los Angeles to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Please do take part: comment on our post and follow the tour where you will be able to read other excerpts (☀), interviews (ℚ), reviews (✍) and guest blog posts (✉).
Synopsis | Teasers | About the Author | Giveaway & Tour Stops
Synopsis
Athena Butler, the twenty-year-old descendant of an ancient bloodline of psychics, yearns to lead a normal life. She wants a career, a boyfriend, independence. Her clairvoyant gift, however, has taught her people can be false and dangerous. Although warned to keep her powers a secret, she's recruited by law enforcement to help search for a serial killer and to uncover a terrorist cell.She bonds with an intriguing, handsome man, Kas Skoros, who knows her secret and accepts it. Of the same bloodline, his mother is precognitive and predicts they are meant to be together…some day. Kas, a military veteran and Search and Rescue deputy, is skeptical and cynical. Life is too uncertain. Yet, he can't resist exploring his passion for Athena.
Still, they face obstacles beyond their control. Can Kas overcome the obstacles? And will Athena stay alive long enough to fulfill her dream of a normal life?
Teasers
Excerpt | Blogpost by Donna Del OroExcerpt
Kas pointed at one of these gravel paths that led through a thicket of oak trees. He seemed to observe how Spartacus was glued to Athena’s side, his tongue flopping out happily, and his tail wagging excitedly.
“We’re pals,” she said.
Kas led her down the back terrace steps to the gravel path behind a row of shrubs surrounding the pool and patio. They’d have to cross twenty acres—about a half-mile, Kas said—to the family’s boat dock.
“I know,” she said, “Alex already took us out in the boat.”
Kas gazed at her with a speculative look. “Women like Alex. He’s the family charmer. Guess he stole your heart, too.”
“Hardly. I’ve grown wary of men who’re too charming.” Athena smiled, bent over and rubbed behind the German shepherd’s pointed black ears until he almost purred with pleasure. Kas looked surprised.
“He usually takes a long time to warm up to people.”
Athena scratched under the German shepherd’s long jaw. “Like his master, I suppose. We became friends yesterday during the ski boat ride. Spartacus told me a lot about you and how he feels about you. You’re his sun and moon, his alpha and omega. He showed me all the things you do together.”
Kas halted on the path. “You read my dog’s mind?”
She didn’t mean for her tone to be so defensive, but out it came. “Well, yeah. It’s what I do. I was holding him in the boat. He doesn’t think in words, of course, but the visual imagery and feelings were there.”
He shot her a crooked smile, then slapped a palm against his thigh, a signal for Spartacus to heel at his side. The dog looked over at his master, back at Athena, gave a whine, and reluctantly moved away from her.
He mock-growled at his dog, which caused Spartacus to perk up his ears. Something was going on with these two-legged humans but the dog didn’t know what.
“That’s for being a traitor, boy. Telling this girl our secrets.”
Athena grinned. “Don’t worry, he didn’t reveal secrets about any of your girlfriends. I don’t think Spartacus knows or cares about that.”
“C’mon, boy.” Kas beckoned as Spartacus rubbed his fur against his master’s leg.
“You’re something else, Athena,” he added, “You’re here three days, and already stealing my dog. But you don’t want Alex? Most women I see hate my dog but crush on Alex. You’re a strange one.”
She almost tripped. Somehow his words both pleased and stung her. “Strange, huh? Well, I don’t think I want to be friends with you after all.”
He snorted but kept on walking, leading her down the path. “No danger of that happening. I don’t make friends with tall, pretty blondes, especially if they have ESP.”
He thinks I’m pretty. That thought unsettled her more than she wanted to admit.
“Because of your mother’s precog dream? She saw you ending up with a tall blonde?”
“Maybe. She said the tall blonde would have the gifts of the ancient Greek priestesses. That kind of narrows it down, doesn’t it? But hell, no one tells me what my future’s going to be, not even my own mother.” He stopped and fixed his gaze on her face. “Anyway, by strange I meant unique, special. What you, your mother, my mother have—this bloodline of females is extraordinary. You need to be protected.” He looked away and continued walking. “Alex and I do what we can for Mom. We guard her secret. We don’t let the outside world exploit her. Your mother has her husband. I suppose you’ll have to find a protector, too.” Kas looked down at Spartacus, who was trotting alongside. Athena heard his implied message: Don’t expect me to be him.
“Yes,” she said, her chin up, “perhaps. Right now I can protect myself.”
“We’re pals,” she said.
Kas led her down the back terrace steps to the gravel path behind a row of shrubs surrounding the pool and patio. They’d have to cross twenty acres—about a half-mile, Kas said—to the family’s boat dock.
“I know,” she said, “Alex already took us out in the boat.”
Kas gazed at her with a speculative look. “Women like Alex. He’s the family charmer. Guess he stole your heart, too.”
“Hardly. I’ve grown wary of men who’re too charming.” Athena smiled, bent over and rubbed behind the German shepherd’s pointed black ears until he almost purred with pleasure. Kas looked surprised.
“He usually takes a long time to warm up to people.”
Athena scratched under the German shepherd’s long jaw. “Like his master, I suppose. We became friends yesterday during the ski boat ride. Spartacus told me a lot about you and how he feels about you. You’re his sun and moon, his alpha and omega. He showed me all the things you do together.”
Kas halted on the path. “You read my dog’s mind?”
She didn’t mean for her tone to be so defensive, but out it came. “Well, yeah. It’s what I do. I was holding him in the boat. He doesn’t think in words, of course, but the visual imagery and feelings were there.”
He shot her a crooked smile, then slapped a palm against his thigh, a signal for Spartacus to heel at his side. The dog looked over at his master, back at Athena, gave a whine, and reluctantly moved away from her.
He mock-growled at his dog, which caused Spartacus to perk up his ears. Something was going on with these two-legged humans but the dog didn’t know what.
“That’s for being a traitor, boy. Telling this girl our secrets.”
Athena grinned. “Don’t worry, he didn’t reveal secrets about any of your girlfriends. I don’t think Spartacus knows or cares about that.”
“C’mon, boy.” Kas beckoned as Spartacus rubbed his fur against his master’s leg.
“You’re something else, Athena,” he added, “You’re here three days, and already stealing my dog. But you don’t want Alex? Most women I see hate my dog but crush on Alex. You’re a strange one.”
She almost tripped. Somehow his words both pleased and stung her. “Strange, huh? Well, I don’t think I want to be friends with you after all.”
He snorted but kept on walking, leading her down the path. “No danger of that happening. I don’t make friends with tall, pretty blondes, especially if they have ESP.”
He thinks I’m pretty. That thought unsettled her more than she wanted to admit.
“Because of your mother’s precog dream? She saw you ending up with a tall blonde?”
“Maybe. She said the tall blonde would have the gifts of the ancient Greek priestesses. That kind of narrows it down, doesn’t it? But hell, no one tells me what my future’s going to be, not even my own mother.” He stopped and fixed his gaze on her face. “Anyway, by strange I meant unique, special. What you, your mother, my mother have—this bloodline of females is extraordinary. You need to be protected.” He looked away and continued walking. “Alex and I do what we can for Mom. We guard her secret. We don’t let the outside world exploit her. Your mother has her husband. I suppose you’ll have to find a protector, too.” Kas looked down at Spartacus, who was trotting alongside. Athena heard his implied message: Don’t expect me to be him.
“Yes,” she said, her chin up, “perhaps. Right now I can protect myself.”
Behind ATHENA’S SECRETS and THE DELPHI BLOODLINE Series
My ESP Workshop
By Donna Del Oro
Twenty-plus years ago, I became obsessed with exploring the facts and fictions of ESP phenomena. My cousin, a practicing clairvoyant, had inspired me to delve into the whole realm of parapsychology, or study of psychic phenomena. Highly skeptical about the whole business, I nonetheless signed up for a weekend ESP workshop, given by a Czech physicist who once worked for the Moscow Institute for Psychic Research. The workshop took place in a classroom at a local community college (Foothill College) in my Silicon Valley town of Los Altos Hills.
There were eleven of us, all total strangers—nine women and two men. The first day, Saturday, the Czech physicist lectured on the history of ESP and the various forms and types of ESP: Clairvoyance, clairaudience, clairsentience, precognition, telepathy, psychometry, psychokinesis, remote viewing and channeling. The study of psychic phenomena is called “parapsychology”. Psi (pronounced “sigh”) is the study of psychic phenomena from a psychological perspective. The Journal of Parapsychology defines psi as “a general term to identify a person’s extrasensory-motor communication with the environment.” Psi is a letter of the Greek alphabet and the first letter of the Greek word, “psyche”, which literally means “breath” in Greek and refers to the human soul. Basically, having ESP means that you are able to perceive someone’s thoughts, situation, or issues in life without using one of your five ordinary senses.
The Czech physicist leading our ESP Workshop claimed to be a former skeptic, himself, and a dedicated non-believer who, after working in the experimental testing labs of the Moscow Institute, became a convert. He had seen incontrovertible proof, in his opinion, that ESP existed in gifted intuitives. These intuitives were able to consciously apply knowledge they had accessed and processed in an unconscious, unexplainable manner, and that science could not explain.
Yet.
He ended that first day of the workshop with instructions to return on Sunday with a notebook and an inanimate object that had emotional significance to each one of us. The next day, the same eleven of us brought our own individual objects, which we all carried concealed in plain brown paper bags. Each of us put our paper bag into a cardboard box behind the physicist’s podium. Later, each of us approached the box and withdrew a paper bag that was not our own. After everyone had at his/her desk his chosen bag, he then told us to open the bag, take out the stranger’s object and hold it in our hands. Then he timed us. For the next fifteen minutes, we were to meditate on the object and write down any visions, words or impressions that came to our minds. We were not to censor anything, no matter how strange, puzzling or nonsensical the vision, word or impression seemed.
At the end of the timed period, he went from person to person and asked us to identify the owner of the object and to read aloud our visions, words or impressions. We did. What followed was truly astonishing and something I will never forget as long as I live. Nine out of the eleven of us correctly identified the owners of the objects. Eight out of eleven of us had made several—at least three to four--correct associations and revelations about the object, its owner and facts about the owner.
For example, I correctly identified the owner of the object I held—a macramé type of belt. I’d had visions of a shelf full of potted succulents and cactus plants. A red-brick apartment building, the kind you find in the Eastern U.S. Those two associations fit. The woman said she had a collection of cacti in pots and that she’d recently moved from Philadelphia, where she’d lived in a red-brick apartment building. There was also a scene of a little boy on a bike, which the woman could not place or relate to in any way. Who knows? Maybe it did later.
Well, the fact that I’d gotten three out of four correct got my attention. After that experiment, I became a believer. Other experiences followed, too, including two precognitive dreams. Many years later, the idea for THE DELPHI BLOODLINE Series manifested itself and I ran with it. Researching and writing that first novel in the series, ATHENA’S SECRETS, was one of the most enjoyable and most satisfying experiences of my life.
There were eleven of us, all total strangers—nine women and two men. The first day, Saturday, the Czech physicist lectured on the history of ESP and the various forms and types of ESP: Clairvoyance, clairaudience, clairsentience, precognition, telepathy, psychometry, psychokinesis, remote viewing and channeling. The study of psychic phenomena is called “parapsychology”. Psi (pronounced “sigh”) is the study of psychic phenomena from a psychological perspective. The Journal of Parapsychology defines psi as “a general term to identify a person’s extrasensory-motor communication with the environment.” Psi is a letter of the Greek alphabet and the first letter of the Greek word, “psyche”, which literally means “breath” in Greek and refers to the human soul. Basically, having ESP means that you are able to perceive someone’s thoughts, situation, or issues in life without using one of your five ordinary senses.
The Czech physicist leading our ESP Workshop claimed to be a former skeptic, himself, and a dedicated non-believer who, after working in the experimental testing labs of the Moscow Institute, became a convert. He had seen incontrovertible proof, in his opinion, that ESP existed in gifted intuitives. These intuitives were able to consciously apply knowledge they had accessed and processed in an unconscious, unexplainable manner, and that science could not explain.
Yet.
He ended that first day of the workshop with instructions to return on Sunday with a notebook and an inanimate object that had emotional significance to each one of us. The next day, the same eleven of us brought our own individual objects, which we all carried concealed in plain brown paper bags. Each of us put our paper bag into a cardboard box behind the physicist’s podium. Later, each of us approached the box and withdrew a paper bag that was not our own. After everyone had at his/her desk his chosen bag, he then told us to open the bag, take out the stranger’s object and hold it in our hands. Then he timed us. For the next fifteen minutes, we were to meditate on the object and write down any visions, words or impressions that came to our minds. We were not to censor anything, no matter how strange, puzzling or nonsensical the vision, word or impression seemed.
At the end of the timed period, he went from person to person and asked us to identify the owner of the object and to read aloud our visions, words or impressions. We did. What followed was truly astonishing and something I will never forget as long as I live. Nine out of the eleven of us correctly identified the owners of the objects. Eight out of eleven of us had made several—at least three to four--correct associations and revelations about the object, its owner and facts about the owner.
For example, I correctly identified the owner of the object I held—a macramé type of belt. I’d had visions of a shelf full of potted succulents and cactus plants. A red-brick apartment building, the kind you find in the Eastern U.S. Those two associations fit. The woman said she had a collection of cacti in pots and that she’d recently moved from Philadelphia, where she’d lived in a red-brick apartment building. There was also a scene of a little boy on a bike, which the woman could not place or relate to in any way. Who knows? Maybe it did later.
Well, the fact that I’d gotten three out of four correct got my attention. After that experiment, I became a believer. Other experiences followed, too, including two precognitive dreams. Many years later, the idea for THE DELPHI BLOODLINE Series manifested itself and I ran with it. Researching and writing that first novel in the series, ATHENA’S SECRETS, was one of the most enjoyable and most satisfying experiences of my life.
Athena's Secrets
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About the Author
Donna Del Oro lives in Northern California with her husband and three cats. She taught high school and community college English classes for 30+ years and is now happily retired. When not writing novels or reading voraciously, she travels and sings with the medal winning Sacramento Valley Chorus.
Donna is a member of Capitol Crimes, the Sacramento chapter of Sisters in Crime in addition to the Valleyrose chapter of the RWA. She has judged RITA entries and does developmental editing on the side. Two of her novels, Operation Familia and Born To Sing, have won national and international awards.
Follow clairvoyant artist Athena Butler in the next book in The Delphi Bloodline series: ATHENA’S QUEST.
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