In my BittenByBooks interview last November, I was asked if the magic in the COME HELL OR HIGH WATER trilogy is authentic. I was also asked where the spells came from.

Yes, all the magic is REAL and authentic! I found it in a variety of sources that I have plundered for information over the years: books about medieval magic, academic articles and essays about various ethnic folk rituals, collections of legends, transcripts of witchcraft accusations and trials, etc. For instance, the Italian folk magic in the chapter about Bartolomeo all came from an article I found in the Columbia University library stacks about Italian occult practices. The curse that starts the whole trilogy rolling, that Fen’ka screams out from the pyre, is almost all taken from 9th century Gaul monastic service books that the monks would use to curse nobility who tried to steal monastic lands or encroach on monastic privileges!