In Tasting Fire, I created a world in
which many thousands
of years ago, an
infection caused by
a bacteria that lives
only in hot springs,
resulted in the
merging of human
and animal DNA. Over the course of thousands of years, for
self protection these shape-shifters have
allowed their very
existence to become
the substance of myth
and legend.
The story begins
as advances in modern
genetics are about
to reveal them to
the world.
I love folk tales. I
grew up reading them as a child and continued the tradition well into
adulthood. When I decided to try my hand
at a paranormal romance novel, I knew that somewhere in the book would be an
original folk tale imbedded into the story.
In Tasting Fire, my hero Kai Tenzin is descended from a group
of nomads whose DNA was merged with that of an Asian Snow Leopard. His people who call themselves the Pari, live
in several countries of central Asia and each village reflects the customs and
culture of that country. Kai himself is
from Tibet and in Tasting Fire he hires a beautiful American scientist to try
to help him find a way to hide the tell-tale DNA from modern science which is
growing very close to discovering the shape-shifting race.
Halfway through the story I include an original folk tale written
as a creation myth for the Pari of Tibet.
Kai Tenzin used to beg his father, Nawang Wangdo, an important secondary
character in the book as a child to tell him the story again and again. The story is told within the book when Nawang
shares the creation myth with Dr. Rae Hales, the scientist his son has hired to
help the Pari people.
HOW THE
SNOW LEOPARD
LOST HER
ROAR
“Many thousands
of years ago there
was a beautiful
female snow leopard. This snow
leopard's name was
Lixue. Lixue
lived high in the
mountains of the
Himalayas, on a
sacred mountain called Machapuchare. She was
a good, obedient daughter
of the mountain,
and respected the laws
the ancient gods laid
down for her. Lixue hunted
far below the sacred
forest on rocky ledges
where the ibex lived. Her life
was solitary, but she
did not feel loneliness
for that was not
the snow leopard's
way. One
day a monkey whose
name was Bandar wandered
lost upon the rocks
of the great Himalayas. He was
far from his home
in the jungle. Bandar wandered
the ledges looking for
bits of food to
eat. Lixue
was quite intrigued
by the newcomer. She had
never seen a monkey
before, and she
stalked him relentlessly. Bandar could
feel the eyes of
the predator upon him. This monkey
however, was very
smart and knew only
way to survive was
to outsmart the ferocious
leopard.
He brazenly called
out to Lixue “what a
beautiful female you
are great leopard. I long
to caress your magnificent
fur. I
wish only to bathe
in your exquisite
beauty.
However it pains
me, lovely one, to
tell you that you
pale in comparison
to my sister. What a
shame you will never
compete with her
beauty.”
Lixue was quite
startled.
Since she had
left her mother's den,
she lived always by
herself.
She had frequently
looked at her reflection
in the river below
and thought she was
quite lovely.
She endlessly
admired her gray,
delicately spotted fur. Her ears
were perfectly arched, and
her magnificent tail
surely had no equal. What was
this insane little creature
talking about? How could
his sister be more
beautiful than she? Lixue jumped
down almost on top
of the monkey. He swallowed
his fear and confronted
the magnificent cat. Lixue looked
down her nose at
the much smaller monkey
and demanded an explanation. Bandar stood
his ground, although he
was no match for
the fearsome teeth and
claws of the mighty
predator before him. “Oh lovely
feline, although you
are surely beautiful,
my sister's beauty is
unequaled in all
the world.”
Lixue was now
insanely jealous. “You will
take me to meet
this sister and I
will judge for myself.”
Bandar bowed
his head and led
the snow leopard down
the rocky mountain and
through the desert
floor. It
took over three months
for the unlikely pair
to make their way
back to Bandar's home. Each night
Bandar would ask Lixue
to snuggle with him
to keep him warm. Lixue at
first did not wish
to touch the lowly
monkey, but after
the first week she
hesitantly acceded to
his request.
For if the
monkey froze to death
at night he would
not be able to
bring Lixue to meet
his sister.
Each night the
two of them would
cuddle and Bandar would
sing songs of love
in Lixue's ear. As they
moved closer to Bandar's
home, he started to
climb trees and would
bring sweet fruit down
from the high branches
and give it to
Lixue as gifts. At night
Bandar would use his
dexterous hands to
comb Lixue's magnificent
fur, and caress her
gently under the chin. Lixue had
never before been treated
this way.
She began to
think of Bandar less
and less as food,
and by the end
of journey, hunter and
prey had fallen in
love.
When they
arrived at Bandar's
home, he guided the
leopard to a
small hill.
He told his
beloved to sit
and look up. There in
the distance was her
home. He
pointed out all
of the mountains
of the mighty Himalayas. He said
he always thought of
them as family. His father,
Shishapangma, was the
majestic crest above
the grassland and plains. His mother,
Chomolungma, was the
goddess and mother
of all the snows. His sister,
Ama Dablam, was the
jewel in the crown
of the Himalayas. Lixue looked
up at the snow
covered majesty that
was Bandar's sister and
agreed wholeheartedly with
her love.
His sister was
without a doubt
more lovely than she.
The monkey
and the snow leopard
married and eventually
had a daughter. Her name
was Xue Bao. Xue Bao
had all of her
mother's beauty and
hunting skills, but
she had her father
slyness and intelligence. After Xue
Bao grew up, she
decided to move
back to the mountains
her mother had come
from. Xue
Bao lived for several
years in the rocky
cliffs hunting the ibex
and other small prey. One particularly
bad winter wiped out
a good portion of
the Ibex herds that
Xue Bao depended on
for food.
Starving, she decided
to climb higher to
search for food. She climbed
all day, and all
night, eventually coming to
a beautiful forest. The forest
was covered in fragrant
pine and birds flitted
joyfully at the
top of the world. The air
was thin, but sweet. Xue Bao
came to the edge
of a magnificent
temple in the middle
of a forest. She saw
steps and pillars of
marble give way to
graceful gardens filled
with fruit trees of
every kind imaginable.
A squirrel
suddenly darted from
one tree to the
steps of the temple. Xue Bao
suddenly remembered
her mother's warning. “The gods
have forbidden us to
hunt in their sacred
forest.
Do not disobey
the gods or the
consequences will be
beyond imagining.”
Xue Bao's stomach
rumbled.
She was starving! She thought
cunningly how can
I hunt this squirrel, yet not disobey the gods? Being a
clever leopard she gathered
a large group of
nuts and placed them
on the end of
her beautiful tail. She slowly
walked out of the
sacred forest dragging the
nuts behind her. The squirrel
quite fascinated followed Xue
Bao down the mountain. Once Xue
Bao had cleared the
sacred land she devoured
the little squirrel.
Immediately the
gods descended on Xue
Bao. The
exotic leopard shook with
fear as the gods
told her she would
now taste the fire
of their wrath. They punished
her severely.
Taken away was
the snow leopard’s
mighty roar.
The beautiful
leopard would be
silenced for all
eternity.
The gods then
decreed as the
final and most agonizing
punishment, that she
and her daughters
would turn into human
beings to mate and
then spend the rest
of their life as
leopards.
Only her sons
and grandsons would be
able to choose their
form at will, and
so it has been
for countless generations. The daughters
of the Pari lived
their short lives in
the mountains of Bandar's
family and left their
infants to be
raised by the sons
and grandsons of Xue
Bao the clever, but
disobedient leopard.”
Tasting Fire ended up reflecting the
cultures that live in the habitat range of the Asian Snow Leopard. The story has a deeply spiritual tone and
deals with issues ranging from personal development to the evolution of human
society. I will warn readers that
Tasting Fire is not a light read. If you
want a book where the hero and heroine fall into bed together within the first
two minutes of meeting each other, this is not the book for you. If you are looking for a rich, textured story
and if you wish to lose yourself in an intelligent, romantic, erotic,
adventure, this is your book!
My thanks to Donna's Blog Home for
inviting me to share a little bit of Tasting Fire with you today.
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Blurb
Shape-shifters have always walked the earth. Shrouded in myth and folklore, hiding in the shadows, watching and waiting. Advances in modern science are now about to reveal them to the world. Kai Tenzin is the self appointed leader of the Pari people. He and his kind evolved from the most reclusive predators on earth, the Asian Snow Leopard. They live and hunt in the most fearsome and rugged terrain known to man, the Himalayas. As a young man, Kai left his small village where the mountain touches the heavens, determined to do anything to protect his people. When he is forced to enlist the aid of the beautiful American scientist Dr. Rae Hales, the last thing he expects to find is a woman who will ensnare his heart and endanger them all. Their action-packed adventure will take them around the world to discover the truth behind the legends and reveal the future of humanity.
Author Bio
My name is Shelly Holt and I live in the middle of the harsh and unforgiving Mojave desert. I write my stories looking out of a window that shows sweeping desert views. Outside is a barren and severe landscape, yet inside my head lives a world filled with exotic shape-shifters come to life, pulled from the pages of myth and legend, ready to entice and seduce any reader brave enough to take them on.
