Hello everyone! I’m happy to be back on Tule’s blog to celebrate the release of

Are you wearing green? Do you have any Irish heritage? 

I’m Canadian, with English, Irish, Norwegian, Scottish, and Welsh ancestry. Despite the mixed lineage, for as long as I can remember I’ve been drawn to Ireland. As a child I loved reading tales of leprechauns and fairies. Even then, hearing the Irish harp or fiddle, stirred something inside me. 

I still listen to Celtic music to nurture my muse. While writing my first wedding scene (yes it was Alainn and Killian’s for those who’ve followed my stories) I must have listened to “The Water is Wide” from the Celtic Wedding album by Carlyle Fraser, about forty-seven times. 

A harpist played that much-loved song when my husband and I were married in 2013. It was lovely and emotional. 

So why my profound love of Ireland? My maternal great-grandparents (who I never met) left Ireland when she was pregnant with my grandfather. He was born in Canada not long after they arrived. My paternal family tree also has various Irish branches. But would those connections explain why Ireland calls to me so strongly? 

Several years ago, I purchased a DNA ancestry kit. The results showed I’m 32% Irish. I’ve since done more genealogy research and found several Irish branches from a few timelines. My Welsh ancestors even moved to Ireland sometime in the 1300s. 

It was interesting learning names of ancestors from past centuries who share my DNA. Thinking about their life stories piqued my imagination. I’m sure many Irish ancestors experienced hardships. Ireland’s history is steeped in tragedy, yet the people are resilient, and the land remains magical.

After a lifetime of longing to travel to Ireland, I made my first trip to the Emerald Isle in 2008. It was everything I hoped it would be and much more. The whole island was simply enchanting. The fields were as green as I’d heard. The scenery was breathtaking. The friendly people were welcoming and helpful. The music was poignant, the food fantastic. And the history…it just blew me away. One church I visited was over a thousand years old and still being used for services. The centuries-old graveyards with uneven moss-covered headstones and ornate Celtic crosses, told endless stories. 

While touring a number of castles I felt transported back in time. A word of caution if you’re planning any historic tours, castle steps are steep and extremely narrow. I was relieved that most stairwells had handrail ropes to cling to or I might’ve met a tragic end in a not-overly-exciting story. 

Some castles were only ruins; others were largely as they would’ve been when people lived there. I was as intrigued by the tiny alcoves, murder holes, and arrow slits as the massive Great Halls. The dungeons were dark and scary.

We enjoyed a medieval banquet in Bunratty Castle’s enormous Great Hall with authentic fifteenth century mead wine, food and entertainment. Blarney Castle’s lovely gardens with the mysterious wishing steps and gnarled ancient trees were a highlight. I opted not to kiss the Blarney stone. Not only did you have to bend over backwards…literally, to kiss it. But ew! 

I could’ve stayed forever in the little seaside town of Kinsale with the colorful buildings and unique shops. We drove the ring of Kerry, saw the spectacular Cliffs of Moher, and while in Dublin sat in a snug––a tiny room only big enough for two in one of the oldest pubs in Ireland.  

The first time I stood on the coast of County Antrim in Northern Ireland it felt eerily familiar. Even the scent of the Irish Sea that separates Ireland from Scotland, twigged a distinct memory… of being there before. Of course, I hadn’t been–– not in this lifetime–– but I firmly believe I’ve spent several past lives in Ireland. I learned months later that precise location was where my paternal Irish roots originated. 

Naysayers would claim it’s possibly cellular memory, but Ireland is too close to my heart to be explained by anything scientific. I prefer to believe I have a magical connection. 

When planning that first trip we arranged to be in Ireland for St. Patrick’s Day. We spent the previous night in Ashford Castle. Part of that magnificent yet imposing structure was built in the thirteenth century. A knight in full armor stood just inside the door. Rich wood and stunning tapestries were found throughout. Thankfully the castle’s guest rooms had been updated with modern conveniences. 

We crossed a stone bridge (formerly a draw bridge) to dine in an old cottage that had been transformed into a quaint restaurant. The dessert was my first introduction to sticky toffee pudding–– quite possibly the most delicious food I’d ever tasted before… or since. 

Ashford Castle’s St. Patrick’s Day morning buffet offered nearly every breakfast food imaginable. The most memorable decoration was a two-foot-high leprechaun butter carving.  Yes, butter! 

In retrospect we should never have planned to travel on St. Patrick’s Day. We couldn’t enjoy the festivities as we might have as our flight home was the following day. 

Also, it’s a national holiday in Ireland. We encountered or had to detour around several parades and people celebrating on the streets. Thus, it took even longer driving from County Mayo to Dublin.  

I’ve been to Ireland three times now. The city and county of Cork have become among my favorite places. If not for missing my family here in Canada, I’d gladly relocate to Ireland. I prefer the temperate Irish climate. But mostly it’s because it’s my happy place that resonates within my soul. It’s always difficult to leave.

The last time I was in Ireland was 2018, and I’m experiencing a compelling need to return. Between my husband’s job, some family health scares, everyday adult/ homeowner responsibilities and having four pets, add in a few book deadlines and the cost of traveling I haven’t ventured anywhere other than a couple of road trips. 

Not to mention we experienced a pandemic. Murphy’s Law…I was scheduled to travel to Ireland late March 2020 to stay with a friend, a fellow author, who’d invited me to a private month-long writer’s retreat in her 200-year-old Irish cottage situated near a fairy glade. I was over the moon excited. Oh, how the words would have flown! I even had my plane, train and bus tickets.

But alas, then the entire world was grounded. Consequently, my much-anticipated trip never came to fruition. (Insert heavy sigh.)

I was understandably disappointed yet considering everything that was happening and how many people were far more seriously affected, I simply had to put it into perspective.

Regardless of why I’ve always been entranced by the land of forty shades of green, little did I know how my enduring love for Ireland would one day change my life. After my very first trip I was so inspired by the history, scenery and mystical locations I’d seen, only days after I returned home, I began writing The Farrier’s Daughter, the first in my seven book Irish Witch series.

This is where I could say, and the rest is history but that would make it seem unrealistically simple. It was a super long process. I’ll always be grateful to my family and friends who supported me every step of the way when I self-published the first two novels, and to Tule Publishing for making my dream of becoming a traditionally published author come true. 

I’m honored to have a wonderful following of loyal readers who fell in love with Alainn and Killian and the bewitching Irish magic I’ve always felt. If my series aren’t set in Ireland, there’s at least one key Irish character––even in my Norse and Mystical Stones series. 

After the Irish Witch series, came the sequel, The Witches of Time, then the spinoff, the Witch and Demon Hunter that’s since been renamed Realm of Fractured Time. 

Now… squee I have news!!! I’m so excited I could do an Irish jig, if I could actually do an Irish jig. I’m bursting to tell someone…anyone…everyone, although details aren’t finalized, another spinoff witch series featuring the daughters of the witches of time is in the works with Tule. The first book could release in spring/ summer 2026. (Just a guess.)

Yikes! In my enthusiasm of telling you about my love of Ireland and my upcoming series, I’ve barely mentioned my newest book. Admittedly, promotions aren’t always my strong suit. 

Druids’ Dark Curse released March 13th. It’s a thrilling romantasy adventure that ties up storylines in this and the previous four books. The book touches on the mystical Druids. I’m eager for readers to know how Fiona and Lorcan’s story ends…and of course a little sad, too. I love Lorcan and Fiona.  Their character arcs might be the best of any I’ve written. They were both a bit broken after all life had thrown at them. Telling their story was rewarding. 

They infuriated me at times when it seemed they were in charge, and I was just along for the ride. But they also made me smile, cry, and laugh. I hope readers feel all those emotions and enjoy Druids’ Dark Curse and the Realm of Fractured Time series as much as I loved writing it. 

There are numerous wonderful Irish sayings/blessings I could leave you with today but here’s one I believe fits best.

May you have all the happiness and luck that life can hold ––and at the end of your rainbows may you find a pot of gold.

I feel incredibly lucky being able to do what I love. And my supportive family, friends, readers and publishing team are my pot of gold. 

Have an amazing St. Patrick’s Day.  

Magical wishes,

Leigh Ann

About the Author.

Leigh Ann Edwards writes smoking hot romantic fantasy with badass heroines, alpha heroes, history, castles, and magic. She believes love is love, that villains should get their comeuppance (sometimes with a stake through the heart), that pleasure is NOT a four-letter word, and that “dog” is another word for “joy.”

Don’t let her gentle appearance fool you; this grandmother of four ditched a sad story and is now enjoying her happily-ever-after with the love of her life in north central Alberta, Canada. Her heroines don’t need to be rescued but they’ll gladly work with a competent partner to right the wrongs of whatever world they inhabit.

I’m so happy to be featured on the Tule Blog today, on this the release day of A Witch’s Destiny, Book Seven, the final installment in the original portion of my Irish Witch Series. It has been such an exciting couple of years. I have loved every single portion of it even when I sometimes stressed over my struggles with technology or upcoming deadlines.

Often during my book launches or book club and library author visits, I am asked what inspires my writing or where I get my ideas. Readers also have many questions regarding whether I have a specific time of the day I write, or where I prefer to write, etc.  I think I have answered most of these questions in previous blogs, but readers also tend to be very curious about when I began writing and how I became published. I know those topics haven’t been discussed on the blog, so I thought I’d share some of that information today.

I first starting writing novels back in 1994.  I had always enjoyed writing, and at one time I wrote every day, but other than a short story published in my high-school yearbook, I hadn’t had anything published, and after I began working at my first job in a bank, which I never was content with, I think it stifled my creativity and I stopped writing for quite some time other than the occasional letter.  

When my two daughters were still quite young, I began to feel the need to write again, but I didn’t believe I had the necessary time available to commit to writing, even though I always recognized it was my passion.

After a period of a few years of reading several fantasy novels and time travel novels which I thoroughly enjoyed, I went through a time where I couldn’t find anything I really wanted to read, and the novels I did read, seemed to be disappointing. So in 1994, instead of spending most of my spare time reading, I switched it up and began writing again. When I think back, I was very ambitious as that was when I began writing novels. The very first novel I wrote was quite long and I actually wrote it long hand in cursive handwriting. After I finally bought a typewriter, typed the manuscript, and photocopied it to be put into huge binders, I had a couple of dozen people read it. Some were friends and family, but others merely acquaintances or friends of friends. The response was unquestionably positive. Literally everyone who read it adamantly encouraged me to attempt to get it published. Even to this day some of those people sometimes question me as to whether those first books will ever be published as apparently they are still waiting.

Although I felt I had researched the topic thoroughly, and read most of the information available regarding query letters and how to send your manuscripts to publishers, it was much different back then.  You had to send the entire manuscript to some publishers, while others wanted only the first three chapters. I eventually sent my manuscript to eight different publishers back in 1995. The responses were discouraging as four replied saying they weren’t taking new authors, two said they didn’t take authors who didn’t have an agent, and two said it wasn’t right for them at this time.

I wasn’t really sure where to go from there, and perhaps I should have pursued it further even then, but my daughters were still young, and involved in many extracurricular activities, so I put my writing on the backburner for some time, until after they were out of school and living on their own.  It wasn’t until 2008 after returning from a trip to Ireland that I become completely re-inspired.

Something in seeing all the beautiful ancient castles, being surrounded in so much history and sensing magic all around me, seemed to make my creativity flow, and I came back home and wrote The Farrier’s Daughter, The Witch’s Daughter, and The Chieftain’s Daughter.  At that time, I was hearing a lot about self-publishing and I began researching and inquiring into it. I thought with the competitiveness of the publishing industry, I would try that route. So I did self-publish the first two novels, the first in 2014 and the second in 2015.  While it was mostly a very positive learning experience and I certainly don’t regret it as I definitely had some success and developed some contacts and readers began following my series, promoting and marketing your own novels is especially challenging and daunting.

My wonderful journey with Tule began the summer of 2015 when I met with Danielle Rayner, an editorial assistant from Tule Publishing while I attended a writer’s conference in Calgary Alberta. It is so difficult to believe that was nearly three years ago, but a lot has happened in that time.

I do truly believe in fate or destiny, because initially I had not been slated to pitch my series to Tule. The first day of the conference I had pitched my books to a publisher who leaned almost exclusively toward publishing in the fantasy and horror genres.  When I came out of that session, I sensed my books really weren’t what they were looking for. However, being there did ultimately prove to be beneficial for the attendant working at that location told me there had just been a cancellation for the next day, and that Tule Publishing, a publisher from California, who focused on publishing romance novels, now had a spot open up and she wondered if I would be interested in pitching my books to them.

Although I had heard of Tule, in reading over the list of publishers who would be at the conference, I wasn’t certain my books would be a good fit because I was under the impression most of the books they published were modern, contemporary romance novels. But, I did feel ultimately, even though my novels were historical and fantasy or paranormal, the heart of my novels was the powerful romance between Alainn and Killian, so I thought it couldn’t hurt to meet with Tule to gain experience if nothing else.  Then, I nearly missed the session because even though I was at least fifteen minutes early, the location had been changed last minute because the room had been double-booked. After racing across the length of the entire complex and through several buildings, though I was more than a little short of breath, thankfully I made it on time.

When I met with Danielle, she was so sweet.  Her lovely smile and her calming, down to earth demeanor, immediately put me at ease.  She asked a lot of questions and seemed genuinely intrigued by the storyline of my novels.  She assured me Tule was branching out into historical romance and paranormal romance and she thought the Tule team might be interested in taking a look at my manuscript. Although I had self-published the first two novels, I had several more instalments written or partially written, so I was completely thrilled at the prospect of Tule possibly wanting to publish my series.

Sure enough, to my elation, the following week Danielle emailed me and said Tule was very interested in reading my first novel. She asked me to email her the manuscript. But anyone who has read my books knows they tend to end with a cliffhanger, so I decided to it would be better to send the manuscripts for the first and second books.

Several weeks passed and I didn’t hear anything more so admittedly, I thought in all probability, that was the last I would hear from Tule. However, much to my delight, in early December, I got one of the most exciting emails I have ever received. Danielle explained, the reason she had taken so long to get back to me was that the entire team at Tule had read the novels and they had quickly fallen in love with them.  She said she was interested in speaking with me, so after a very long phone-conversation, and a couple more emails, Danielle eventually emailed me to say Tule wanted to sign a contract for the first three books.

I was on cloud nine, to say the least. At that point I knew I had wanted to go forward with the series and possibly self-publish book three. My husband and I had agreed we would go that far and see where it took us, but having a publisher believe in my writing enough to publish my first three novels was wonderfully exciting and so encouraging. It made me hopeful I would truly be able to see my entire Irish Witch Series available to readers.

After the first three books were completed and published, they met with  good reception and really encouraging reviews, and soon after, I signed for another three books. When writing and adding to Alainn and Killian’s story, I was very pleased when Tule agreed to a seventh in the series being added.

It has been such an amazingly terrific experience working with the team of ladies at Tule. Although Danielle and Lindsey, two of the ladies, I first had contact with are no longer with Tule, I am grateful to have worked with them.  I am also extremely appreciative to Meghan who has been with me through every step of the way and Michelle who came on board shortly after. I am so thankful their continued support, and for their knowledge and expertise in every aspect of publishing. They have always been so encouraging and patient with my numerous questions throughout the publishing of the seven books. The editors and cover designer have added much to my series as well. I really can’t say enough about each of the people who have helped me so much throughout this entire fantastic experience.

I love writing so very much. It has always been my passion, so to be able to create my stories and have the opportunity for many people to read them has brought me a great amount of joy and it really is a dream come true.  I have had readers from four different continents contact me to tell me they are loving my series. That makes me very happy and proud to have come this far. I owe so much to Tule Publishing for believing my series should be published and helping with marketing and promotions.

As I said in my last blog post, I was extremely sad in writing the last chapters of A Witch’s Destiny. I was dreading knowing I would soon be made to say farewell to people who had been a very important part of my life for the past ten years. I really do dislike goodbyes. The closer I got to the end of the novel, the more uneasy I began to feel. In fact, because of this unexpected reaction, after planning the ending for well over nine years, I changed it completely.  But by altering the ending, this created many new possibilities for further adventures and different storylines in future series.

Now I look forward to the next chapter of my writing career as well.  I am so excited to say, I am presently working on the proposal to pitch the next series to the Tule team, and then soon after I’ll be proposing the following two series as well. I’m hoping Jane, the team at Tule, and all my faithful readers will be as eager to continue this fascinating journey as I am.

Although the next series, The Second Witch, would be a sequel, it is actually the first series I ever wrote, therefore it will always have a special place in my heart. In fact, I was on chapter twelve of A Farrier’s Daughter, the first novel in The Irish Witch Series, when I decided I would connect the two series and the original series would become a sequel to The Irish Witch Series with the heroine, Arianna, being a magical descendant of Alainn’s.

I can’t even begin to express how fired up I am about the exciting possibility of introducing the Tule team and the readers to Arianna and Darius. This young couple have a very passionate love, and many dangerous, but thrilling adventures in Massachusetts Bay Colony in the late sixteen-hundreds during the witch hysteria, and the perilous and uncertain times the early settlers faced.  I am so eager to share their story. I believe you’ll fall in love with them as well as all the many secondary characters in their world. As with the original series, it is unique, unpredictable and there are many sub-plots, twists and turns that are sure to keep you wanting to read more.

So wish me luck… the luck of the Irish.  Here’s to hoping my future stories will work their magic, and I’ll be back on the Tule blog one day soon for the release of the beginning novel in the series, The Second Witch. Until then, it’s an honor to be one of Tule’s authors, to have been on this blog seven times now, and to continue to share my stories.  I am exceedingly grateful and will continue to enjoy absolutely every minute.

Magical wishes, Leigh Ann

The entire Irish Witch series is now available for purchase!

GIVEAWAY: We will be giving away a full print copy set of the entire Irish Witch series. Leigh Ann dislikes goodbyes, so post a comment with something you’re afraid of saying goodbye to as well!
We will announce the winners in our weekly newsletter, so make sure to subscribe if you haven’t already!

Since she was a child, Leigh Ann Edwards has always had a vivid imagination and lots of stories to tell. An enthusiastic traveler and author for over twenty years, her adventures in Massachusetts, Ireland, and the UK inspired The Farrier’s Daughter and its sequel novels in the Irish Witch series. Edwards adores animals, history, genealogy, and magical places—and Ireland is filled with many magical places. She lives with her husband and two cats in the lovely city of Edmonton, Alberta.