Book Lovers Inc.
Romance Novel Reviews, Author Interviews, Commentary
Guestpost: Fortune or Free Will? by Zoe Archer + Giveaway
Today we’re thrilled to welcome author Zoe Archer on Book Lovers Inc.The first book in Zoe’s new Hellraisers series, Devil’s Kiss was released last week. Devil’s Kiss is a sexy paranormal historical romance (a mouthful isn’t it? *wink*) where the hero will be tempted by the Devil himself! Let’s give a warm welcome to Zoe who will tell us about an important theme in her new book…
Fortune or Free Will?
This has been a question humans have been struggling with since…well, since we developed the capacity to think beyond basic survival. Who hasn’t wondered whether or not the choices we make actually influence our lives, or if, somewhere, our destiny is already written?
In some ways, it’s comforting to think that our fates were decided the moment we were born (or even earlier). It takes away the burden of regret. If something was meant to happen, or it was inescapable, then we never make the wrong choice. Then again, who wants to feel trapped by forces outside of our control?
Consider, though, our fascination with fortune telling and divination. Every newspaper carries a horoscope. In my neighborhood, I’ve counted at least three fortune-teller shops. Palmistry, runes, the I-Ching, even ritual sacrifice—these are all methods by which humans seek to learn the future. Tarot cards have been used for at least six centuries to discover what the future holds.
The heroine of DEVIL’S KISS, my new novel, is one of the Rom, or what’s frequently known as a Gypsy. Like other members of her tribe, Zora earns her living telling fortunes. She reads palms as well as tarot cards. However, Zora doesn’t actually believe in prognostication. She tells the gorgios (non-Gypsies) what she knows they want to hear, using unspoken clues they give her to spin tales of what will be. Naturally, all of the people who have their fortunes told are given good news. (An angry or unhappy customer doesn’t pay as well!)
The hero of DEVIL’S KISS is James Sherbourne, Earl of Whitney. Wealthy, privileged and bored, Whit’s one excitement is gambling. He loves to test the odds, and lives for the thrill he gets from the possibility of triumph or catastrophe.
When Whit meets Zora in her Gypsy encampment, she offers to tell him his fortune. But Whit declines. It’s not gambling if you know what the future holds. Zora is intrigued by this man who is so unlike the other rich gorgios she has met. For one thing, he’s handsome as the Devil. And he has some very unusual ideas about things such as fortune and free will. He’d rather let the future play out without foreknowledge—because where’s the thrill in knowing too much?
What Zora doesn’t know is that Whit is about to receive a very dangerous, tempting offer. An offer that will change both of their lives…and their hearts.
Tell me in the comments—do you believe in fortune or free will? Can we learn the future? And if you could learn what was going to happen, would you? I’ll pick a winner to receive a signed copy of DEVIL’S KISS and a book from my backlist!
Here’s the trailer for Devil’s Kiss:
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~*~*Giveaway*~*~
Zoe has generously offered a print copy of Devil’s Kiss AND a book from her backlist to one lucky commenter!
All you have to do is answer Zoe’s question or leave a meaningful comment about the post.
(You can read our full giveaway policy here)
Please leave a valid email when placing your comment so we can inform you if you win.
This giveaway is open worldwide!
Giveaway ends on Saturday, December 17, 2011; and we will announce the winner on Sunday.
Good luck!
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I believe in free will and that everything we do changes our outcome so I don’t believe in fate or that our futures are set in stone. I would love to know what’s going to happen in the future but I don’t think there’s a real way of finding out what it might be. For a time I used to believe in fortune tellers, when I was 11 years old my grandmother (I know I had a cool grandma, right?) took me to a séance and the woman told me that I had a guardian angel behind me and would never let anything bad happen to me. Well….my life went down hill fast after that and I guess I stopped believing in things like that because nothing they told me would happen ever came true. I still have a deck of Tarot cards but I only kept them because they were grandma’s.
miztik_rose@yahoo.com
it’s a difficult question…i would like to believe in free will but at the same time i guess i believe in fortune too…i mean fortune make us in from of several path and with free will we make a choice.
And if i could know the future….i think i don’t what too because i knew something really bad was going to happen but i couldn’t or musn’t change it i would be devasted. i prefer to hope for the better and do my best with what i have
thanks you for this wonderful giveaway
isabelle(dot)frisch(at)gmail(dot)com
I believe in free will, the future is not determined, IMO.
Thanks!
A bit of both buth free will especially because you are actively making choices tha will shape the future.
I believe in free will. The future is static.
vsloboda(at)gmail(dot)com
I believe in a mix of free will and predestination, you could say. I believe that we have meaningful choices at pivotal moments, but much (not all) of what happens as a result is bound to happen.
Difficult question, but I believe in free will, although a bit of fortune can bring something to the mix. I mean – it was your free will to enter a bar, but maybe some fortune made you spill your red wine all over this guy who turns out to be the one (hell, i’m romantic tonight ..) – but yeah – free will first. what you decide to do defines who you are and what your life is going to look like, but I still believe in fortune, because I’m still waiting for that big lottery win. 😀
I would lvoe to see how the future would look like in +100 years and more, don’t wanna know my own personal future.
hrududu AT hotmail DE
I believe in free will.
I believe in both. Fate brings people, situations, etc., into your path. You decide through free will how you react/shape your future.
What’s out of your control falls into fate, IMHO, while what you can control is your free will.
destiny sounds nice, but really it isn’t. if your path, your every choice is leading to a certain outcome, that would be horrible. i would like to believe that through my decisions i can change my life the way i want it to be.
I believe in both. I have my own tarot cards that I’ve used for years now and they always told me (or gave hints) what’s happening now (present) and in the future. Sadly not all of them told me good things, but nonetheless they predicted accurately. Thanks for the giveaway chance! sacredmoon1(at)gmail(dot)com
I believe in free will 🙂 But I have to say, it is interesting to think that someone could tell you what might happen…. Though I don’t think I would want to know!
I believe in free will. I don’t think the future is pre-determined.
kissinoak at frontier dot com.
I believe in free will as well, although I think there are some things that we can’t change. If I could know what happen though, I don’t think I would choose to. I would probably regret it afterwards, no matter what the temptation is in the moment.
I believe life is a little fortune and a little freewill. I think the final result is predestined but you can choose some of the steps along the way.
jepebATverizonDOTnet
I believe in free will. I don’t believe we can learn the future, and if I could learn what was going to happen, I don’t think I’d want to know. I’m afraid I would try to change things and that just might make it worse.
I’m really looking forward to reading this new series, starting with Devil’s Kiss.
Barbed1951 at aol dot com
I believe in free will. I don’t think there is anyway to learn the future, because the variables are too great. One small thing being changed can completely change any outcome. Although it would be nice to be able to find out lotto numbers in the future, anything else would freak me out anyway. I would be wanting to change things and probably be too afraid to leave the house in case something bad was going to happen.
June M.
manning_j2004 at yahoo dot com
I believe in free will. It’s all about making choices. We can take many paths along the way.
I believe in both because even in free will, there are some choices that are just not choices, not if you want to live with yourself. But I wouldn’t want to know the future. It is just too frightening!
tamsyn5(at)yahoo(dot)com
Thanks for a great post and giveaway! I believe in free will. We make our own destiny and gotta own up to the consequences of our choices whether good or bad.
That’s a tough question!! I definitely believe in free will, and I also believe that you can sense how things are going to go – as in having a bad feeling about something or that someone is in danger – but I don’t think people can actually see the future and know what exactly is going to happen. If I could know what was going to happen, I think I would want to know so I could try to work it in my favor!! Thanks for an awesome and thought provoking guest post and giveaway, Zoe 😀
I believe in free will. I feel that anything we do, say changes the course of our future and destiny. Nothing is set in stone. It can always be changed by our actions. Also, I would not want to know what my future is. I would rather go along and see what happens. Please enter me in contest. I would love to read this book. sounds very good. Tore923@aol.com
I absolutely believe in free will. It’s interesting to consider that when everyone’s free will is interacting, it may sometimes seem like fate plays a part, too. I loved Zoe’s Blades of the Rose series and I’m looking forward to reading this one. Thanks for the giveaway.
mochfly(at)swbell(dot)net
I believe in free will. I believe we have the ability to make choices and they will lead us down that path, either good or bad.
areeths at new dot rr dot com
do you believe in fortune or free will? Can we learn the future?
Yes, I do. I think the big lines are set, but in those boundaries, we have free will. The choices we make will determine what will happen next. And that is also why the future is not easy to see, as it is not set in stone. I do love having my tarot cards read once a year, and to learn about the general things that might happen. But I do not know if I would like to learn the bad things in advance, the things that cannot be prevented, like diseases in me or my loved ones.
Thank you for your guestpost, I enjoyed reading it, and this book certainly is on my wishlist!
i believe in both fortune and free will
if i can learn what was going on in future, maybe i will try to help people around me even i know that i can’t change the fate. but i think i’m better not knowing about the future, just let it be a mysteri 😉
I believe in free will. You have the power. maybe not what is done to you but in how you handle it yourself. And where you go from there.
scrtsbpal at yahoo dot com
I believe in free will but I do not rule out the possibility that there are other elements at play too. I would not want to know the future, I prefer ignorance.
I believe in free will…it’s all about choices. Happy Holidays!
I believe in fortune and free will. I do think people have a general path they will lead but that there are many opportunities for us to use our free will and choose our own path. I think a person could have their future told to them at 17 and then have a very different future told to them at 35 based upon the decisions they have made along the way.