Behind the Series: THE PORTAL
- Maggie Shayne
- Mar 30
- 4 min read
Three modern-day women begin to remember their past lives and deaths as sisters in an Ancient Babylonian king's harem. They were cursed and executed for the crimes of practicing magic and falling in love. Now they must reunite with each other and with their lost lovers from that lifetime in today's modern world to break the curse and save them all.
***There won't be a video or podcast edition of this one folks.
The weekend got away from me.***
THE PORTAL SERIES
This series made my publisher at the time very nervous. It was originally published by MIRA, Harlequin's big-book line. The first book, Mark of the Witch, a paranormal romance thriller where the hero's is a priest and the heroine's a witch seemed...problematic to the powers that be. Even with the logicstics I'd already worked in (which I can't tell you without spoilers) they still said no. I could only write the novel if I made Tomas (accent on the 1st syllable, long O. TŌ-mahs) a "priest of a little-known gnostic sect."
Some somewhere in the book, I dropped that exact line. I was SO pissed off about that. I really should go back and redo it, but there are 115 books (116 in May) and I'd like to go back do something to each of them. Forward is the only way.
The real inspiration behind MARK OF THE WITCH was the movie Stigmata with sexy priest Gabriel Byrne and sassy, gorgeous Patricia Arquette. One of my all-time favorite films. Love love loved it. So just the idea of the couple was sparked by that. The plot is very different.
This book has the most gripping opening scene I think I've ever written, so I'm going to share that with you here. But first here are the original cover, the current cover, and the trailer video.
The book 1 trailer doubles as the series trailer. It is the only of the three trailers I've had a chance to update with the new covers and info.
Book 2, DAUGHTER OF THE SPELLCASTER
Magdalena's book was inspired by the film Rosemary's Baby.
Some sort of entity is trying to enter our world, and believes it needs a body to do it. It has decided Magdalena's fetus will do nicely and it has mesmerized her neighbors, some of her most trusted friends, and possibly even her own mother to help.
When the player who got her pregnant shows up wanting to help, she's already sure she can't trust him even before she has a vision of him plunging a golden dagger into her heart. So when she finds the same dagger hidden in his car, she realizes there's nobody to help her. And then she goes into labor.
The video is dated, with the original cover, and Harlequin listed as the publisher. There's no portal website, it's all on MaggieShayne.com/portal now. I need to remake this one with the new cover design. It's currently published as is all my current work, by Oliver Heber Books.
Book 3, BLOOD OF THE SORCERESS
Lilia has existed between the worlds, awaiting the right time to try to rescue her love, Demetrius, from his prison. When he was stripped of his soul, she and her sisters intervened, stealing it away from the high priest who'd intended its destruction. They each hold a piece of his soul, but it will only be restored when Demetrius wants it to be.
Freed from his underworld prison, the long-tortured man walks soulless through our world, amassing wealth, women, and power, but feeling nothing. He's immortal and powerful, and he'll lose both those things if he accepts his soul back again. Lilia gives him a sample of what it is to feel, so the he can make an informed decision.
But that same evil high priest who destroyed them all so long ago has already returned, and he's planning his vengeance in the bloodiest of ways.
The Novella: LEGACY OF THE WITCH
This is the short novel that launches the rest, told through the eyes of slave-girl to the harem, Amarra, whose family have been the guardians of a precious, ancient box for generations, keeping it safe for when the three witches of Babylon return. The box was stolen from her when she came to the US, and ended up in the hands of a veteran Sgt Harry Brockson, from whom it's been recently stolen.
Harry reminds Amarra of her childhood fantasies about a being a little girl int he desert and falling in love with a boy, and sharing a first kiss.
Could Harry be the reincarnation of the boy, and Amarrah of the little girl? And what does it mean. All they know for sure, is that the box is important, and they must work together to get it back.
Legacy of the Witch is first in the reading order.
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