Cities featured in the Legend of the Caryph

Durham, North Carolina - The story starts in Durham where our heroine, Regan, is a college student at Duke University.

Newport, Rhode Island - Regan is rescued by members of the Order of the Caryph and is taken to a safe house in Newport. The safe house is a fortress-like mansion on an estate hidden in a forested area. It's definintely not on any tour routes and most locals don't even know it exists.

New York City - Headquarters for the Order of the Caryph is located in Manhattan in an old hotel known as the Orion-Clearview. The abandoned hotel was discovered by a member of the order and remodeled to suit their needs.

Atlanta, Georgia - The climax of the story begins in Atlanta where Regan and her new friends are attacked by a demon as the result of a betrayal.

The inspiration for Legend of the Caryph

The inspiration for the Legend of the Caryph series was a happy web surfing accident. While researching Stonehenge, I stumbled across a more obscure stone circle known as the Nine Ladies Stone Circle. The name caught my imagination and was the basis for the original nine caryphs in my story.

The Nine Ladies is a Bronze Age stone circle on Stanton Moor in Derbyshire's Peak District National Park. There are many myths associated with the circle, but the predominant one is that nine young women were turned to stone as a punishment for dancing on the sabbath. The circle has pagan associations, but its origins are still undetermined as far as I can tell.

The circle is very important to the Legend of the Caryph series and will get more attention as the story line advances in future books. I have a different take on the Nine Ladies myth and I can't wait to share it!