Valkyries and Endre! (A guest post from ST Bende!)

Welcome ST Bende back to the blog! Today she's talking Valkyries in honor of the release of Endre -- the sequel to Elsker! Valkyries have never really been my thing, but I love how ST Bende updates and upgrades them for her books -- making them modern and relevant! You'll see, below!

Hei hei, y’all. It’s me again, fellow Thor lover and writer of all things Norse, ST. Amalia was sweet enough to invite me back to talk about one of the coolest sororities in the Norse pantheon, The Valkyries.

When you think Valkyrie, you probably think Wagner, epic operatic overtures, and fierce battle goddesses flying on dark winged horses over a battlefield clustered with carnage. Or maybe you think Sorcerer Mickey fighting the overwhelming tide in Fantasia. No? That’s just me? At any rate, I can’t see the word Valkyrie without conjuring up the dark images evoked by Wagner’s heavy musical composition. And with good reason -- in Norse mythology, Valkyries were warrior goddesses charged with collecting slain human soldiers for Odin’s army. They traveled to Midgard (Earth) on winged horses and chose the very best of the fallen warriors to bring to Odin’s pad (Valhalla), where they trained the dead to fight for Asgard at the Norse apocalypse (Ragnarok). It was a grisly, bloody job, and those Valkyrie chicks thrived on it.

But I’m generally a fluffy bunnies kind of girl. (Not the “Kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit!” kind of Wagner-inspired bunnies. The “True Love’s Kiss” kind of fluffy bunnies.) And while I can’t ignore the very necessary function of the Valkyries as battle goddesses, in my Elsker books, I give them another fun job. I’ve made them Asgard’s official pilots of all things, not just winged war-horses. So when Ull, my Norse God of Winter, takes his bride to a secret location for their honeymoon, Asgard’s private jet is piloted by none other than the mythological ladies of battle lore, The Valkyries. Turns out they love flying soverymuch that they’ll fly anything anyone will let them get their hands on. Including Learjets. You know, after they handle the fire giant uprising in Muspelheim, and get a handle on the Svartalfheim dark elf situation. Because Valkyries are nothing if not brilliant multitaskers. And they always look amazing doing it.

Oh -- and in case y’all are wondering, yep. I listened to Flight of the Valkyries on loop while writing this post. Because nothing says “smokin’-hot honeymoon pilots” like a good, German opera, dontcha think?

Now tell me in the comments -- what do you think when you think of Valkyries? Admit it, you hear Elmer Fudd singing too, don’t you? ;)

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Endre is available now (along with Elsker!) And you can learn more about it on Goodreads and ST's blog (there's a giveaway yonder!), and there's even a book trailer! But here's the blurb for you, to get started: 

Sometimes, finding your destiny means doing the exact opposite of what The Fates have planned.

Winning the heart of an immortal assassin was a dream come true for Kristia Tostenson. Now she’s knee deep in wedding plans, goddess lessons, and stolen kisses. But her decision to become immortal could end in heartbreak -- not only for Kristia, but for the god who loves her. Because while Ull would do anything to protect his bride, even the God of Winter is powerless against the Norse apocalypse. Ragnarok is coming. And the gods aren’t even close to ready.

Buy it from Amazon, B&N, or Kobo!