The Confessions Read online

  * * *

  Oh yeah. I come so close to breaking the 4th wall in every book. Almost put “Reader, he fucked her” in The King but talked myself out of it.

  * * *

  CYNDY: Now I’m laughing imagining Søren turning to the camera and raising an eyebrow every time Nora or King was on screen...like in The Office.

  * * *

  TIFFANY: YES! Or Parks and Rec. He would be the Ben Wyatt of the Original Sinners, the one who thinks he’s saner than everyone else but isn’t.

  * * *

  CYNDY: But yes. We didn’t even talk about “The Poinsettia.” I can’t be the only reader who contacts you saying, “Yeah, the Church bit is the most unrealistic part of these books.” ;)

  * * *

  TIFFANY: I get a lot of, “I wish the Church was like this.” But that’s okay. There’s a place for the aspirational in fiction.

  * * *

  CYNDY: One priest like Søren is a stretch, one who’d say Mass in a whorehouse?

  * * *

  TIFFANY: I feel like my characters have made me a better person. I’ve learned from them. Maybe someday I’ll get an email from a baby priest who read my books and was inspired to be a little more open-minded.

  * * *

  Actually I know a famous Protestant pastor who gave a birthday party to a prostitute he met at a greasy spoon.

  * * *

  CYNDY: God, I hope so. Seems like the n00bs (at least here) are reaching new levels of sanctimonious.

  * * *

  TIFFANY: So it can happen.

  * * *

  CYNDY: See again Protestants.

  * * *

  TIFFANY: Good point. I have the convert’s trouble in separating Catholic from Protestant as I’ve been both they are integrated in me.

  * * *

  CYNDY: I’ve often thought about trying out the Episcopalians—so close to Catholicism as to be familiar with none of the celibacy or LGBTQ+ weirdness. And women! Priests!

  * * *

  TIFFANY: Give it a shot! I’ll go to church with you.

  * * *

  CYNDY: I make no secret of my giant crush on Amber Belldene [an Episcopalian priest who writes romance novels].

  * * *

  TIFFANY: God, I love Amber. Proof there is hope in this world for both romance AND the Church.

  * * *

  I loved writing Father Ballard in “The Confession of Marcus Stearns.” It was fun to create Søren’s second father.

  * * *

  CYNDY: There’s a story... I’d love a story that’s just Søren confessing. Can you IMAGINE how long that would take?

  * * *

  TIFFANY: Søren’s full confession? It would be longer than The Mistress.

  * * *

  TIFFANY: There are super hippie laid-back priests. There were more of them in the ‘60s and ‘70s in the post-Vatican II Jesus-freak era.

  * * *

  CYNDY: Oh, I’ve met some amazing priests. I don’t hate them all.

  * * *

  TIFFANY: I know one who calls God “Father/Mother.” “Our Father/Mother who art in Heaven…”

  * * *

  CYNDY: My father AND mother would pass right out in the pews.

  * * *

  TIFFANY: And he’s OLD too. Not a young liberal priest. An OLD liberal priest.

  * * *

  CYNDY: Sometimes I think the old ones were the better ones.

  * * *

  TIFFANY: The young ones will be old ones someday. I’m hoping they mellow as they age. Don’t we all?

  * * *

  CYNDY: I was a Cathedral kid...and one of the auxiliary bishops was the best. Living embodiment of “suffer the little children.”

  * * *

  TIFFANY: Meaning I have mellowed with age. I’d still like to see Søren in a bishop’s miter.

  * * *

  CYNDY: OMG. In the miter, Fionn on his shoulder.

  * * *

  TIFFANY: I could write that. The new bishop of Fairbanks, Alaska is a badass. Twenty years in the military as a chaplain. Hunts and fishes. Very handsome.

  * * *

  CYNDY: I haven’t read anything about the new Bishop of Fairbanks. Obviously, I need to Google this.

  * * *

  TIFFANY: He gave the homily at the abbey I visited last weekend. Very cool guy.

  * * *

  CYNDY: OMG! Abbey! Was this your annual thing?

  * * *

  TIFFANY: Not annual but I would like it to be. I went to Mount Angel Abbey for a three-day silent retreat with the Benedictine monks there. There’s a seminary there. BABYFACED priests. Oh my God, they’re so young it hurts.

  * * *

  CYNDY: I’m thankful none of the retreats I ever went on or staffed was silent. I think I’d be dead.

  * * *

  TIFFANY: I can see that. The first night I was there, dinner wasn’t silent. Silence began AFTER dinner. I sat at a random table with three random women, all retired and of course they all want to write a book now that they’re retired. And I just sat there eating my pasta and thinking, “Please don’t ask me what I do please don’t ask me what I do...”

  * * *

  CYNDY: I was just going to ask if it was for writers or something...

  * * *

  TIFFANY: Just Catholic women. Or any women. Non-Catholics can go on retreats as well as the abbey. They are very welcoming. But it cured me of my old ache to be a nun.

  * * *

  CYNDY: Not as much seduction as you’d thought?

  * * *

  TIFFANY: I could not handle those hours. I got up for Vigils at 4:45 on Saturday morning and thought I would die.

  * * *

  CYNDY: LOL.

  * * *

  TIFFANY: Father Pius said, “I came to the abbey thirty years ago because I wanted quiet, rest, peace and harmony. I got none of those but I’m still here.”

  * * *

  So it opened my eyes a little.

  * * *

  My husband is pleased by this.

  * * *

  CYNDY: Father Pius?

  * * *

  TIFFANY: He ran our retreat. He’s a monk/priest.

  * * *

  CYNDY: Given name?

  * * *

  TIFFANY: No. They pick their names when they take final vows, I believe.

  * * *

  CYNDY: Oh wait. You said Benedictine. I went to college with a guy who was entering the Basilians named Pius.

  * * *

  TIFFANY: A lot of them take their names from Popes and saints. But you never run across a Brother Sextus, do you? Or maybe YOU do. I don’t.

  * * *

  CYNDY: LOL. No. At least they can choose them. My aunt (who left the convent) was assigned Bertilla. Who even knew there was a St. Bertilla?

  * * *

  TIFFANY: I’ll have Søren do penance by joining a monastery. He can be Father Sextus. AWW YEAH....

  * * *

  Søren is standing at my desk and shaking his head in a definite “No.” He doesn’t want to get up at 4:45 a.m. on a Saturday any more than I do.

  * * *

  CYNDY: The awesomeness of him getting assigned the name “Sextus.” And Nora and King just CACKLING.

  * * *

  TIFFANY: I will find a way to work that into a story.

  * * *

  CYNDY: And having monogrammed stationery made [featuring the name “Sextus”]... And Griffin. OMG, the MILEAGE.

  * * *

  TIFFANY: Søren’s like, “IT MEANS BORN SIXTH!”

  * * *

  CYNDY: -TY NINTH!

  * * *

  TIFFANY: Søren just sighed at me. It ruffled my hair.

  * * *

  He can sigh like a mother.

  * * *

  Did we hit all our topics?

  * * *

  CYNDY: Are you going to write that meeting in a Fionn book if it happens?

  * * *

  TIFFANY: Write the first meeting between Fionn and Søren?
>
  * * *

  CYNDY: And yes. That was the only question.

  * * *

  TIFFANY: Very tempting. I should at least write it from King’s POV at some point. I don’t know. But someday you will hear from Fionn.

  * * *

  CYNDY: So funny to think all those years ago I was not okay with The Siren [and rated it] four stars. You had too much in your pocket [that you didn’t reveal until later books].

  * * *

  TIFFANY: Well, you had good reasons [for not giving it a full five stars]. I was playing the “long con.” Writing is just one big long con game after all.

  * * *

  CYNDY: I’m still okay with four stars.

  * * *

  TIFFANY: Søren sends his regards, by the way. He says he’ll get that fifth star out of you yet.

  * * *

  CYNDY: He can beat it out of me.

  * * *

  TIFFANY: I bet he would. But knowing him and you, he’d rather cut it out.

  * * *

  CYNDY: Dang.

  * * *

  TIFFANY: The only non-surgeon on Earth with “obsidian blade scalpels” on his Christmas list. But that’s Søren for you.

  * * *

  CYNDY: The sound I just made.

  * * *

  TIFFANY: I heard it.

  21 Fun Facts about Father Marcus Stearns AKA Søren

  1. All the names of the principle characters in The Siren are based on the four cardinal directions:

  Nora Sutherlin - North South

  Wes - West

  Zach Easton - East

  Søren - South

  2. Søren’s initials are kinky no matter which way you look at them:

  Søren Magnussen - SM (Sado-Masochism)

  Marcus Stearns - MS (Master-Slave)

  3. Søren has two Ph.D.s—one in Theology and one in Canon Law. His full and correct title in the Catholic Church is rendered as “Reverend Doctor Marcus Stearns, S.J.” The “S.J.” stands for “Society of Jesus” which is the name of the religious order of priests Søren belongs to. They are commonly known as the Jesuits.

  * * *

  4. A man is considered a Jesuit from the moment he joins the order. Søren has been a Jesuit since age 18 upon entering the Society of Jesus. Not all Jesuits are priests, however. Søren was ordained into the priesthood at age 28. If he had not become a priest, he would still be a Jesuit brother.

  * * *

  5. Søren’s name is either Søren Magnussen (his Danish name given to him by his mother) or Marcus Stearns (his legal name given to him by his father). He is never referred to as Søren Stearns or Marcus Magnussen.

  * * *

  6. Søren’s middle name is Lennox, which is an authorial tribute to English soul singer Annie Lennox, who co-wrote the song “Missionary Man” from which the author of the Original Sinners series (Tiffany Reisz) took the phrase “Original Sinner.” Lennox is also a district in Scotland.

  * * *

  7. Søren’s son’s name is derived from Fionn mac Cumhaill (rendered in English as Finn MacCool), an Irish mythological hero. The word “Fionn” means “blond.” In The King, Søren tells Kingsley of an incident from his youth when a priest attempted to seduce him while they were translating the Fiannaidheacht, which is the cycle of Irish stories that includes the character Fionn mac Cumhaill. Grace Easton is half-Irish.

  * * *

  8. Søren is a polyglot, meaning he speaks and reads multiple languages. These include English, Danish, Swedish, French, Spanish, Arabic, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, German, Portuguese, Mandarin Chinese, and the biblical languages of Koine Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin. Professor Henry Jones, i.e. Indiana Jones, inspired Søren’s polyglotism.

  * * *

  9. Kingsley’s “baptism” in The King is not a valid baptism as the words spoken by Søren are not the correct baptismal formula. The correct baptismal formula for a valid baptism in the Catholic Church must include the invocation of the Trinity, i.e. “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” Søren, being a good priest (most of the time) would not forcibly baptize anyone. He would, however, attempt to drown Kingsley for his own good.

  * * *

  10. Søren is a pescatarian—he eats no meat but does eat fish unless he’s a guest in someone’s home and then he eats what is served him.

  * * *

  11. Søren’s motorcycle is a black 1992 Ducati 907 I.E. It is the only year the 907 I.E. came in black. As Jesuits take vows of poverty and live in community, they are not allowed to keep gifts unless given permission by their superiors. In The King Søren states he received permission to keep his motorcycle. Any of Søren’s other “personal property” belongs to his Jesuit order or Sacred Heart, his parish in Connecticut.

  * * *

  12. The school where Søren trained for the priesthood is The Pontifical Gregorian University or Pontifica Università Gregorian in Italian. It is located in Rome, Italy and was founded by the Jesuits. It is commonly referred to as the Gregorianum.

  * * *

  13. Søren’s unique mix of sadism and compassion was based on God as He is portrayed in the Hebrew Bible (i.e. The Old Testament in the Christian Church). The first draft of The Siren was written while the author was attending a Methodist seminary.

  * * *

  14. Søren’s father was a baron in the English aristocracy. As his father’s only son, Søren could have claimed the title had he wished to leave the priesthood. He did not and the title is now in abeyance. The family estate is called Edenfell and is located in the north of England along the Scottish border. Due to Kingsley’s largesse, Edenfell is now the property of Fionn Easton. Whether Fionn will attempt to claim the title and the estate remains to be seen…

  * * *

  15. The scene in The Mistress where Søren walks to his possible death at dawn with Grace Easton was inspired by the walk with Aslan that Lucy and Susan undertake in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis. References to that work are scattered throughout the series.

  * * *

  16. The Sting song Søren and Eleanor waltz to in The Saint is “When We Dance.” The Police song Nora dances to with Zachary at the end of The Queen is “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic.”

  * * *

  17. Søren’s correct birthdate is December 21, 1964, not December 21, 1965 as appears in The Angel. That was an uncorrected error. He is 51 years old during the present-day events of The Queen.

  * * *

  18. Søren’s name is correctly pronounced “Suurn” (rhymes with Burn) in Danish. Nora, however, pronounces it the English way “Sore-ren” which is why in The Saint Søren says she pronounces his name “like an American.” He answers to both English and Danish pronunciations.

  * * *

  19. Wakefield, Connecticut, home to Søren’s parish Sacred Heart Catholic Church, is a fictional town. The name was taken from a small farming community in Kentucky near where the author lived at the time.

  * * *

  20. As revealed in The King, the 8 in the Eighth Circle logo is actually a letter S with a letter O around it and a slash through it. The S-O with slash is how Søren signs personal correspondence. Typographers refer to the ø in Søren’s name as a “slashed o,” and in Danish it is pronounced somewhat like the English “ur.”

  * * *

  21. The original draft of The Siren was written in 2003. In the original draft, Nora picked Wesley over Søren. Søren told the author he didn’t approve. The author changed the ending, because the author knows what’s good for her.

  About the Author

  Tiffany Reisz is the author of the internationally bestselling and award-winning Original Sinners series for Mira Books (Harlequin/Mills & Boon). Tiffany’s books inhabit a sexy shadowy world where romance, erotica, and literature meet and do immoral and possibly illegal things to each other. She describes her genre as “literary friction,” a term she stole from her main character, who gets in trouble al
most as often as the author herself.