Camelot & Vine by Petrea Burchard

Camelot & Vine by Petrea Burchard

Telling lies is second nature to actress Casey Clemens, whether she's talking to strangers on national television or to her mother on the phone. Casey's got a cushy Hollywood condo, an efficient cleaning lady and a rich boyfriend (never mind that he's married). When Casey feels dissatisfied she fantasizes: about winning an Oscar, about finding real love or about her childhood hero, King Arthur.

It feels like an acting career, sort of, until the day before Casey's 40th birthday when she loses everything she never cared about, falls through a gap in time, and lands in the 6th century war camp of King Arthur himself. He mistakes her for a wizard and takes her in. But as she finds her feelings warming to him she also finds enemies. War is fast approaching, and the Dark Ages are a perilous time for an actress with an honesty problem. That is, if she wants to make it back to the 21st century alive. Not that she could if she wanted to. Not that she wants to.

Petrea Burchard began her acting career on the Chicago stage before coming to Los Angeles to pursue a career in television and cinema. There, voice-over became an important part of her job. With a degree in creative writing, she was able to merge two of her passions. Her Act As If humor blog at NowCasting.com, which reached 70,000-100,000 readers twice a month over its four-year run, became material for auditions, jobs, and people. The column was turned into a book, Act As If: Stumbling Around Hollywood With a Headshot in Hand.

Burchard also used her acting background to develop Camelot & Vine, a book. The notion of a modern woman in King Arthur's war camp began to take shape during a summer Shakespeare course in Oxford, England. Short pieces such as Portraits, which appeared in the anthology Literary Pasadena: The Fiction Edition; flash fiction and micro fiction at RoseCitySisters.com; articles, listicles, and innumerable book reviews are among her other published works. Burchard is best remembered for being the first English voice of Ryoko, the seductive space pirate from the anime classic Tenchi Muyo!

Wilma, her articulate boxer mix, and her husband share their house.