Wyntress Catches a Review
Review:
Humorous, spine-tingling, and definitely a roller coaster ride is Wyntress Nyght.
CLICK HERE To READ MORE!!!!
Check it out! The Dawn of a Copper Age
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The Dawn of the Copper Age
I’m not referring to ancient history here! Today the Copper Age webcomic launches at www.itisacircle.com – kicking off with a story called ‘The Blind Fisherman’ – a mix of art and pictures, but not exactly traditional comics stuff (and no men in spandex thumping each other!)
This is a project I’ve been working on with Tom Brown for some years. I interviewed Tom on this blog a bit back, so you might want to hunt that out. I’ll be here today, with assorted posts about what we do, and why, and how.
Below is something to set the mood, giving you a flavour for the landscape in which our characters are trying to survive. (For more insight, have a look at www.hopelessvendetta.wordpress.com )
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I don’t know the artist personally but I do know the writer. I can say, my mind lingers in the world and art that they have created. Rarely will I recommend something so pay attention. This is the new Gothic-ly fab-u-liscious crack. If you have a taste for the bitter-sweet then you have to bite a chunk out of this. The art and world is absolutely amazing…and I honestly can’t say enough about it. I can say that for those who can appreciate such decadent tastes, you will be dreaming of a whole new world when you lay your head to rest. Now, I am off to find out how I can score a ticket to Hopeless. I am ready to sell the house, box up the kids, and fuel up the broomstick to get me there.
Cerebral Reviews–Pointing out the Good & Bad concerning Bound by Blood: The Awakening
This is a great Review. It points out the positive as well as the negative.
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Ms. Scarlett has an obvious love of language, world- and character-building, and the ability to form solid sentences structured in a variety of ways, which kept this reader interested. I’m surprised an agent hasn’t snapped this series up and sold it to the highest bidder.—4 Brainys
Helpful Tips for Struggling and Unpublished Writers…
I will be the first to admit that getting here was a collision of nerves and unexplainable struggle. Every writer who ever decides to make themselves professional will soon walk a very difficult, long and unimaginable line. I say ‘line’ because its not wide enough for a path nor is it as easy to walk.
The moment you decide that you want to be a professional writer, you are going to have to swallow some very hard things.
#1. If your out to be the next Nora Roberts or Steven King—get over yourself (laughs). It may happen and I am not trying to kill your dreams but you have to accept that it might not happen. Meaning, you will not find yourself rolling in a pile of money no matter how great a masterpiece you have. Every writer must struggle and realize that they have just hit the pavement of one of the most underpaid professions out there. So if money is your agenda—then sit down and figure out another reason why you are doing this because you are going to need it.
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#2. You will have to work your butt off, figure out how to do things which you never thought you would have to do; such as creating blogs, writing even when you don’t feel like it, working with an editor (more on that later) and selling yourself to the public by creating book trailers, advertising and soooooo much more!
So, I can not tell you what you HAVE to do but I can tell you what I have learned along the way.
A. Find someone who will give you constructive criticism concerning your work. This means you need to find someone you can trust and that someone needs to be able to tell you bluntly good or bad. THAT also means you need to simply swallow and accept what they say. I have had people ask me for my opinion and I have commenting on something as little as their grammar, finding them loosing their minds afterwards. I had one person scream at me, “I will not change or compromise my work!” After I praised his/her story and only mentioned that they forgot to insert a ‘period’.
You MUST develop a thick skin. If you ask for help, then respect the one who gives it and do not attack them after doing so. WHICH is why you need to find someone you trust—make it easier for you to swallow. You still need that thick skin though because if you are published, you will have plenty of people who look at your work and will rip you apart, not just praise you. Accept the good and bad.
B. Make connections—either purposely or grab onto the ones who just happen your way. I had a few published writers help me allot. They mean the absolute world to me, particularly one, Christopher C. Newman, who continues to help me to this day. That fabulous horror writer will never know how much I appreciated that. So never take for granted anyone who gives you advice and so forth. Leave the vanity at the door.
C. Stop using words like: I cant, I don’t want to, I don’t have time. You made the choice to make this your career. No one scooped you up and made you do it. So when opportunity knocks on your door, leave the lame excuses under the rug.
I can’t tell you how many people say those things to me and it really throws me for a loop. There are certain things that a publisher expects from you, that you must do just because you want to get your name out there whether your published or not and those things are being done by nearly every other professional writer…creating blogs, writing articles, doing reviews, joining groups, networking, building web sites, etc, etc, etc. Nearly every single writer I know has children, families, full time jobs, after school activities, school, and the list goes on and on. But every single one of them find the time, no matter what to write and do the endless list of other things that they must do. So put your big boy or big girl bloomers on and get over it. It has to be done.
I didn’t know how to make a book trailer but my publisher needed one—so guess what, I learned. I have a hard time managing life, kids, family, and every other chore of my ‘real’ mundane life but I still find the time to see to my writing career. I am not trying to be cruel but I am trying to show tough love because believe me, no one who is taken seriously in this profession is going to baby you or look for excuses. And if they don’t, be thankful for it because they will bring out the very best in you!
D. Listen to your editor, publisher, PR people, and or agent.
THEY know what they are doing and you have to have faith and trust in them. Why? Because if you don’t look good and do good then they are out their investment. They can also get word spread around pretty quickly about how difficult you are—and there slams a big stain in your career.
1. Editors—I was very blessed to have received a hard core, no play editor. Helgaleena of Dark Roast Press. If she has a problem with something then she says so, flat out. Now I may explain why it is that way but if she says, nope, wont work—then its gone and I create something I hope is better. If it isn’t better—then we go right back to it. SHE LETS ME KNOW!!! She is the expert concerning words, grammar and everything else. I trust her because so far she has only brought out the best of me. Editors (good ones) can pick up what you may not see in yourself. They home in on what you are capable of and demand nothing less. So respect them. Don’t fight them if you have a good one. Your work will shine because of it.
2. Publishers and Agents– They took your work on and before you signed with them you should have had belief in them as they will now have belief in you. So don’t fight them either. Let them do their job.
3. PR people–if they tell you to write a BLOG and articles, then do it. If they tell you to submit to a reviewer, then do it and do it right. Again, this is their area of expertise so work with them and not against them.
E. Remember how much of a challenge it was to write that book? Well once your published, that will be considered the easiest thing you did (laugh). Again, touching base on what i have previously said, You are entering the world of the lowest paid profession out there and the amount of work you do for virtually no income is tremendous. So prepare yourself and focus on another award other than money.
F. DO YOUR RESEARCH!!!!! If you came into this business thinking you are going to land a $100,000.00 advance deal with one of the biggest New York publishers, then think again. get that out of your mind right now and choose a more realistic starting point. There are tons of options, Other publishers, E-publishers, small presses, magazines, etc. Choose one that is right for you. I chose a smaller press that does Epublishing/Ebooks. Next year sometime or another, they will go to print but right now, I am hooked on Ebooks because we live in an electronic age. I went with a smaller press that will probably be HUGE one day only because the woman who owns it knows her stuff and has the degrees to prove it. I wanted one on one attention and I get that. Reality in my mind was, I will have to start at the bottom and work my way up—just like all other writers do. I wanted to be somewhere that would grow with me, believe in me, praise me and scold me if needed. So decide what’s realistic for you.
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Again, I am not out to frighten you but prepare you in the same way people prepared me. I wouldn’t complain at all and haven’t because this is what I wanted. EVERY DAY I am challenged and I am eating it up. Every day I am thankful no matter how hectic my world is now. For my children I did this…and for them I keep going.
C.H. Scarlett
Types of Vampires: Strigoii, Strigoi Part 1
The Strigoii or also spelt Strigoi are one of my favorite types of Vampires to write about or discuss aside from one more which I won’t reveal just yet. They are the most popular and common species of Romania and believe it or not, have been the foundation for the imagination of many writers and their novels. There are two types of Strigoii, living and dead. We will be discussing both.
Males are called Strigoii, Strigoi which come from the Latin word Strix. (Striges–plural) These types of vampires can change or Shape-shift into a flying mammal. (Now we know how Dracula turns into a bat. Is it possible that he was a Strigoii?)
Dead Strigoii were those who died unforgiven of something, sins but usually by parents. Those who died before they wed were also high candidates to become Strigoii. If a cat walked over a dead body or the person died filled with pain or having regrets, they to became Strigoii. Precautions had to be taken which are as thick and heavy of a list as ways to become one. But you could bet your bottom dollar a priest would have to be involved, some form of decapitation and cremation.
If the name Strigoii is referred to someone who is living then it would mean that person was a witch, wizard and or made this their means of employment. Funny enough, much of what I have read on these creatures, it seems that some lore suggests that the living Strigoii were a good thing. In fact, they could use their magic to protect humans, particularly children, from being harmed by a dead Strigoii. But every source has its own meaning or version. In some, a living Strigoi was a witch who did favors for a dead Strigoii by way of magic and sooner or later, would become Vampire for their services.
In Romania, a female is called a Strigoica or Strigoaica. She can be either dead or living. If she is living then she is a witch, can shape-shift and has great power. During life, she takes power from anything having life so when she dies, she then turns into a dead Vampire. Priests often warned women to harness this ability they easily had or else after life, they would be severely punished for it by becoming a vampire.
The stories seem rather silly but it seems these women (living) were obsessed with milk and cows. They would suck all the milk from these cows so that no one else had any.
In one story, a Strigoica had no cow of her own so she got herself a wooden one. With her magic she would milk this wooden cow and the milk from everyone else’s cow would magically come through hers. She was so obsessed with milking her wooden cow that neighbors started to complain to the local priest. He investigated the matter and found the woman milking her wooden cow morning, noon and night. So the priest had the girl make butter from the milk she had bewitched from the wooden creature. He then told her to go out into the forest one morning and throw the butter on a tree.
“In three days,” he told her, “Go back to that tree and tell me what you find.”
She did what the old priest said and in three days was horrified by what she found. When she returned to the tree she saw different kinds of serpents and all kinds of horrible creatures slithering around and eating up the butter. When she ran back to the priest, frightened nearly to death, he warned her what would happen if she continued her naughty ways. “If you keep stealing the life from this world then those creatures will suck your blood for all eternity in the next!.” He warned. And that seemed warning and moral enough to frighten many a congregation.
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Something even more interesting in these stories is that Vampires, Evil Witches, Werewolves or whatever else that went bump in the night, were not forced to return to their graves at dawn but rather at 3 am in the morning.
So those of you who awake at 3 am each night for no reason in your beds…are you returning to your mortal bodies which just might be the form of your graves in this life? (Insert Vincent Price evil laughter here—Muahahahahahahaha!)
Who knew this particuliar Vampire would be so popular that we would need a …
Types of Vampires: Strigoii, Strigoi Part 2 <—- Click for it!
Types of Vampires: Mullo
Every culture has their own collective tales concerning the supernatural or better said, what goes bump in the night.
One of my favorite places to explore is Romania even though you will see me ramble away in the future concerning much more ancient of cultures such as Egypt.
Romania has built a historical empire on the vampire though. I doubt there is a need to name famous writers who based their vampire novels on this fertile, Gothic haven. But we have to sooner or later realize that there was something more than interesting being whispered upon the trembling lips of villagers for so many to seize this golden writing opportunity. So that is my goal here. To drag you along every wondrous avenue of information that I went down myself especially since this is my chocolate—where all these dark and delicious creatures stem from. I didn’t want to base my novels on what writers’ created though. I wanted to base my characters on actual myths and lore and build from there. After all, Bram Stoker did not give birth to the vampire as I like to say. The Vampire gave birth to him. So in this article I will discuss the Mullo who is a vampire based on Roma (Gypsy) belief and lore.
Interestingly enough, Mullo means ‘living dead’. They are restless spirits who rise up from their damp and darkened graves to either avenge their own deaths or have sexual encounters with those they couldn’t have or were obsessed with in life. If a person died who didn’t like you and then became a Mullo, well you could most certainly expect to see them wrecking some horrid havoc where you’re concerned.
The Mullo seem to be invincible except where their lovers are concerned. They have a sexual desire that is insatiable. The Mullo have been known to ask their lovers to join them in the grave or to marry them. Legend has it that the lovers have even been left weak or have become ill by their encounters with them. That’s how truly powerful their passion can be. In fact, women have been known to become pregnant which is where the term ‘DHAMPIR’ comes from. In some lore, a DHAMPIR can only be a male.
In order to destroy a Mullo, one must scream a Romanian curse at it. “God send you burst!” Or you can strike them in the tummy with an iron needle or throw some Holy Water. A DHAMPHIR has the power to kill them by shooting them or knifing them with a dagger. Black Dogs, Black Cocks or White Wolves can also kill a Mullo.
In order to destroy a Mullo though, it has to be done 40 days — 3 to 5 days after burial. After that, they are indestructible.
Written by C.H. Scarlett
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