Six Line Sunday... Magical Redemption

Today, I'm doing a six line sunday on Magical Redemption.

 

Lucian’s usually cool eyes held a gentle warm light and the lips that so often were twisted in a snarl, curled with the memory of smile.

Her heart flipped and she worried he could hear it.

“Sleep,” Lucian murmured, “Just sleep, we have time to think later.” He bent low towards her and his lips whispered across hers with a touch feather light.

Jinx felt herself sigh with pleasure. Yet, within a moment, whether it was Lucian’s strange demonic powers or the peaceful magic of the swamp, suddenly, she slept.

 

"Magical Redemption" is due for release on 1st November!

Manspiration II

Beards, brow ridges and brute strength... PWHAH!!!

Allow me to introduce Khal Drogo!

Well, I've just watched the complete first series of "Game of Thrones", having not yet read the books.

Firstly, I loved the series. Secondly, I am devastated my favourite characters were killed off.

In the very first episode, we are introduced to Drogo, Khal of the Dothraki, fierce "barbarian" warriors. Despite a SHOCKING  introduction to the character (in the TV series at least), Drogo quickly has become one of my favourite heroes. His romance with his very young, reluctant bride, Daenerys, was one of the loveliest romantic developments I've seen on screen for a long time. Although in the TV series (which is apparently different from the book), the marriage is consumated rather... uh...aggressively, and not particularly nicely. However, despite initial appearances the marriage ends up being a very beautiful one, even if it ends tragically.

It's the combination of brute force and tenderness in Drogo that makes him a really great hero. His tragic end has really crushed my little romantic heart!

Subsequently, Drogo, played by the delectable Jason Momoa, has become my latest 'Manspiration' and fodder for the muse.

Like most Dothraki, Drogo has copper-colored skin, black hair, and black eyes. He is tall and muscular, and moves gracefully. He has a long, drooping mustache and a long braid hung with tiny bells that hangs down to his thighs, symbolizing his status among the Dothraki as an undefeated warlord.
Drogo's favorite horse is a lean red stallion, called simply "the Red," as it is not a Dothraki custom to give individual names to animals. (Reference: Wiki of Ice and Fire)

Jason Momoa's rendition of Drogo on first sight made me wince and think"ugh!". He seemed too big, brutish and wild, but as the the story progressed... well, that all changed and he is now one of my favourite characters of all time.

So, if you haven't watched "Game Of Thrones", I recommend it, but be warned the sex scenes are  explicit, the violence is gross and many of the stories are tragic...but Jason Momoa as Khal Drogo is worth it all!

 

Mechanical Insects

I've stumbled across images of these "mechanical insects" several times in my research of other mythological beasts and they really intrigued me. I wanted to know, are they real? Is someone making mechanical insects using old watch parts? Do they work? They are wonderfully "Steampunk-eque", and I love imagination behind them.

So I decided to do a little research about them, and I have to confess, that although I don't like the idea of the creator using real insect parts (I personally do not squash snails or kill spiders on principle) they really are extraordinarily wonderful works of art (and for the record, they are ethically sourced insect bodies.)

 These sculptures, and they are sculptures (not functional)  are works of art are created by "Insect Lab" (click for the link).

Anyway, I thought I'd just share some with you, as they are rather intriguing, and are definitely food for the muse, particularly for those with a steam-punk or sci-fi background!

Also you might be interested to know that they are actually available to buy if you are so inclined.

Anyway, enjoy your weekend.

The Lamassu

Hailing from the ancient Middle East, (Mesopotamia,  Babylon, Assyria) the Lamassu is a human hybrid creature of great benevolence.
Typically portrayed with the body of bull, and head of a bearded man, complete with wings - they were considered protective deities. Colossal statues of these beast have been found in the ruins of Babylonian and Assyrian cities.  The statues were positioned as guardians at the entrances to palaces and small carved tablets depicting these beasts have been found placed under the door thresholds. This indicates that they were sentinal guardians.


In Mesopotamian mythology Lamassu help people fight evil, and each day they were said to hold the gates of dawn open so that the sun god could rise.

Rather uniquely the Lamassu carvings have two aspects, when viewed from the side they look as though they are striding forward, yet when viewed from the front appear to be standing guard. You can see in this picture how they have done this by placing an extra leg in the carving.

 In some texts the Lamassu seem to be depicted with a lions body, rather than a bulls. In my humble opinion, I think this is where many of the flying Manticore imagery has its origins. In my post about the manticore, I mention that in more recent times, there seems to have been the addition of wings to the traditionally wingless creature. It's my belief that there may have been some level of confusion between the manticore (Head of a man and body of a lion) and the Lamassu (Head of a man, body of bull or Lion with wings). It's just a thought....

Manticore with wings

Human heads on animal bodies is a popular theme throughout mythology and the Lamassu is no exception.

I have never read of a Lamassu in popular fiction, however, according to wikipedia, in the Chronicals of Narnia there is a human headed bull who is part of Aslan's army, and they also have made an appearance in Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Dungeons and Dragons.

Anyhoo, that's me for the day. Enjoy your weekend.

RWAus Conference 2012

I'm going to be on the "Not your Normal Paranormal" panel at the RWA Conference in Queensland Australia in a few days time.

I'm sharing the panel with some well known authors and editors, namely Alexandra Sokoloff, Monique Patterson, Keri Arthur, Cathleen Ross, Anna Hackett, and Eleni Konstantine (moderator).

Do you want to know a secret?

 It's a little daunting!

So my question is this, what question would you like to ask me if you were at the conference? Any stellar words of advice?

Cheers!

What puts you off a book?

You pick up a book, the cover looks great, the blurb is awesome, then you read a couple of pages and go "...Nah..." put it down, and even on the most dull day, you still can't pick it to stave off crippling boredom.

Has this ever happened to you? It happens to me with reasonable frequency.

Today I'm posting my top three major turn offs in books. These are things that annoy me, and I cannot get over and thus find myself incapable of finishing the book. This is a personal list, I don't expect everyone to agree, and certainly isn't representative of all romance readers!


1. Names.
With names like Primrose and Antigone in my books, you could say it's the pot calling the kettle black... However, my pet hate with names isn't because of weirdness, or difficulty in pronounciation.... what I dislike is in romance genres - is heroines with boys names. I picked up a book not long ago in which the heroine's name was Harrison.... ummm, to me, Harrison is strictly a boys name. It literally means "Harry's son", so I couldn't get over it and despite a great premise behind the story I didn't read it. I'll tolerate girls called Camryn, Riley or whatever, but this one was a deal breaker.
My other issue with names is reading period novels and finding someone called Jayden or Tenisha. Modern names fit in modern stories (unless there is time travel involved) so finding Tenisha sauntering around Regency England just doesn't cut the mustard, at least for me.



2. Unrealistic Dialogue.

[image courtesy: Lovelornpoet]

Authors can't always get it right, I know that, I'm probably guilty of this myself on occasion, but sometimes I am jarred out of a book simply by the poorly written dialogue. You can check out some pretty interesting examples here http://theeditorsblog.net/2011/11/03/bad-dialogue-bad-bad-dialogue/





3. Green eyes

I've probably mentioned this before, but green eyes are remarkably popular in literature, when in reality green eyes are quite rare and are attributed to only 2-5% of the world population. I'm reading a book at the moment (and am determined to finish it) where at least 4 of the characters have green eyes. It's annoying. However, for the record, green eyes are the fifth rarest form of eye colour, followed by amber at number four, violet at three, black at number two and coming it at the rarest is red (as only those with albanism have this colour naturally).

Anyway, I'm interested to know what puts you off a book in the first couple of chapters!

Have a good weekend :)

WIPping it good.

I'd like to introduce to you Daniel Henney, the manspiration for my latest hero Cain Dath.
Isn't he delectable? Alas, Daniel is of Korean decent, rather than the Laotian of my hero... none the less, phwah!

Despite sickness, exams, practicum and an a university intensive, my work in progress is going on strong. At 13, 000 words, I'm 14.5% done towards my 90,000 word goal.

Working Blurb:

It's got to be Stockholm Syndrome... Sabra Westwood thought to herself.

Eighteen fateful months ago, she'd been kidnapped by the infamous Warlord Cain Dath, and her memories and body just wouldn't let her forget it.

She'd been his more than any woman should be, hidden in the humid depths of the Laos jungle she'd shared everything with him, but he'd never shared his heart.

Cain has an appetite as a big as his charisma. A hoard of women lay at his disposal, all eager to please and sate him – but only one  truly satisfies him. So why won't he tell her?
In his position of power, Cain cannot show weakness, he must lead his people to freedom and nothing, and no one can stand in his way.

Yet when Sabra escapes she finds herself cornered by the media. Defeated, but still defiant, she sells her story of love slavery in a tell all expose' and gains millions. Fame however is dangerous and not only allows Cain’s men to hunt her down, but the others who seek to destroy him.

Now, Sabra is open to attack on all fronts, and the one man who enslaved her becomes the only man able to save her...

So here are the stats:

Word Count: 13, 000
Hero: Cain Dath - the Rebel Laotian Warlord, uber powerful Magician, wanted by the Magical Mafia and world Governments for inciting magical terrorism.
Heroine: Sabra Westwood - Payroll Clerk for a Metal Fabrication Company and Chameleon.

A line to pique your interest:
 A love slave in the truest form, I felt I could survive on his sex alone. It was only when I realized that there were others that my brain finally took control. The man who spent hours in my bed, sating and pleasuring me, in fact had a harem of other women - all ready and willing to perform the duties I so readily and joyfully did. I confess to you now, it was jealousy that made me find my brain, my consciousness again.