Christmas in July and Magic & Loss

Hi ho, readers and curiosity seekers! Happy July and Merry Christmas!

Yep, it's that time of year again - time for the MMP Anniversary and for Christmas in July!

I will be blunt and honest: Christmas at any time of the year isn't my favorite holiday. It seems that every weird thing that could ever happen to me is centered around December. No, I'm serious. In my world, Santa may as well stalk me down dark alleys with a great big club, waiting to put my lifeless body in his sack or something. Most outrageously bizarre or challenging things that happen to me happen around the holidays, which is probably why I've leaned toward the legends of Krampus and the Yule Lads in recent years. I've been outrageously ill, had family members suddenly drop dead, had to have a pet put to sleep on Christmas, nearly been carjacked, nearly been mugged, and accidentally set on fire during a Christmas Eve service. I've been overworked and overbooked and had my schedule jam-packed with every possible combination of seasonal hoopla you can possibly come up with. These days I lay pretty low and while I participate, I keep it to a reasonable amount for my sanity and safety.

Yet, for some reason, I keep trying to enjoy the holiday. Maybe I feel if I appease the almighty maker of Santa in some form, I might get a little relief. Maybe I just need a little light during the dark time of year. No matter how cynical I try to be, I want to embrace belief and hope. For every awful thing that's occurred in December, there's been something uniquely wonderful: meeting new friends, specific memories of family gatherings, being mistaken by a little girl for an actual Christmas elf...I have a million good stories, too.

Darkness and light, fatigue and energy, cynicism and hope. They're two sides of the same coin in winter, which is why the holidays are so important.

In a rare move for me, I actually wrote a fluffy Christmas story a few years back, and Mocha Memoirs Press was weird enough to accept it. It hits on a lot of themes that have meaning for me: a woman at the end of her rope, the chance to rebuild one's life, and the magical. After all, you can't have Christmas (even in July), without magic.

However, given past experience and the dark/light sides to the holiday, I also believe that magic can go hand in hand with loss. As Lou Reed sings in 'Magic and Loss: The Summation:' "There's a bit of magic in everything, and then some loss to even things out." All the faerie stories I read as a little girl had a bit of tragedy in them, even if they ended well, and I'll admit I included those themes in this story. It's one I'm proud of, one that feels true to the stories I grew up reading, even some of the Christmas-themed stories I grew up loving. Yet, there's also a small part that feels definitively me. Holly and Ivy combines Holly's story, Ivy's strangeness, a Christmas tree farm, a bargain, a little romance, and some bittersweet results. I identify so much with Holly's frustration, exhaustion, and tenacity, but I also relate to Ivy's energy, youthfulness, and cheer. In some ways they're both sides of the holidays, as well, and I'm very glad to have been able to write them for you to read.

And if you choose to read about Holly and Ivy, you can get the title now for just $0.99!

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 holiday/fantasy

After losing her job and her boyfriend, Holly returns to her parents’ farm. Embarrassed and hopeless, she doesn’t expect to bump into a forgotten childhood friend that wasn’t supposed to exist. Ivy is not only a dryad, but she lives in the pine trees Holly’s family grows to sell at Christmas. As the old friends reconnect, Ivy not only shares her strong oninions, but gives Holly a charm that will change both their lives. As days melt into weeks and the seasons change, Holly’s life magically turns around. Christmas not only brings surprises, but a choice for the human woman. What’s more important: stability, success, and love, or keepinga promise to an old friend?

First Impressions

What's the most exciting thing for a new author? Having your first short story accepted by a professional publishing agency. To say I couldn't stop smiling for thirty minutes straight is not exaggeration. I'm unbelievably excited to be one of the authors in Mocha Memoir's upcoming Toil, Trouble, and Temptation series, and thought I would introduce myself a bit and talk about my story, how I came up with it, and what it was like to write.

One of my best friends told me I have an overactive imagination. He was more right that he knew. I'm the kind of author who will literally come up with ideas out of the blue. I once came up with an idea walking to Walmart, listening to music, and thinking two words sounded cool put together. I write best when I let the ideas flow like this, naturally and without effort. Once I know what sort of idea I want to explore, I can't let go until it's a completed piece of work.

As soon as I saw the submission guidelines, I knew I wanted to participate. At first I was forcing out ideas, trying to think of something to write and coming up with half-hearted, unoriginal ideas. Nothing I knew I could have fun with or experiment with or test myself with. So I took a step back, and just didn't think about it. Two days later, that little lightbulb in my head flicked on, and this is what shone through:

A necromancer summons an assassin for the mob. Here's a more detailed description:

Tessa Sterling is a necromancer having a bad night. She's kidnapped and confronted by the most powerful gangster in Boston, then ordered to resurrect his most ruthless contract killer. When those she cares about are threatened, Tessa has no choice but to comply.

But the spirit she raises quickly uncovers the truth about his death, and his rage is insatiable. Hell is about to break loose, and Tessa is the only one who can put the spirit back in his grave, if he doesn't put her in one first...

What could be more dangerous than an undead assassin with anger management problems? The trickiest part for me was the setting. For some reason, all the gangsters I pictured were dressed like they'd just walked off the set of the Godfather. The first idea was that Tessa would be a poor girl from that era and dragged unwillingly into the crime life, finding out that her mother had been murdered by the very people she was working for. I liked that idea and really tried to make it work, but I wasn't as in love with the concept as I originally thought. So I changed things around, went with a more modern setting, and it flowed a lot better. I was writing so hard I thought my fingers would fall off.

The funnest part for me was deciding on how Tessa's gift work, what she needed to do physically and spiritually to summon a spirit from the grave. I think I came up with a really unique concept, and maybe that was part of the reason Call From The Grave was selected for the Toil, Trouble, and Temptation series by Mocha Memoirs Press.

I had a great time writing this little story. The more I think about it, the more proud I am, and I can't wait to see how the final product is received. Hope you all enjoy it, and have a terrific Fourth of July weekend!

Amy

Having the Tables Turned: A Writing Prompt from Siobhan Kinkade

So last month, after her interview, Siobhan Kinkade forgot to give me a writing prompt so we could properly turn the tables and put me in the hot seat. She has since remedied this, hoo boy...This proves that sometimes I should keep my big mouth shut!

So this month is kind of a part two of last month where I respond to her challenge and write a little something with the prompt she's given me. Sigh. I'll put her prompt in bold, and go from there!

***

It was a dark and stormy night and the fairies took over the stripper pole. It was the only recourse when Beltane fell on a moonless, rainy night and the last Maypole in town had been bulldozed decades ago to make way for a rest stop. It wasn't the best solution, to be sure, but tradition had to be kept and the local strip was closer to the Faerie mound than the nearest field. Quietly they emerged from what unsuspecting mortals took to be an over-sized speed bump misplaced in a back alley. Through the years they adapted to life in the city, so pixies and elves, brownies and sylphs, redcaps and trolls emerged from their underworld home, all dressed for a night in the seedier part of town.

They grouped together in a lump, all staring up at the flashing sign for Tit-tania's with eyes that were blue, green, yellow, orange, and black. Round and slit pupils widened and contracted at the convenient name. It was all the sign they needed that they were where they needed to be. 

The mortals inside never knew what hit them, especially when gold coins pelted the dancers into fleeing the stage. The elfin maidens that took their place may have been dressed in club wear, but they moved with the grace of the ages-old and whirled around the poles with a fire that no mortal could replicate. Pixies swirled about their heads like sparks of light, so fast that their movements burned a trail of an after-image around the dancers' heads,the streaks mingling with the long hair.  The brownies chugged beer since no ale was available, and trolls watched gaping mortal men out of the corner of their eye. The age of sacrifice and tithe was over, but if one of them reached a grubby hand for a Fae maiden, then they were more than happy to remind the humans why they were unworthy.

Businessmen, young men who were barely out of boyhood, old men with nothing better to do...they all gaped in awe at the display going on around them as the creatures in the audience joined hands and circled the perimeter in a dance as old as time. A particularly mischievous sprite cut off the blasting music and poised itself at the edge of the stage, pipes in hand. The sweet music drew the spurned human women back towards the stage to watch, tears streaming down their face as they viewed the grace that they'd never have. Their human audience stared, unable to reach for wallets. They didn't need to; their admiration was something the celebrating Folk hadn't had for a long, long time. 

Into the night they danced and celebrated, invoking envy, nostalgia, and a heartbreak for the old days. Troll and lawyers guzzled liquor together, brownies hit on strippers jokingly, and all celebrated and danced to the ancient music, enjoying the holiday though most couldn't even remember what it was. 

Just as fast as the Folk had arrived, they disappeared. Leaves were left where their coins had been thrown and none of the club's patrons could rightly remember what had happened or how much time had passed. They only had a strange memory of joy and an even stranger heartbreak of missing something they could not name. 

***

Whew, mission accomplished! As always, you can find me in the following places:

Blog  Facebook  Twitter

Next month I'll be back with another interview!

THEFT OF SOULS GETS A FACE LIFT...

RaeLynn Blue's latest speculative work from Mocha Memoirs Press, is titled Theft of Souls. We love RaeLynn and as it was, asked our resident genius cover artist, Nancy, to craft a new cover for Rae's magical, elves erotic romance. She did so with breathtaking beauty and mythical beauty that left me speechless.

What do you think of Nancy's cover art? She is an ARIANA award winning cover artist.

Nicole

Blurb: Enslaved by the elven leader, King Diniji, Tara longs for her freedom and an end to the needless stealing of human souls. She has an infatuation with Trace, the soul snatcher, and would love to satisfy her longing for the handsome elf and restore a genuine smile to his face. Better yet, maybe he will be the key to free her and restore the elf community to the way it was meant to be.

Purchase

New Release: THEFT OF SOULS by RaeLynn Blue

It’s a leap year and how wonderful that Theft of Souls, a work that challenges traditional fantasy stereotypes, has been released. It’s a fantastic journey. Trace and Tare find love despite  the harsh ice planet they reside. Despite it’s difference in the appearance of elves, THEFT OF SOULS, presents a spirited and loving story of an enslaved human, a dangerous but seductive elf, and an uprising from oppression. Enjoy!

Blurb: Enslaved by the elven leader, King Diniji, Tara longs for her freedom and an end to the needless stealing of human souls. She has an infatuation with Trace, the soul snatcher, and would love to satisfy her longing for the handsome elf and restore a genuine smile to his face. Better yet, maybe he will be the key to free her and restore the elf community to the way it was meant to be.

Genre: Erotic paranormal/fantasy romance

Price: $1.99

Available from Amazon, ARe, and BN.com. Get your copy here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007F8M40O/ref=tag_dpp_yt_edpp_rt?redirect=true&redirect=true#tags