Wednesday, January 27, 2016
VALENTINE'S DAY - A SHORT HISTORY
At first for February I thought I'd blog about how Valentine's Day
inspires romance authors, but then I realized I'm not a big fan of the holiday.
There's the whole St. Valentine's Day Massacre thing and my dog died on
Valentine's Day. Not very romantic. Plus, I was pretty sure the idea was
invented by some greeting card company like Sweetest Day and Grandparent's Day.
So I did a little research on how Valentine's Day got started.
Seems the holiday started out to honor several Christian
martyrs by the name of Valentine. The two that are celebrated are Valentine of
Rome martyred about AD 269 and Valentine of Terni about AD 197. The original
biographies of these martyrs make no mention of any romantic elements in their
martyrdom. It wasn't until the 14th century and Chaucer that romance was linked
to Saint Valentine and the distinctions between the two saints were forgotten.
The connection between the martyred saints and romance is
based solely on legends. In one legend Roman Emperor Claudius II tried to
convert Saint Valentine to Roman paganism. Valentine refused and tried to
convert Claudius to Christianity instead and as a result was executed. Nothing vaguely
romantic here.
In modern times the lore has been embroidered to show
Valentine as a priest who performed marriage ceremonies in secret, defying
Claudius II's law that young men remain single so he could grow his army. When
Claudius learned of Valentine's actions he was jailed.
Another addition to The Golden Legend with no basis in fact
is told by American Greetings (yep, I knew a greeting card company was to
blame) to History.com. The night before Valentine was to be executed he
supposedly wrote the first "valentine" card to a young girl he
addressed as beloved. The card was signed "From your Valentine." A
bit more romantic in a sorry, sad sort of way. No Happily Ever After for St.
Valentine.
Then there are Valentine's Day cards - a whole other subject
I'm not a fan of. Like Charlie Brown said, "I know people don't like me,
but why do we have to have a holiday to emphasize it?"
Remember how in grade school there was always a Valentine's
Day party? There'd be cupcakes decorated with red, pink and white frosting.
Each child made fancy lace cards with glitter and painted macaroni glued on
them, and decorated a shoebox to set on their desk. Then they'd all walk around
the classroom and drop the cards into the boxes of their friends. Well, up
until some sympathetic teacher made it mandatory for the kids to make cards for
everyone, not just their favorite friends my box was usually pretty empty. I
was not a popular kid.
Except on the playground. There I was the queen of
storytelling.
When in third grade some mean boys teased that because I
didn't like kickball I was an alien, my always active imagination took flight.
For the rest of the school year, every day at recess I spun tales of being from
Venus. Being in the accelerated reading group and an avid reader of science
fiction I drew on the stories I'd read and created a fictional world and
persona that kept my tormentors interested in something other than teasing me.
Unfortunately it didn't earn me any more Valentine's Day cards.
After that I discovered that I liked making up stories with
happy endings about fictional places and people. So I guess in a way
Valentine's Day did inspire me and set me on the path to becoming a romance
author.
Monday, January 18, 2016
Space Exploration, not all roses and romance - by Vijaya Schartz
I'm old enough to
remember January 28, 1086. It was an age of innocence, when we
believed space exploration had been conquered, and we would soon venture
into space, build bases on other planets and soon reach the stars. Then
it happened, the tragedy that broke the space program. Challenger
exploded 73 seconds after lift-off.
The Challenger
shuttle disaster 30 years ago is one of those moments carved into my
memory. I will always remember it, like people remember where they were
when Kennedy was shot, or when the towers fell. I had a teacher friend
who had applied for that coveted seat on the space shuttle. I was so
glad he didn't get picked.
The event was transmitted live on TV and the tragedy occurred as the world watched. At the time, it was a rare event, and children in their classrooms watched it happen with their teachers.
The explosion killed the entire crew, including a civilian, a beloved female teacher. Heroes, all of them.
The explosion killed the entire crew, including a civilian, a beloved female teacher. Heroes, all of them.
Left to right are Teacher-in-Space payload specialist Sharon Christa
McAuliffe; payload specialist Gregory Jarvis; and astronauts Judith A.
Resnik, mission specialist; Francis R. (Dick) Scobee, mission commander;
Ronald E. McNair, mission specialist; Mike J. Smith, pilot; and Ellison
S. Onizuka, mission specialist.
Image credit: NASA
Image credit: NASA
The exact timing of the death of the crew is unknown; several crew
members are known to have survived the initial breakup of the
spacecraft. The shuttle had no escape system, and the impact of the crew
compartment with the ocean surface was too violent to be survivable.
At 5 pm President Regan addressed the nation live and ended his speech with: The crew of the space shuttle Challenger
honored us by the manner in which they
lived their lives. We will never forget them,
nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and
waved goodbye and "slipped the surly
bonds of earth" to "touch the face of God."
In my novels, of course, I can control what happens, and I don't kill my heroes. One of the NASA space shuttles is featured in my series ANCIENT ENEMY, available everywhere in all eBook formats.
Vijaya Schartz
Blasters, Swords, Romance with a Kick
http://www.vijayaschartz.com
Amazon - Barnes & Noble - All Romance eBooks - Smashwords - iBooks - Kobo
Monday, January 11, 2016
A prison break on an alien world is just the beginning... ML Callahan
Ryu's Paradox ONLY $.99
What happens when a genius scientist on another world invents a time travel device?
Ryu's Paradox is a short story that explains how the Timewalker Chronicles began, with a prison break on an alien world, a scientist who turned to the dark side, an evil queen, and the immortal Seer who is burdened with trying to stop the rise of an evil empire determined to take control of Earth for all time.
Ryu's Paradox is just the beginning, but it's one hell of a bumpy ride.
ONLY $.99 - Get your copy today!
Amazon -- Apple iBooks -- NOOK -- KOBO
About Ryu's Paradox:
Time travel was outlawed thousands of years ago on the planet Itara. But one man refuses to obey the law.
Droghan is a Forbidden Son, one of the most feared of his race. Born with a curse that grants him incredible power, he has been locked away in a prison ship with others of his kind. Trapped in a small cell orbiting Itara's moon, Droghan has one goal...vengeance. To achieve his goal he'll have to escape from prison, murder the Queen of Itara, and take the throne.
Celestina is a sacred Seer, and the only one who fears the monster the Itaran Queen locked away. When Droghan escapes, Celestina will do whatever it takes to stop him from dragging Itara into a bloody civil war, even follow him through a rift in space and time...
Ryu's Paradox is science fiction, action adventure short story of 11,000 words that takes place in the Timewalker universe. It can be read as a stand alone adventure.
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
What Makes It a One in a Million Story
By S.E. Smith
A recent review sparked my interest when they called my story The Old Dragon of the Mountain's Christmas: Dragon Lords of Valdier Book 9 a one in a million story. I knew the story was different when the idea came to me. I wrote the Prologue and the first chapter and sent it to a friend, asking her if I should finish it. She told me that if I didn't she would come half way around the world to kick my butt. This was unusual as she is usually the one who keeps me focused on what I should be writing. Still, it was such a powerful story of family, acceptance, rejection, compassion, and yes, the power of believing that you are never too old for love, that I knew I had to finish it.
The story starts when Christoff is a young boy. He works on his parent's farm with them in a small mountain village. Born prematurely, he is ridiculed for being smaller than the other boys. Even his older brother wants nothing to do with him because Christoff is considered too weak to be a warrior. On top of that, his dragon's wings never develop so he can't fly.
His parents love and accept him for his gentle personality and his compassion. When the mountain erupts and his parents are killed, Christoff escapes to the mountain in the hope of calming it. A hermit for centuries, he spends his life guarding the people who shunned him - that is until a group of mischievous Dragonlings, determined to save Christmas, visit him, the mountain erupts, and a powerful 'goddess' changes his life forever by sending him to the place where the Dragon Lords began, Earth. This is a story of the power of family and finding love at any age.
So, you wonder, what makes a story a one in the million one? To be a unique story, it needs one major element - a connection with the reader that makes them react to it in a powerful way! A story that pulls the reader into the world, makes them laugh on one page, while having them sobbing uncontrollably on the next page. It has to be a story that makes the reader have to know what happens next, makes them say I don't care if I have to work or get up tomorrow; I'm not putting this book down until it is finished. It also has to have characters that the readers can relate to.
It doesn't matter that this is a Science Fiction/Paranormal story with a shape-shifter dragon and his symbiot. The reader feels Christoff's loneliness, his symbiot's determination not to leave his friend and companion to die alone, his dragon's sorrow and guilt at feeling inadequate because of its' deformity. The reader feels the innocence of the Dragonlings, Roam, and Alice and their true desire to be the Old Dragon's friend so he won't steal Christmas. The reader feels Crystal's anger and grief at the loss of her best friend and her feelings of not being whole or worthy anymore because of her own injuries. The reader feels Edna's love as she finds a second chance at love and life. The key is the reader FEELS!
That is what makes a story one in the million. So, whether you are an author or a reader, make sure that you search for that one in a million story and don’t forget to share your enjoyment with others!
S.E. Smith is a New York Times, USA TODAY, International,
and Award-Winning Bestselling author of science fiction, fantasy,
paranormal, and contemporary works for adults, young adults, and children. She
enjoys writing a wide variety of genres that pull her readers into worlds that
take them away. Fans can contact her at http://sesmithfl.com or email her at sesmithfl@gmail.com.
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