Did You Know…About Atlantis (Part Two)

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Ancient Mysteries, anthology, atlantean, atlantis, avebury, Broken World, carnac, Crete, did you know, Egypt, fantasy, folklore, geology, K.T. Frost, Lost City, Minoan, myth, paranormal, plato, Spyridon Marinatos, stonehenge, Thera, tsunami, volcanic explosion, writing

So if we believe Plato’s notes on Atlantis, the continent should lie somewhere off the coast-lines of the Atlantic Ocean. However, several hypotheses have tried to connect Eastern Atlantic structures as megalithic buildings, such as chambered tombs or stone monuments. These megalithic builders were characteristic of prehistoric Europe, and the claims of matching buildings in the Atlantic Americas do not uphold under close inspection. Essentially, “there are no America equivalents of the chambered tombs of the stone rings at Stonehenge, Avebury, and Carnac” (James and Thorpe).

The various geologic claims of Atlantis as a lost continent, in short, are unfounded. The continental drift, in which the world’s one landmass fractured apart—now known as the tectonic plate theory, does not allow room for the Atlantean continent. Recent theories suggest Altantis may have relocated to Antartica, but no evidence exists to support this other than a literal reading of Plato.

Although Plato’s depiction of the lost city was debunked, K.T. Frost, a young Belfast University scholar, suggested that Atlanteans echo the once-flourishing Minoan civilization in Crete: “Egyptian tomb paintings depicting visitors in Minoan-style costume showed that the Egyptians were aware of this civilization, while its sudden disappearance about 1400 B.C., Frost suggested might have given them the impression that ‘the whole kingdom had sunk in the sea’” (James and Thrope). The only drawback was the lack of a big enough catastrophe.

Greek archeologist Spyridon Marinatos theorized that the crater left by the explosion of Thera, a Bronze Age volcanic explosion turned tsunami, left a crater and gave rise to the tale of Altantis’ destruction. His 1967 excavation uncovered streets, houses, and beautiful pottery. This discovery prompted several books in 1969 that argued Thera as the real Atlantis. However, many of the comparisons between the Minoan and Atlantean civilizations were too weak, the explosion of Knossos a decade and a half earlier, and the lack of communication breakdown between Egypt and the Aegean world was not significant to indicate a “sinking” of an island.

My source:

James, Peter and Nick Thorpe. Ancient Mysteries. Ballantine Books: New York, 1999. Print.

Want to know more?

Andrew Collins on Atlantis as Crete or Thera

The UnMuseum on Atlantis

The Shadowlands, Atlantis the Lost Continent

Want to read about my version of Atlantis?

Read “Maiden of the Underworld” in my DISTORTED anthology.

 

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I’m back with Cheap Reads!

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alisha costanzo, beta readers, blood phoenix, blood phoenix: imprinted, book boyfriend, Broken World, Celampresians, cheap reads, did you know, editing, fantasy, folklore, giveaway, humor, insta-love, Loving Red, myth, mythology, novel, paranormal, paranormal romance guild, readers, review, romance, Sale, Shapeshifter, Transmundane Press, urban fantasy, vampires, weres, werewolves, writing, YA novel

Hey, lovely readers!

I’ve been slacking. I know it, but this month has been CRAZY! Personal stuff, business stuff, writing stuff, teaching stuff. You don’t need the details, just know that I’m back, and I have new blog posts about the editing process, about BLOOD PHOENIX: IMPRINTED and beta reader opportunities, new giveaways, a new YA novel, and some new Did You Know posts. I’m also working on another newsletter and short stories.

But for now, my latest novel, LOVING RED, is on half off (on sale for $1.99) until June 6th.

Here’s the latest review:

“When I first started reading this story, I was afraid it was going to be one of those insta-love stories. However, although the book only spans about a week’s time, it doesn’t feel like insta-love.

Severins is a wolf shifter on leave from the army. His impeccable sense of smell picks up Kaia’s scent during a bus ride, and he knows he has to have her but not just for a one-night stand. He goes to her job and pretends to be a client to con her into going on a date with him. He is unaware that Kaia, a human, knows of his world, and that she is in danger.

It isn’t specifically stated, but I feel like Sev immediately thought she was destined to be his. He instantly has a drive to protect her and to claim her as his but, like the romantic he is, he wants her to be the one to decide about their relationship. Swoon.

The two have an immediate attraction, but Kaia is leery because of a past relationship with a shifter. As the danger gets closer and closer to Kaia, the two must go on the run from the Celampresians who follow them.

Sev is 100% book boyfriend material. I loved his character. He is so caring and protects Kaia and Shawna with every part of his being.

I’m not completely sure how I feel about Kaia. I originally thought she would be portrayed as a weak human who needed saving, but the only time she comes across as weak is when she is, for lack of a better word, possessed. Many times she shows mental and emotional strength, but she never becomes an active participant in physical fights.

This was a great read that I would recommend to my closest friends. I really enjoyed the story and most of all Severins!”

Review by Tina, Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team

#MermaidCock, UNDERWATER release day!

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#mermaidcock, anthology, Aquarian, backyard pool, beneath the surface, Broken World, brutal, collection, cruel, Death, depths, drowning, editing, fantasy, fascination, fish, folklore, hedonism, honeymoon, horror, humor, immortal, irrational fear, love, manifestation, mermaids, military, military training, mysteries, myth, ocean, paralyzing, paranormal, pervert, pinocchio, pleasure sphere, radioactive crocodiles, romance, sadistic, seaweed, secret, sharks, Sister Ursula, swallows, terror, Underwater, vampire, vicious, water, whale

Pinocchio really did a number on me when I was young. You know, the part where the whale swallows him, his father, and their cat. I didn’t know it at the time, but my irrational fear of water points back to this scene.

I’m completely terrified of drowning. Never mind that I had a pool in my backyard from a young age and swam for the high school swim team in eight grade.

Swimming alone scared me the most. I thought that if I dipped into the water by myself that a whale would magically materialize in the deep end and swallow me whole. Or that I might drown for the mere reason that no one was present to save me.

Natural bodies of water are worse because of fish and seaweed. Now, maybe the fish thing seems a little odd to you, but I assure you, the thought of fish nibbling the toes off my feet can be completely paralyzing. (And now people pay for fishies to eat the dead skin off of their feet. I can’t fathom it).

The worse instance of my fear’s manifestation was on the nine-plus-hour trip to the UK for my honeymoon. For weeks and possibly months, I annoyed the hell out of my loved ones, colleagues, and students with how afraid I was to crash into the ocean, drown, and have a whale eat my body. Are you noticing that whales seem to frighten me more than sharks.

I mean, am I the only one?

Yet, my husband has reassured me that drowning is not as bad as I’ve grown believing. He should know. He’s drowned twice—once by accident and once on purpose.

You heard me right. I said, “on purpose.”

Military training is sadistic.

Speaking of sadistic…nice segue, right? UNDERWATER excites the shit out of me, and the poor authors within had to deal with my form of editing, which is…you guessed it…brutal, cruel, and vicious. I do it out of love, guys. I promise.

These sixteen stories are full of humor, horror, and hedonism, and they build a revealing illustration of our fascination with what lies beneath the surface.

Beyond the fear, I’ve always loved the mysteries the Aquarian depths hold, especially mermaids, which we have a nice variety of in this anthology. And I need to tell you a secret about them…are you in close? Ready for it?

Eating mermaids will make you immortal.

What?

I know. Mind blown.

And don’t be perverted about this. We have enough of that in the stories. In fact, us editors have an inside joke.

#MermaidCock

Yup. You read that correctly.

We keep seeing it in hidden between the lines—in Sister Ursula’s habit, tattooed on the inside of a vampire’s thigh, among the others in the Pleasure Sphere, swimming along side the radioactive crocodiles—and of course, there is plenty of explicit mermaid cock in these stories, too.

And I challenge you not to let it slip into each of the others as you read through this collection.

Check out UNDERWATER! You won’t be disappointed.

And DISTORTED is on sale for $1.99 this week in celebration!

 

Excerpt from UNDERWATER: “Fossegrimmen” by Megan McFerren

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anthology, brave, curiosity, echo, edge, excerpt, fiddle, foam, folklore, fossegrimmen, great rewards, Kjell, megan mcferren, Music, myth, old familiar song, pool, romance, sheep, Underwater, ventures, waterfall, wet

Brave ventures yield great rewards, Kjell reasons, so long as one survives them. Perhaps the same is true for sheep.

His foot digs deeper, and he steps back. The stories of places like this are known well, the haunts of wights and elves who will demand tribute for passing near their homes. Children’s stories, no doubt, to keep them from toppling down onto the rocks. Myths and fables from more superstitious times.

Surely, then, the strains of music are only his imagination.

Surely, the lilting of fiddle strings must be carrying on the wind across the fell.

Surely, Kjell must have just spent too much time afield alone, and his mind has wandered far as his stubborn sheep.

Curiosity pulls him towards the edge once more. With mistrust towards the stability of the soft soil and misgivings towards his own mind, Kjell slips closer to the falls. Dulcet tones rise in a familiar old song from Kjell’s childhood but whose words he can’t recall. The cascade of water is twice his height but no more than that, and when Kjell leans, only the edge of the shadowy pool beneath shows, foaming white beneath the spray. The bend of strings echoes louder from below, a sound so warm that Kjell forgets how wet his clothes have become in seeking the music’s source.

“Hello?”

Kjell’s voice rings back at him after a pause, too long to be his own echo, and yet, it sounds much the same. His brow furrows at the strange delay. He draws a breath to call again and holds it when a voice responds:

“Hello.”

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Excerpt from UNDERWATER: “Diluvium” by Anthony S. Bunoi

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anthology, anthony s. buoni, beads, bisceting, boat, body, crunching, Death, dismembering, excerpt, Fifth Wave, flood, folklore, gator, glistening teeth, horror, killing, love, Mardi Gras, marriage, massive jaws, murky water, myth, New Orleans, pornos, radiation, screams, statue, swampies, tearing, tits, Underwater, urban fantasy

“Looks like a winner,” Peter said, pointing towards one of the effigies, a woman with flowing hair that covered her bare breasts with her left arm. “She’s probably heavy, but I ain’t afraid to drag her up. Probably worth beaucoup credits. I think she’s close enough to the railing for me to reach.”

“I think it’s too much. How are we gonna get her on the boat?”

“Watch a master, kid.” Peter hopped over the rail in one effortless motion. Reaching towards one of the trees, he snatched a purple strand of beads from the limbs, snapping the branch in the process.

“Show me your tits.” He tossed the beads at Louis, missing his target by several feet. Peter almost lost his balance but steadied himself with a heel against the rail. “Take those home to the missus. She’ll blow ya for sure.”

“I want to get her real jewelry. Make it official.”

“You don’t want to do that. Next thing you know you’re not allowed to go out drinking, you have to toss your pornos out with the spoiled milk, and then your boys can’t even come over for chess. Down the road she’ll want kids, and they’ll come out with webbed fingers because of all the fucking radiation in the air.”

“You’re so damned negative all the time. We’ve been living together a while, and it’s good.”

“Shacking up is totally different than marriage.” Peter reached out, but the statue was just beyond his fingertips. He sighed. “You marry her, and her parents will start visiting all the time. They’ll be all up in your shit, telling you how to live your life.”

“Her parents died in the Fifth Wave,” Louis said. He held her as she wept that night.

“We’ve all lost people,” Peter said. “That’s why it’s better not to get attached.”

“I love her, man.”

Peter huffed pulled back and realigned his footing. “I don’t know who lied to you, but this world wasn’t built for love.”

Louis cringed at Peter’s stubbornness. Arguing with the man was useless—he was as stubborn as he was slow in an airboat. Bending over, he scooped up the Mardi Gras beads and shoved them into his pocket.

Peter reached out again. Adjusting his footing worked. He leaned over and rested his palm on the statue’s head. He looked back at Louis and smiled.

“Keep your Jenny. I know who will be in my thoughts later when I retire with that literature I found.” He wrapped his arm around the statue’s neck and tried to lift her up. “Damn, she’s a tough broad.”

Louis laughed. “Told you.”

“Look, not another word outta—”

The murky water underneath Peter erupted. A large alligator sprung up like gray-green lightning, grabbing his torso with a hiss and glistening white teeth. Peter’s ribs crunched inside the gator’s massive jaws. Screaming, Peter lost his footing on the rail. His body swung with the gator’s weight, but Peter, arms hooked around the indifferent cement stare, would not release the statue. The gator started rolling, bisecting Peter with more crunching and tearing before vanishing in the dark water with the lower half of the man’s body.

 

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Excerpt from UNDERWATER: “Ferryman” by Val Prozorova

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accident, anthology, clean underwear, Death, excerpt, ferryman, folklore, half fish, humor, kayaking, merman, myth, New Zealand, paranormal, sea, shark, tenacity, Underwater, underwater sex, urban fantasy, val prozorova

I was nineteen the first time I died.

It happened entirely by accident; I had never kayaked in the sea before, too used to the smooth and still waters of the New Zealand lakes, and the waves overbalanced me. Upside down in the water, two thoughts circled first, the rope meant to hold me certainly did its job, as I could not get the knot undone, and second, I hoped I had on clean underwear. The paramedics have worse to deal with, but it would undoubtedly be embarrassing.

If anyone found me, anyway. The rope still caught in what I quickly understood not to be a wet knot had my lungs burning from my held breath. I made several proclamations in my youth that I wanted to become one with nature. Perhaps, I should have made it clear that I did not mean it quite so literally.

A water baby, swimming from a young age, playing with water, and attempting—pitifully—to draw it, people often joked that I was half fish. They couldn’t be more wrong. No gills on me, just flared nostrils and pursed lips and fumbling fingers against a knot that wouldn’t give.

Crazy thoughts flew through my mind:

How far does the water beneath me go?

Should I look?

Can I turn the boat over by sheer tenacity and hope for the best?

Did I miss that matinee performance?

Like graduation, did I forget to sign up for my own ceremony?

A movement pulled my gaze, desperate enough that I would reach out to a shark for help; perhaps, mercifully, one’s life didn’t flash before their eyes, but their desires did. Because the man swimming towards me now certainly personified many of them. Dark skin, dark eyes, and hair that swelled with the waves themselves, so long that it swept almost like a tail behind him. His effortless motion through the water, entirely graceful, opened my mouth to gasp. Oh, the flaw in that plan.

 

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Excerpt from UNDERWATER: “The Water-Harp” by Jean Roberta

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anthology, cologne, curse, Dorcas, erotic, excerpt, folklore, gentlemen, historical, Jean Roberta, kiss, laundry, lord, Lord Edmund, lordship, naked, orphanage, paranormal, pleasure, prick, private scepter, river, roam, romance, secrets, singing, Sister Ursula, Sisters of Mercy, The Water-Harp, Underwater, water

Customers of all shapes, sizes, and degrees brought their soiled clothes to the laundry. Dorcas had never guessed that so many women preferred not to do their own washing and would gladly pay specialists.

She took pride in her work.

Old Benjamin, valet to Lord Edmund, came to the laundry once a week with a sack of well-made gentlemen’s clothing in fine fabrics. Dorcas enjoyed the feel of it, the lingering scent of his lordship’s cologne and tobacco.

How would Lord Edmund smell with his naked arms wrapped about her? Would his neat beard interfere with the melting pleasure of a kiss? Did he know about the curse of women, and would he find a woman’s body enchanting even if he knew its secrets?

Dorcas tried imagining a man with his prick exposed like that of a horse. Would Lord Edmund feel proud or ashamed to be seen thus? And could she banish the loneliness of the orphaned lord by kissing his private scepter?

Dorcas had no doubt that the Sisters of Mercy would be appalled to know her thoughts. Yet they had set her to work in the laundry, where her hands were always busy and her mind was free to roam where it would. Even the sound of the water in the tubs reminded her of the river, which always seemed to be singing, and where Sister Ursula so often found her when she was a child. Perhaps the sisters believed that work would silence the songs of a young woman’s body.

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Mini-Author Interviews: Cape C. Capehart

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anthology, Axelrod, Beyond the Hell Cliffs, Blood Daughter, case c. capehart, crushed, dark, Death, folklore, influences, interview, lamia, mermaids, Mini-Author Interviews, Murina, myth, mythology, Nikki the Beast, odd girls, oddball, Oklahoma, predator, protagonist, rape victims, research, river, river mermaids, setting, She's All That, struggling with identity, troubled kids, Underwater, unwanted kids

Mini-Author Interview for UNDERWATER:

Case C. Capehart

What inspired your story?

She’s All That, and movies like it. We have a creepy abundance of stories about odd, young girls who have a hard time fitting in socially, but they solve all of their problems by losing their glasses and learning to do their make-up better. Whether the authors intend it or not, we’re sending a message with these stories to young girls that their value is tied solely to their appearance. I wanted to write a story for readers who had weird thoughts and weird hobbies as teens, because many oddball kids grew up to be very important figures in history. And they didn’t have to adopt a new hairstyle or get better at applying foundation to move mountains.

 

Did you have to do any research? If so, what kind? What did you learn?

My day job actually helped out with this story, because I deal with troubled and unwanted kids every day. I used some of my training and what I read about children from terrible families to form Murina’s background and psyche. At Alisha’s suggestion, I looked further into rape victims, for Tetra’s story. That was probably the most difficult part, because I don’t like to think about those things, but you can’t write well if you don’t have a clue what you’re writing about, and her retelling of the event is stronger due to my research.

 

Can you tell me a little bit about your protagonist?

Murina is an exaggerated reflection of foster kids. Her thoughts are extra dark due to her childhood trauma; she is literally a different creature than her sisters, and Lord Axelrod is taking a huge risk placing Murina among his daughters. As a Lamia, Murina is a natural predator, which boldly contrasts her natural urges with those of the civilized and amorous mermaids. The features that make her a better predator (bony body, muscular tail, dark colors) are a defect in the mermaid world; one that her sisters are compelled to correct to make her life better.

 

Tell be about the setting you chose and how it influences your work.

I kind of messed with the mermaid mythology out of necessity. Traditionally, mermaids dwell in the high seas, far away from land, but Lamias are snakes, even the most aquatic of which still need dry land in close vicinity. The only way I could reconcile this was to create “river mermaids.” That’s the great thing about fiction, though: you can create and change whatever you need, as long as the writing is done well. “Crushed” isn’t about the feasibility of freshwater mermaids or the logistics of dwelling within a moving current; it’s about a young girl struggling with her identity.

 

What would you like readers to know about “Crushed”?

I had to go to some dark places to write it, and I think the excursion paid off.

Also, it used to have a much more pretentious title that was total nonsense. Some writers can easily dream up an awesome title and then have trouble writing the coinciding story. I wrote the entire story, proofread it, and then stared at the screen for thirty minutes, knitting my eyebrows and sipping a beer to come up with something to title the thing so I could submit it.

 

Case C. Capehart is from a microscopic town in Northwest Oklahoma and currently works for the state. He served as an Infantryman in the U.S. Army for six years and is most proud of his Air Assault wings and Expert Infantry Badge. He is the author of BEYOND THE HELL CLIFFS and BLOOD DAUGHTER, as well as the short story, NIKKI THE BEAST, soon to be released by Cohesion Press. He has a supportive wife and hilarious son, as well as a demonic Xbox One that unceasingly beckons him away from his writing.

You can follow him on facebook, twitter, or visit his website.

Excerpt from UNDERWATER: “Eden” by Zander Vyne

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anthology, Biosphere, chosen, doomed, eden, fantasy, folklore, forbidden, fringe, Garden of Eden, genetically-engineered, myth, pleasure sphere, romance, sin, tested, The Foundation, the Great War, Underwater, utopia, writing, zander vyne

Many would be tested. Most wouldn’t make it. The unchosen were Doomed unless they ran.

My friend, Trek, decided to run and join the group living on the fringe; he’d received a rejection letter and had nothing to lose. “Some Chosen run too, Eve. It’s that good there, and it’s our only chance to be together.”

I’d been raised on the history of Eden like all children—long, long ago, the Great War had driven Earth’s people underground. With only artificial light and the barest of resources, they tried everything to reduce their numbers, hoping to last long enough to repopulate the surface. They failed. Only stranded astronauts on space-station Biospheres survived.

My Chosen dad often pointed out Earth in the night sky. “It looks like any other star, but it’s a reminder. Don’t forget that, baby girl.”

Our ancestors found themselves with no home.

The new Biosphere world faced many problems. People wanted solutions ensuring survival. Out of the chaos came the Foundation.

Those pioneers led the expedition that discovered the habitable, but tiny, Eden. To make sure this new home didn’t become like the old one, the Foundation mandated a genetically-engineered society. No trouble-making genes allowed. The people on Eden were all products of the Pleasure Sphere. No one could remember another way of life, another way of reproducing.

For the Chosen, Eden was perfect.

 

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Mini-Author Interviews: Diana Hauer

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childhood, diana hauer, echidna, Echidna's Cave, fantasy, fecund, folklore, god, Going Deep, heroes, inspiration, interpretaion, interview, legends, lust, Mini-Author Interviews, monster, myth, ocean, Oregon Coast, Pacific Northwest, paranormal, personification, romance, sex, storm, storm surge, thrust, touching the unknowable, Typhon, typhoon, Underwater, underwater sex, writing

Mini-Author Interviews for UNDERWATER:

Diana Hauer

What inspired your story?

I have loved mythology since I was young. I started thinking about what might have happened to inspire the myths and stories surrounding Echidna and Typhon. If there were beings that had inspired our ancestors to weave such stories, what would they be like now, and what if modern humans encountered them?

Echidna is the mother of monsters, a fecund creature. Typhon is her mate, and the father of most of them (depending on your source). I think my train of thought was, “Ocean, storm, typhoon, underwater sex, how would a human have sex with a god?”

 

Did you have to do any research? If so, what kind? What did you learn?

I looked up where the scholars think that Echidna’s Cave actually was, because I wanted to have a nod and a wink for people who would know such things. There are a couple of those that I hope fans of old myths will notice and appreciate in my story.

 

Can you tell me more about Echidna and Typhon?

I left what they are open to reader interpretation in a lot of ways, like so many myths.

What struck me about the old stories is how many children they had. Depending on which versions you read, they had anywhere between three and twelve kids. So to me, it made sense that they would have a passionate, lusty relationship. From there, I just followed the logical path and wound up with what might be going through Echidna’s mind if someone encountered her today. What form might that encounter take?

Typhon and Echidna could be seen as real, physical entities. Monstrous creatures in truth, as they were written. Or if one takes a more symbolic bent, then Echidna (in my story, anyway) is the personification of ocean-land while Typhon is the personification of ocean-sky. When land and sky meet, then storms (monster children) are born.

Legends are born from the deeds of heroes and monsters. Erotic fiction is born when we start thinking about what happens when the monsters meet in passionate embrace. In ancient times, Typhon visited his lover and she rose to meet him as he thrust down into her channel. Whether you read that as a woman rising to meet a man or the ocean rising in response to a storm, it still works.

…I just realized that could give a whole new meaning to the term “storm surge.”

 

What would you like readers to know about “Going Deep”?

I would like them to imagine that it could be true. The swimmer in the cave could be you; it could be me. We are only ever seconds away from touching the unknowable, if we but open our eyes and allow them to look upon the world with a sense of wonder.

I would also like them to know that there is no correct interpretation of this story. Whatever you get out of it, that is what is right for you.

 

Diana Fey Hauer lives and works in the Pacific Northwest. While she loves the Oregon Coast, she also finds time to write, knit, create, and explore in other biomes and mediums.

You can follow her on facebook.