Did You Know…About the Merfolk?

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Atargatis, Blue Men of the Minch, did you know, Finfolk, fish gods, Kappa, merfolk, mermaids, selkies, The Mermaid Wife

Most are familiar with the Disney depiction of merfolk and Ariel’s struggle to find love on land, without her voice no less, a sanitized version of the Hans Christian Andersen’s tale where she does not have a happy ending, and spoiler, not only does she suffer with every step on land, she also dies a painful death.

This may be a reflection on mermaids’ association with misfortune and death, and the common merging of their mythology with that of sirens, luring sailors to their watery graves. But the mermen have also earned a severe reputation for summoning storms, sinking ships, and drowning sailors.

In any case, we see merfolk described as a half-human, half-fish hybrid creature, and we’ve had mythologies about these creatures for thousands of years, like Babylon’s Era and Oannes, the fish gods. Greek mythology tells of the god Triton, a messenger of the sea, and the Hindu and Candomblé still worship mer-goddesses.

An interesting version from the Shetland Islands mixes the merfolk with selkies, telling of strikingly beautiful women whose appearance is a temporary effect of donning fish skin. And if they lose the skin, they will be stuck on land. In one tale, “The Mermaid Wife,” a man, Unst, walked along the beach, saw a group of merfolk dancing in the sand under the moonlight with skins strewn across the ground. Unst snatched one and concealed it. When he returned to that spot, he happened upon the fairest of the women, sad over the theft of her skin and her exile. Unst offered protection, married the damsel, and they produced several children. After some years, their children found the hidden skin and returned it to their mother. She hugged them goodbye and sped off towards the sea. Unst returned from a trip just in time to chase after her and witness her magnificent transformation. Before she disappeared under the water with her merfolk family, she called back her love to him, but that her first husband was her true love.

Also in Scotland, the Blue Men of the Minch, are a group of mermen, who have blue-tinted skin and gray beards. They challenge ship captains before sieging the ship. If a captain is quick witted, he may best the Blue Men and save his men. They’ve also been known to battle against the Vikings and their Norse king, which may coincide with when the Vikings landed, wearing blue, veiled clothes.

The kappa from Japanese myth live in lakes, rivers, and on coasts, but they differ from the traditional merfolk by taking on a more child-like form with ape-like faces and tortoise shells on their backs. When they interact with humans, they, like the Blue Men of Minch, enjoy challenging humans to games of skill that come with a death penalty when lost. They also prefer to kill children or those silly enough to swim alone in secluded places; however, most prominently, they prefer fresh cucumbers, which might make a nice trade for one’s life.

The Ningyo, also from Japanese myth, have varying human characteristics, making them more monstrous and uglier with a deformed fish face, human torso, and long, bony fingers with sharp claws. These versions of the mermaids have a bonus: consuming their flesh grants immortality, but this comes with great risk as the Ningyo can place powerful curses on the humans who try to trap or wound them, linked with entire towns being swallowed by earthquakes and tsunamis.

In Norway and the Orkney Islands, they have myths of the Finfolkaheem, or Finfolk, which may be one of the least traditional versions, considered sorcerous shapeshifters. They do maintain negative relationships with humans, often abducting them as spouses or making them servants because if Finfolk marry one another, the Finwife will lose her mystical charm and age increases her ugliness in seven-year increments until she becomes a hag, which is why they prefer to abduct human males as their mates. The best way to escape their entrapments is by tossing a silver coin away from oneself, as they have an affinity for the precious metal.

The earliest rendition of a mermaid-like entity came from ancient Syria and their goddess, Atargatis, who watched over the general well-being of her people and their fertility. Human above the waist and fish below, she was obviously associated with water and had the biggest, most stunning temple, which featured a pond full of sacred fish.

A common thread amongst these myths create an intriguing paradox: the beauty and the beast trapped within the same creature. Some are victims, others are predators, but all manifest magic that affects the humans they interact with. Most commonly to the humanity’s demise.

 

Sources:

https://www.wired.com/2014/10/fantastically-wrong-strange-murderous-sometimes-sexy-history-mermaid/

https://www.livescience.com/39882-mermaid.html

http://mentalfloss.com/article/75471/9-mermaid-legends-around-world

#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!

 

Mini-Author Interviews: Adrik Kemp

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abyss, adrik kemp, alien, anemone, Australia, beaches, bioluminescent, daydreams, deep-sea, deep-sea creatures, discovery, Disney, fantasy, fear, horror, inspiration, interview, magic, marine life, mer-people, mermaids, Mini-Author Interviews, Mischa, mischa and the mermaid, obsession, ocean, rock pool, rock walking, sea, swim, swimming, terrifying, Underwater, water, whales

Mini-Author Interviews for UNDERWATER:

Adrik Kemp

What inspired your story?

As a child, I spent a great deal of time ‘rock walking’ from beach to beach with my family. I’ve always been fascinated by the beauty of rock pools and the sheer scale of the diversity of marine life, so it was enjoyable to create some of my own. Each pool is an opportunity to see something new and alien swimming around, and while many are filled with standard anemones, shellfish and seaweed, every now and then you find a tiny ecosystem of fish or even an octopus, and it’s exhilarating, like hitting a jackpot. I wanted to convey the wonder of discovery that I felt as a child and still feel as an adult when combing rocky beaches.

 

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

The setting of my story is based on memories, so my research was mainly delving into my own mind while I wrote; however, the more fantastical elements of my story took a little research. I looked into what many would see as unusual mating habits – deep-sea creatures that favour strong, muscular females and tiny, insignificant males, useful only for their sperm. This got me thinking about the potential hierarchy of a deep-sea, marine community of humanoid derivation and it all snowballed from there. Without giving anything away, I also spent some time googling images of whales.

 

Can you tell me a little bit about your protagonist?

The eponymous Mischa is a teenage boy who has spent his life in a sleepy, coastal town in Australia. He has an older brother, a best friend, Fiona who is about to move away, and an endless fascination with the hidden magic of the sea. A bit of a dreamer, his laid back approach to life allows him to drift along with the current, so to speak.

 

Where does Mischa’s fascination with the sea come from? His obsession with mermaids?

The driving force behind Mischa’s daydreams is his subconscious understanding that he’s stuck living in a small town, his only constant friend being his brother George and his best friend Fiona. Rather than dealing with this and the fact that his friend is leaving him, he loses himself in fanciful daydreams of mermaids and magic beneath the waves. Making a world for himself within his own world gives him solace.

 

Can you explain your version of the mermaid? They were terrifying, and I loved that.

There are usually two types of mermaid – the Disney variety and the horror variety. Mine are most definitely on the horror side of things. I’m a little obsessed with the sea, and I think that if mer-people do exist, they would have to do so in the deep. And to do that, I imagine they would have characteristics of deep-sea creatures. I mean, down there, you have things more nightmarish than anything you could dream up, translucent, glass-like teeth, dead, white eyes, bioluminescent lures to trap prey. Not to mention the fascinating life cycles – creatures that are functionally immortal, enormous females that collect tiny males on their bodies as portable sperm banks, worms that live in boiling water over sea vents and more. I took elements from these creatures and fashioned them into a society I thought might come of it if they were mixed with humans.

 

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

All my life, I have lived on and holidayed all along the east coast of Australia. The ocean and life on its edge are a big influence on this work as they have been, and continue to be in my life. The feeling of the salt and sun on my skin, warm rocks under my feet and the rolling, endless ocean before me is a thing of singular beauty that I hope I relayed in this story.

 

You also made the ocean a bit horrifying (that may be me), do you find the ocean equally as frightful as it is beautiful?

The short answer is yes. I go to the beach a lot, I live nearby to the ocean and swim 3-4 times a week at it, but I still can’t stay in too long before my mind wanders to what else might be sharing the water with me. I have almost a pathological fear of sharks and monsters of the deep. I once snorkeled away from a reef and over what appeared to be an abyss and panicked instantly. So I suppose the long answer is no, I find the ocean absolutely stunning and awe-inspiring, but the things within, some of those can and do strike fear in me constantly.

 

What would you like readers to know about “Mischa and The Mermaid”?

I hope that when they read it, they can be transported to this idyllic memory and have it torn to pieces along with Mischa.

 

Adrik Kemp is a published author with short stories appearing in web based and print anthologies. He holds a Master of Arts in Creative Writing, which he enjoys looking at from time to time, and is an avid reader, writer and copywriter by trade. He also likes spending his time eating, swimming at the beach and playing house.

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

Excerpt from UNDERWATER: “Mischa and the Mermaid” by Adrik Kemp

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adrik kemp, anemone, anthology, butterfly, excerpt, fantasy, horror, mermaids, mischa and the mermaid, poisonous, rock pool, suction-cupped, tendrils, translucent, ugly, Underwater, urban fantasy

Mischa knelt beside the rock pool, staring through the reflecting sky on the surface to the microcosm of underwater activity beneath. A crab’s claws gleamed in the darkness of a crevasse and tendrils of anemone floated around, capturing tiny fish that Mischa could barely see. He leaned in a little closer and planted his hands on the warm, wet rock beneath him. Between a couple of sea snails and an anemone, he glimpsed a tiny, pink hand and grinned with delight.

“There it is. See?” He pointed, his finger hovering just above the surface.

His brother George joined him, pouting his annoyance. “Where?”

A pair of pale arms covered in pink, pearlescent scales reached out from under a crevasse to pull along the rock pool floor. Each arm couldn’t have been much longer than one of Mischa’s fingers. Translucent webbing attached them to a curved, spindly body. A small head with enormous, black eyes popped out from its neck. Its mouth suction-cupped the floor, feeding on whatever else clung to the rock. It crawled out further, revealing two hind legs and a double tail flapping like a trapped butterfly.

“Holy hell, that is ugly.” George shuddered. “What is it?”

“I think it’s a mermaid. Look how pretty its scales are.”

“Not this mermaid shit again.”

Mischa stuck his finger in to touch the creature, but George pulled him back and marched him to the edge of the shore and the ocean beyond.

“Don’t touch it, idiot. That mutated octopus is probably poisonous.”

Check out his author facebook, twitter, and website.

Excerpt from UNDERWATER: “Sylvia’s Ashes” by Shannon Rose Leahy

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abyss, breasts, dark waters, Death, excerpt, fantasy, horror, mermaids, myth, ocean, Panama City Beach, paranormal, post-adolescent madness, shannon rose leahy, shore, Sylvia, The Saints Go Marching In, Underwater, urban fantasy

He stood on the shore, the full moon’s light shattering into pearl fragments on the ocean’s black face. Sylvia, his darling wife—where in the vast waters had her ashes drifted? Three years had passed since the small and huddled service at the end of the rickety pier, a tinny rendition of “The Saints Go Marching In” huffed out on harmonica while Brendan scattered her ashes into the hungry ocean.

Had her ashes ever wafted pass mermaids, with bare breasts gleaming under the fiery sun, faintly green hair tangled with bright shells, or had they sat in the belly of some gray, dull-eyed fish?

Her funeral changed the ocean. How many more charred human remains churned in those dark waters? The thought of people splashing in that salty brine, shaking the brew of his wife out of their ears and wringing her out of bikinis made his stomach tighten into a hard fist.

The great watery abyss still shattered heart. A selfish, careless instant stole his darling Sylvia from this world. A bloated car full of spring breakers from Alabama, hell bent on partying in putrid Panama City Beach, collided with her motorcycle. During spring break traffic, the streets were paved with beer cans and condom wrappers. Drunken, sun-brunt twenty-somethings hung out the windows, screaming lewd remarks at anything with a pair of breasts. Casualties of alcohol poisoning or falls off fifteen story balconies weren’t anything new to this city. Although heartbroken, it didn’t shock him that post-adolescent madness ended her life.

Excerpt from UNDERWATER: “Beached” by M. Howard

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anthology, cpr, dolphins, dune, excerpt, gills, killer whales, m. howard, mermaids, myth, mythology, naked, nakedness, nipples, paranormal, plump, raven, Ruben, slavic, terrifying, Underwater

The dune circled a brackish pond where fresh water stream met the tide’s ebb and flow, and just breaking the rim, Sal saw hands.

He broke into a dead run, and as he reached the crest, hands became wrists, and wrists lengthened to arms. Incredibly broad shoulders curved into a graceful neck all but obscured by streaming black tresses. She lay face down, crusted with drying patches of sand. Her skin was black—a dull, flat black that shared more with killer whales and dolphins than any African or Negrito he’d ever encountered.

Ruben fluttered overhead, landed on the far side of the pool, and croaked, “Hello!”

Sal ignored his feathered buddy, and gingerly placed a hand between the girl’s shoulders. Her skin was cool and curiously firm to the touch.

“Well, Ruben, let’s have a look at her.” God, but she was heavy. He grasped her right elbow with both hands and applied all his weight to roll her over. He saw with a shock that if her back and arms were black, her front, from her upper lip to her chin and down her throat to her sandy tits, was ivory white. Indistinct nipples bulls eyed ivory aureoles without the slightest of color variation. His eyes involuntarily traced her nakedness down to an ivory “outee” of a navel. He stared dumbly at what should have been Venus Mons, but was instead a smooth plumpness which tapered down in curves unbroken by knees or feet, to curve out again into a largish ovoid paddle of a tail.

Ruben croaked “Ouch!” and fluttered his feathers.

“Ouch my ass, Ruben. It’s a…she’s a…” Sal was nothing if not a pragmatist. He straddled her waist and pressed an ear to her right breast. Nothing. He interlaced the fingers of his left hand into those of his right and tried to remember his emergency first aid training. He looked over at Ruben. “What’s the count? Was it five?”

Ruben bobbed his beak. “Perfect.”

“One, two, three, four, five.” Sal unlocked his fingers and moved in to position for the next step.   He wasn’t sure what he might be liable to catch, but he was sure it wouldn’t be any of the terrifying viruses plaguing the single set nowadays. After all, how could a mermaid catch mono? Or any other human-transmitted disease? He examined her face. The black coloration painted her high forehead, broad and vaguely Slavic cheek bones, and fleshy button of a nose, which squeezed off tiny nostrils. Sal called over to Ruben. “Let’s see. Clear the airway; wait, what if she has gills?”

Rubin jerked his beak up and down. “God damn it!”

 

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: “Crushed” by Case C. Capehart

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anthology, blood, breast, case c. capehart, curfew, dark, fantasy, foster family, horror, lamia, lifeless, mermaids, mistake, myth, paranormal, poison, regret, river, security, squeeze, Underwater, vacant, vicious, wicked, writing

Murina feared venturing outside of her room. Piaractus distracted her everywhere from everything, and she something would eventually give away her thoughts. Her sisters and classmates would see the inky shadows lurking within her twisted mind, and her foster father would find that his conditioning failed. She visualized the looks of disgust from her sisters, the disappointment of Acei, and the accusations of Arowen and Rachovii. They would call her a traitor and lock her away or maybe put her down like the beast she was.

Murina could not help herself. She wanted to be found by him, somewhere no one could intervene. She wanted to be held down in the sticky muck of the riverbed and gripped with fingers of iron; not like the thin, squirming digits that Fasciatus tried to worm across her breast.

She wanted to be squeezed; to have the life choked from her chest. Nothing else in her foreign world would do.

Murina’s desire eventually found a way. Her sisters could only be away from the parties for so long, curfew-be-damned, and she wormed her way into their group. Lying came easier to her than she would have imagined, and when she started to tear up at their initial rejection, Acei quickly put forth the invitation. The anxiety threatened to leak from her pores and poison the waters as she allowed her sisters to paint her into an acceptable image. She could wear the mermaid costume for another night if it meant getting out of that house and the guilt that Tetra’s large, accepting eyes inflicted upon her.

Murina planned to break away from her group unnoticed during the party to search the river for him, but they never made it there.

The river flowed vacant and lifeless. No minnows darting around the surface, no curious perch, not even scuttle bugs along the floor. Murina’s blood chilled and slowed in her veins. Regret pierced her, sending lightning from her chest through her tail as the shadow spilled across them. She had made a terrible mistake letting any of her sisters leave the security of their home.

Piaractus was a vicious-looking merman, with abnormally large, amber eyes, scarred arms corded with muscle, and a wicked grin full of sharp teeth.

And he had Arowen.

 

Check out his author facebook, website, and twitter.

Cover Reveal for UNDERWATER

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#releasedaychallenge, #sociallinks, alisha costanzo, amazon gift card, anthology, anthony s. buoni, author, bell, blood, blood phoenix, book, Broken World, cover reveal, Death, excerpt, faerie mound, faeries, fantasy, folklore, giveaway, heroes, horror, Hulk, humor, magick, mermaids, myth, New Orleans, paranormal, publishing, romance, sharks, spells, sprite, synopsis, The Rainbow Sprite, Underwater, urban fantasy, vampires, writing

✰✰COVER REVEAL✰✰

Underwater edited by Anthony S. Buoni & Alisha Costanzo @TransmundnePres @bookenthupromo

Genre: Fantasy Anthology

Release Date:February 29, 2016

Hosted by: Book Enthusiast Promotions (http://bookenthusiastpromotions.com )

#BuyNow

Amazon US:http://amzn.to/1JgjdYa

Amazon UK:http://amzn.to/1njorJ3

#Giveaway:

Enter here ➜ ➜  http://bit.ly/1T2eagc

Add the book to Goodreads ➜http://bit.ly/1QmcmxN

#Synopsis:

When was the last time you came face-to-face with a mermaid?

Ever explore a hidden underwater cave or been haunted by an unearthly creature? Did that passionate childhood fantasy turn into a real, sexy encounter? When was the last time you discovered a bell concealing the entrance to a faerie mound? Have you wondered what would happen if New Orleans was entombed in radioactive water?

UNDERWATER features sixteen exploratory tales that delve into decrepit landscapes and strange magic, inhuman heroes and crushing experimentation. Two-thirds of the world is submerged—experience what happens within, from the fantastical and erotic to the horrifying and triumphant, UNDERWATER showcases stories that will inundate readers with uncharted territories.

#MeettheEditors

Alisha Costanzo is from a Syracuse suburb. She earned her MFA in creative writing from the University of Central Oklahoma, where she currently teaches English. She’s the author of BLOOD PHOENIX: REBIRTH, BLOOD PHOENIX: CLAIMED, and LOVING RED, and is co-editor of DISTORTED and UNDERWATER. IMPRINTED, her new novel, is undergoing serious edits for its 2016 release. In the meantime, she will continue to corrupt young minds, rant about the government, and daydream about her all around nasty creatures.

Anthony S. Buoni prowls the gas lamp lit streets of New Orleans, playing moonlight hide and seek with Ouija boards in the Crescent City’s foggy, above ground cemeteries. Anthony is the author of Conversation Party and Synchrony, co-editor to Distorted volume 1, and editor to both Between There anthologies. His stories and articles have been featured in Meow, Small Happy, North Florida Noir, and Waterfront Living. When not haunting swamps and boneyards, Anthony keeps it scary, writing dark fiction, editing, and watching horror movies, using his afterlife to DJ, write music, and conjure other worldly creatures with tarot cards, elixirs, and dreams.

#SocialLinks

Website:http://www.transmundanepress.com/

Facebook:www.facebook.com/TransmundanePress/

Twitter:twitter.com/TransmundnePres

Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9831879.Transmundane_Press

Newsletter:http://eepurl.com/bLVkaH

#Excerpt

From “The Rainbow Sprite” by Alisha Costanzo:

My vision filled too often with bloody fucking rainbows, and my tongue craved the taste of hot, spring rains. I found myself wired and explosive in my daily duties, biting a claimed renegade but imagining the sprite instead. My queen punished me fittingly for it, caning the bottoms of my feet. I left with a hard-on.

She went easy on me, giving me a lesson in my more preferred manner, because I offered information that pleased her. Now, my orders sent me where I wanted to go: for a way to infiltrate the underwater faerie mound. Mine was through the rainbow sprite.

The woods changed with charms, glittering under the moon like beckons. Nevertheless, I found Nani’s watering hole, armed with a bell and her ring—both held the most curious magick.

Spring rain didn’t greet me as my toes slipped into the brisk water. Instead, a peaches and cream scent emitted from the waters before a pale, golden fluff bobbed to the surface above the slender face of a boy. His features matched Nani’s except that his eyes were a soft orange and freckles kissed the center of his face like a frangipani.

I leaned in as the boy hovered there and coaxed him closer. “Are you the little bugger that dropped a bell in there?”

His minute nod propelled him further forward, close enough for me to snatch him up. My grip found his throat, and I swung him onto land with a thunk of his shoulder blades against the grass. Teeth bared at him.

Sweat beaded along the kid’s forehead and wisps of fear wafted from him. Burning seeped into my chest at his touch, slow and eating at my skin like acid. “Will your blood poison me?”

The scent of his fear matured as he nodded again.

Liar.

I pulled the bell from my pocket and jingled it by his face. “What does this do to you on land?”

“Headache.”

“And if it touches you?”

The boy’s gaze hopped to the bell and back to me. “Make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I get angry.”

Was this pipsqueak quoting the Hulk at me?

I dropped my fangs, flaunted them in his face to the joy of his hyperventilating and pissing himself.

“Pika?” Long, blonde hair slicked back from Nani’s wide, rainbow eyes before they slanted and her mouth puckered. “Vampire.”

“Is this yours?” I pushed his head back to elongate the boy’s throat.

“Nan.” The boy’s voice so brittle it threatened to break.

“You let him free.”

“And why would I do such a thing?”

She tread closer, the water parting to her bare shoulder and dripping down her collarbones. It made me hungrier. “I will make a trade. Me for him.”

I wanted her blood more than the boy’s. “Out of the water.”

Nani climbed into the grass, circling around us and into the tree line.

“Nan.”

“It’s okay. He won’t hurt me.”

I will, but I won’t kill her. Not yet. “Aw. Isn’t this sweet.”

Terrified eyes blinked up at me.

“You have five seconds to disappear before this bell hits the pond.” I jingled the bell at him for emphasis.

“Go,” the sprite told her brother.

He shot out from under me, splashing as I counted, tossing the bell in after him. Rolled onto my back, I smiled up at Nani. “I do believe I scared the piss out of the little bugger.”

#ReleaseDayChallenge

For the next month-until release day-I pledge to post EVERYDAY with excerpts, author interviews, insights, and other fun stuff. I’m excited for you to learn more about these excellent authors. So stay tuned!

Writer’s Chatroom Interview, Part I

Tags

alisha costanzo, anthology, author, blood phoenix, Boden, bosex, Broken World, Celampresians, character development, Dev, editing, editor, faeries, fantasy, folklore, horror, inspiration, interview, kaia, kiss, leprachaun, leprechaun, life, lore, love, Loving Red, magick, mermaids, myth, mythical race, mythology, myths, NaNoWriMo, new release, novel, paranormal, paranormal romance, published, publishing, queen, Recipe, Roleplay, roleplaying, romance, satire, Sev, Shapeshifter, shapeshifters, shifters, students, teaching, Transmundane Press, Untamed, urban fantasy, vampire, vampires, vampyr, war, Watertown NY, were-creatures, werebears, weres, Werewolf, werewolves, wolves, writing, writing tips

Chatroom: Welcome, Alisha! Let’s start with your latest project, the urban fantasy novel in your Broken World Series, LOVING RED. How did Facebook play into the creation of this novel?

Alisha: Well, I am a former role-player addict with over 30 active profiles on facebook for a time. Severins Bouvier was literally made for Kaia, and he was based off of a Sherrilyn Kenyon character, Dev Peltier.

See, Kaia and Dev fell in love off screen, and that wasn’t allowed. So to fix it, I made Sev, hence the similar names, personas, and physical appearance.

The book doesn’t follow the post on facebook yet. Most of them are love-posts or snuggle-scenes. (I’ve been watching too much Simpsons).

But playing them on facebook first allowed me to dig deeper into their personalities before I wrote the novel. And well, it was fun.

 

Chatroom: So they both had profiles, run by you, and you played them like real people? Sorry, but I want to make sure I’m understanding this. 🙂

Alisha: Yes and no. I played Sev like he was a real person, and my friend, who I actually call Kaia even though her name is Laura, played Kaia in the same fashion.

It was interesting when time to write the novel.

Chatroom: Please introduce us to your heroine, Kaia.

Alisha: Kaia is a spunky red head that’s had her share of male attention, but she’s wanted none of it. Instead, Kaia craves adventure, bored sick of her accounting job and repeated conversations with her father about marriage and children.

Essentially, she perpetuates my ideals for strength: smart, resourceful, witty, and sensitive. She’s not afraid to cry, and she won’t break easy. Finally, her faith powers her through torture, a violent chase, and control over her own mind.

I envy her that, but she’s also a bit naive, sheltered by her Swedish heritage, customs, and wealth. Yet, exposure to Severins and his world (as a wolf)–his past–improves her keen awareness and clever mind.

Chatroom: Thank you. I probably should have started with this question, but better late than never! Please give us some background on your Broken World Series. What is it about, and what can we expect to find in your books?

Alisha: Well, the first two in the series are Urban Fantasy novels, and this third is a Paranormal Romance (different characters in the same world). Their world is one run by a vampire queen.

Her army is called the Celampresians. But there is another group, the Assetato, who oppose her. The first two novel follow a newborn’s entrance into this world with her human best friend and her maker.

I love playing the mythology and pop culture, so I make a lot of internal references to Buffy, Twilight, Dark Hunters, and others.

So there are a lot of laughs, but also, a lot of snark, dark times, and sex.

For LOVING RED, Sev is a member of the Assetato, so they drop into an on-going war at the start of the novel.

 

Chatroom: How did you research for your characters? Your descriptions are pretty detailed. You must have been thinking about them for a while before applying a pen to paper, so to speak.

Alisha: For Kaia and Sev, I had facebook for. (And I may have used facebook a bit for my other characters). However, I’ve been playing in this world for the past fifteen years before I put serious effort into their stories.

This was after graduate school as there were no vamps allowed in writing classes.

For Kaia, I asked a lot questions of my friend before I finally felt comfortable writing her on my own.

And Sev is partially based off of my husband, an Army Sgt.

He even makes a cameo in the novel.

Chatroom: Did you say Sev was a wolf? I almost missed that earlier. 🙂

Alisha: Yes, he is.

I call them bosex instead of weres or shifters.

Kaia is human.

 

Chatroom: Lines you will not cross as a writer?

Alisha: At this moment, I’m not sure that I have a clearly defined line. I can say I don’t like rape for titillation, although it has been a major part of one of my storylines. I enjoy writing death, torture, and sex with varying detail.

But my characters have done some heinous things in my novels—both on screen and off.

 

Chatroom: You have a lot of fun with character interviews – is it fair to say you have a LOT of voices bouncing around your head? 😀 How do you keep all your various character details straight?

Alisha: I have SOO many voices. Sometimes, they can be overwhelming and keep me from grading papers. But I’m often able to satisfy them all by giving them a few minutes during my week to show me things they feel the need to before I get back the grind.

Also, a character book helps.

Chatroom: On your blog, you’ve published a recipe related to the novel – do you actually have recipes listed in the book?

Alisha: I do not, which is why I posted it on my blog to share. My editor did suggest creating a cookbook for Sev, who is a trained cook.

I’m meddling with the idea.

 

Chatroom: Do your English students realize that their teacher has a dark side?

Alisha: Usually. I’m very open with them, some say I might share too much, but I enjoy connecting with them as people and adults rather than keeping that barrier between teacher and pupil.

So, I’ve mentioned my books and some of the material I’ve written, but I’m sure they don’t know just how dark it is inside my head.

 

Chatroom: Must be an interesting class.

Alisha: I try.

 

Chatroom: Do you think your interest in roleplay helps in creating characters? How so?

Alisha: I t does. That’s why I have so many. Kaia would often send me pictures of models that would spark a character’s voice for me. So, we’d set them up, give them lives, and explore them via interaction with each other on the page.

Most of them have ended as romances because that’s the type of writing chemistry we have.

But when we introduce new characters, they have secondary characters, and thus, we create more and more.

Since my character has to respond to hers, I find that I learn more about them than if I pushed them myself.

It’s strange, but a fun way to develop, and then I don’t have to make them all up myself. (It kind of feels like cheating).

 

Chatroom: So half the profiles on Facebook are really your fictional characters?

Alisha: Yes, they are! And my friends. I’ve made a lot of real life friends that way. By the way, I’m trying hard not to be a tangent queen, but sometimes I can’t help it.

And I can show you guys some profiles if you’re interested. They’re all inactive at the moment.

Severins.   Kaia.   Ria.

Alexandria (Ria) is my newbie vamp in the first two novels, but there are Sev’s and Kaia’s. And there are spoilers, so beware. 🙂

 

Chatroom: Do all the FB friends know that they are “friending” a fictional character?

Alisha: That I can’t be too sure about, but when I was in a big group, ran by a moderator with a heck of a lot more people, the majority of them knew because they’d read the books.

I wound up creating my own because I’m a control freak.

So, I’d say most of them knew.

I wish I could keep up with them as much as I’d like.

 

Come back for Part II in January 2016!