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Category Archives: Entertainment
“Blood Tied” Pre-Release Extravaganza Week #3
It’s hard to believe that I’m past the half-way point on the Blood Tied pre-release promotional tour. Where has the time gone? If you missed any of the content from the two previous weeks, you can find a list of the dates and places I visited over the past two weeks by clicking here and here.
Here is where I will be for week 3:
8/25 My Twitter
8/26 Charlie Cochet’s Purple Rose Tea House
8/27 The Grimoire
8/28 My Google+
8/29 Love Bytes Reviews
8/30 My Facebook Page
The Magical Elements–Fire
In one of my last posts, I started talking about the magical elements that form the foundation of magic in my series The Warlock Brothers of Havenbridge. If you missed the post on the magical element of earth, you can find it by clicking here.
Today, I’m going to tackle the magical element:
Fire
Fire is considered one of the strongest elements and one of the most unpredictable. It is the only element that is creative and destructive, and it is the only element that consumes another element to exist and grow. It gives us the ability to cook our foods, warm our homes, and light up the darkness.
Fire represents our passions. It governs intensity, desire, intuition, and creativity. It is a projective and transformative force used to cleanse and purify and to change or destroy. Magic that derives from the fire element personifies the emotions of the caster. In the right hands, it can be used to protect or banish negativity. In the wrong hands, the harnessed power could be used for selfish and egocentric motives such as rage or lust.
Those who draw their power from fire are considered creative, bold leaders, who are charming and passionate. Their wills are strong and often volatile. Cross swords with them at your own peril.
The Magical Elements–Earth
Although there are many different beliefs among pagans, wiccans, and others about what the elements of magic are, for the purposes of my world building for the Warlock Brothers of Havenbridge series, I settled on five basic elements–earth, fire, air, water, and spirit.
These elements form the foundation of magic in my books, and through these elements, the characters access the powers supplied to them by the Gate, the source of all magic in the world.
So, I thought it would be fun to offer my fans and readers a basic understanding of each element. Today, we start with the element that is considered the foundation of all the others:
Earth
Earth is considered the center of all things because it provides sustenance and shelter, and it is the only element that is capable of producing these commodities as a result of being in harmony with the other elements. From earth and water, we get plants and food. From earth and fire, we get metals used for weapons and shelter.
Earth represents stability, knowledge, strength, and growth. It is a connective and receptive force that ties all the elements together and binds people to one another. The magic harnessed through the earth element exemplifies basic ideas of balance, security, and prosperity.
Individuals who draw their power from earth have strong bonds with their families and will protect them not only with their lives but with all the power at their disposal. So if you mess with the loved ones of someone who draws his or her power from the earth, you had better watch out!
“Blood Tied” Pre-Release Extravaganza Week #2
So far the first week of the Blood Tied pre-release promotional tour has gone off without a hitch. I’ve had fun sharing the graphics I’ve created, the mini-author readings I’ve recorded, and the blog posts. I hope you’ve enjoyed them too. If you missed any of them, you can click here for the list of dates and places I visited last week.
Here’s the list for this week’s stops:
8/18 My Twitter
8/19 J.P Barnaby’s Author Website
8/20 The Grimoire
8/21 My Google+
8/22 My Facebook Page
8/23 M.J. O’Shea’s Author Blog
I hope to see everyone there!
“Teeth” VIDEO
In case you didn’t already know, I’m a huge Lady Gaga fan. I’m a fan of her music and the messages in her lyrics about love, acceptance, and the need to let our inner freak out. I can definitely relate to all three!
So when I started writing Blood Tied, which contains vampires (or vampyren as I call them in my world of Havenbridge) as part of the cast of characters, I went looking for musical inspiration as I tend to do.
That was when I remembered that Lady Gaga sang a song called “Teeth.” Naturally, I hopped onto YouTube and put that video on autoplay to help fan the creative fires of my muse. Even though I put own spin on the vampyren mythos, which makes them not quite how they are portrayed in this video, the creative inspiration worked and it got my muse to show me his teeth!
I hope you enjoy the video as much as I do!
Top 5 Creepiest Vampires
I don’t know about you, but for the past few years, I’ve wondered exactly how vampires have changed from bloodsucking monsters into misunderstood rebels. I mean, just who is their publicist? When I was a child, the thought of a vampire terrified me. They were undead, and they delighted on preying on innocents and sucking them dry. I remember going to sleep after watching a vampire movie, eyeing what I could turn into a stake if I needed to.
That hasn’t really been the case for a few years. Vampires have turned into the ultimate bad boys. They are the anti-heroes who just need to love of a good man (or woman) to get them to change their bloodthirsty ways.
Granted, I admit the idea intrigues me, and I wouldn’t mind being turned by Eric Northman from True Blood.
Damn, that man is hot!
Even so, to me, vampires were meant to be monsters, to inspire fear and to keep us up at night (and not in the good way). That’s why today, I’m going to share my top 5 creepiest vampires
#5 Grandpa Munster from The Munsters
Now, I know many of you might disagree, but this character always creeped the s#!+ out of me! He was far too nice and saccharin and the way he talked made he shudder. I always expected him to try to lure me into his white van with candy. Shivers!
#4 Collin Ferrell’s Jerry in Fright Night
Jerry was creepy to me because he was this insanely hot next door neighbor during the day but a ruthless killer at night. He’d flash you that roguish smirk and then slice open your throat with his fangs. The combo of hot and crazy creeps me out every time because being hot kinda blinds most of us to the crazy.
#3 Danny Glick from Salem’s Lot
This kid freaked the ever-loving fool out of me! In fact, I still have trouble with this scene as an adult. I won’t go near a window after watching this movie!
#2 The Master from The Strain
I was thrilled when I heard Guillermo Del Toro was taking on the vampire genre, and he hasn’t disappointed me yet with his interpretation. While the master was creepier before we actually got to see him, he still takes spot number 2 on my list.
#1 Barlow from Salem’s Lot
So, yeah, Salem’s Lot is obviously the definitive vampire story in my opinion, seeing as how two characters from this book/mini-series made it on my list, but can you blame me? Look at this guy! He’s one creepy ass mother! Watching this movie still terrifies me after all these years.
These are the kinds of vampires I remember, and to me, this is how vampires are supposed to be. What do you think? Do you prefer vampires as the scary monster or the misunderstood anti-hero?
“Blood Tied” Month Long Pre-Release Extravaganza
I can’t believe it’s almost here. The second book of my Warlock Brothers of Havenbridge series, Blood Tied, is set to release on September 7. In this book, Mason’s older brother Thad takes over as the main character, and we get to experience the magical world through his eyes as well as travel farther down the dark rabbit hole of evil and conspiracy that we entered upon the conclusion of Mason’s book, Spell Bound.
In case you haven’t seen the book cover yet, I just have to share with you the gorgeous art created for the cover by Dreamspinner’s own Paul Richmond.
I’m always amazed at what talented artists like Paul can do, especially since I couldn’t draw a straight line with a ruler to save my life, and no, I’m not joking. It’s true. I can’t draw a straight line with a ruler!
To celebrate the release of Blood Tied, I’ve once again come up with 30 days of content that will hopefully intrigue you and get you as excited about Thad’s story as I am.
Like last time, I’ll be sharing content in various places; some will be here on my author website or over at my Havenbridge website, which is completely dedicated to all things on this series. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you should. There’s background information, character art, quizzes, and more. Click here for instant teleportation to my Havenbridge site.
Where was I again? Oh yeah, I was telling you where you could find the 30 days of content. Some content will also be on my various social media–Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, so if you’re not connected with me on all three, now might be a good time to start because what I share on one social media site won’t be shared on the others.
To help you find the content, I’ll be providing a weekly list of dates and where I’ll be sharing the goodies. Here’s the list for the Kickoff Weekend and Week 1!
8/8 My Facebook Page
8/9 The Grimoire
8/10 The Grimoire
8/11 My Twitter
8/12 Rhys Ford’s Author Website
8/13 The Grimoire
8/14 My Google+
8/15 My Facebook Page
8/16 The Novel Approach Reviews
“Being True” Now in Audiobook!
I’m so excited! Today, Being True released as an audiobook. I can’t wait to hear how Mark Westfield tackles Tru and Javi’s voices. SQUEAL!!
If you’d like to listen to a sample, click here.
The “Spell Bound” Blog Tour
Hey, all. I’ve got some exciting news. My blog tour for Spell Bound starts today. For more information on it including the dates, stops, and giveaways, click here to head on over to my Havenbridge website a one-stop show for all things involving my magical world.