A mortal woman who would dare fall in love with a god... #Paranormal #Romance #ASMSG

In writing my latest novel, a paranormal scifi-romance, Upon This Rock, I delved into the vast treasure trove of myth, legend and various religions to find inspiration. The premise was relatively simple, a mortal woman, courted and seduced by a god in her nightly dreams, would do anything to meet her lover in person. She would journey to the ends of the Earth for her loving devotion...

Perhaps even the Vatican.

The idea of gods, angels and demons seducing mortal women is embedded in every mythology across human history. What does that say about women ... that they are such ripe targets for seduction and rape? What does that say about the predatory natures of these gods?

Hindu gods seduced and impregnated mortals, as did Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Greek and Roman gods. Zues's many lovers (mortal and otherwise) are so well known, the moons of Jupiter are named after them.

And what would be the result of such a union?

Demigods.

Demigods are some of the most famous and infamous characters of lore.

In Judeo-Christian myth, the Old Testament (Torah) has a peculiar line about The Nephilim...

"The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, when the sons of God came unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them; the same were the mighty men of old, the men of renown."

Sounds a lot like a Demigod by Greco-Roman definitions.

Sadly, the Demigods had it rough. They were mostly human, imbued with special abilities from their divine parentage, but mired in the mess of humanity and forever struggling against the manipulations of gods who used them to further their selfish agendas.

Thousands of years have passed since the days of Nephilim and Demigods, the days when gods, angels and demons walked among us, seducing women, and birthing supernaturally gifted half-breeds. 

Herein lies the thread of my novel, UPON THIS ROCK.

What if the Gods sought to reenter our world, to once more seduce women and regain political and religious favor among the nations of men? Ashley Rowan is lured in by the loving, patient whispers of Mithra. He promises they can be together, if only she accepts his gifts of power and journeys to the gate, to open the way to his world. 

Mithra has labored for centuries to reach this moment, the chance for gods to once more walk among the men and women of Earth.

Its Fantasy. Scifi. Mythical and legendary, encompassing thousands of years of human history, and the dark manipulations of supernatural creatures from other worlds across the galaxy. They await us at the door, ready to barge through the gateway hidden beneath the Vatican ... UPON THIS ROCK.

Would you say I have a plethora of Monsters? #Vampires #Weres #ASMSG

I originally posted this in MODERN GOOD READS, but I thought I should revive the subject, because I am planning a novel series that will involve a number of different supernatural entities.

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1293966-would-you-say-i-have-a-plethora-of-monsters

The Monster Squad includes everything but the kitchen sink

There's a line in "Three Amigos" where the infamous bandito El Guapo says to his flunkie, after a string of pinatas is revealed for his birthday party, "Would you say I have a plethora of pinatas?"

I laugh at it every time. 

In the world of Urban Fantasy, we seem to have tons of books filled with every monster imaginable: witches, warlocks, wizards, vamps, weres, fairies, and all the dark fantasy creatures you can shake a stick at. 

Vampires, weres, and witches - oh my!

Do readers really want a book filled with every monster conceivable? Is it too much? Overkill?

Would you say I have a plethora of monsters? 

Speak up readers, would you prefer one or two types of supernatural creatures, or do you want the whole gamut with supporting cast? 

My first comment was:

I have read a gazillion different explanations for how different races of creatures/monsters came to be. Everything from evolution to aliens to versions of creation and all things in-between.

The explanations are fascinating when done properly.

But I do question the need to bring in a large cast of monsters right out the gate in a novel. I think it might be more readily accepted if it took several novels to build that world a piece at a time.

Charlaine Harris is a good example of that. She built her world over the course of many novels. It took easily 4-5 books before we had a clear view of all the supernaturals slipping between the cracks of normal society. 

Later in the conversation, this was my thoughts:

Style has a lot to do with it. And subtlety. Even the legendary Jim Butcher has 4-5 info dumps in order to acclimatize the reader to his intricate world with all these various supernatural people/things/magics going on.

I suspect Jim's editors probably slim his material down to the point that some subtlety is lost. Takes time to work in world building step by step. If editors don't want to give you that time in exchange for maintaining pacing, then you end up with an infodump scene to bring the readers up to speed.

The author who I respect most for bringing me into his worlds full of infinitely weird and horrific creatures/events is Dean Koontz. The man is a master at subtle world building. You never even feel it. Virtually no infodumps whatsoever. All of a sudden you find yourself deeply immersed in his strange macabre world, no clue how he brought you there. 

So, readers, writers, Urban Fantasy enthusiasts, speak up. What is your opinion on the monster menagerie?

Paranormal Thriller Baddassary ~ COUNCIL OF PEACOCKS #Paranormal #Thriller #Mustread #ASMSG

 

COUNCIL OF PEACOCKS (ACTIVATION)

by M. Joseph Murphy

 ★★★★★

 AMAZON US

AMAZON UK

Add it to your 'want to read' on GOODREADS

THE BLURB:

There is a dark world, hidden in plain sight, filled with vengeful djinn and shadowy demons.

The Council of Peacocks, a group of ruthless wizards, has plans for the human race.

For centuries they have plotted and schemed. Now, the moment of Activation draws near.

Wisdom, an immortal sorcerer, has gathered a band of hybrid youths with extraordinary powers. They are trained to stop the Council. But there’s something that Wisdom doesn’t know.

The Council is no longer working alone.

If Wisdom and his students cannot stop The Council, the world as they know it will cease to exist.

This is the first installment of the Activation Series. Grab your copy now.

THE REVIEW ★★★★★:

I read this book twice over, as a beta ~ critique reader.  The thriller intensity sucked me in, hook, line and sinker.  My inner scifi/paranormal/horror geek was thoroughly satisfied.

This is precisely the kind of book I enjoy reading.  It hits all the buttons: Epic battles, epic moments of self-discovery, epic tales of heroes and villains, and of course there's loads of angst ridden teenagers with badass paranormal/psychokinesis abilities, trying to find their way through horrific scenes of violence and callous disregard for human life.  

Can I get HELL YEAH?

Its X-MEN meets CLASH OF THE TITANS directed by Quentin Tarantino. *cue the cheesy surfer music*

We begin the story with this enigmatic character named Wisdom.  He’s just been through a vicious brawl, but he won.  Wisdom isn’t exactly human, he’s something else:  a demi-god, so powerful he can move through space-time to restart the battle in an attempt to balk fate. This isn’t the first time he’s fought this battle.

But something has changed.  Some other party is mucking about in the timeline, the outcome is no longer certain.

As the tale unfolds, we meet a series of gifted people Wisdom has collected over the years, the Anomalies.  They are being trained for the showdown.

A secret society of sorcerers known as The Council of Peacocks is plotting their return to power.  Once a thriving religious group, they are now led by one of Wisdom’s mistakes, Propates, a man transformed into an immortal.  The Council intends to use humanity as a bartering chip in their deals with demonic entities from other dimensions who want a piece of Earth. 

With his army of ragtag teenager Anomalies, Wisdom intends to stop the Council, at all costs.  But these kids are freaks of nature who don’t even know how they came to be, let alone how to harness their wicked powers.

And how can a band of kids who have more in common with demons than angels become heroes when they barely understand what the hell Wisdom is asking them to do?

In the end, we are securely lined up for the next installment of a very promising series. 

M. Joseph Murphy raises concepts of faith, religion, an insightful view of human history, and a couple of philosophical questions.  

Is there really such a thing as fate?  And if we could move through time, could we change it?

Stalk M. Joseph Murphy at all his social media haunts:

Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7163595.M_Joseph_Murphy 

Blog http://councilofpeacocks.blogspot.ca/

Twitter  https://twitter.com/windswarlock

Adventures in ebook cover art--Part 3

If you're wanting to get up to speed on parts 1 & 2 of this series of posts on my adventures in ebook cover artistry check these out real quick:

http://thenightlifeseries.blogspot.com/2012/08/adventures-in-ebook-cover-artistry.html

http://thenightlifeseries.blogspot.com/2012/10/adventures-in-ebook-cover-artistry-part.html

In the above-mentioned posts, I have expounded greatly on the merits of hiring freelance cover artists, freelance artists, and freelance digital graphics designers through freelanced.com.  That's all fine and dandy, but it can be a time consuming pain in the ass.  If you want a quick and professional ebook cover, and you're willing to go with an artist's vision rather than your own design, consider exploring the wonderful world of PRE-MADE COVERS.

There's a whole bunch of affordable, high-quality ebook covers to be had if you spend some time hunting for them.  I spend far too much time doing just that.  But it paid off.  I found the cover I needed and wanted, and it was ready to go.  All they had to do was add a little blood.  No cover of the Nightlife Series is ever complete without a little blood.

Now I thought this was gorgeous, a real eye magnet.  Beyond the obvious aesthetics of the image, the woman actually looks like the Main Character in my novel, as I envisioned her.  I didn't have to compromise my standards and preference of design to go with this cover.  It pretty much fit my needs perfectly. This was the MOST AFFORDABLE cover I have ever purchased, $60.00.  I probably would've paid double that for this image because it fit my needs so well, and it looks awesome.  (Don't tell my cover artist)

Who did this wonderful cover? Amygdala Design.  She has numerous PRE-MADE COVERS available on her site for $60.  Her custom design services start at $150.00.  At this level of quality, you cannot complain about those prices.  I have seen cover artists charge much more for this quality of work. Here's the full URL of her site if you want to check her out:

http://amygdaladesign.net/

Have I forsaken my days of hiring freelancers to get the quality of cover art I want at my price?  Not necessarily.   But I will definitely consider Amygdala Design for the next cover art project I have coming up.   Definitely.

Until next time.

Travis

Adventures in ebook cover art--Part 2

Quality ebook cover art is hard to come by for less than $150-$400.  But it can be done, consistently, if you do what I do. I hire freelance artists/graphic-designers, at the price I'm willing to pay, to make a cover based on my own design concepts. See the first post on adventures in cover artistry: http://thenightlifeseries.blogspot.com/2012/08/adventures-in-ebook-cover-artistry.html

Here's where I go for my ebook cover artists:

http://www.freelanced.com/

Initially, I found a buttload of talented artists working in illustration and graphics design when I posted my ebook cover art job.  Fifty different artists applied for the job.  It was difficult to choose just one.  After going through this process several times, hiring artists and working through multiple mockups-proofs, I settled on the "prove you're the one" method.

The problem with artists is they usually have a day job.  They do this graphic design stuff on the side.  Finding time to do what I want at the price I'm willing to pay is an issue.

Sure, if I wished to throw hundreds of dollars at an artist, they'd drop everything and have my work done in two days.  But I'm kinda cheap.  That's what my wife says.

I sorted through many an artist who took a week or more getting back to me by email in order to find those who respond immediately and get the work done in days rather than weeks.  Its no surprise that the artists who run full a time graphic design business are the most prompt and professional.  Its their bread and butter to do this stuff.

Lisa Strong is the latest graphic designer I hired.  She's awesome on timeliness, professionalism, and she does as many modifications and proofs as necessary to reach a finished product you're happy with: 

http://www.freelanced.com/lisastrong

Here's the cover for "The Nightlife Las Vegas" she finished in five days.  Two of those days I wasted in not getting back to her on my opinion of the initial proof work.

The trick to a good cover is the K.I.S.S. principle, Keep It Simple Stupid.  Everything on your cover must be recognizable from a thumbnail image.  Most ebook shoppers will never see more than a thumbnail image of your ebook until they click on it.  Your ebook better be one cool-ass lookin' thumbnail, especially if you're an unknown Indie author.  Us Indies are always judged by our covers, initially.

This cover by Lisa Strong, has a wonderful thumbnail appeal.  Everyone can see the elegant bright white fonts and the blood splattered Las Vegas sign. Simple. Colorful. Grabs the eye. The concepts embodied in this cover are effectively communicated at both thumbnail and full size.

Give Lisa a shot.  If you're not getting what you want on an ebook cover design, perhaps you need to provide better tools and references for what you want.  I scoured the web for imagery and tools to give to Lisa. I provided her with a set of Photoshop blood splatter tools for use on my covers, along with the sign image. 

Make your cover artist's job easy, and you will get what you want.

Stay tuned for my next blog post detailing the various stages of development working through several artists on "The Nightlife Las Vegas" cover.

Travis

First mockup for 'The Nightlife Las Vegas"

Joshua Allen has done a very sharp mockup of a concept for "The Nightlife: Las Vegas" cover--the second in the Nightlife series.  Its a work in progress, but you can see it coming along nicely.  I'll continue to post each subsequent version until we get to the finished product.

Joshua Allen is a professional book illustrator and comic artist: http://www.freelanced.com/joshuamallen

The Nightlife: New York is on smashwords.com $.99!

Its done, 'The Nightlife: New York' is published on Amazon and smashwords.com.
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/217404

Here's the blurb:

Vampires, strippers, escorts, night clubs, gangbangers, pimps and corrupt cops, the Nightlife of New York is never boring.

Is she a beautiful blond guardian angel as he imagined, or something else entirely?  When Michelle saves Aaron's life she shares the benefits of her blood (after getting him shot accidentally).  He awakes a changed man, living in a purgatory of eternal night, never to see the sunrise again.

Michelle drags Aaron through a hardcore learning curve of vampiric nightlife.  Forced to adapt to servitude, Aaron is subject to her authority and compulsion.  She orders him around like a puppet on a string, a dog on a very short leash.  First things first, he must learn to feed properly without creating bloodslaves (humans addicted to the powerful drug-like effect of their venomous bite).

And then she puts him to work--a male escort in the sex trade--same as Michelle--she's no angel.  Aaron walks a tightrope of strictly controlled feeding regiments and intensely erotic sexual adventures while catering to the neurotic control-freak tendencies of his new master.  It's do or die, Michelle vows to eliminate him if he proves too dangerous or difficult to control.  The real kicker--amidst all these shocking and degrading new adjustments, Aaron finds he's falling in love.

Can he manage all this and retain some scrap of his humanity?  Innocence is a luxury few can afford in the decadent nightlife of New York City.  In a world where sex, blood, and power over women is so readily accessible, Aaron struggles against the predatory instincts deeply rooted in his new psyche.  He must find his way quickly, maintaining rigid self-control, or risk the consequences of Michelle's wrath.