Guest Blog at Wayward Things

This has to be the most fun I've had doing a guest blog. Thank you Will Green and James Crawford! Check it out on Wayward Things

Welcome Guest Blogger Kira Saito: Bring On the Voodoo Queen!

Bring in the Voodoo/Hoodoo Queens

There are so many things in pop culture that are overrated. For example, long walks on the beach, men with mustaches and witches. Don’t get me wrong, I love Charmed and Anne Rice’s Mayfair witches as much as the next girl, but recently it’s been getting to be too much. I guess my main beef is with the recent adaptation of L.J. Smith’s The Secret Circle for the small screen. While being a fan of L.J. Smith’s Vampire Diaries, I never got into The Secret Circle books. So, when they were made into a television show, I thought, okay, let me try this again. What I saw horrified me. It repulsed me and knocked me into a deep coma. What disturbed me was the cliché beautiful witches, the small town and the general blah of it all. The show is so grey and stale, like dirty dishwater. 

 I suppose my general repulsion with how unoriginal mainstream YA books, TV. shows and movies were becoming started a few years ago (No Edward, you will never ever compare to the vampire Lestat, Louis, or even Damon).

As a writer, I kept asking myself, “Why, why why?”  How can the same thing be re-packaged and re-sold over and over again? Why aren’t the millions of authors who are writing cool, new stuff becoming popular? Where are they? They must be somewhere!

Some of my bitterness was eased when I discovered authors such as my gracious hostess Natasha Larry. Authors who were creating new worlds, characters and taking risks.

So, about six months ago, the wheels in my head started turning. I wanted to create a series that was different, magical and full of color. Like a mad woman, I searched high and low, when I realized the answer was right in front of my face in the form of my trusty voodoo doll. 

I started thinking about New Orleans voodoo/hoodoo queens and started to get confused. Where were they in pop culture? The only mainstream voodoo “witch” I could think of was Calypso from Pirates of the Caribbean and of course, Mama Odie from the Princess and the Frog.

 I thought, why are the voodoo/hoodoo queens always portrayed as old or just plain crazy? 

Where are the hot voodoo/hoodoo queens? Surely, not only witches can be pretty, right? So anyways, being obsessed with New Orleans voodoo/hoodoo, I think that voodoo/hoodoo queens are infinitely cooler than witches. I mean, they can do it all. They’re not afraid of healing, talking to spirits, and cursing those that deserve it. They can bring the dead back to life and create zombies if they want to. So, if they’re so cool, why are they so unrated? I don’t know. I think people see voodoo/hoodoo as dark and evil, it really isn’t. Well, it can be, but so can witchcraft.

Keeping all of this craziness in mind, I became determined to make voodoo/hoodoo queens as popular, if not more popular than witches. My madness gave birth to Arelia LaRue, a pretty, young voodoo/hoodoo queen from New Orleans. 

I’m not sure if people will ever come to accept voodoo/hoodoo queens as relatable, or lovable as witches, but an author can try, can’t she?  There’s no point in complaining about stuff you don’t like if you never try to change it.

So, my lovely readers, if you’re tired of the same old YA paranormal stuff, step into to intoxicating world of New Orleans voodoo/hoodoo. 

Sixteen year old Arelia LaRue lives in New Orleans where the music is loud, voodoo queens inhabit every street corner, and the ghosts are alive and well. Despite her surroundings, all she wants is to help her Grand-mere Bea pay the rent and save up for college. 

When her best friend Sabrina convinces her to take a well-paying summer job at the infamous Darkwood plantation, owned by the wealthy LaPlante family, Arelia agrees. 

However, at Darkwood strange things start to happen, and gorgeous Lucus LaPlante insists that he needs her help. Soon, the powers that Arelia has been denying all her life, come out to play and she discovers mysteries about herself that she could have never imagined.

Onlywire and Other Cool Syndication Programs

When Rainy Kaye isn't plotting world domination, she enjoys coaching others about it on her blog: http://www.rainyofthedark.com. She also likes fluffy kittens.

OnlyWire

Natasha asked me to cover OnlyWire. Though I've talked about it some on my blog, I find some people still aren't quite sure about it, so I'm happy to continue to spread the word.

SEO, search engine optimization, is that strange little acronym that pops up when people are researching internet marketing, but isn't always fully explained. The really short, simple version is: SEO is activities which improve the ranking of your website on search engines.

Not all websites are created equal. But there's so many more things than just the actual website which influences how search engines look at it. Another is the back links—websites which link to your site. The ones that count are called “dofollow”. Links on websites which don't use “dofollow” do not count toward your SEO.

This is why you'll see some blogs advertise that they're NOT a “dofollow”. It helps keep spammers at bay. It's also kind of not useful to their commenter, but all's fair in love and war, right?

So you're probably wondering what all this has to do with OnlyWire.

OnlyWire is a nifty little website and software combination which helps promote your link to multiple websites. Many of these are “dofollows”. Aha! It helps build back links, you think. And you would be right.

Mostly.

Some of the OnlyWire sites are directories, meaning you can happily plug your link and be on your merry way. Many are not. There are communities as well, such as Plurk and Friendster. These require participation, just like Facebook or Twitter. So don't think you'll get off scott free just plugging your link to all of them.

Some require communities.

The nice thing with OnlyWire is you can opt-in to which communities you wish to use. So if you don't like one, don't use it. The bad thing is, you do have to setup the accounts and fill out the information for the first time you make a connection to each community. Expect to dedicate the better part of a day, and a few cups of coffee, to the initial process.

Or, you can simply fill in the accounts you already use and ignore the others.

But the more, the merrier.

Mostly.

OnlyWire is not the only of its kind. There are many, and many more which offer a much larger list of networks. Here's the catch:

When you find one of these softwares with 100 or 200 or more, you have to stop and ask: how many of these are “dofollow”? Even then, how many have any serious weight? Not all “dofollows” are the same. A link on a “dofollow” which has been around for a month won't have nearly the same clout as one that's been around for ten years.

Mostly.

In fact, the whole SEO thing is rather cryptic because search engines simply don't want to reveal what makes them tick, exactly. Why? Then you can exploit it.

In my opinion, using a tool like OnlyWire is fair as long as it's a link you would have shared to a community you would have used if you had to do it by hand. It's also better, both technically and morally, if you strive to build a community on those networks too.

And no, OnlyWire isn't flawless, but it's pretty cool.

Mostly.

Have you used OnlyWire or any other such syndication program?

Welcome Guest Blogger: Erin O'Riordan

“Season of the Witch”

Guest Post by Erin O’Riordan

If you’re a Charlaine Harris/Southern Vampire series addict like I am, and you also enjoy the televised version of Sookie Stackhouse’s paranormal adventures, you’re anxiously waiting Season 4 of True Blood. Season 3 introduced some witches to Bon Temps, and from the previews it appears the witches will be an essential part of the upcoming season. The coven may even have the ability to raise the dead.

In Charlaine Harris’ fictional town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, being a witch is no big deal--you’re sharing the town with telepaths, vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters and the occasional Maenad. Even set in a more ordinary world, fictional witches are a lot of fun to write. Magic can be portrayed in big, bombastic displays of power, like the wizard duels in Harry Potter’s world. Magic can also be a more subtle force.

In the Pagan Spirits novel series, I portray the magic practiced by twin witches Allie and Zen Van Zandt in a subtle way. The sisters brew potions and cast spells the way real-world witches do. Zen does have a special power; she feels what other people around her are feeling. In the first two books, Beltane and Midsummer Night, Allie doesn’t seem to have a supernatural ability. She’ll start to discover her innate gift in the series’ third novel. As the series continues, the sisters’ magical powers will grow.

True Blood introduced viewers to the witches slowly. At first, the new Merlotte’s waitress and Lafayette’s new boyfriend were subtly witchy. Over a few episodes, evidence of their hinky powers began to emerge. The new season promises to kick the magic up another notch. This reflects the experience of real people who practice The Craft: the more experience a witch gets, the more confidence she has in magic, and the added bit of faith makes the magic stronger. A witch’s powers naturally increase over time, with experience, wisdom and practice.

I’ve been a devoted paranormal fiction reader for about six years now, and a writer in the genre for almost as long. I can’t get enough of the stuff, whether it’s the latest Black Dagger Brotherhood novel, the new season of True Blood or the next movie in the Twilight saga. I love giving back by putting my own witches, werewolves and vampires out there for the world to see. The give and take of storytelling makes the real world a much more magical place…and it’s a pretty magical place already.

The following excerpt is from a short story I wrote called “Handsome and Regretful,” a spin on the classic European fairy tale of Hansel & Gretel. In my novels, I like to firmly ground my witches in reality as well as magic. In this stand-alone short, I had fun writing about scary, fairy tale witches:

“They fed him blueberry pie, peppermint ice cream, chocolate milkshakes, peanut butter fudge, and devil’s food cake. They boy ate until he was stuffed and sleepy. The sisters led him to their bed, a bed which they seemed to share. This didn’t seem right, but by then he was too full and sleepy to protest.

“This is the part, he said to himself, where the dream becomes a nightmare. The boy lay on the soft pink blanket of the big bed. The sisters lay beside him, one on either side. They began stroking his hair and kissing his chubby cheeks. Now the boy was confused. He wanted to stay, but everything inside him was telling him that he should go.

“As if they were reading his mind, the sisters said to him, ‘Don’t be afraid, boy. Lie back and relax. Stay here with us tonight. We won’t hurt you.’

“The boy did relax a little. The sisters took turns kissing his mouth. Then they kissed him both at once. Their lips moved down his chin, down his throat. They unbuttoned his shirt and kissed his chest. Their fingers reached down and played with his plump little belly as their tongues and lips sucked and licked at his chest. All of his fear of these two strangers disappeared in a haze of satisfaction.”

The boy is an 18-year-old high school graduate, and he should have trusted his instincts, because horrors lay in store for him. Like the fairy tale, though, it has a happy ending. “Handsome and Regretful” is published in a multi-author anthology called Revealing All Your Dirty Little Secrets (http://www.amazon.com/Revealing-Little-Secrets-paperback-interior/dp/B004J8LKVM).

Readers can find the Pagan Spirits series, and my other writing, at www.aeess.com. My book blog is also called Pagan Spirits, and you can find it at http://www.erinoriordan.blogspot.com. 

Welcome Guest Blogger: Author Krystal McLaughlin

I met Krystal McLaughlin, a very talented writer, a few months ago on Book Blogs. I read, loved and reviewed her novel Witch's Lottery and invited her to guest blog about her newest release: A Dragon Forsaken.  Enjoy!


I am really excited to be doing this guest blog today, because it is giving me the opportunity to introduce you all to the magical world I've created. The Enchanted Island Series is about friendship and family, love and sacrifice. It's about inner strength and finding out who you are in a world full of mystery, secrets, and magic. Each book in the series is unique, each one coming from a different character's perspective. In The Witches Lottery, you follow Sophia on a journey of awakening and self discovery as she figures out where she fits in to the new world she has been thrown into. In A Dragon Forsaken, Daphne's journey is a little darker, filled with a little more action and adventure as you journey with her to search through a tangled web of secrets and lies, where she is ultimately faced with a decision that could change her life forever.

I got the idea for the series because I liked the concept of a 'lottery of magical abilities.' In a world that is only slightly different than the one we live in, it's intriguing for me to have such a wide variety of powers that work to enhance the characters in ways that aren't always expected. Until you 'awaken', not only do you not know about the magical world's existence, you also have no idea what ability will manifest inside of you.


Today, I'd like to share with you an excerpt of A Dragon Forsaken. I hope that you enjoy it and are just as intrigued by Daphne as I was.


I could hear my prey running. His footsteps splashed through the puddles as he ran as fast as he could from my pursuit. With my heightened senses, I could even hear the rapid beating of his heart from his exertion. As for me, I could have been a shadow, a ghost; I was that silent and when I saw him stop ahead of me on the darkened street to catch a breath, I knew I was that fast too.

There was no one else around. Typical of the type of neighborhood I had hunted him through. No matter who you thought your friends were, when you lived your life in the slums of society, people tended to leave you behind when their lives were in jeopardy, even if it cost you yours. Plus this was the type of place where people tended to look the other way instead of inviting trouble on themselves.

I watched him spin around in circles trying to locate me, but I was hidden, completely invisible as the night swallowed me up. I smiled when he straightened and a smirk appeared on his face. He thought he had lost me. How naive of him. How human.



The man before me closed his eyes and began to cry. Massive sobs wracked his body as he held up his arms trying to protect himself. "Please," he cried. "I don't want to die."

Die? I thought and then laughed cruelly. There was a time when I would have chosen that. I wasn't convinced it wouldn't come again, but for now, I had Sophia's conscience keeping my temper in check and the stink of death would not cloud the night tonight. At least not by me.

When the first lick of fire spilled from my lips, though, I thought, Doesn't mean I can't scare him. His screams echoed through the streets while I showed him what a dragon could do.


The Witches Lottery and A Dragon Forsaken are both available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords. For more information on the series or any other upcoming releases, please visit http://krystalmclaughlin.blogspot.com