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Author Yolanda Sfetsos, Urban Fantasy & A Patch of Darkness – Guest Post

Posted by Ren

Hello Friends, I’m happy to have Yolanda Sfetsos, author extraordinaire, back again. Welcome, Yolanda

Hi there! Firstly, I’d like to thank Ren.

It’s great to be here.

So, today I’m going to talk a little bit about urban fantasy. It’s one of my favorite genres to write and read. I have HEAPS of UF books on my TBR pile. I’m addicted to them! And have a lot of UF ideas I want to write, too.

My upcoming release from Samhain Publishing is called A Patch of Darkness, and happens to be the first book in my Sierra Fox series. So, who’s Sierra Fox, and what kind of world does she live in? Well, it’s pretty much a world like ours, but with a few differences. For starters, everyone knows that ghosts are real. They’re mostly spirits who aren’t ready to move on yet, but that’s not always the case. Some stay with their living relatives, others haunt places peacefully, but there are some nasty spooks who like to cause chaos. And some were never human.

That’s where Sierra comes in. She’s a registered Spook Catcher, which means people hire her to investigate and capture these disruptive, pesky ghosts. Once they’re captured, she delivers them to the Spook Catcher Council for sentencing… but of course, that’s just one facet of her world. There are other creatures and dangers hidden in the dark.

Urban fantasy is a genre that allows me to delve into some pretty dark situations. While the story is set in a contemporary world we all recognize, it’s also a mix of fact, fiction, and myth. It throws everything we think we know out of balance. I also shake Sierra’s life a little by introducing several love interests, and a hidden family legacy.

So, that’s why I love this genre! It’s a perfect mix of just about everything. I love the creative freedom an urban fantasy world gives me.

Do you like reading urban fantasy? If you do, what do you especially like about it?

Thanks for reading,

Yolanda

Now, kiddies, check out the excerpt for Yolanda’s new release, A Patch of Darkness (Book #1 of the Sierra Fox Stories) available on May 15th

click on cover to buy

SYNOPSIS:

In a perfect world, Sierra Fox would have stayed away from the Council she left years ago. But in this world—where spirits have the right to walk among the living—it’s her job to round up troublesome spooks and bring them before that very same Council.

Though her desk is piled high with open cases, she can’t resist an anonymous summons to a mysterious late-night meeting with a bunch of other hunters, each of whom seems to have a unique specialty. The news is dire: something is tearing at the fabric of the universe. If the hunters can’t find who or why in time, something’s going to give in a very messy way.

As current cases, family secrets, new clues and her tangled love life slowly wind themselves into an impossible knot, Sierra finds herself the target of a power-sucking duo intent on stealing her mojo. And realizing she holds the key to the last hope of sealing the widening rift.

EXCERPT:

Chapter One

“Are you daydreaming again?”

I blinked a few times, trying to clear the jumble of thoughts from my mind so I could focus on the man sitting across from me.

How romantic! We were supposed to be enjoying a nice dinner together and I was trying to mentally sort through my to-do list.

Jonathan Wells tries hard to accommodate my unconventional life. Yet, most of the time he’s the one going out of his way, or being stood up because “something important came up” at the last minute. It was hard to balance everything sometimes.

Most of the time I find myself torn between feeling sorry for him and feeling like I don’t deserve him. I’m very interested in him, though. I want us to become more than just a string of dates never tying together. Jonathan makes me laugh. He makes my heart beat faster. He’s an amazing, kind-hearted man with stunning, boyish looks I find myself gazing at all the time.

“I’m sorry. I was just thinking about…” I closed my mouth. That sounded so pathetic. Why was I thinking about anything when he was sitting across from me in a beautiful Italian restaurant? The weight of his leg against mine suddenly distracted me from everything else.

“You usually are,” he said with a sheepish grin.

“I promise, no more daydreaming. Well, unless it’s about you. Oh, and never when you’re just across the table from me.”

Jonathan’s grin widened and the corners of his eyes wrinkled in an adorable way that made my stomach drop.

“It sounds to me like we just made a deal, Ms. Fox.”

I flashed him a quick smile and nodded. “Thanks for bringing me here tonight. I really need a break from everything.”

“Well, maybe it’s time you and I got away from it all by taking off for the weekend.”

“I’d love to, Jonathan, really I would, but you know I can’t just up and leave. I’ve got a ton of unresolved cases.” And even more I haven’t even looked at.

“There’s a haunted lighthouse in it for you, if you agree,” he said, waggling his dark eyebrows. Jonathan sure knew how to tempt me.

I bit down on my bottom lip. “As tempting as that sounds, I can’t leave right now. Maybe in a few months…” I sighed. “I mean, it’s not just me. What about the bookstore? You can’t close up for the weekend, can you?”

Jonathan’s disappointment was obvious. He averted his dark eyes to wind a clump of spaghetti around his fork. “The bookstore could have a month off and no one would notice. Oh, hold on—it did! And as I said, no one noticed.” He shoveled the Bolognese-smothered forkful into his mouth.

I smiled sympathetically. His bookstore, Prologue, was a cramped two-story corner store in the heart of the city. It was hard to compete with the large book chains only blocks away. Still, Jonathan gave his bookstore all he had and specialized in genre-specific novels and occult reference books other places didn’t stock.

That’s actually where we met, while I was on a job in Prologue. Of course, I waited until the job was done before giving in to a date with him. It’s not wise to cross professional and personal wires. I find it’s better to separate the two when possible.

Jonathan had called me because a poltergeist was tearing his books and store apart. I was contracted to find him, her, or even them—sometimes they like to team up, it’s very adolescent but not out of the question.

Chaotic ghostly behavior is unacceptable in society. It’s my job to locate and deliver them to stand trial. Break the rules and they’re forcibly isolated from society, and that’s if they have a lenient judge. Most times, something this severe could land the spook a one-way ticket to the ghostly patch forever, never able to return again after banishment.

I’ve been responsible for a few of those cases.

Read the rest of the excerpt here.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Wife. Mother. Writer. Bibliophile. Dreamer. Animal lover. Intrigued by the supernatural. Horror freak. Zombie enthusiast. Movie & music fan. Slave to her muse.

Yolanda lives in Sydney, Australia with her awesome husband, lovely daughter, and cheeky cat.

Where to find Yolanda

Website

Twitter

Goodreads

Defining Urban Fantasy (urbanfantasyland.wordpress.com)
Genre: Urban Fantasy (worldwritsmall.wordpress.com)
Urban Fantasy – A Deliciously Dark Discovery by Stacey Brutger, Author of Electric Storm (jillarcherauthor.wordpress.com)

Posted in Blog Tour, Guest Post, Urban Fantasy

Maurice Sendak: The Original Wild Thing…In Memoriam

May 9

Posted by Ren

Maurice Sendak (1928 – 2012)

I, like millions of other kids, have traveled to the place Where The Wild Things Are. We conquered the Wild Things by doing the ultimate stare-down, we became King and danced the Wild Rumpus. We lived for the chaos and mayhem, unleashing the wildness that everyday rules sought to contain within us.

It was wonderful and brilliant.

Just like the man whose imagination set us free.

Maurice Sendak died yesterday and it was a very sad day, indeed.

While he had authored and illustrated many other books, this one is the one that most of us took to heart.

I remember reading this particular story as a kid and being enthralled with the idea of running amok. I guess this explains my attitude towards things today. Its not a bad thing but being fearless at times is great lol.

When I read it to my daughter, I did the whole thing with the required sound-effects. We gnashed our terrible teeth, stared unblinkingly into each other’s eyes and did our own version of the Wild Rumpus. This, of course, involved me being a monster and having my daughter jump on my back in her Little Mermaid pajamas.

Maurice Sendak broke the rules. He refused to play it safe, especially when it came to driving the imagination of children the world over.

He told it like it was: it was okay to pretend and to escape from the harsh realities of life. He didn’t believe in insulting a child’s intelligence by claiming everything was sunny and full of roses.

Mr. Sendak, like Dr. Seuss and other countless literary rebels, defied The Man and put the type of work out there that would almost guarantee a permanent ban from public libraries. Adults simply didn’t get him and he didn’t care.

But children got him, though, and that was the most important thing of all.

I snatched this from Nathan Barry in the comments section over at Wired. He in turn was kind enough to link it back to an original post here.

“Once a little boy sent me a charming card with a little drawing on it. I loved it. I answer all my children’s letters — sometimes very hastily — but this one I lingered over. I sent him a card and I drew a picture of a Wild Thing on it. I wrote, “Dear Jim: I loved your card.” Then I got a letter back from his mother and she said, “Jim loved your card so much he ate it.” That to me was one of the highest compliments I’ve ever received. He didn’t care that it was an original Maurice Sendak drawing or anything. He saw it, he loved it, he ate it.”

- Maurice Sendak

That’s the kind of impact this man had.

R.I.P. Mr. Sendak *hugs*

Posted in Children's Books, In Memoriam

3 Comments

Illin’ and my Right to Party…In Memoriam

May 4

Posted by Ren

Classic shot of Run-DMC and The Beastie Boys

I screamed when I heard that Jam Master Jay had been murdered. Run-DMC was THE definitive rap group back in the day. I stomped around shouting the lyrics to “Its like that” and wore “My Adidas” with pride. I was loving it.

Then these three little white boys came along and I was like “What the f-”

MikeD MCA AD-Rock

But I was hooked.

Sure these guys had been around for a while but when Licensed to Ill hit the streets, people sat up and took notice. They were brash, wild, crazy and they set the platform for the bulk of the groups out here today.

I remember going to parties and jumping in a circle with guys and girls shouting out, word for word, the entire album. That was back when there were actual albums and tapes. It was crazy, wild and FUN!

The Beastie Boys turned the game on its head. They brought in a whole new flavour to the scene and all of us, black and white, lapped it up. There wasn’t a divide, none of this us versus them kind of shit. It was all about the music and the party.

Now one of them has gone home.

Adam “MCA” Yauch died today after a long bout with cancer. Someone posted this: Fuck Cancer. I’ll second that ten times over.

I screamed when I heard of his passing. Not because I had kept up with them over the years but because one: it was another part of my youth taken from me under tragic circumstances and two: all of the Beastie Boys were supposed to grow old with me.

Just like Jam Master Jay. Just like all the rest of the ones from back in the day who aren’t here today.

One of my co-workers couldn’t understand why I was so upset when (according to her great knowledge) they haven’t done anything in over 30 years. I could barely restrain myself from telling her to fuck off. What the hell does she know?

I shouted at her that if it were one of the members of NKOTB she wouldn’t be saying anything. Her response? “Well they’re doing concerts and stuff.” Yes, my friends, she is one of the hordes of women chasing down 90s boy-band New Kids on the Block. Good for her. May they continue to Hang Tough.

I pulled The Beastie Boy’s Official Statement from Stenogram:

Adam Yauch | 1964-2012
It is with great sadness that we confirm that musician, rapper, activist and director Adam “MCA” Yauch, founding member of Beastie Boys and also of the Milarepa Foundation that produced the Tibetan Freedom Concert benefits, and film production and distribution company Oscilloscope Laboratories, passed away in his native New York City this morning after a near-three-year battle with cancer. He was 47 years old.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Yauch taught himself to play bass in high school, forming a band for his 17th birthday party that would later become known the world over as Beastie Boys.

With fellow members Michael “Mike D” Diamond and Adam “Adrock” Horovitz, Beastie Boys would go on to sell over 40 million records, release four #1 albums–including the first hip hop album ever to top the Billboard 200, the band’s 1986 debut full length, Licensed To Ill–win three Grammys, and the MTV Video Vanguard Lifetime Achievement award. Last month Beastie Boys were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, with Diamond and Horovitz reading an acceptance speech on behalf of Yauch, who was unable to attend.

In addition to his hand in creating such historic Beastie Boys albums as Paul’s Boutique, Check Your Head, Ill Communication, Hello Nasty and more, Yauch was a founder of the Milarepa Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting awareness and activism regarding the injustices perpetrated on native Tibetans by Chinese occupational government and military forces. In 1996, Milarepa produced the first Tibetan Freedom Concert in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, which was attended by 100,000 people, making it the biggest benefit concert on U.S. soil since 1985′s Live Aid. The Tibetan Freedom Concert series would continue to stage some of the most significant benefit shows in the world for nearly a decade following in New York City, Washington DC, Tokyo, Sydney, Amsterdam, Taipei and other cities.

In the wake of September 11, 2001, Milarepa organized New Yorkers Against Violence, a benefit headlined by Beastie Boys at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom, with net proceeds disbursed to the New York Women’s Foundation Disaster Relief Fund and the New York Association for New Americans (NYANA) September 11th Fund for New Americans–each chosen for their efforts on behalf of 9/11 victims least likely to receive help from other sources.

Under the alias of Nathanial Hörnblowér, Yauch directed iconic Beastie Boys videos including “So Whatcha Want,” “Intergalactic,” “Body Movin” and “Ch-Check It Out.” Under his own name, Yauch directed last year’s Fight For Your Right Revisited, an extended video for “Make Some Noise” from Beastie Boys’ Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, starring Elijah Wood, Danny McBride and Seth Rogen as the 1986 Beastie Boys, making their way through a half hour of cameo-studded misadventures before squaring off against Jack Black, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as Beastie Boys of the future.

Yauch’s passion and talent for filmmaking led to his founding of Oscilloscope Laboratories, which in 2008 released his directorial film debut, the basketball documentary Gunnin’ For That #1 Spot and has since become a major force in independent video distribution, amassing a catalogue of such acclaimed titles as Kelly Reichardt’s Wendy and Lucy, Oren Moverman’s The Messenger, Banksy’s Exit Through The Gift Shop, Lance Bangs and Spike Jonze’s Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait Of Maurice Sendak, and many more.

Yauch is survived by his wife Dechen and his daughter Tenzin Losel, as well as his parents Frances and Noel Yauch.

So sad.

Such a terrible loss.

And yeah, he’s done something over the last 30 years. I would love to throw that in her face but I don’t have to. His personal achievements and the legacy of The Beastie Boys will continue to stand the test of time until the end.