Two Sentence Tuesday: The Value of Storytelling

I haven't been reading much except blogs and online articles lately, but I found some quotable lines in this article from Salon.com:

The evolutionary argument for Dr. Seuss: Why do we often care more about imaginary characters than real people? A new book suggests that fiction is crucial to our survival as a species
by Laura Miller

Her opening sentences really hooked me:

Why do human beings spend so much time telling each other invented stories, untruths that everybody involved knows to be untrue? People in all societies do this, and do it a lot, from grandmothers spinning fairy tales at the hearthside to TV show runners marshaling roomfuls of overpaid Harvard grads to concoct the weekly adventures of crime fighters and castaways.

Miller's article is actually a review of a new book called On The Origin of Stories by Brian Boyd, professor English at the University of Auckland. This is a subject of endless fascination to writers, especially those of us who write popular fiction which has its roots in mythology and fairy tales. Popular stories are timeless and, despite their fantastical elements, sometimes reflect reality. Miller mentions the story of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf', something we've all witnessed in real life, and which I believe led to the familiar dictum "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

I really enjoyed the first part of the article, but will admit to getting a little lost toward the end, maybe because I wasn't a lit major or maybe because I don't know much about "evolutionary biology". (My B. A. is in Social Science with emphaisis in History.)

I didn't write anything new this week, so I'm going to pull a few sentences from a published e-book, Ilona's Wolf, my first erotic fantasy story.

Once upon a time, in the Kingdom of Velosia, magic was more precious than gold. The few who possessed it were highly prized, for not everyone could learn to wield the magic, only those who were sorcerers born.

Please forgive the blatant self-promotion, but I'm including a buy link, and there's a longer excerpt at my website.

Linda / Lyndi

Check out the wondrous Women of Mystery blog for more Two Sentence Tuesday posts.

Ilona's Wolf video trailer

I finally finished and uploaded the video trailer for my latest release, Ilona's Wolf. (Yes, I know the idea for a trailer is to build up demand before the books is released, but I just couldn't manage it this time.)

I managed to get this one into exactly 60 seconds, so I'm making progress here. My first trailers were 3-4 minutes long, which is way too long. I've noticed it's harder to find royalty-free music I like that's short, but I can usually find something I love by Kevin McLeod at incompetech.com.

Here's the new trailer. Hope you like it.



For more information and an excerpt, go to http://www.amberquill.com/AmberHeat/IlonasWolf.html.

Linda / Lyndi

Ilona's Wolf released

Ilona's Wolf, part of the Howling At The Moon... Again AmberPax, was released by Amber Heat over the weekend while I was at the RWA Conference in San Francisco. This is my first werewolf story and the first with a Medieval-style fantasy setting. World building can be a challenge, but it can also be a lot of fun. In this story, I created a kingdom called Velosia in which magic is openly practiced, the old Roman gods and goddesses are still worshipped and werewolves fight to conceal their existence.

My muse didn't lead me in the expected route where the werewolves cycles are tied to the phases of the moon and he's a victim of his biology. In Velosia, werewolves are born with the ability to shapeshift at will. Except for my hero Rolf who starts the story trapped in wolf form. The beginning is a twist on the old fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood, only in this version, Red is saved from the woodsman by the wolf.

While picking herbs in the woods, Princess Ilona is rescued from a woodsman by a wolf. When the creature licks her wounds, it is suddenly transformed into a man. A very handsome, very naked man who makes passionate love to her in a glade.

Cursed by an evil wizard, Rolf was trapped in wolf form until he tasted the blood of a royal. Now he must escort the princess on a hazardous journey back to the castle to stop an ill-fated wedding.

Passion flares between them, but both know there is no future for Ilona and her werewolf. Or is there? In a world where magic and passion combine, anything may be possible.

Click here to read an excerpt from Ilona's Wolf.

In the next couple of days I'll get my San Francisco pictures uploaded. It's taking longer to catch up than I expected after the trip to San Francisco.

Linda / Lyndi