Tuesday, April 21, 2020

If You Like "The Forbidden Game" You Might like My Novel (minor spoilers for both works...though nothing that gives the stories away)



This
The original Forbidden Game book cover I picked up over a decade ago found via google.

VS

This
Follow Me: Tattered Veils wide image art work created by Jake @ J Caleb Designs




The Forbidden Game: A series by L. J. Smith about a highschool girl Jenny who's gained the attention of an immortal being, Julian.  After many years of watching over and protecting Jenny, Julian lures her and her friends into his world through a board game.  The group needs to make it to a tower before dawn to escape his clutches, but to do so they will have to each face their own worst nightmares.  

What does this series and Follow Me: Tattered Veils share? 

Gerry, like Julian has an obsession for the protagonist, Roxi and Roxi, like Jenny, is unaware of Gerry’s obsession until he enacts his plan to capture her.  Both stories have a friend group whom the protagonist must save.  Both characters romp through a supernatural world that doesn’t seem to follow any hard and fast rules.

The better question might be why two separate books for what feels like very similar ideas?  It's hard to spell out the difference without spoiling each individual story, but I will try to hit some larger points.

Julian is portrayed in the first two books as an all powerful being.  He is far more powerful the the human protagonists.  However book three reveals Julian to be a young and far weaker member of his race.  Book three also shows that Julian, who is portrayed as lacking empathy or emotion actually has more than he revealed and is an emo kid compared to the elders of his race.  

Meanwhile, Gerry is the king of the fae.  He is the most powerful of his people and expects praise, worship, and deference as his due.  Gerry shows emotion often, it isn't alway in sync with how a human would react to a situation but he shows joy, amusement, boredom, anger, and frustration to mention a full range of emotions.  There is no emotional moment where are tearful Roxi says something like "you don't care at all do you?" and Gerry smiles and shrugs, though Julian and Jenny get this moment multiple times in their work.

Jenny and Roxi are very different characters.  Jenny's popular, has a long term boyfriend, and still in high school.  Roxi is isolated and resents the society she lives in.  Jenny is used to people and systems that work for her while Roxi is more used to fighting for things.  This creates a harder protagonists vs one who can fall weepy at times.  

Roxi is older than Jenny too.  At twenty-three she stands in the "adult" camp, though her actions indicate she has some emotionally stunted growth related to an unrevealed past.  Roxi sometimes acts with a younger character's immaturity but she never hesitates to take advantage of all the rights and privileges adulthood bestows.  She doesn't answer to parents or any other authority structure.

Jenny is attracted and repelled by Julian at the same time.  There is no romantic subplot between Roxi and Gerry.    Some of this may be a when it was written and who the works were written for situation.  There was a period in the 90s when a boy/ immortal being stalking you was considered very romantic, especially when written a certain way.  I never agreed, so I'm thankful that now we call this kind of story out for promoting unhealthy creepy behavior.

The Forbidden Game is a young adult series, a good one adults may also enjoy, but the story beats, the scares, and so on are geared for a fourteen to seventeen audience.  Follow Me: Tattered Veils is geared for a new adult audience.  The situations, scares, and story beats are all for a more mature audience.  I think if you like one series, you'll like the other too.  And I'd love to do a more detailed post comparing and contrasting all the little tidbits, but I don't want to spoil a novel I haven't released yet!  

Did you love The Forbidden Game?  Were any of these elements you loved?  If so consider picking up Follow Me: Tattered Veils when it releases in February.  Check out my website jessicadonegan.com for more details.

Saturday, April 18, 2020

Writing Prompts for The Feast of the Charities



I don’t want to be tone deaf.  I know right now some people have to work and feel unsafe (are unsafe).  And I know others need to work and can’t.  And still others are cooped up at home and may receive pay without working or be struggling with the reality of working from home and all the other distractions that come with that.  

A lot of us want to remain productive or on an even keel.  I’m making these writing prompts for folks who find a creative project distracting and helpful but might need a suggestion to get started.  If writing isn’t healthy for you right now or if you can’t write, it’s ok.  Please don’t take this as a condemnation.  We’re all coping differently and do what’s best for you.  The last 3 prompts incorporates pandemic themes as part of the prompt.  If you’re struggling, that may be one to skip.

Introduction: 

This series has a simple goal: provide basic history on a holiday/event and use that history to spring board potential writing prompts and themes. For some, the history on its own will be enough.  For others, I’ll suggest prompts I thought of.  

Happy writing and please share a snippet or link to your inspired works ^_^ I’d love to read them.

Feast of the Charities: 

There isn’t a lot of information on the Feast of the Charities. The day of this holiday vary but one suggested date is April 18-19, and the holiday itself is so little known that neither Wikipedia nor Encyclopedia Britanica.  I found these dates in Shirley Twofeather’s pagan calendar and she sources  Llewellyn… which isn’t encouraging for historic accuracy.   The only creditable resource I could find on the day itself is ancient.eu and they write: 

The Graces were the subject of cult worship across the Greek world, but especially southern Greece and Asia Minor. They were particularly important at Orchomenus in Arcadia where they had an annual festival, the Charitesia, held in their honour.

But ancient.eu doesn’t give any dates or times for the Charitesia.  They expound on Charities cult worship and imply that different charities were integrated into local celebrations. 

The “charities” also known as “graces” were Aglaica (splendor), Euphrosyne (joy), and Thalia (mirth).  They are minor goddesses or nymphs descended from Zeus and the Oceanid, Eurynome (nymph of water ways and clouds).  They attended Aphrodite and Hera.  Their major relationship with mortals was to inspire attraction to wisdom, love, culture and social interaction.  The three are most often depicted dancing naked.  They have associations with spring flowers and are the youthful embodiment of beauty from physical to intellectual, artistic, and moral. 

It’s worth noting the Feast of Charities seems to celebrate these three charities, but there are at least nine different Graces/Charities.

Llewellyn suggests orange as a predominate color and sage as the preferred incense.  Given what I could discover about the charities, I’d think offering any spring flowers/scents would be more appropriate.  A drawing or free write dedicated to the charities ideas could also be a fun way to pass the day.

Llewellyn writes, "Get some friends together and dress up. Arrange each other’s hair. Dance and sing, or perform some sacred theatre. Visit an art gallery or walk through a street fair. Alternatively, do something nice for the less fortunate. Bundle up old clothes you never wear anymore to recycle for the less fortunate, or hold a food drive and donate the results to a local charity."

Other days for The Feast of the Charities include: January 17-18, January 30-31, May 26, July 9-10, or October 13. 


I like a holiday which inspires creativity and kindness.  Its floating date is a positive because you or your character could celebrate/honor/acknowledge the Charities multiple times a year or whenever it’s relevant. 

Sources:


Writing Prompts:

1. What are some Spring blooms in your area?  Do they have any associations?  Mash up those local correspondences with The Graces.  How would splendor, joy, and mirth impact these flowers, are they inherent with blooms?  

2. Write a scene with your characters embodying one of these three characteristics (splendor, joy and mirth).—Can I suggest the villain interact with these elements?

3.  Have one of your characters meet one or all three Graces.  

4. Depict your characters performing an act of kindness or charity.  

5. Create a scene where an early act of kindness/charity is rewarded.  

6. Create a scene where an early act of kindness/charity is punished.  How does your character react?  Does this diminish their desire to do good?

7. Create a scene where your main character (or villain) receives charity from a stranger.

8. It seems like the Feast of the Charities was a time to bring people together for a meal and performance.  We’re in a time of social isolation where we can’t get together in sizeable groups.  How else could one honor the ideals of the Charities (using a video chat or virtual Meetup/play is cheating, come up with something wacky or wild for you or your characters!). 

9.  What in our current world embodies the Charities’ virtues?  What doesn’t? 

10. During this pandemic, many of us are being asked to act not for our own health but to safeguard the health of others.  How does this play into the virtues of the Charities? Are these themes you could bring into your writing?  

Looking for more prompts?  Check out April's full moon,  Mid-summer prompt or Matralia

Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Writing Prompts For April's Full Moon



Introduction: 

This series has a simple goal: provide basic history on a holiday/event and use that history to spring board potential writing prompts and themes. For some, the history on its own will be enough.  For others, I’ll suggest prompts I thought of.  

Happy writing and please share a snippet or link to your inspired works ^_^ I’d love to read them.

April’s Full Moon: 

Names include: the Wind Moon, the Seed Moon, the Hare Moon, the Growing Moon, the Pink Moon, and the Egg Moon.

April’s moon has obvious associations with growth (seed moon or growing moon).  In the Northern Hemisphere we’re experiencing differing phases of spring.  Euro-centric countries enjoy early blooming flowers like daffodils and tulips steal the gardening show.  April can be a wonderful to celebrate early progress on a goal, to start new goals if current efforts haven’t yielded results, or to continue to nurture past commitments.

Old folklore suggests the full moon until the last quarter is the best time to kill weeds, thin or prune a garden, mow the lawn, cut timber, and to plant below ground crops.  If you’re looking for more lunar-based gardening information, check out alamanac.com.

Some claim April is the Pink Moon because creeping phlox is in full bloom this time of year (and it’s a pink flower).  Others claim April became the “Pink Moon” because pink is Venus’ color and she is the governor of the house of Taurus (The horoscope sign we’re about to enter).  The connection to Venus, Goddess of love, can make April a delightful time to work on relationship magic, whether it’s a plutonic or romantic relationship.

While we portray March as a stormy month, April is the windy one—hence “Wind Moon.”  It’s suggested one meditate on seeds carried or pollinated by the wind.  Allergy season intensifies around this time.   Patti Wigington suggests this moon can be an excellent time to meditate on the power of the air element and how winds from different directions have varying associations and energies one can use.  

This moon happens after Ostara (spring equinox), why some may call it Egg Moon and it is the last moon before Beltane (May day).  Often people reflect on the building fertility/growing energy during this time.  They either wind down their Spring Equinox celebrations or they charge and prep for Beltane.

This year April’s moon will be the biggest super moon of 2020, so if you have a clear sky, it might be worth a gander.  April’s moon falls in the house of Libra this year, so it’s an agreeable time to check in and seek to rebalance any element in one’s life.   

Sources:





Writing Prompts:

1. Stare at the moon, free write and associate with whatever suits.  

2. What aspect of this moon lore would your character most identify with?  

3. Is what your character identifies with the same as what they most need?  

4. Use any of the elements of the April moon to write a quick scene with one of your characters.

5. Create a character who embodies any of the April moon’s energies.

6. Write a full moon induced romance scene.  

7. Write about something that grew under the light of the April moon.  

8. Write a scene where your character reacts to what’s carried on the wind (a smell, a conversation, a note or seed, ect).  

9. Write a story where the moon actually appears pink—why—what happens, does anyone even notice?

Looking for more prompts?  Check out the Mid-summer prompt or Matralia