Early Christmas Ideas - Middle-Eastern Fantasy

Why would books based on middle-eastern myth be appropriate for a Christmas present?

Because any book is a great gift, and  my middle-eastern books are far more Disney than bin Laden.

Before Mohammad, the Aramaic people had a variety of religions. Within these religions, a pantheon of gods were worshiped, placated, begged of, and permeated the hearts and minds of those who lived in Persia, Mesopotamia, Canaan, Sumeria, Phrygia, Egypt (the most consistent of kingdom names), and many more which rose and fell.

Two of my books, I consider to be my middle-eastern cycle. Will there be more to come? It all depends on whether you, dear reader, let me know it's worth my time to continue. How will I know that? First, you could buy the books in ebook or print format. Second, you could review the books you have read (whether getting them free or by purchase). Third, you could tell me here, on Google+, Facebook, Twitter, or by email whether I should or not.

No Longer Available

First, there was "Cadida and the Djinn." I wrote this short story decades ago. Back then, I wasn't submitting any writing anywhere. It was a nuisance having to print a double-spaced copy with the approved font, margins, information on the first page, titles centered just so. Also, it was difficult to find any publications that accepted submissions. Anyway, I was working full-time with two kids, and a husband often absent because his job required travel to distant places where he stayed for months blowing things up.

No Longer Available

When I could get back to writing and the internet helped me find publication submission requirements, I wrote another Cadida story titled "Cadida and the Cave Demon." Both stories were taken in by Sam's Dot Publishing (now virtually gone). The two stories were produced as chapbooks. Nobody was creating ebooks back then either. I wrote five more Cadida stories and all of them were bundled in a single book, "The Seven Adventures of Cadida."

While researching various mythologies, I was reminded of Scheherazade's 1001 Arabian Nights. While 7 is far short of 1001, I liked the idea of the frame story. I wanted a story teller sitting in an ancient bazaar telling tales for a few coins. I discovered the poet Abu Nuwas and borrowed his persona to be my storyteller.

The frame story contained the telling of the seven adventures of the adventurous girl and her genie. I'd made up my original character names, but I now wanted them all to have proper middle-eastern names. Thus Cadida became Setara, Bascoda the djinn became Basit, and so on.

This compilation became "The Tales of Abu Nuwas."

Since I had some left over demons and deities, I wrote another novella based on middle-eastern mythology. It became "Quest for the Simurgh."

I then placed both books with MuseItUp Publishing (yes, they knew these were previously published). They books became "Setara's Genie" and "Faizah's Destiny."

You can buy any of these variations from Amazon, MuseItUp, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, etc. for various prices.

Since I produced both the ebooks and print books of "The Tales of Abu Nuwas" and "Quest for the Simurgh," I have made them Amazon Matchbooks. Buy the paperback of Quest and get the ebook free. Buy the paperback of Abu Nuwas and get the ebook for 99 cents.

Now my tale of two books becoming four books is complete. All the links to buy sites are readily available on another page of this blog and in the sidebars and on my website.

The Mystical Rule of Sevens

Last month, a writer buddy, Charlotte Henley Babb, ran a series of fascinating posts about magical, mystical, and historical hepta-items (I just made that up). I encourage you to go read up on the weirdness of sevens. It's one of "those" numbers fraught with meaning or, at least, comes up a whole lot in numerology.

Try these on for size (all links go to Charlotte's blog):

The 7 Wonders of the World (ancient, modern, engineering, medieval)
The 7 Voyages of Sinbad
The 7 Voyages of Zheng He (betcha didn't know this one)
7 Things You Probably Don't Know About Joan of Arc
7 Obscure Facts About the Statue of Liberty
7 Sages of the World

There are more. Go check them out. You won't be sorry.

I commented on Charlotte's post on Sinbad since I had a book of seven tales about a girl and her genie. They started as short stories, and I eventually put them together with a framing story (like 1001 Nights is a framing story for Scheherazade's tales).

A couple of the stories ("Cadida and the Djinn" and "Cadida and the Cave Demon" were published on their own. Once I'd written a few, I realized I was head toward that magical number 7.

Thus, "The Seven Adventures of Cadida" was published by Sam's Dot Published as individual tales in a single volume. We all liked the cover for "Cadida and the Cave Demon," so that became the cover for Seven Adventures.

SDP is long gone, so I revamped, edited, and built the framing tales about the old storyteller in the bazaar who relates the adventures to a young girl. This became "The Tales of Abu Nuwas." I let that float about for awhile, until I did a bit more writing and revamping for MuseItUp Publishing, where it was published in ebook format as "Setara's Genie."

As you can see, Setara (originally Cadida) has been around the block a few times. Here she is again in yet one more incarnation in print. Let's see, does it all add up to seven? Not quite, but I haven't looked into audio books yet.

Comment on my posts this month to have a chance to win the proof copy of the paperback, slightly offset cover and all. It's a rare item despite all of Setara's appearance in the world of publishing. Here's what I hope will be the final cover for the book. The ebook cover became the front cover for the paperback. A big huzzah for Charlotte Volnek, the cover artist who created the original. I just added the back cover and background.

NOTE: If you haven't read Charlotte's hilarious book, "Maven Fairy Godmother," you're missing out. It's available in ebook and print formats.

July Issue of Lorelei Signal On-Line

I've had a long and wonderful relationship with Lorelei Signal and its sister 'zine Sorcerous Signals.

The July-September issue just came on-line. Enjoy "Poor Little Rich Girl" along with a whole raft of other great fantasy stories.

Art by Holly Eddy.

Read and vote for your favorites (say, my story?).

A Bottle of Djinn

Genies or djinns are great fun. Robin William’s genie in Aladdin was a hoot. But when is Robin Williams not a hoot? Okay, don’t tell me about One-Hour Photo, Insomnia, or Death to Smoochy. Nobody bats a thousand.

Ahem. That’s not the subject here. It’s genies.

Let’s not talk about I Dream of Jeannie. That is clearly a complete and utter corruption of the wonderful race of magical beings brought to us from Moslem tradition. So, here’s the skeenie on genies.

From Wikipedia:

In Arabic, a genie (also jinn, Djinn, jinni) is a supernatural creature which occupies a parallel world to that of mankind, and together with humans and angels makes up the three sentient creations of God (Allah). Possessing free will, a djinn can be either good or evil.

The Djinn are mentioned frequently in the Qur'an, and there is a Surah entitled Al-Jinn. While Christian tradition suggests that Lucifer was an angel that rebelled against God's orders, Islam maintains that Iblis was a Djinn who had been granted special privilege to live amongst angels prior to his rebellion. Although some scholars have ruled that it is apostasy to disbelieve in one of God's creations, the belief in Jinn has fallen comparably to the belief in angels in other Abrahamic traditions.

Golly, that’s not near as much fun as Robin Williams. Still, a supernatural being that can wreak havoc on humans is right up our alley, right?


My Mashup

In “The Seven Adventures of Cadida,” Bascoda serves Cadida. Well, ‘serves’ is a bit of a stretch. He suggests, advises, and pretty much makes her figure out how to get things done. Every once in a great while, he will whomp up a little magic if Cadida is about to fall off a cliff or something else dangerous.

Bascoda appears in every adventure except one: Cadida and the Great Vizier (Cliffhanger). In that story, an evil genie has tricked Bascoda into the bottle that Aladdin put him in years before. He introduces himself to Cadida as Volfass, Apprentice Djinn Second Class, and claims to be taking over for Bascoda while he’s missing. Cadida is naturally concerned for Bascoda. The evil genie (disguised as a boy djinn) wants to lure her into helping him kill the Great Vizier ---- screeeech! Calling a halt here. The plot is too complicated to explain in full.

The short of it is that Cadida and her gang have to rescue Bascoda from the bottle. To do that, they have to put the bad genie into another bottle. Cadida, Poltrice the water demon, Gravella the cave demon, Sheik the dog, and Sulawesi the eagle are all needed to put that dang bad genie back in his bottle and get Bascoda out.

To learn what else happens to the gang, you’ll just have to buy a copy of the book.

Horsefeathers!

That archaic term means something is unbelievable, nonsense, hogwash, bull puckey.

What does that have to do with myth and legend? Flying horses, of courses. The remake of Clash of the Titans is coming soon to a theatre near you. In the trailer, Pegasus is a gorgeous black horse with ebony wings. Feathered wings. This has been the tried and true formula since Grecian myth. From the Encyclopedia Mythica:

Pegasus

In Greek mythology, Pegasus is the winged horse that was fathered by Poseidon* with Medusa. When her head was cut off by the Greek hero Perseus, the horse sprang forth from her pregnant body.
* Percy Jackson’s father does get around. A lot.

I’ve never been convinced that a winged horse would also have feathers. In Seven Adventures of Cadida, I introduce not one, but two! flying horses.

My Mashup

Cadida and the Sultan’s Horse - Horsing Around

Cadida finds a talking, flying, fire-breathing horse named Baakir hiding in her father’s stable. He’s trying to look casual, but Cadida notices that he’s whistling and hiding his head in the corner of the stall. Highly suspicious behavior. When Cadida approaches, an eagle flies through the stable at head height scaring the horses, including Baakir. He levitates a foot into the air and spits fire out of his mouth, setting the hay on fire.

Cadida rushes to the rescue and beats out the flames. She and Baakir have a little chat while he explains that he’s a cross-blood horse, mostly horse, but just a wee touch of dragon blood. This means he can fly (without wings) and breathe fire. However, he’s not very good at either talent. Cadida helps Baakir gain control over his magic.

Cadida and the Dragon Demon - Blood is Thicker

After Baakir has headed back to the Sultan’s Palace (where he lives), Cadida and her genie run across Azhi Dahaka, the dragon-demon which provided (unwillingly) the blood to make Baakir a flying fire-breather.

Trapped high atop a mountain, they watch while the dragon heads for the palace. From what he’d said before escaping from the caves (just stick with me here; I don’t want to give away every plot element), Cadida and Bascoda believe the dragon wants to harm their friend, Baakir.

They’ve got to get off that mountain fast. Bascoda gives wings to Cadida’s mare, Rosetta. But we all know that horses don’t have feathers, so Rosetta’s beautiful wings are covered with the same lovely hair as the rest of her body. The little mare takes to her new appliances immediately, carrying Cadida to the Sultan’s Palace to save Baakir.

There we have it. Two flying horses, but not a one with feathers.

NOTE: The illustrations are from "The Seven Adventures of Cadida" and are the copyright of Teri Santitoro, who illustrates as 7ARS.

Amphitrite - Poseidon's Wife

Poor old Amphitrite doesn't get much press as the wife of Poseidon. She's not even mentioned in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series. If she was, I missed it. In the Seven Adventures of Cadida, Amphitrite appears, but she doesn't get a lot of page time.

Here's the Encyclopedia Mythica writeup:

Amphitrite

The queen of the sea, variously given as the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys or of Nereus and Doris. When the sea god Poseidon wanted her as his bride, she declined the honor and hid from him in the Atlantic Ocean. A dolphin not only located her, but also brought her back to him, and he married her. The dolphin was awarded a place in heaven. Their son is the fish-man Triton. Amphitrite was portrayed on Greek mphoras together with her consort, riding in a chariot pulled by sea creatures, or sitting on a sea creature, surrounded by Tritons. She is decorated with the attributes of a queen, her waving hair covered with a net, and sometimes with the pincers of a lobster attached to her temples.

The Romans referred to her as Salacia.

The name means something like "The third one who encircles (the sea).

The Mashup

In the "Seven Adventures of Cadida," Amphitrite shows up in "Cadida and the Sea Beast - In Over Her Head," when Dolph, the merhunk, must battle with his wicked uncle, Terrapin, in a dual to the death. Of course, Amphitrite wants her son to win, but she's not so big on the the obvious fact that Dolph is falling for Cadida. Amphitrite appears with a high-pitched voice (dolphin squeaks) and has a crown of crab claws.

This story shows Cadida helping out the merboy, Dolph, find his true meaning. Nasty old uncle, Terrapin, got a witch to toss Dolph out of the sea. He doesn't remember his background, but Cadida, Bascoda, and Poltrice (the pool demon) help him recover his memories and win his true place as Prince of the Sea.

Lesser Known Mythologies and Folklore 2

Returning to the Seven Adventures of Cadida:

Kazikli Bey

Most of you have heard of Vlad the Impaler, right? Count Dracul, the model for Dracula? Well, Kazikli Bey is the middle-eastern translation, something like "The Impaler Prince."

In the "Seven Adventures of Cadida," I thought that giving ol' Vlad a different face would be a nice twist. What if Vlad didn't really impale anybody? What if he was trying to gain peace between the rampaging warlords that messed up good ol' Romania? It's all in the PR. If he puts himself out as the baddest mother in the valley, wouldn't you think it a bad idea to cross him?

So, my gal Cadida tries to go off on a cruise ship and ends up in a slave market. Lucky for her, an ancient crone pretty much forces her to buy a pendant. It's Kismet! The Kazikli Bey happens to be in the market for slaves and, noticing that Cadida is wearing the locket stolen from his mother, he purchases her. He turns out to be a really nice guy. He's not thrilled he has to act the badass, but it's the only way he sees to bring his country together in peace.

The story is titled "Cadida and the Kazikli Bey - A Bottle of Djinn."

Read all the stories in The Seven Adventures of Cadida. Purchase at The Genre Mall or give me a shout out for a copy.

　
　

Lesser Known Mythologies and Folklore

Do you ever get tired of the same old fairies (fey), dragons, norse gods, greek gods, roman gods?

I try to find stuff that's not completely shopworn. Yeah, I do use some of the good old standards, but I also try to bend and twist them a bit. Other writers more famous than me do the same. Otherwise, nothing would ever be fresh and new. Sometimes I disagree with certain re-interpretations, but I appreciate that they're trying to change it up.

I thought I'd post some tidbits of mythologies that I've used in my books.

The Seven Adventures of Cadida

Throughout the seven (that's a magic number, you know) tales, I've tossed together a mixed salad of middle-eastern mythologies and just some plain old nonsense. However, things I have appropriated from the real mythologies include:

Azhi Dahaka

From Encyclopedia Mythica:

A storm demon from Iranian mythology. He steals cattle and brings harm to humans. It is a snake-like monster with three heads and six eyes who also personifies the Babylonian oppression of Iran. The monster will be captured by the warrior god Thraetaona and placed on the mountain top Dermawend. In a final revival of evil, it will escape its prison, but at the end of time (fraso-kereti) it will die in the river of fire Ayohsust.

My Mashup:

The Great Vizier (now entombed, waiting for something interesting to happen) had used Azhi Dahaka's blood to create a flying, fire-breathing horse. Excellent for combat, I'd imagine. Unfortunately, the Franken-Horse could only levitate a few inches and puff a wimpy flame when startled. However, Azhi escapes his imprisonment (see above) and knows this horse named Baakir is his umpteen times grandson and wants to find him.

Our erstwhile heroine, Cadida, tries to protect Baakir from the dragon only to learn that Azhi just wants a family reunion.

Azhi is mentioned in "Cadida and the Sultan's Horse - Horsing Around" and "Cadida and the Dragon Demon - Blood is Thicker."

More to come:

The Kazikli Bey

Bascoda the Djinn

The Kraken

Poseidon

Amphitrite

Merfolk

Read all the stories in The Seven Adventures of Cadida. Purchase at The Genre Mall or give me a shout out for a copy.

Bram Stoker Award Preliminary Ballot

The preliminary ballot has been released for the prestigious Bram Stoker Awards for horror writing. Ellen Datlow posted the complete list of works receiving enough recommendations for the preliminary ballot. I saw it on her LiveJournal posting.

I'm not (usually) a horror writer, so I'm not too disappointed my name isn't on it. However, my publisher, Sam's Dot Publishing, has several works. I'm proud of my little ol' publisher getting so many mentions. Hopefully, many of them will make the final ballot, then on to a win.

Superior Achievement in a Collection:
Little Creatures by Michael McCarty (Sam's Dot Publishing)

Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection:
The Phantom World by Gary William Crawford (Sam's Dot Publishing)
Virgin of the Apocalypse by Corrine De Winter (Sam's Dot Publishing)

Congratulations to the SDP writers for making it to the prelims!

Just a reminder: SDP published my books, First Duty and The Seven Adventures of Cadida, both available at The Genre Mall.

* Thanks to Ellen Datlow for stopping by to correct my errors on this post.

Seven Adventures of Cadida

Read The Toasted Scimitar interview where I blather on about my writing and talk a bit about Cadida!

Seven Adventures is now available from The Genre Mall.
150 pages
18 interior black and white illustrations.
$10.60 + $3.00 handling.

Cadida's in trouble again. But then, when is Cadida not in trouble?

First, she gets captured by raiders and thrown into a cave to be sacrificed to a demon, which turns out to be a djinn named Bascoda, a rather clumsy genie who adopts Cadida as his mistress. Cadida manages to escape despite Bascoda's "help," but later returns to the cave to see if anyone else had been captured. She finds instead of a prisoner a rather lonely and pathetic demon who needs a new home. Then Baakir, a fire-breathing, talking, flying horse tells Cadida that his beloved Barika has been captured by pirates. Baakir is only somewhat helpful because he is not yet fully in control of his magic. Oops.

Oh, yes, there's much more . . . but you'll just have to turn the pages and find out what kind of trouble this bored little rich young lady can get into.

The Seven Adventures of Cadida

Coming soon from Sam's Dot Publishing!

The Seven Adventures of Cadida

A series of seven tales about a girl and her recalcitrant djinn. This is for young 'uns. My reports are that six-year-olds love to have it read to them and 'get it'. Kids 10 and up can read it on their own. Adults enjoy the over-the-head references that the kids don't understand.

Meet Cadida, a poor little rich girl, captured for ransom by the mountain raiders, only to be selected as "mistress" to Bascoda the Djinn. It follows their adventures together as the meet flying horses, dragons, pirates, evil genies, cave demons, and lots of other mythical and real characters. Set in the pre-Islamic middle-east, the tales call on some of the creatures known to the mythology, and some real folks in a different setting. Cadida learns to handle her life without expecting some handsome sheik to rescue her. She kicks butt and takes names. Fun for all ages. Eat your heart out, Disney. My gal is tougher than yours.

Check my website page to preview the cover art and to read loglines for all the stories.

http://marvadasef.com/cadida.aspx