Dora Esquivel's Blog: Ancient Bond: Masters and Servants, page 18
July 10, 2019
Interview with LaSasha Flame author of Birth of the Sand Viper, Origins of Jafar
Birth of the Sand Viper, Origins of Jafar by LaSasha Flame
THIS SHORT STORY WILL SERVE AS A PREQUEL TO THE MAIN BOOK IN THE SERIES. … More Birth of the Sand Viper, Origins of Jafar by LaSasha Flame
Birth of the Sand Viper, Origins of Jafar by LaSasha Flame
Birth of the Sand Viper, Origins of Jafar by LaSasha Flame
July 9, 2019
Birth of the Sand Viper, Origins of Jafar by LaSasha Flame
July 3, 2019
There’s Only One House of Dragon
June 30, 2019
Dracula Untold A Review
People who know me, know that I'm also obsessed with vampires. Just as much research done and now, the combination of both my love in one movie, Dracula Untold and here's my review. … More Dracula Untold A Review
June 29, 2019
A Night Prince Novel, Once Burned by Jeaniene Frost
Original Summary
She’s a mortal cursed with dark power…
After a tragic accident scarred her body and destroyed her dreams, Leila never imagined that the worst was still to come: a terrifying ability to channel electricity and to see a person’s darkest secrets through a single touch.
Leila is doomed to a life of solitude…until creatures of the night kidnap her, forcing her to reach out with a telepathic distress call to the world’s most infamous vampire…
He’s the Prince of Night…
Vlad Tepesh inspired the greatest vampire legend of all—but whatever you do, don’t call him Dracula. Vlad’s ability to control fire makes him one of the most feared vampires in existence, but his enemies have found a new weapon against him—a beautiful mortal with powers to match his own.
When Vlad and Leila meet, however, passion ignites, threatening to consume them. It will take everything they have to stop an enemy intent on bringing them down in flames.
Overall Author Review
“An author who delivers only the best.”
—Romantic Times
“Put Jeaniene Frost on your must-read list!”
—Lara Adrian, New York Times bestselling author
Spinning off from her wildly successful, New York Times bestselling Night Huntress novels featuring vampire soulmates Cat and Bones, Jeaniene Frost kicks off the thrilling new Night Prince series with Once Burned.
[image error]Bram Stoker Dracula novel
Vlad Tepesh, the ruthless master vampire and inspiration for Bram Stoker’s dark legend (but don’t dare call him Dracula) encounters a mortal woman with unimaginable power…including the ability to enflame his cold heart.
Paranormal romance and urban fantasy fans who hunger for the novels of Kim Harrison, Christine Feehan, and Charlaine Harris are going to love The Night Prince and this dark and steamy tale of supernatural attraction.
Who Is Jeaniene Frost?
Jeaniene Frost is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author whose works include the Night Huntress series, the Night Prince series, the Night Rebel series and the Broken Destiny series.
Jeaniene’s novels have also appeared on the Publishers Weekly, Wall Street Journal, ABA Indiebound, and international bestseller lists. Foreign rights for Jeaniene’s novels have sold to twenty different countries.
[image error]Jeaniene Frost
Jeaniene lives in Florida with her husband Matthew, who long ago accepted that she rarely cooks and always sleeps in on the weekends. In addition to being a writer, Jeaniene is also a Jesus follower, a feminist and a dog mama.
She enjoys reading, writing, poetry, watching movies, exploring old cemeteries, spelunking and traveling – by car. Airplanes, children, and cook books frighten her. — From the Official Jeaniene Frost Website
Just An FYI
I’m very picky about what I enjoy to read. I’ve always been a Stephen King fan and so always enjoyed staying around the same genre.
I find nothing wrong with staying around what you like, either, despite what other people say. Then, I came across this back cover, the Night Prince Novel, Once Burned by Jeaniene Frost.
My Love for Vlad the Impaler
When I first saw the back cover of the novel, I was on the fence. I then looked at the front cover and almost refused to read the book. However, I reminded myself, ‘Do not judge a book by its cover.’ I bought it and never regretted it.
[image error]Wladislaus Dragwlya – Vlad the Impaler Signature
“No, I do my torturing in the dungeon like any other respectable castle owner.”
Vlad, Night Prince Novel, Once Burned by Jeaniene Frost
Everyone has to understand; I know Vlad the Impaler’s life by heart. I have an obsession with that historical man. He was a pure genius who lived in harsh times. He had gone through all levels of nightmarish hell and back.
How To Tame A Vlad Fan
I have read so much about Vlad that even with the book in my hands I wasn’t sure if I genuinely wanted to read it. Then, my curiosity about vampires took over.
I wanted and still want to this day, to become a better author and read what other more successful authors have to say and the words they used.
I know Vlad, I know vampires, I know the psychology behind the man that he was. Everything in me was hesitant about reading the book. Especially that cover that had the graphic designer in me say, “Oh dear, what have they done to you!”
[image error]A Night Prince Novel — Once Burned by Jeaniene Frost
One summer afternoon, after months I had bought the book, I go to lie down in my summer chair beside the pool and opened Once Burned.
Oh, my Vlad!
“That one tickled. If electrocution is your way of flirting, I commend you on your originality.”
Vlad, Night Prince Novel, Once Burned by Jeaniene Frost
I started reading the novel and got hooked on the story from the start despite saying to myself, “Okay, when is Vladislav coming in, now?” Don’t worry; it was well calculated; it was just the ‘fangirling’ on my part.
Her Vlad
The personality given to Vladislav is very authentic to the man he was. His possessiveness over his heroine is entirely in line with what the Impaler would’ve been and done.
However, there is more to Vladislav than the torturous man, and Jeaniene Frost was able to see past that, and I was impressed.
[image error]
The way she was able to harmonize what skills her central woman has with those of Vladislav was quite impressive in itself. They belong together, and there is no doubt about it.
The mystery, the tension, the “what’s going to happen!” everything is well synchronized and had me turn the page without looking at the time.
Vladislav is the sexiest man I thought he would’ve been and that made me quite happy to read. He is a tease, and I loved it!
The Overall Bite
She hooked me, Jeaniene Frost is now one of my favorite authors! Her writing is one that I admire and enjoy reading the most.
The presentation of the characters, the setting, the environment, and world-building are all things that I pay attention to with focus. The book does not disappoint! Very original and the writing is accessible to everyone yet, very hypnotizing. It was pure joy to read it.
[image error]Night Prince Series – Once Burned by Jeaniene Frost – Avon Publishing
The research made on Vladislav, quite well done I must admit, however, I have yet to read the other novels to state how accurate she was to the historical man. So far, so good! The personality and choice of torture are right, as impaling was not his only “go-to” way of torturing people.
The book has a very nice pace and is very easy to fall for and is a page-turner. Be careful, don’t read it if you have a ton of things to do or if you need to get up early and the morning and decide to read it before going to bed! It’s that good!
The Fangirl In Me
My rating is a good 9 out of 10, only because I’m never a fan of “family members” in stories. However, I’ll see where that goes, and it’s a very personal taste.
Next, Twice Tempted!
June 27, 2019
The Art of Letting Go
A Moment of Passing
A while back, Alyssa Monks shared moving insights in her TEDx Talk on art. She talked about how she tried another painting style set in nature, to rekindle her flame after her mother’s passing.
It
gave me pause to reflect on creative writing as another act of art that
penetrates the unknown. Specifically, it conveys the importance of allowing
life to freely grace itself into the work. Letting nature’s truths on creation
and death, on love and loss, reveal themselves in a more pure, unvarnished way.
[image error]Haunted Forest
Alyssa‘s gentle message spoke to me about releasing tight control that hinders spontaneous revelation in art. This allows the unmasking of subtle layers that simmer with inspiration and timelessness below illusory, complex surfaces.
Letting Go
By letting go more, an artist can allow life’s creative form to openly reveal its depth and beauty, its fragility and impermanence, without imposing undue judgment or guardrails.
It
becomes an act of fearlessness and kneeling humility, with hope to catch a
glint of loving compassion in infinity’s eye.
These
notions have been sketched in my mind over time. However, the mind never calms
itself enough to let the heart take hold and carry the message. So, a crucial
part of the larger whole gets lost in the act of art.
[image error]
When
emptying hardened conceptions and using childlike eyes, otherworldly spirits of
clarity can take flight in one’s soul to enable sight beyond sight. To restore
wholeness in artistic expression is to allow oneself to melt into the fearful,
formless immensity of otherness and the divine.
The Visual Art
Visual
art, as with paintings or drawings, has its special gift of weaving insights
more directly and viscerally. It bypasses the rigid sifts of mental prisms, enriching
one’s intuitional grasp of the deeper human experience.
[image error]
The
techniques this emboldens for discovery of the profound and the esoteric can
then translate to other forms of interrogative art, as with writing. Harmonized
modes of artistic expression, grounded on reverence for the naked truths and
imperfections of life, can lead to personal growth and authenticity.
Life as Art
As
life imitates and then transcends art, these insights extend to how we learn to
let go in our daily living. Ideally, we transform each small action of the day into
an act of art unto itself.
[image error]
In so doing, the myriad aspects of truth, as beautiful or as sorrowful as those may be, can surface to deepen our empathy and unflinching embrace of life’s raw message. We then become empowered with eyes of wisdom that see beyond the veil of death and time.
Christopher
Pufall
Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy
The Official Summary
On one day in 1989, 43 infants are inexplicably born to random, unconnected women who showed no signs of pregnancy the day before. Seven are adopted by billionaire industrialist Sir Reginald Hargreeves, who creates The Umbrella Academy and prepares his “children” to save the world.
In their teenage years, though, the family fractures and the team disbands. Fast forward to the present time, when the six surviving members of the clan reunite upon the news of Hargreeves’ passing.
Netflix – The Umbrella Academy Official Trailer
They work together to solve a mystery surrounding their father’s death, but divergent personalities and abilities again pull the estranged family apart, and a global apocalypse is another imminent threat.
Overall Academy
The Umbrella Academy might look more fit for our sister website, Space-Time Magazine, with its superheroes, time travel, robotic housekeeper, and talking chimp.
However, after paying attention to the themes of the show, it hit me as subjects everyone who calls themselves “goth” might relate to despite its superficial surface.
[image error]Netflix – The Umbrella Academy
Much like the iZombe Review, I did a few months ago. I didn’t know The Umbrella Academy was first a comic book. With one of the many plot lines being the solving of a murder, I’m glad I went in blind. As a result, I learned alongside the characters, and I got the fun of solving the crime with the cast.
The Emo Phase
This first season represents an adaption of The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite. A limited six-issue series. The creator and writer being My Chemical Romance’s signer, Gerard Way. Both of which follows a group of seven super-powered foster siblings as they solve their father’s murder while trying to stop the end of the world.
I initially clicked on the show because of my love for superhero shows. I was unaware of how close to home it would hit. It reminded me of myself and my friends. As an example, Vanya Hargreeves suffers rejection from everything her siblings would do.
[image error]Dark Horse – The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way & Gabriel Ba
She was told to be ordinary, unlike her siblings and longed for inclusion. Well, as an artistic person myself rather than a sport’s guy or fisherman, my family reunions are quite harder as they are crabbers and have fishing history.
Number 5 was a man trapped in a boy’s body, giving him much more adult interests and mindset. Much like him, while everyone read Harry Potter books, my friend read Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot or Misery more into deep adult horror books.
[image error]Netflix – The Umbrella Academy
This same feeling, include other scenes, much where Klaus Hargreeves reliance on drugs to suppress his ability to interact with the dead. It reminded me of my friend in the Gothic community when she shared about recovering from the loss of a much-loved family member.
Enough Mushy Stuff
Those are only a few parallels I noticed. However, I don’t want this whole article to be all gloom and doom, so let’s hit some of the highlights. The series has a high score featuring songs ranging from The Phantom of the Opera to Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now. As well as maybe one of my favorite fight scenes set to, They Might Be Giants’ Istanbul.
The
other notable highlight for me was actor Aidan Gallagher, a fifteen-year-old
who portrayed Number 5 having to play a sixty-year-old adult, and doing it so
outstandingly making him probably my favorite.
[image error]Netflix – The Umbrella Academy
One of Gothic Bite Magazine’s founding ideas was to create a haven for all of those who felt rejected by the standards of society. It is not because you don’t dress like Marylin Manson that you’re not Gothic yourself.
Gothic Bite Magazine is for everyone who has a taste for the legends and folklores and wants a place where they belong regardless of who or what they are.
Why Not Try?
Netflix’s TheUmbrella Academy was a great exploration of this mindset with some pleasant feel-good moments sprinkled throughout the series.
So, Biters, if like me you’re late to the fandom like I was or want to experience it all over again I’d say give The Umbrella Academy a watch. You won’t regret it!
James out!
Ancient Bond: Masters and Servants
Centuries ago Lucien's family and pack were slaughtered and betrayed by family. Lucien was then enslaved for five hundred years by the demon who killed ...more
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