Kellyann Zuzulo's Blog, page 7

Meet Boroughs Publishing Group

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If you’re an avid reader of Romance fiction then you’ve found your new home. New to Romance? Let us entertain you, thrill you, make your heart pound, tickle your desire, bring on a few tears and have you smiling from ear to ear.

Are you an author? Fantastic. We adore authors. We’re seeking submissions from writers who can deliver the emotional punch readers crave.

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Check out this publisher for your next ebook download. Fabulous stories at a great price.....

The Truth about Genies, by Kellyann Zuzulo

Reblogged from areadersreviewblog:

Today we welcome author Kellyann Zuzulo to share with us the truth about genies..... Over to you Kellyann!

The allure of the desert, whether it’s Vegas or the Sahara, taps some primitive heat in all of us. I know it does for me.  The jinn, or genies, have been around for thousands of years. The Thousand and One Nights (also known as…

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A Reader's Review blog hosts me and my genie obsession today. Go check out it and follow the blog for great book recommendations!

A Real Housewife of New Jersey

…just don’t let Amani Zarin hear you calling her a housewife. She’s tough and she has a temper, so she’ll probably do fine in her new suburban home with her new suburban husband, Jason Masters. She’s a beautiful genie. He’s a handsome scientist. And they have 101 Nights to figure out a way to save her homeland, secure his research, make toast without setting the house on fire, and generate some magic. Jason never dreamed of this genie but she will keep him awake at night.

So that’s it in a nutshell: my new book. I really hope you’ll download it. To Have and To Hold is the first installment in the 101 Nights series. It’s $1.99.  And if you like it, tune in for next month’s release called Reluctant Rapture.

If you have a Kindle, head on over to Amazon now and download it!

Thanks,

Kellyann

What Would You Wish For?

Blog Guest: Meet Paula Millhouse

My comrade in magic writing at Boroughs Publishing Group shares inspiration and fairy allure….

Blog Guest: Meet Paula Millhouse.

Hot Words for Hot Guys

How does your hero feel?

How hot is your hero? It’s all about how he’s described. A well-written romance will convey a protagonist who’s dependable, maybe a little unpredictable and dangerous, but definitely unforgettable.

Simple words are sometimes the best way to do that. Not all at once, mind you. But sprinkled throughout the encounters.

Hard
Steady
Intense
Strong
Experienced
Stoic…until she makes him laugh
Mischievous…more to describe something about him rather than him; e.g. mischievous twinkle in his azure eyes.
Intelligent

Think about the words that describe someone who admire…or who gets you all hot and bothered.

Now, check out some of the words you SHOULDN’T USE when describing your hero. Read the full post at The Pop Culture Divas.

 Best Wishes,

Kellyann Zuzulo

101 Nights coming next week from Boroughs Publishing Group

Why the Djinn Disappeared

Aiysha Hart plays the role of Sarah in Djinn, to be released in 2013.

A new movie that was hailed as a groundbreaking film for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) film industry disappeared from the line-up at commercial theaters in December. That movie is called Djinn and tells the story of “An Emirati couple return home from a trip and discover that their new apartment has been built on a site that is home to some malevolent beings.”

Of course, I’m eager to see this film. It’s more research for me, accompanied by popcorn. I’d love to see a popular cinematic interpretation of the jinn. But it’s not to be. My mind runs right to supernatural sabotage. But that’s just my fiction imagination in overdrive….or is it? According to this article in The Guardian, the more likely reason is that UAE royal family found the film objectionable because of certain  politically subversive messages.  Here’s the reasoning in The Guardian article:

Then Djinn vanished. It didn’t appear at the Dubai film festival, where it had been offered a red-carpet premiere. Promised spring and summer 2012 release dates came and went. It was puzzling: shooting on the story – a Rosemary’s Baby-esque spooker set in a fishing village redevelopment in Ras al-Khaimah – was nearly a year back; post-production almost six months gone.

After Djinn’s Cannes launch in 2010 hailing the country’s entry into the commercial fast-lane and the early rash of publicity in government-sponsored publications, the silence was deafening. With Hooper’s imprimatur and an intriguing collision of modern genre thrills and traditional Arabic culture, Djinn had the potential finally to bring global attention to the fledgling UAE film scene ; “a much-awaited film for all our distributors around the world”, Fortissimo, Image Nation’s international sales agent, was saying. But come the end of the year, more tumbleweed.

Shortly after the London screening, an Italian website, Moviesushi, printed a possible reason for Djinn’s disappearance. According to a source on the production: “Someone close to Abu Dhabi’s royal family has seen the movie and does not appreciate its portrayal of the UAE, and considers the movie to be politically subversive.” The old suspicion surrounding the Emirati industry had risen again: that it was too tightly supervised from above (usually through the National Media Council censorship body) to blossom freely.

This movie also called Djinn was released in 2008.

This excuse is immediately countered. Other views contend that the Arab Spring heightened Arab pride to the point where there would be little interest in a Western-packaged take on cultural legends. Who really knows? An actual genie might.

The latest news says that Djinn will be released in 2013. We’ll see. I’m rubbing my lamp and waiting for the popcorn to pop.

Meanwhile, another film called Djinn was released in 2008 that tells the story of a beautiful woman who is snatched by a genie and must be rescued by her true love who must cross the “three valleys of the Black Desert” to save her. I saw it. It’s okay. For a better story, I think you should pick up The Genie Ignites. ; )

Best Wishes,

Kellyann

What Would You Wish For?

Modern Take on I Dream of Jeannie

101 Nights Start on March 16th, 2013!

Her name is Amani Zarin, not Jeannie, but she is a genie. The difference is that she’s independent, a reluctant roommate to Masters (that’s  Jason Masters), sometimes surly, and absolutely refuses to wear her hair in a high ponytail. 101 Nights is my new romance novel being delivered in a series of Romantisodes from Boroughs Publishing Group. Episode One, To Have and To Hold, will be released on March 16th. Please pick it up. Read it over. I think you’ll enjoy it.

SYNOPSIS:

For love or for science? When genie ambassador Amani Zarin reluctantly agrees to work with human scientist Jason Masters to save her homeland, she never factored in the force of magnetic attraction…or the heart.  The heat they generate could start a fire that will either bind them forever or incinerate their neighborhood and possibly their respective worlds.

Against a backdrop of conniving board members, hostile genies, and nosey suburban neighbors, Amani and Jason must navigate their loyalties and their own stubborn hearts to achieve wedded bliss…at least for 101 Nights.

Best Wishes,

Kellyann

In the meantime, pick up THE GENIE IGNITES for a heart bursting tale of cross-cultural love.

10 Commonly Misunderstood Words in English

If you’re not sure about a word, look it up.

Here’s a helpful blog to help you brush up on your vocabulary. That’s always a good exercise.

10 Commonly Misunderstood Words in English.

I’m going to add a couple of words to the list.

Dearth: I’ve heard people use it to mean a full complement or lots of something. In fact, it means a scarcity or lack of.

Irregardless: Doesn’t exist. Use “regardless.”

What misuses are your pet peeves?

Best Wishes,

Kellyann

Jinn Sightings: City in the Sky

This image of Jinnistan was created by Heather the Hermit and available at DeviantArt.com

I’m currently writing a novella called Angels & Genies that offers a view on the world of Jinnistan. It’s a contemporary romance set  on a New Jersey beachfront, but our jinni hero is determined to protect his homeland. Where is it? How does he get to it? Certainly not via the Garden State Parkway. No. Jinnistan exists parallel to our world and there are portals that occasionally allow access…sort of like potholes in the atmosphere. Every once in a while, the portal appears, like a comet in a clear night sky.

So, if you know my blog, you know I do my genie research. History, legend, myth, and anecdotes offer postcard images of this fabled land. With those resources and a little imagination, I’ve woven together a vision of what Jinnistan looks like. The more difficult question is: Where is it?

View Larger Map

I like this theory of Jinnistan based on news reports of U.F.O. (Unidentified Flying Objects, for those of you living under rocks) sightings in Nigeria. Apparently, what appeared to be a city in the sky hovered over the remote village of Dulali last year.

Here’ what they saw:

Suddenly, he became aware of a pervading bright light enveloping the atmosphere, followed by a sudden realisation that the heavens were falling on the village. As he looked up at the encroaching sky, he saw the most amazing view of his forty years existence. According to him, “There appeared a wide, large mass of something that looked like a cloud from nowhere and it was flying slowly over the village just at the height of an average tree.

“The cloud was transparent and I saw beautiful tall buildings inside it, with tarred roads and cars. It was like a flying city. And from it I could hear the sound of machines making noise just as you would hear at Ashaka cement factory.

Here’s what they think it was:

Mallam Shehu Liman is the Chief Imam of the village. He confirmed the general consensus of the villagers and specifically affirmed that, “We believe that maybe Allah used those sightings to open our eyes to see how Jinns (spirits) live in their own world. Allah is great, and there is nothing He cannot do on earth.”

I’ll buy that for $3.99. What do you think?

 Best Wishes,

Kellyann

For $3.99, you can buy The Genie Ignites.

And stay tuned for the cover unveiling of Angels & Genies next Monday, February 25, 2013.

Did the Jinn Destroy Hattusa?

The great temple of the storm god, Teshub, once dominated the Lower City at Hattusa. Was the storm god angry? Was the storm god actually a jinni?

This is how I find the seeds of a new novel…as well as fodder for my theory that the jinn once dwelt more fully on earth. Crazy? Maybe not. As you know from reading my blog, I frequently reference the scholarly and religious sources for the existence of the race of jinn. Here’s an article in my favorite magazine, Biblical Archaeology Review, that discusses the mysterious destruction of the city of Hattusa. Before the city was engulfed in a “consuming conflagration”, there was a frenzied spate of construction. According to legend, the jinn were the consummate builders, able to erect massive monuments that could last millenia. Were they the contractors on the Hattusa job? As so many contractors are, were they dissatisfied with their compensation and therefore destroyed their work and the city?? Who knows. But I have a theory…. I’ll let you know when that book is ready. Meanwhile, read about Hattusa and what happened to it. This excerpt sums it up.

 The evidence of widespread destruction by fire on the royal acropolis, in the temples of both the Upper City and Lower City, and along stretches of the fortifications, suggests a scenario of a single, simultaneous, violent destruction in an all-consuming conflagration.

[Keep in mind that the jinn are creatures of fire..."forged from flame" according to the Quran.]

The Last Days of Hattusa
The Mysterious Collapse of the Hittite Empire

Trevor Bryce   •  02/08/2013

**This article by Trevor Bryce appears as it was printed in Archaeology Odyssey. Full citation below. The BAS Library includes the complete version of every article published in Archaeology Odyssey.**

A helmeted god stands guard over one of the principal entrances to ancient Hattusa. From the 17th to the early 12th century B.C., Hattusa served as the capital of the Hittite empire. Credit: Gianni Dagli Orti/Corbis

From his capital, Hattusa, in central Anatolia, the last-known Hittite king, Suppiluliuma II (1207 B.C.-?), ruled over a people who had once built a great empire—one of the superpowers (along with Egypt, Mittani, Babylon and Assyria) of the Late Bronze Age. The Kingdom of the Hittites, called Hatti, had stretched across the face of Anatolia and northern Syria, from the Aegean in the west to the Euphrates in the east. But now those days were gone, and the royal capital was about to be destroyed forever by invasion and fire.Did Suppiluliuma die defending his city, like the last king of Constantinople 2,600 years later? Or did he spend his final moments in his palace, impassively contemplating mankind’s flickering mortality?

Neither, according to recent archaeological evidence, which paints a somewhat less dramatic, though still mysterious, picture of Hattusa’s last days. Excavations at the site, directed by the German archaeologist Jürgen Seeher, have indeed determined that the city was invaded and burned early in the 12th century B.C. But this destruction appears to have taken place after many of Hattusa’s residents had abandoned the city, carrying off the valuable (and portable) objects as well as the city’s important official records. The site being uncovered by archaeologists was probably little more than a ghost town during its final days.1

From Assyrian records, we know that in the early second millennium B.C. Hattusa was the seat of a central Anatolian kingdom. In the 18th century B.C., this settlement was razed to the ground by a king named Anitta, who declared the site accursed and then left a record of his destruction of the city. One of the first Hittite kings, Hattusili I (c. 1650–1620 B.C.), rebuilt the city, taking advantage of the region’s abundant sources of water, thick forests and fertile land. An outcrop of rock rising precipitously above the site (now known as Büyükkale, or “Big Castle”) provided a readily defensible location for Hattusili’s royal citadel.

Excavators at Hattusa found this five-inch-high, 15th-century B.C. ceramic fragment that may depict the cyclopean walls and defensive towers that surrounded the acropolis. Hirmer Fotoarchiv Muenchen

Although Hattusa became the capital of one of the greatest Near Eastern empires, the city was almost completely destroyed several times. One critical episode came early in the 14th century, when enemy forces launched a series of massive attacks upon the Hittite homeland, crossing its borders from all directions. The attackers included Arzawan forces from the west and south, Kaskan mountain tribes from the north, and Isuwan forces from across the Euphrates in the east. The Hittite king Tudhaliya III (c. 1360?-1350 B.C.) had no choice but to abandon his capital to the enemy. Tudhaliya probably went into exile in the eastern city of Samuha (according to his grandson and biographer, Mursili II, Tudhalia used Samuha as his base of operations for reconquering lost territories). Hattusa was destroyed, and the Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep III (1390–1352 B.C.) declared, in a letter tablet found at Tell el-Amarna, in Egypt, that “The Land of Hatti is finished!”

The most illustrious phase in the existence of Hattusa itself, however, did not come during the floruit of the Hittite empire under Suppiluliuma, his son Mursili II (c. 1321–1295 B.C.) or grandson Muwatalli II (c. 1295–1272 B.C.). At this time Hattusa was no match, in size or splendor, for the great Egyptian cities along the Nile—Thebes, Memphis and the short-lived Akhetaten, capital of the so-called heretic pharaoh Akhenaten (1352–1336 B.C.). Indeed, during Muwatalli’s reign Hattusa actually went into decline when the royal seat was transferred to a new site, Tarhuntassa, near Anatolia’s southern coast. Only later, when the kingdom was in the early stages of its final decline, did Hattusa become one of the great showplaces of the ancient Near East.

This renovation of the city was the inspiration of King Hattusili III (c. 1267–1237 B.C.), though his son and successor, Tudhaliya IV (c. 1237–1209 B.C.), did most of the work. Not only did Tudhaliya substantially renovate the acropolis; he more than doubled the city’s size, developing a new area lying south of and rising above the old city. In the new “Upper City,” a great temple complex arose. Hattusa could now boast at least 31 temples within its walls, many built during Tudhaliya’s reign. Though individually dwarfed by the enormous Temple of the Storm God in the “Lower City,” the new temples left no doubt about Hattusa’s grandeur, impressing upon all who visited the capital that it was the religious as well as the political and administrative heart of the Hittite empire.

Tudhaliya also constructed massive new fortifications. The main casemate wall was built upon an earthen rampart to a height of 35 feet, punctuated by towers at 70-foot intervals along its entire length. The wall twice crossed a deep gorge to enclose the Lower City, the Upper City and an area to the northeast; this was surely one of the most impressive engineering achievements of the Late Bronze Age.

Hattusa in ancient days.

What prompted this sudden and dramatic—perhaps even frenetic—surge of building activity in these last decades of the kingdom’s existence?

One is left with the uneasy feeling that the Hittite world was living on the edge. Despite outward appearances, all was not well with the kingdom, or with the royal dynasty that controlled it. To be sure, Tudhaliya had some military successes; in western Anatolia, for instance, he appears to have eliminated the threat posed by the Mycenaean Greeks to the Hittite vassal kingdoms, which extended to the Aegean Sea.3 But he also suffered a major military defeat to the Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta, which dispelled any notion that the Hittites were invincible in the field of battle. Closer to home, Tudhaliya wrote anxiously to his mother about a serious rebellion that had broken out near the homeland’s frontiers and was likely to spread much farther….

There’s more to the article in the Biblical Archaeology Review. Read the rest of it here.

What do you think?

 Best Wishes,

Kellyann

Read more about the world of the jinn in The Genie Ignites from Boroughs Publishing Group.