Arlene Lagos's Blog, page 8
July 26, 2013
Reflection
Five faithful years together and he shacks up with my best friend. I was lucky enough to glance over at a text that backstabbing harlot sent to him. “Meet me at the carnival,” it read. My anger rose inside my chest as he exited the apartment, his lips dripping with lies about having to go in to work on a Saturday. I was furious! How could she try and steal my boyfriend from me?
Arriving at the town park, I was full of bad intention. Pulling my hat down further over my eyes until the lid touched the top of my sunglasses, made it easy for me to not get noticed before I could get my proof. I walked around but couldn’t find them. Then I thought I caught a glimpse of the back of Jason walking into the house of mirrors.
There was a girl in front of him with blonde hair. Her face was hidden, but I knew it was Jenna. My best friend since we were kids. How could she do this to me?
They walked in further and then I made my way inside. When I entered, I could hear giggling so I followed the sound until it led me to a room that I couldn’t get out of. Suddenly it went dark and I heard a voice in the shadows.
“This isn’t how you want this to end. You should sit down and talk with Jason, give him a chance to explain,” said the voice.
“Who’s there?” I asked.
“Give him a chance to explain? What other explanation could there be for him being on a date with her best friend? He’s obviously cheating. You should never trust anyone,” said a second voice.
“I’m scared in here, can someone turn on the light?” I whimpered.
“You don’t have all the facts. You should ask him point blank why he is here with her,” said a third voice.
“Oh like he’s really going to tell her the truth!” said the second voice.
“I’m sure there’s a perfectly good explanation, you don’t have to be so negative all the time,” said the first voice.
“Stop talking!” I yelled. “Who are you people? What’s going on?” I asked.
A light flickered in the distance casting a shadow upon three mirrors all reflecting images of…me. There was one of me crying, one of me angry and one of me happy.
“I don’t understand, how can this be happening?” I asked.
“We are you, all three of us, all the time. We help you make your decisions based on your intellect, your emotions and your rationality,” they said in unison.
“But I am still confused. I don’t know what to do?” I cried.
“Do what you always do”
“Don’t do anything”
“Try something new,” they whispered.
A breeze floated by me, then a butterfly wisped through a crack in the doorway. Compelled to follow it, I stayed on its trail where it eventually led me to the exit. Catching my breath, I stood shaking and trying to digest what just happened. Across the park I saw Jason again. He was standing on a sound stage putting up a banner. Jenna was there too and as I watched them laughing and joking with each other, I began to cry and clench my fists in rage. The thoughts running through my head were scrambled and I honestly wasn’t sure what I was going to do when I reached them.
Breathing heavier now, I became lightheaded from the emotional state I was in and could barely contain the tears ready to burst from my eyes, that I had to stop for a moment and close them before I passed out. After a few minutes I got my bearings and lifted up my head moving full speed towards the sound stage until I saw something that stopped me dead in my tracks. A brightly colored banner hung perfectly across the top of the stage with the words “Michelle, will you marry me?” splashed across it. My jaw dropped as I stood there in total awe. He’s going to propose to me? He’s going to propose to me!
A swarm of different emotions spilled around inside as my heart sunk deep in my chest. Sitting down on the ground, I hung my head in shame. I had let trust fly out the window without giving it any thought and now because of my rage, all I felt was embarrassment and shame. Wiping the last tear from my eye, something landed on my knee. It was that same butterfly. It sat there staring at me, and I back at it. It was beautiful, speckled with several colors, as I was speckled with many emotions. It was a symbol of change, an ability to grow emotionally, to create more positive reflections of myself and to learn to think before I act.
If you like flash fiction like this and want to read more, check out “Giant Tales Beyond The Mystic Doors” on Amazon.com and get 61 short stories from 16 different authors around the world for only $2.99!!!!
July 19, 2013
Win a free copy of “Beyond Earth”
“Beyond Earth” Book Giveaway!!!
Click here and enter to win one of five autograph copies of “Beyond Earth” in paperback!!!!! This giveaway starts today and ends next Friday, July 26th!
There are three different ways to earn up to 14 entries in the giveaway! Click on the link or go to the Beyond Earth Facebook page and click on Giveaway.
On July 26th, Rafflecopter will select five winners at random! You will have 24 hours to respond to the prize announcement before another person is selected.
Thanks for being a fan and supporting the Beyond Earth Series!
If you are in the Boston area on August 3rd and 4th, come to Boston Comic Con and visit my booth! Haven’t seen the book trailer yet? Watch it now!
July 17, 2013
Beyond Earth Costume Design Contest: $500 cash prize
“Beyond Earth Costume Design Contest”
Launching at Boston ComicCon
$500 cash prize to winner!
Calling all artists, designers and masters of digital manipulation! Arlene Lagos, Author of The Beyond Earth Series, is holding the first “Beyond Earth Costume Design Contest” launching August 3rd at Boston ComicCon. This is an international contest and anyone can enter!
“I want to see what people think a modern day heroine looks like, by challenging today’s top artists to draw their ideas and then ask my fans to choose the best one to represent my story. Today’s generation of girls are lost on the concept of the female heroine/warrior. They don’t have a Wonder Woman, Buffy or Xena to look up to. I’m hoping to change that.”- Arlene Lagos
Here are the rules:
Design a costume for the main character Adaminia, based on what’s reflected in the story.
Send a picture of your design via email to beyondearthseries@gmail.com by no later than Monday, September 2nd at Midnight EST. Put “Costume Entry” in the subject line.
Starting on September 3rd, all designs will be posted on the Beyond Earth Series website at http://www.beyondearthseries.com and voting will begin.
The winner with the most votes by October 4th will be announced and awarded the grand prize of $500 as well as have their design featured in future promotions!
Do you have what it takes?
July 12, 2013
“Beyond Earth” attending Boston ComicCon
Medway, MA- Author, Arlene Lagos announced today that “Beyond Earth” will be attending Boston Comic Con this August 3rd and 4th at The Seaport World Trade Center in Boston, MA. Tickets, hours and directions can be found on the Boston Comic Con website.
“Beyond Earth” is book one of the Beyond Earth Series written by Arlene Lagos. It’s an indie, young adult, science-fiction fantasy novella.
Hidden in the fabric of our own galaxy are five planets, anchored to Earth and thriving with life. When young Adaminia walks through a doorway and onto another planet, she learns the truth about her destiny. She must locate the other six warriors and unite their shared power in order to fight off the growing darkness set to destroy their existence.
Lagos has written poetry, stage plays, screenplays and short stories for over 20 years. In addition to writing the Beyond Earth Series she also has twelve award-winning short stories published in the Giant Tales anthology. Lagos currently resides in Massachusetts with her husband and their daughter.
“Beyond Earth”, Book I is now available in paperback and eBook on Amazon, iBookstore, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble and more.
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BeyondEarthSeries
Goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5819544.Arlene_Lagos
Apple iBookstore: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/beyond-earth/id664423708?mt=11
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/BeyondEarth_
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=32317937&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Arlene-Lagos/e/B00DH829PQ/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
Createspace: https://www.createspace.com/4198095
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/323916
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/beyond-earth-arlene-lagos/1115835562?ean=2940044592858
July 10, 2013
West of Lucky
He was a suspicious kind of man. Even the way his grey dull eyes narrowed, or the lines at the corner of his mouth turned up when he smiled, seemed suspect. From what I hear, he started a fire in the neighbor’s barn once. Another time, someone’s entire garden spoiled overnight. He was never caught though. But last night was the final straw. Last night, he messed with me.
Walking onto my porch to water the plants I found a dead sparrow. It didn’t just drop there either. You could tell by the way it lay, that it was positioned perfectly on top of the step. Anyone who’s anyone knows that sparrows carry the souls of the dead. Was he sending me a message?
Walking down the road he passed my door radiating a sinister smirk. What does Mr. West DO anyway? There’s nothing extended passed the end of our cul-de-sac but woods, so why did he always go that way?
The nosy woman that I am, I had to follow. I’m sure he wouldn’t notice anyway, nobody ever notices me. I’m fairly plain, very quiet and mostly keep to myself except for the occasional book club meeting. But I wanted to know. I have to know what he’s up to, what he’s planning. Maybe I could catch him red-handed; put him behind bars for good and be the neighborhood hero!
Slipping on my flats, I adjust my glasses and head through the house and out the back door, cause it’s bad luck to leave a house through a different door than the one used to come into it. Tiptoeing down the street, sure not to step on any cracks, I finally set foot onto the narrow dirt path smoothed out before me. There’s an odd chill in the air, which I didn’t notice at first, but now I find very strange being it the middle of July in Boston. Of course, we’re always partial to severe weather changes, but it’s actually…cold.
Walking further into the forest I listen intently to ensure I stay close. Suddenly he stops and I hide behind a pine tree, making the sign of the cross to protect me. He must not have seen me so I crouch really low and peek my eyes out from behind the tree and what I see causes my jaw to drop and a loud gasp to bellow out of my mouth. Mr. West is…frozen! Suddenly, he turns around and as our eyes lock, I lose my footing and crash to the ground.
“Sarah, are you okay?” he says, picking me up.
Again, I make the sign of the cross with my fingers.
“Don’t touch me Devil!” I scream.
“Please don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you.”
“What…are you?”
“I come from Liburrtee, a planet outside your galaxy. I crashed here months ago and have been trying to fix my ship so I can get back home.”
He pulls back some branches revealing a small spacecraft.
“Woah!”
“You can’t tell anyone. Everyone knows what happens to aliens on your planet!”
“Area 54!”
“Exactly! I can’t be experimented on, I just can’t Sarah!”
He seems genuinely terrified. Seeing Mr. West up close, he looks different, gentle.
“I won’t tell.”
Staring at me in awe, he breathes a sigh of relief.
“Thank you.”
Unaware of what to do I begin to walk back the way I came, only now in a state of confusion. Suddenly I stop, as I realize the ground beneath me is frozen solid. From behind me, Mr. West pulls a tree branch out from the ground and places it over the ice making a bridge.
“How did you do that?”
“Super strength is just another one of our talents.”
Walking across the bridge, I stop and turn around suddenly.
“Why did you come here in the first place?” I ask.
“On my planet I’m a scientist. My people are trying to cure Earth from global warming.”
“Of course!”
In a daze I begin walking over the bridge again, feeling my legs moving in one direction as my thoughts drift in another.
“Well…goodbye,” I said.
“Please don’t say that!” he shouts.
“What?”
“Don’t you know it’s bad luck if you say goodbye to a friend on a bridge? It means for certain that-
“That you’ll never see them again,” I finish.
Right then my heart began to beat rapidly as I turn on my heel and run as fast as I can right into Mr. West’s arms!
“Take me with you,” I said.
“I thought you’d never ask.”
As I look into his eyes and he mine, he kisses me gently until we are interrupted by an annoying sound nearby.
“Bzzz! Recreation time is over, please line up for your medication”
“We better hurry, it’s bad luck to be last.”
Short story contest challenge: July Heat
A superstition, A super hot day, the word Liberty, something involving global warming, a familiar house or setting that suddenly defies the laws of nature, perhaps an alien encounter. All within or around 750 words.
June 30, 2013
BEYOND EARTH BOOK TRAILER
Beyond Earth Book Trailer. Enjoy, share, tweet, repeat!!!!
Written by: Arlene Harrington Lagos
Cinematography/Editing: Almont Green
Model: Rayn Dudzikowski
Voice-over:Caryn Clark
June 24, 2013
Beyond Earth has launched!
Now available for purchase!!!!
For paperback click here
For iBookstore download click here
For other ebooks click here
June 7, 2013
Beyond Earth Cover Reveal
Coming Soon…..
Model: Rayn Dudzikowski
Photographer: Angela Cannistraro
Cover Design: Almont Green
Author: Arlene Lagos
May 2, 2013
Revolutionary Tattoo Photography at NYC Tattoo Convention
ALMONT GREEN Revolutionizes Tattoo Photography
With AMPED3D® Camera Array
At New York City Tattoo Convention May 17-19 th
AMPED 3D and AMPED 360 imaging is changing the standard for tattoo imagery. Coming to the NYC Tattoo Convention, the AMPED 360 camera array will be set up downstairs at Roseland to allow convention goers to have their tattoo imaged with up to a hundred perspectives. AMPED 3D images will be on display at the event along with interactive AMPED 360 image spins. Photo sessions are free to all convention attendees and there will be special show-only pricing on amazing hologram-like imagery and rotational web imagery.
For a web spin example, go to this link:
Click and drag to rotate (or swipe with finger) to see the effect!
Amped3D images depict life size three dimensional space and do for tattoo art what simply hasn’t been possible before in a photograph—to present tattoos with all of their natural human depth, sense of scale and topography. Amped 3D images are images you can see into.
Amped3D photography, created by the artist Almont Green, is accomplished using a unique combination of complex camera hardware (featuring an array of 50 modified cameras equipped with hi-resolution sensors), sophisticated proprietary software, materials and painstaking manufacturing techniques.
At a photo session, the camera array instantly captures multiple perspectives. Digital images are then precision aligned, processed, and printed with a modified high-resolution printer with each perspective occupying a vertical strip 1/2000th of an inch wide.
These special prints are then aligned and bonded to custom-made cast lens material. The photos can then be mounted in custom backlit frames for an optimal viewing experience.
The result? Amped3D images are so realistic that the brain perceives them in a similar way to seeing real life, so it’s the next best thing to actually seeing the tattoo in real life.
The result of years of work, Almont Green developed AMPED 3D photography with the help of neuroscientists, brain research centers, vision experts and leading technologists.
Freeze time and space at a moment when a tattoo artist’s achievement is realized, the artwork is healed, and an emotional connection to it is manifest. AMPED 3D images present these moments, and the visual experience, with the same depth and tonality of reality.
********************************************************************************
CONTACT ALMONT GREEN STUDIOS at 978-853-0084
New York Tattoo Convention
Roseland Ballroom
239 West 52nd Street
(Between Broadway and 8th Avenue)
May 17th, 4pm to Midnight
May 18th, Noon to Midnight
May 19th, Noon to 8pm
Ticket Prices:
One day ticket- $20
Two days Unlimited Access- $35
Three Days Unlimited Access- $50
(Tickets available only at Roseland and ONLY on the day of the show)
April 21, 2013
Ticket to Ride
Official Selection 2013 Charleston International Film Festival
April 24-28th 2013
Ticket to Ride explores what happens when a store clerk and his cat get in between two best friends and 70 million dollars. All they wanted was a ticket. What they got was a ride.
Ticket to Ride tells the story of Wendell and Phil, two long time best friends and roommates who are perpetually down on their luck. Wendell and Phil are avid lottery players who always play the same numbers and have been doing so for years. One fateful night they are rushing on their moped to get to the store to purchase their lotto ticket before the 10 o’clock cut off time, only to arrive 5 minutes til to find the door locked with a make shift sign that reads “Back in 5 minutes.”
Meanwhile, the store clerk, Steve, is in the backroom taking photos of his show cat Mittens. This causes Wendell and Phil to miss the cut off time and they are not able to play their lucky numbers. Later that night the duo discover that their numbers have hit the jackpot and if they would have played them they would have won 70 million dollars. Wendell and Phil hatch a plan to exact revenge upon the cat loving clerk, Steve, which leads to chaos and hilarity.
An official selection of the 2013 Charleston International Film Festival,
Premiering Saturday, April 27th at 7pm at:
Physicians Auditorium
3 College Way, College of Charleston.
Charleston, SC 29424
Twitter : @Ticket2RideFilm
Facebook: facebook.com/pages/Ticket-to-Ride/348113685239019?ref=hl
Daniel Jones: Wendell imdb.me/danieljones
Bruce Williamson: Phil 800casting.com/Profile/26355
Directed by Matt Allen mattallenfilms.com/
Directed by Travis Hicks vimeo.com/user983608
Director of Photography Harry Lipnick vimeo.com/21055637
Colorist Mike Howell vimeo.com/37207253
Music by Dominic Vega dominic-vega.com/
Sound Design by Tyler N. Swafford cargocollective.com/swaffordsound
Written by Matt Allen & Travis Hicks
Trailer music by You Won’t “Dance Moves” album Skeptic Goodbye youwont.bandcamp.com/
