Loren Rhoads's Blog, page 15

Tools to Make Working at Home More Fun

So here we are again (or still), working from home until our chance at a vaccine finally comes along. Here are a handful of things that have helped me get work done in my breakfast nook/office over the last year. (Truth: I get no income from these items. I just like them.)

1. Fingerless gloves

I don’t know about your house, but as a rule, San Francisco doesn’t believe in insulation in the walls. We’re in California, so it doesn’t get cold, right? (It’s 45 outside at the moment.) My office, with its uninsulated outside wall, tends toward the shivery side. One of the things that has really helped me keep my fingers moving is my collection of fingerless gloves. My favorites came from Nice Tattoo Crochet for Hire.

She makes plain black gloves (or whatever color tickles your fancy), as well as Star Wars-inspired gloves, and now she’s working on “tattoo” gloves. Keeping warm will boost your productivity, I promise.

2. Timeular time-tracking device

Last year, I tried two devices for tracking my time. One of them was cheaper, but it never worked and they had no customer service. The other was a Timeular. It’s basically an 8-sided toy that allows you to assign a different task to each face. When you begin that task, you turn the Timeular to that face and it tracks your time on a desktop app.

I found Timeular easy to use, fun to play with, and really motivational. If I had only managed 5 hours of work in a day (between constitutional crises, doom-scrolling the news, and what-have-you), I could usually persuade myself to turn off Twitter and get another hour’s work done, thanks to Timeular.

[image error]3. Wireless noise-cancelling JBL headphones

As I said before, my office is a former breakfast nook. That means it’s slightly larger than a hallway between the front door and the kitchen.  It doesn’t have a door that I can close. Getting my family to leave me alone to work was a challenge until I discovered JBL noise-canceling headphones. They were pricey, but oh so worth it.  As long as I have them on — whether I’m listening to music or not — no one talks to me.  It’s lovely when I need to concentrate.

4. Hidrate Spark water bottle

I don’t drink enough water. I know I should drink more, but I often don’t remember. When someone suggested a water bottle that lights up when you need to take a drink, I thought it was a silly toy. Strangely enough, it actually works.  And the Hidrate water bottles are pretty, too.

Drinking all that water solves my other problem, too:  remembering to get up from my desk every so often to walk around before I get stiff.

5. Book Darts

These are my secret weapon. They’re a little hard to see in the photograph, but they are tiny aluminum bookmarks that slide over the edge of the page to mark something you’d like to quote later. My cemetery books are full of them, which is a huge improvement over underlining things and dog-earing the pages. I buy Book Darts by the hundreds. They’re available from Amazon, but I prefer to get them direct from the maker.

6. My life-changing planner

I know I’ve written about this before, but the Spooky Writer’s Planner I created with Emerian Rich really has changed my life. I track everything here: where I am in all my projects, what my next steps are, people to contact, questions to research, when to send out my newsletter… It has been huge to see all of that in one place.

The planner is undated, so you can begin to use it any time. It’s available from Amazon in paperback or (my preference) as a printable download from Etsy. Here’s the homepage: http://www.emzbox.com/horroraddicts/spookyplanner.html

 

Come Write with Me

I am now an event organizer for Shut Up & Write!

In the Before Times, I used to attend two Shut Up & Write groups that met in cafes in San Francisco. Since the pandemic trapped me at home, I’ve been attending various SU&W groups over Zoom. As strange as it sounds, it is surprisingly motivating to have a screen filled with other writers working, even if we’re scattered around the world. I feel like, if as long as they’re working, I should be, too.

Now I’ve volunteered to host my own Shut Up & Write session.

Please come join me every Tuesday morning at 10 AM PST, if you’d like to have a couple hours of peace to yourself or if you have something to get out of your system or if, by any chance, you are working on a novel.  All are welcome, as long as you’re willing to put your head down and bang out some words. If you like, I will give you a gold star just for showing up.

Last week, only three of us showed up to write.  That was okay:  we got some work done and felt virtuous.

It would be more fun with more people. I’m just saying.

The RSVP link: https://www.meetup.com/shutupandwriteonlineevents/events/vdggdsycccbzb/

The description:

Staying at home to do your civic duty during the COVID-19 pandemic? Join us via Zoom for a couple of hours of writing from the comfort of your own home.

I’ve discovered that it’s strikingly helpful to write with others, even if we’re all just hanging out online together. See if it’s true for you at 10AM Pacific time on Tuesday mornings.

Be it a book, blog, script, essay, dissertation, resume, melody, poem or just plain work stuff, you are invited to write it with us. Instead of just thinking about writing, come and get some real writing done. Don’t worry, no one will see what you’ve written or give you unsolicited advice.

SCHEDULE:
10:00 – Quick introductions
10:15 – Timer starts: write until noon
12:00 – The End: chat, take off, or keep writing

WHAT DO I NEED?
A computer with working camera and microphone, a good internet connection, and optionally, headphones or earbuds. Also, an idea of what project you’d like to spend your time on.

OTHER IMPORTANT DETAILS:
Technical difficulties are part and parcel of getting together online.

If you’ve never used your computer for an online meeting, take a few minutes before we meet to familiarize yourself with how to use Zoom by reviewing the below tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VebiA5pGq0

If you run into technical issues, remember that this is the time you’ve carved out for yourself and your writing. Whether or not you are able to join our online meet-up, go ahead and get your writing started, then leave a comment below to let us know how it went for you.

In addition:

I’m hosting Creative Support, a non-Shut Up & Write group for writers and artists, on Zoom on Wednesdays from 10 am to noon PST. The format is more or less the same: a few minutes to check in at the beginning, then two hours of silent, self-directed creation.

If you’d rather join that group, drop me a note through this contact form and I’ll send you the link.

[contact-form]

New Year’s Goals

I always get a charge in the fall, as if the new school year is starting. (Admission: I haven’t been back to school in a very long time.) I get another jolt of ambition at New Year’s. Of course, the things I expect to accomplish in the course of a year don’t always happen, but as long as I keep nudging all the pieces forward, I’ll finish them in the end.  Right?

This year, I aim to finish another 3 books. I’m going to state this right out in public, so I can get that accountability jolt, too. There’s no drawback if I get distracted by something shiny or lucrative, but I would like to see these projects completed. So…goals, not resolutions.

A collection of personal essays tentatively called This Morbid Life. I envision this as a collection of stuff I wrote for Morbid Curiosity magazine, for the zines File 13 and Zine World and Enterrupted, for Scoutie Girl and Jane and various magazines online. I bought the cover image last year from Lynne Hansen, so now I just have to assemble a book that will do it justice.

2. The Death of Memory was my first completed novel: the origin story for Alondra DeCourval, the witch about whom I’ve written so many stories. I keep going back to the book, trying to polish it so I can unleash it on the world. This is finally the year. I really need that book done, so I can move on to tell more of Alondra’s adventures.

3. Writing in Cafes is the project that’s farthest from finished. I imagine it as a workbook for writers that will help people discover how they work best and what they need to do to support their own creative processes. I think it will be a fun project to work on, too.

In and around all that, I’d like to finish the Alondra novella set on the Farallon Islands. I’d also like to write a handful of new stories — let’s say 5, shall we?

And I want to do a better job selling the books I have stashed away in my garage.

And I want to increase the readership of my monthly newsletter.

This year especially I feel like creativity can save us. We need the inspiration and escape of writing/making/creating things. What have you envisioned for this year?

If you’d like to help support my work, please buy me a cup of tea. I would be really grateful!

Buy me a cup of tea!

Is Frankensteined a word? When it comes to planners it is!

Guest Post by Emerian Rich

I’ve Frankensteined planners for so many years, it doesn’t seem strange anymore. Sure, I waste time and money on several I end up not using, but how else am I supposed to create the perfect planner for my year?

Funnily enough, when I brought this problem up to my friend and fellow horror writer, Loren Rhoads, she had the same problem.

How, we asked ourselves, are we supposed to keep organized and productive without totally cutting and pasting our favorite parts into one monster book that will take care of all of our needs? If only there were a writer’s journal already on Amazon that we could order every year. One that addressed all of our needs at once.

I don’t remember who said it first. Was it Loren? Was it me? But suddenly an idea explosion erupted in that little chat window.

What if we teamed up to make the perfect Spooky Writer’s Planner? One that could be versatile for every writer. One that could be purchased in print for those of us who like to carry around a book, but also be digital for those of us who like to print and keep records in binders? One that included essential sheets for writer record-keeping like submissions we subbed, contacts for future ideas, and lists of what we had already published.

Could we possibly create such a monster?

Yes. Yes we could.

And now, for your approval we submit the…Spooky Writer’s Planner.

Are you spooky?

Do you write horror, speculative fiction, dark fantasy, paranormal romance, or fairy tales?

Are you a spooky blogger, macabre non-fiction columnist, or haunt travel vlogger?

Are you ready to stop dreaming and be a writer?

Are you an author who wants to take your career to the next level?

PLANNER INCLUDES

13 months of monthly and weekly spreads

Monthly goal and recap sheets

Weekly check-ins and note pages

Writing challenges, planners, and instructions

Submissions, published works, and contacts trackers

Marketing, newsletter, and blog planners

Check-off sheets for website maintenance, social media profiles, and expenses

Fun sheets to generate writing ideas, track your favorite TV series, or to be read and watched lists.

Authors Loren Rhoads and Emerian Rich share the tricks they’ve learned over the course of a combined 50 years in publishing, from working with traditional New York publishers, small presses, and as indie publishers themselves.

AVAILABLE NOW PRINT or DIGITAL

PRINT: The Spooky Writer’s Planner is perfect-bound with a glossy cover, printed on high-quality 8.5 x 11-inch paper. Everything you need is included in one handy book you can grab and go! Have book, will travel!

DIGITAL: The quick-download version gives you a digital copy so you can print the pages you want, print multiples of those you think you’ll use the most, leave those you won’t use, and create your own Frankenstein’s Monster of a planner! These pages are designed to be printed on 8.5 x 11-inch paper. You can put them in a three-ring binder, bind them with disks, or a spiral, as you choose. You can print different sheets on different colors.

Click here to find out more about this planner, see pictures, and spreads for each version.

Bride of Never Enough 2020

Normally I’d write one post about all the live events I did in a year: the readings, lectures, book signings, convention panels, book sales, and what have you. Instead I managed 3 readings.

I’m trying to figure out if I want to lecture online next year. In the olden days, I gave talks in public on graveyard ghost stories, the removal of the cemeteries from San Francisco, and tracing the Mission Dolores graveyard through tourist postcards. I could adapt any of those to online audiences. I could figure out how to teach cemetery history or writing and revision… I just am not sure if it’s worth the time I would need to spend developing things. Maybe, if I start to think about it now, I’ll be ready for next October!

Readings:

In the meantime, I read the entirety of “In the Pines” and “The Acid that Dissolves Images” from Unsafe Words at Story Hour on August 5, 2020. You can watch the video on Facebook. I start about 29 minutes in, but you might enjoy RS Benedict’s story, too. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=744234116395899&extid=op7nr2BNpZaCuw6t

I read “The Angel’s Lair,” the short story that inspired the Lorelei/Azaziel books at Story Hour on November 11, 2020. I read first. My co-reader was Mike Allen. https://fb.watch/2FTx3Y4KPw/

I read a touch of “The Magic of Fire and Dawn” for the San Mateo Public Library’s Fourth Annual Tales of Horrors event. The video premiered on October 5, 2020.

Radio and Podcasts:

Ken Volante invited me onto his Something (Rather Than Nothing) podcast to talk about Morbid Curiosity magazine, cemeteries, and the purpose of art in these dark days. Airdate: September 1, 2020. https://open.spotify.com/episode/4WyvBI3A5WgIqeJUSOejRN

Bridget Marquardt shared her love of cemeteries with me on her Ghost Magnet podcast. Airdate: September 21, 2020. https://open.spotify.com/episode/3wAvGv98DvKVDDBURHEPGy?si=kKroEHEBQUqlCqHelQICPg

Here’s a clip from that interview:

DJ Lilycat invited me back to her show on FCC Free Radio. I read part of “With You By My Side, It Should Be Fine,” a story that was published for the first time in Unsafe Words. Airdate: September 27, 2020. CW: the discussion got a little real, since we were FCC-free. You can listen to the whole show here: https://www.fccfreeradio.com/lilycat-on-stuff-unsafe-words/

Xtina Marie and James Longmore invited me to read part of “Here There Be Monsters” from Unsafe Words on Panic Room Radio. Xtina’s response is delicious. Airdate: October 29, 2020. https://www.blogtalkradio.com/thenewpanicroom/2020/10/30/the-new-panic-room-episode-211

Joanna Penn and I had the best cemetery conversation of my life on her Books and Travel Podcast: Life Obsessed. Cemeteries, Graveyards and Ossuaries. Airdate: October 29, 2020. https://www.booksandtravel.page/cemeteries-graveyards/

RS Benedict invited me to talk about catharsis and how horror prepares us to deal with the harder parts of being alive at her Rite Gud podcast. Airdate: December 10, 2020.

Finding Beauty In Darkness

Finally, I read a little snippet of “Here There Be Monsters” for KALW’s New Arrivals feature. Airdate: December 17, 2020. https://www.kalw.org/term/new-arrivals

Never Enough 2020

Every year I recap the writing triumphs and disappointments of the previous twelve months. Almost every year, I feel like I haven’t done enough. To be honest, I feel that anything that got accomplished this year was a triumph against entropy. I’ll call this post “Never Enough” for consistency’s sake, but I’m actually quite proud of my writing life in 2020.

Book publications:

I started the year talking to two publishers who wanted me to write cemetery books for them. For various reasons, both of those books fell through. I still hope to write another cemetery book someday, but I was relieved not to be under deadline in 2020.

I’m really pleased with the books I did manage to publish this year, especially since the last two I hadn’t even conceived of when the year began.

In February, Angelus Rose finally came out to complete the story of Lorelei and Azaziel. I’d planned to attend all my local conventions this year, in order to get the book into readers’ hands. Obviously that didn’t happen. I got sick in early March and missed FogCon, then San Francisco went into lockdown…  I went out of my first blog book tour in support of the series, where I met a bunch of new-to-me bloggers.

A bunch of hoped-for reviews haven’t appeared (yet?) but Booklife had nice things to say: “Rhoads and Thomas craft a plausible romance for the angel and succubus without betraying their inherent natures; readers won’t forget that Lorelei is an inherently infernal creature with undeniable carnal needs who serves truly evil masters. Vivid prose (“she felt the portal’s heat crawl over her skin like a thousand cockroaches”) keeps the reader immersed. The authors keep the personal stakes balanced against the larger conflict at hand, which builds slowly to a violent resolution.”

In September, Unsafe Words came out. It collected 14 of my previously published stories and featured one that had never been published, introduced by Stoker Award-winner Lisa Morton. It also has a glorious cover created by Lynne Hansen.

Publishers Weekly said: “Rhoads’s prose is effervescent, rendering her imagined worlds with nuance and the occasional dose of black humor. This carefully crafted collection makes an excellent showcase of Rhoads’s skill across a multitude of subgenres.”

Earlier this month, my third book of the year was published by HorrorAddicts.net Press. The Spooky Writer’s Planner is a compilation of all the tips and tricks Emerian and I have learned about writing, publishing, staying creative, and managing the business of writing. I am really proud of it.

Short fiction & poetry publications:

“Mr. Moonlight,” a fairy story from Alondra’s childhood, appeared in the 50th edition of The Siren’s Call, published on July 1, 2020. You can read the whole issue for free here: http://www.sirenscallpublications.com/pdfs/SirensCallEZine_June2020.pdf

“With You By My Side, It Should Be Fine,” a time travel, post-plague nonbinary love story, was published for the first time in Unsafe Words.

“Transubstantiation,” a poem I wrote many years ago as lyrics for the band Trance, appeared in the HWA Poetry Showcase, available now in ebook and paperback  from Amazon: https://amzn.to/2KftTNv

Short fiction sales:

I’ve sold a brand-new story, but the contract hasn’t been signed yet, so I can’t announce the details. I’m really excited about it, though. It’s a story that I’ve meant to write for more than a decade. I’m thrilled that it sold on its first submission.

Other than that, I’ve got 5 other stories out that I haven’t heard back on yet. Fingers crossed that one or more of them will land.

In all, I got 13 short story rejections this year. One story alone accounted for 9 of those. I trust that every story will find a place eventually, but in the meantime, I’m aiming to write some new stories in 2021.

In 2020, I wrote three new stories and did radical revisions on two more. I think I can do better next year.

Short Nonfiction Publications:

My essay “Bosses from Hell,” about how my first boss out of college inspired Asmodeus, was published on E. M. Markoff’s Ellderet blog on September 2, 2020: http://www.ellderet.com/emmarkoff-blog/2020/9/1/bosses-from-hell-loren-rhoads-guest-post-paranormal-romance

My essay “Scarier than Halloween,” about trick-or-treating and my kid’s chronic illness, was published on the Horror Writers Association’s Halloween Haunts blog on October 10, 2020: https://horror.org/2020/10/halloween-haunts-scarier-than-halloween/

My essay about 15 books that inspired the stories in Unsafe Words appeared on Horror Made on October 10, 2020: https://horrormade.com/2020/10/10/15-books-behind-unsafe-words/

My essay about “Celebrating my Birthday in Cemeteries” was published on Readers Entertainment on October 10, 2020: https://readersentertainment.com/2020/10/10/birthdays-in-the-cemetery/

My essay explaining the songs on the Unsafe Words playlist appeared on Fang-tastic Books on October 12, 2020: https://fang-tasticbooks.blogspot.com/2020/10/playlist-unsafe-words-by-loren-rhoads.html

My essay about my Pandemic Garden appeared at Creatively Green on October 15, 2020: https://creativelygreen.blogspot.com/2020/10/in-garden-with-loren-rhoads-inthegarden.html

I wrote about how visiting a cadaver lab inspired my story “Valentine” for Jennifer Brozek’s Tell Me feature. It was published on October 28, 2020: http://www.jenniferbrozek.com/blog/post/2020/10/28/Tell-Me-Loren-Rhoads1

My essay about the books and luxury I would take to entertain myself all night as a “Graveyard Warden” appeared on Kendall Reviews on November 9, 2020:

{Graveyard Shift} Loren Rhoads, author of Unsafe Words is this week’s warden.

My “Childhood Fears” essay, about my closest cousin and a childhood seance, was published on Ginger Nuts of Horror on December 1, 2020: https://gingernutsofhorror.com/features/childhood-fears-by-loren-rhoads 

I managed essays for the HWA newsletter about green burial, the grave of the Black Dahlia, the Capuchin catacombs of Rome,  and “Additions to Your Cemetery Library” this year.

The Brand-New Spooky Writer’s Planner

Do you write horror, speculative fiction, dark fantasy, paranormal romance, or fairy tales?

Are you a spooky blogger, macabre nonfiction columnist, or haunt travel vlogger?

Are you ready to stop dreaming and be a writer?

Are you an author who wants to take your

career to the next level?

THE SPOOKY WRITER’S PLANNER INCLUDES:

13 months of monthly and weekly spreads
Monthly goal and recap sheets
Weekly check-ins and note pages
Writing challenges, planners, and instructions
Submissions, published works, and contacts trackers
Marketing, newsletter, and blog planners
Check-off sheets for website maintenance, social media profiles, and expenses
Fun sheets to generate writing ideas, track your favorite TV series, or to be read and watched lists

CHECK OUT SOME SAMPLE PAGES:

   

HOW CAN YOU GET ONE?

DIGITAL: Get one immediately from Etsy! The quick-download version gives you a digital copy so you can print the pages you want, print multiples of those you think you’ll use the most, and leave those you won’t use. These pages are designed to be printed on 8.5 x 11-inch paper. You can put them in a three-ring binder, bind them with disks or a spiral, as you choose. You can even print different sheets on different colored papers. Create your own Frankenstein’s Monster of a planner!

PRINT: Order a paperback copy from Amazon! The Spooky Writer’s Planner is perfect-bound with a glossy cover, printed on high-quality 8.5 x 11-inch paper. Everything you need is included in one handy book you can grab and go! Have book, will travel!

An invitation to join my newsletter

Hello, dear readers. I’ve been sending out a newsletter more or less monthly for over a year. Every issue features one of my morbid travel adventures, a personal letter from me, and usually a giveaway.

It’s easy to join! Just click on this link and Mailchimp will walk you through the process.

Just for signing up, you can download 4Elements, a sampler of my writing from personal essay to urban fantasy to dark science fiction to morbid travel essays. Of course, there’s a cemetery involved, too.

The December newsletter is about to go out, with a special contest for subscribers. You wouldn’t want to miss it.

Here’s that link again: https://mailchi.mp/aa9545b2ccf4/lorenrhoads

Thank you for coming along to explore my world!

 

A Dictionary of Demons and Devils

When I was finishing up Angelus Rose in the spring, my friend EM Markoff suggested including a dictionary of devils so I could detail some of the mythology that inspired the backstories in the novel. I didn’t get it finished in time to add before the novel went to press, so I thought I’d post it here.

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Asmodeus from de Plancy’s Dictionnaire Infernal

Asmodeus – Chief among the demons in the As Above, So Below books is Asmodeus, the demon Prince of Los Angeles, who serves as Lorelei’s boss.  Asmodeus runs the entertainment industry, from movies to gambling, with a series of restaurants, dance clubs, and bars as well.

Traditionally, Asmodeus came from Persian mythology, rather than from Jewish folktales. He was a demon of impurity, lust, and anger who is credited with inventing carousels, music, dancing, and drama. In the Book of Tobit, Asmodeus slew the seven bridegrooms of Sarah, until he was overcome by the angel Rafael and banished to upper Egypt. That story plays into the ending of Angelus Rose.

Barakiel – In Lost Angels, Barakiel poses as a card buddy who watches over the fallen priest Joseph. When Lorelei needs an exorcist to free her from the mortal girl’s soul that possesses her, she has to negotiate with Barakiel to seal the deal.  Formerly a seraph, Barakiel is a fallen angel traditionally invoked for successful gambling, particularly in card games. Like Azaziel, Barakiel was a Watcher sent down before the Flood, who took a mortal woman as wife and fathered a nephilim.

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Beelzebub – Although he plays a small part in Lost Angels, Beelzebub appears more in Angelus Rose. He was the former Prince of LA, deposed by Asmodeus after the LA Riots in 1992. Traditionally, the Lord of Flies is a Prince of Hell who stood next to Satan. After the Fall, Beelzebub bargained with Christ to release all the unbaptized saints from Hell and was subsequently banished from Hell to the mortal world.

Behemoth – One of the demons who serve Asmodeus in Hell, Behemoth appears in our books as an obese man who tries to tempt Azaziel and is ready to support a coup against Asmodeus if Beelzebub chooses to lead one. Behemoth appears in the story of Job as a male chaos monster. He’s often pictured as an elephant.[image error]

Damia and Keisha – Brian created these two harpies to serve as Yasmina’s minions in Lost Angels. They look like street kids and encouraged Ashleigh’s drug habit. They were about to devour Ashleigh’s soul when Azaziel steals it in order to possess Lorelei with it. Azaziel tolerates them, but Lorelei doesn’t.

Floria – In the As Above, So Below books, Floria is a young succubus from the same litter as Lorelei. She wants very badly to advance to being a temptress. In the original short story, Floria encouraged Lorelei to chase after Azaziel, but that changed in the books, where she became more of a nemesis for Lorelei. I named her after Floria in the opera Tosca.

[image error]Jequon – Who In Hell: A Guide to the Whole Damned Bunch says Jequon tempted angels with the sight of mortal women and arranged hookups between angels and women for sex. A Dictionary of Angels: Including the Fallen Angels calls Jequon a ringleader of the fallen angels. Brian suggested that Jequon could run a talent agency in LA and I ran with that idea.

Jezebel – A Phoenician princess who married the Hebrew king Ahab in the 9th century BCE. She introduced eye makeup and the worship of Baal to the Hebrews. After a coup, she was thrown from a palace window, run over by a chariot in the street, and her corpse was eaten by wild dogs. In the As Above, So Below books, she is a former succubus cursed to serve as Yasmina’s handmaiden. She is one of my favorites of Brian’s characters in the books.

[image error]Lorelei – The heroine of the As Above, So Below novels is a younger succubus, only a handful of centuries old, who worked her way up from being an imp in service to Asmodeus. She shares her name with the German river goddess, but was actually named for an apartment building down the street from Brian’s home in Glendale, California, where we wrote much of the books.

One of Brian’s additions to her backstory is that Lorelei served Stalin in Russia and took credit for his victims. I added that she also made bargains with several rock’n’roll legends during the 70s in LA. One of those stories is called “Never Bargained for You,” which appears in my short story collection Unsafe Words.

[image error]Mastema – Mentioned in the Book of Jubilees and the Dead Sea Scrolls, Mastema is an angel of hostility who hardened the Pharoah’s heart against Moses and helped the Egyptian sorcerers, particularly when they turned their staves into snakes. One of Brian’s best additions to the As Above, So Below books was his research into Mastema, an accusing angel who works for God as tempter and executioner. According to A Dictionary of Angels, God permitted a tenth of the fallen angels to remain at large on Earth in the service of Mastema. Brian spun that into Mastema being a tempter in charge of wrangling newly fallen angels until they can be sorted into a particular demon’s army. The character, who dresses as a cross between a clown and a shady used car salesman, was a lot of fun to write.

[image error]Nebiros – Who In Hell names Nebiros as the demon in charge of North America, but we focused on his traditional role as the General of Hell’s Army on Earth. Brian pictured him as the demon of improvised weapons, who had been raising holy hell in the Mideast for decades. In our books, Nebiros carries a serpent as his rank of office. That dates back to the earliest draft of the story, when the character was named Astaroth. He evolved in the revisions when I realized we had Azaziel, Asmodeus, Ashleigh, Astarte, and Astaroth. I didn’t want the names to be confusing, so I changed his. Nebiros was a better choice anyway.

[image error]Tibor – a fiend I named after a jeweler in San Francisco. I really liked Mr. Tibor, who was a talkative gay man who’d fled Budapest for true love in San Francisco, so I hope he’d forgive me for borrowing his name. In the As Above, So Below books, fiends are the devils who stick the pitchforks into sinners in Hell (one of Brian’s touches). Tibor is one of Asmodeus’s foot soldiers.

Tomur – the fiend assigned to protect and spy on Lorelei in Angelus Rose. I chose his name to rhyme, in a way, with Tibor. I wanted to indicate that the two fiends were of a generation, the same way that Lorelei and Floria share similar names.

Yasmina – the temptress Yasmina was born human. She was one of the granddaughters of Cain, who lived at the time of the Flood. Her sister Anah was romanced, rescued, and ultimately wed by Azaziel. Yasmina never forgave the angel for not saving her whole family. As the floodwaters rose, Yasmina sold her soul to Asmodeus to become a snake-bodied temptress, bent on revenge against Azaziel. Her name is a play on one of the Victoria’s Secret models that Brian had a crush on.

[image error]You can learn more about our succubus/angel love story here: https://lorenrhoads.com/writing/as-above-so-below/

If you’d like to order the “boxed” set from me, I’ll throw in a little special gift. You can check them out at my bookstore. They’re also available individually on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, or as ebooks on Smashwords.

 

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Teas to Drink with My Stories

[image error]I drink an inordinate amount of tea. Once I discovered Adagio teas, I loved the idea of blending teas to represent the characters in my stories. Adagio allows you to try a sample tin of each tea, which is what I’ve photographed here, or to buy a 3-ounce pouch or a 5-ounce tin.

[image error]In The Alondra Stories, Alondra DeCourval is a witch who often considers the astrological influences of the foods she eats as a way to gain or ground energy.

She blends her own teas as if she is compounding medicine. I decided she would be best represented by Ceylon tea, blended with black currant, blackberry, raspberry leaves, and rose petals. It’s sweet, full of perfume, and strong.

Her tea is for sale here: https://www.adagio.com/signature_blend/blend.html?blend=147040

[image error]On the Adagio site, Alondra’s tea is paired with her guardian Victor’s tea, which means you can buy the two of them together for a discount.

Victor Lockwood is a psychic doctor who has traveled the world helping to free the living from otherworldly creatures. He belongs to a lodge and works for the British Museum.

Victor’s tea is based on two kinds of Earl Grey, blended with vanilla and orange peel and accented with lavender and blue cornflowers. His tea is here: https://www.adagio.com/signature_blend/blend.html?blend=147041

[image error]Stella is Alondra’s closest friend. She appears in the stories “A Curiosity of Shadows,” which was collected in the Alondra’s Investigations chapbook, and in “Guardian of the Golden Gate,” which appeared in Strange California.

Stella works at Curios & Candles, a magic shop in San Francisco’s Lower Haight district. Her tea was inspired by chai: Ceylon black tea, with ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, and orange peel.

It isn’t overly spicy like some chais, but has a nice warmth to it. Stella would drink it with honey and oat milk, but I prefer it black. Here’s the link: https://www.adagio.com/signature_blend/blend.html?blend=147035

[image error]Stella’s tea is paired with Elizabeth’s.

Elizabeth Stewart is the owner of Prospero’s Books in North Hollywood. She appears in the story “The Fatal Book,” which was collected in Alondra’s Investigations.

Elizabeth was inspired by my friend, longtime-bookseller Martha Allard, so her tea was inspired by Martha’s favorite. It’s a green tea with ginger and the subtle flavor of lemons and mandarin oranges.

Here’s the link: https://www.adagio.com/signature_blend/blend.html?blend=147039

[image error]Marie Jackson is a voodoun priestess who rents her carriage house apartment in New Orleans to Alondra. Her tea comes straight from the pages of the story “Last-Born,” which was originally published in The Ghost-Breakers in 2005. It was republished in Alondra’s Investigations.

Marie’s tea is an herbal blend of chamomile flowers, rooibos, vanilla, lemon balm, with lemon grass, lavender, and marigold petals. It’s pretty to look at, smells good, and tastes great. Best of all, it’s blended to give you sweet dreams. Here’s the link: https://www.adagio.com/signature_blend/blend.html?blend=147038

Marie’s tea is paired with Simon’s, since they both appear in “Last-Born.”

[image error]Simon Lebranche first entered Alondra’s life in “Valentine,” when she was stalking him to steal his heart. That story was reprinted in my new collection, Unsafe Words.

Simon next appears in “Letter from New Orleans,” in which Alondra tells him about her ghostly experiences in St. Roch Cemetery.

Finally, he turns up in “Last-Born.”

Simon’s tea is Ceylon black tea with strawberries, blueberries, peach and apple pieces, and marigold petals. It’s one of my favorite teas. Here’s the link: https://www.adagio.com/signature_blend/blend.html?blend=147042

The teas are available individually, in ‘ships with a discount off the 3-ounce pouches, or in handsome reusable 5-ounce tins.

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Enjoy!