Guests: Sam D. and Ray East

First, a short interview:

How long have you been writing?

I have written all through school and college for local newspapers, neighborhood journals, college periodicals and as such.

How long have you been a published author?

Around two months.

What titles do you have available?

Currently the book I have available is Voluspa – A Magical World.

What made you choose the subject of this book?

Personally, I am a huge fan of the fantasy genre. And when I decided to write, I subconsciously chose this genre. I wanted to create this magical world which would be fundamentally similar to ours but yet so exotically different that it will capture the fancy of the readers. I also wanted to showcase the character of Amy as a constantly growing, learning, strong individual – a very ordinary girl who chooses an extraordinary life.

Do you have any new titles coming soon? Will you be venturing into the area of fiction anytime soon?

I am currently working on the second book in the Voluspa series. I haven’t given much thought to any future projects beyond the Voluspa series yet.

What is your favourite genre and why?

I love the fantasy genre because I think, imaginative literature has limitless possibilities. It’s a great escape from the humdrum of everyday life and in this genre the author or the reader can give a free rein to their imagination – it’s a very absorbing experience.

What, to you, is the most exciting part of the writing process?

Seeing your thoughts take shape and form tangible prose is very satisfying. Being able to convey what you are feeling through words and making yourself understood to others is a good feeling.

If you could co-author a book with anyone, who would you choose and why?

I would choose J.K. Rowling. I’m a huge fan of her writing and I think she has a knack of weaving magic with her words.

Where can readers find you on the web?

www.magicalworldofvoluspa.com

http://www.amazon.com/VOLUSPA-A-Magical-World-Sam-D/dp/0985681608

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/voluspa-a-magical-world-sam-d/1111523622

Feel free to include your latest release/promo, and any additional info you might like included! Thanks so much for being my guest.

For the next three months, join the adventure of Amy and Drake, and win a Kindle fire and other gift certificates. Details on www.magicalworldofvoluspa.com

About the Authors:

Ray East and Sam D has moved to Voluspa and live in the Forest of Skotos with their 5 year old daughter and a pet Typhon. They visit Earth with the help of an Empath from time to time. Ray East did her masters in Phsychology from Univeristy of Sussex and has worked as a counselor for adolescents. Sam D used to teach at a SPJC before he moved to Voluspa.

Their latest book is Voluspa: A Magical World.

To get your copy of VOLUSPA: A MAGICAL WORLD by Sam D & Ray East at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/VOLUSPA-A-Magical-World-Sam-D/dp/0985681608/ref=pd_rhf_ee_p_t_1

To get your e-copy of VOLUSPA: A MAGICAL WORLD by Sam D & Ray East for your Kindle at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Voluspa-A-Magical-World-ebook/dp/B008BCZBTE/ref=tmm_kin_title_0

Order your copy of VOLUSPA: A MAGICAL WORLD by Sam D. & Ray East at B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/voluspa-a-magical-world-sam-d/1111523622?ean=2940014770675

To learn more about Sam D and Ray East, visit their website: www.magicalworldofvoluspa.com

Visit Sam D & Ray East on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/voluspa

Like Sam D & Ray East on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/worldofvoluspa

Follow Sam D & Ray East at Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15592516-voluspa

About the Book:

Centuries ago, war between aliens and humans almost destroyed the world. To prevent such a war from happening again, a mighty ruler then formed a secret society of nine powerful humans and aliens called the Bramhas. These Bramhas each wrote a book imparting ancient wisdom and knowledge. The possession of these books could bring about untold power and success. The nine books were hidden but the desire to possess those books, still cause men to fight wars and turn against each other. One such war was fought in the realm of Voluspa decades back; the consequences of that war still resonate in this magical land. Two young lovers get caught in this tussle and it changes their destinies forever.

Amy’s humdrum life takes a complete 180’ turn with the death of her stepfather. She goes to live with her grandmother – her only living relative, though she hasn’t seen her in the last five years. Among her mother’s childhood memorabilia, she finds a book ‘Legends of Voluspa’ that captures her imagination. She becomes so engrossed in the book that she starts dreaming about the places in the book till one night she finds herself inexplicably transported to the new world – Voluspa, as described in the book. Here she meets Drake, who unknown to her is a shape shifter. Chemistry cackles between the two from the very first and as they discover that they share a lot in common, a tenuous bond forms between the two. ‘I’ll keep you safe’ vows Drake and he remains true to his word as he befriends her and saves her from various troubles that befall her over the next couple of months.

In Voluspa, Amy discovers a new way of life. It’s a magical world inhabited by primarily four clans – Empaths, Morphus, Mendens and the Pulchrous. The Empaths have the power of mind, the Morphus are the shape shifters, Mendens are the healers while the Pulchrous possess physical perfection and strength. With the help of an old family friend, Amy takes her rightful place in the Empath clan. This marks a new chapter in Amy’s life. She realizes her own powers and subsequently starts going to a school to enhance the same. With Drake by her side, she makes some wonderful friends. However, her life is not all smooth sailing; trouble comes when she learns the truth about her biological parents. She realizes that her very existence is against Voluspan law which forbids the union between individuals belonging to two different clans. History threatens to repeat itself as she realizes that her predicament was not that different from what her mother had faced, decades back. She is totally in love with Drake, who belongs to the Morphus clan.

The enchanting world of Voluspa is far from Utopic; it has barely recovered from a devastating war fought twenty years back when the peace of the land is once again threatened by Gangrels, the evil army of aliens. The two young lovers soon realize that besides contending with forbidden love, they have to deal with other impediments. Ancient enmities, a past war, a much coveted book, all conspire against the two lovers. Gangrels reappear in Voluspa and Drake falls in the clutches of one such evil being who would stop at nothing to realize his fiendish ambitions. Amy and her friends cross realms, face enemies, deal with challenges, solve riddles and brave possible destruction, as they set off on an adventure to rescue Drake. The ‘Force of Sutra’ clashes with the ‘Elemental Force’ of the Gangrels as Amy and her friends are faced with an indomitable enemy. They use strategic warfare, pit adversaries among themselves and use every last drop of strength, skill and courage as they take on warriors far more ruthless and skilled than themselves.

As Amy embarks upon a quest to save Drake, her love for him is tested at every turn but she never wavers from her objective. Braving imminent death she manages to reach Drake – only to find a changed person. Gone is the man she is in love with, instead a dangerous stranger stood in his place. This Drake was teetering at the edge between becoming completely evil and retaining his own soul. He almost harms Amy but stops himself at the very last minute. His love for Amy proves to be stronger than the evil entity threatening to overpower him. However when chips are down, Drake comes through. He sets aside his personal well-being in order to save Amy, one last time. Drake is perhaps lost forever but hope dies last – Amy is determined to get back Drake, no matter what the cost.

Book Trailer:

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Obsession and Sociopathy

That’s quite the attention getter, isn’t it? I’ve been walking in this strange grey area for a few months now, and every time I think I’ve cleared the crazy away, someone decides it’s not over yet. We meet a lot of people in our lives, on the streets and online, but it’s the online ones who appear to be the most likely to really try to tear your life apart. I don’t know why the “protection” of a computer makes people braver than they’d ever be face to face, but it does have that effect.

Some of you have followed the saga that began with a role-play group earlier this year, and ended in lawyers and police and insanity of a special kind. It’s still carrying on, believe it or not–the new partner, apparently, doesn’t believe in letting anyone escape if they come out better than her. Oh well… Guess what? It’s happened. Now crawl back under your rock and stay there! I’ve spoken to the sociopathic object of your affection again, we are DONE. No need to inbox nasty, perverted messages, then scream you were hacked… just leave it to hell alone and get on with your plotting against someone else before you are arrested for the threats you’ve made.

Obsession… it’s been played as romantic over the years by some, and tragic by others. Obsession is in vogue at the moment because of Fifty Shades of Grey. Obsession is dangerous, and it expands and effects every life you touch when you are caught in the throes of it and can’t escape. Sometimes we don’t really want to escape, of course, not until we’re shown that obsession is part of the player’s stock in trade.

I’m going to forego long detail here, and cut right to the chase. After nine months, most of the puzzle pieces have been put in place. Professional people have used the words “con man” and others have said “sociopath” in loud, clear voices. My personal opinion having spoken to a couple of fellow victims is there’s a little of both at play. Hey, you know me, I put it out there–I’ve been conned by a world-class sociopath, and this is me admitting it to you. Even as I type the words part of me is whispering, but what if you’re wrong? What if he is tragic and tormented? Which of course simply proves how damn good he is, because even with the proof in front of me, I still want to believe him.

IF there was a chance of being wrong, I dismissed it when his last victim came to me and told me in great detail what had been said to her and done to her–and guess what? Word for word what was said to me! No man loves any two women exactly the same way, unless he’s conning them all… the words and the responses change–it’s called being an individual, isn’t it? Hell, as writers we don’t even write the heroes as carbon copies of each other. I’m sure there’s truth somewhere in the narrative he spews, but for someone who preaches religiously about truth and trust, he lies more easily than he breathes… and that’s been proven a hundred times in the past two months, and not just to me.

The definition of sociopath is this:

Antisocial Personality Disorder is also known as psychopathy or sociopathy. Individuals with this disorder have little regard for the feeling and welfare of others. As a clinical diagnosis it is usually limited to those over age 18. It can be diagnosed in younger people if the they commit isolated antisocial acts and do not show signs of another mental disorder.

Antisocial Personality Disorder is chronic, beginning in adolescence and continuing throughout adulthood. There are ten general symptoms:

not learning from experience

no sense of responsibility

inability to form meaningful relationships

inability to control impulses

lack of moral sense

chronically antisocial behaviour

no change in behavior after punishment

emotional immaturity

lack of guilt

self-centeredness

*More information can be found here:

http://www.9types.com/wwwboard/messages/18332.html

Also, the Sociopath is profiled in easy-to-understand terms here:

http://www.mcafee.cc/Bin/sb.html

ALL good con men have to have at least sociopathic tendencies or they’d never be able to pull their shit. The magic of the internet has created a world-wide garden of opportunity for men and women like these. Ands, those who love honestly and openly are always the best victims, they care with a genuineness that strokes the ego of the con artist. In many cases, once the con is over and Mr./Ms. Wonderful vanishes, the wounds are so deep some will never recover or trust again. That’s the real tragedy, that the truth has been mutated by lies and will always be a source of pain and imprisonment, instead of freedom. For me, I can’t live in a self-imposed prison, I do know the truth of who I am, and who he is… I pity him, he lost much more than he gained.

Karma… everyone talks about it, and I’m not sure I believe in it, but time will prove or disprove that one. My karma, if you wish to call it that, knows well what the truth is… and every move made to silence that truth simply adds to the evidence of what really has happened here. Sociopaths have no conscience, they move from one victim to the next and never admit that they’re the one creating the agony they leave in their wake. If you’ve been the victim of betrayal and pain, spreading it out to the innocent people who might have loved you better and forever is not the way to heal your wounds. Becoming an abuser and a predator just makes you worse than what was done to you.

So, to all who are reading this, tread carefully. Good luck and good love…

*The Phoenix image used in this post was found via Google, and is meant only to be a symbolic impression here. No copyright infringement is intended.

Saying Goodbye to Crazy!

I’m going to make this a short post, but it will touch on a few important things that have become prevalent recently. Up until two years ago, I’d never heard of a writer calling themselves a role-player. When the first one waltzed across the wall of my Facebook profile, I admit I was intrigued by the way in which these people brought book characters to life with such ease, and how entertaining they were while they did it. It took less than four months for me to become disenchanted. Guilt by association seems to be a genuine threat to “real” people who end up friends with many role-play people.

Many of you know I have dabbled a little with the concept of role-play, have even written in groups with a friend. It was fun, and I do understand the allure and appeal. If this is how you want to write, then by all means enjoy it and have fun. What’s happened in recent months is a progression of really ugly personal shit being propagated by several players who seem to think the fake profiles allow them to strike out, lie and shit-disturb with impunity. Again, I really don’t care who you are or what you think you are achieving when you choose to strike out and manipulate or use the people who really do believe you are their friend. Hell, I’ve been on the receiving end of the biggest joke of them all–I fell in love with someone who might very well be a woman using a male identity to hide behind in real-life as well as on the pages of Facebook. Do I care? Not anymore. Like everything else associated with all of this, it’s a closed chapter, and life moves on.

However, it might be prudent for the role-players to bear in mind that if you engage in posting blatant lies about publishing companies and contract violations, etc., you are opening yourselves and your friends to legal action of a serious nature. Watching what goes on in other people’s groups, screen-capping discussions, copying and pasting conversations…at the end of the day, none of it proves a thing. Screen captures are images, and the court recognizes that all images can be manipulated by a talented graphic artist. Copy and paste is the same, it can be manipulated. In most cases, nothing contained in such “evidence” is worth the time it takes to collect it anyway. The writing you all do, and some of you are very talented and creative, it’s your work–but you have to accept that at any time the author who owns the copyrights can demand that you cease and desist. Some do, and some don’t, others just accept the impossibility of policing social networks and forums to stop infringements, so they turn blind eyes to it all.

I’ve seen and read some wild accusations recently–and I have no clue where the source of these fictions find the information they’re reporting. I do know that if you want to have any peace and credibility as writers and as decent human beings, you really need to stop preying on the real people who extend their trust to you. I’ve even been told recently that lesser known authors go to role-players and BEG to write with them, then go insane with threats when they can’t get their own way. Hell, I have no clue if it’s true or not–and again, I don’t much care. Do you see the theme here? I’ve been attacked, lied to, lied about, threatened, stalked, etc., and guess what? I continue to write and build my career, and at the end of each day, I know who I am and what my goals are, as well as who is real in my life now.

Role-players–if you truly DO respect the creators of the worlds in which you play, honour them with good writing and pleasant fan interaction so they in turn will not shudder or get angry when they hear the words “role-player” ascribed to their characters. I can’t speak for any other author, and don’t presume to, but I will say this–I am done with all of it. I want no players on my pages, and no further contact with those I once thought were real friends through our writing together in this kind of format. When a situation escalates to the extent that you must contact police, sit down and consult with lawyers, and hire publicists, move websites, etc., things have gotten to the extremely out of control stage. I’ve had to do all of these things within the past two months. Why? If this goes on, what does anyone get out of it? Nothing at all. Only more aggravation and inflammatory hate being spread into cyberspace.

It’s well past time for calm, sane thought, and honest reality. This is me walking away from this crazy for the final time. In the middle of a stress-induced black-out at the end of May I almost committed suicide over the insanity that had erupted from role-play and the lies I’d been told, as well as the manipulation and humiliation being directed at me. It took me days to find some clarity. It’s taken me two months to find the strength and control to start looking ahead, not back. I wish no one ill-will, and I have no capacity for hate so none is levelled at those who were involved in what’s gone on over the past couple of months. Again, I simply want to be left out of this world of make-believe in future, and respectfully ask that you cease and desist in your efforts to involve me in whatever wrongs you feel have been or are being perpetrated against you.

Revelations

Here we are again, time for a weekly chat about life and love and all that jazz. I’ve had a lot going on recently and most of it has been pretty good. Which is why the darker things always seem so dark they’re suffocating. It’s been a period of a change for me, at least on an emotional level. I’ve had charges levelled at me that are patently absurd, yet somehow the fiction seems to be accepted as fact. If I had half the “power” I’ve had subscribed to me, I’d be a phenomenal success at the moment. Reality is, I’m struggling daily just to find a reason to keep going.

A lot of you have known me publicly for a long time, and most of you know virtually nothing about me personally. It’s funny how that gets to be part of the allure for some people. I’m not going to reveal all here, but I will tell you a little bit more than most of you know, perhaps it will give you some perspective about who I am and why I am often such a bloody bitch about making my feelings known about issues and attitudes.

Writing is a full-time career for many people, but for those of us who do the job full-time, it’s often the second full-time that we carry. For me, I am a health care giver to an aging, failing parent–24/7 I am on call, and believe me, working around those demands is not an easy task on the best of days. Add to this the fact that my own health has been failing this year, and the demands and stress reach whole new levels. A couple of times a year, I seem to suffer stress-overload and my head gets pretty messed up when that happens. I go days without sleep, eat almost nothing, and I get overly emotional–that’s common enough and easy enough for many to understand. A break like this lasts a few days before I completely recover from it. In recent years, I’ve suffered the occasional “black-out” when this happens to me, as well, and have little to no memory of the day the break occurs. My most recent episode was the end of May, and that one cost me in ways I’m still trying to recover from, since not everyone wants to understand or allow kindness and love to be their guide when trying to deal with the fallout.

I’m not married, and never have been. I get asked that one a lot. Engaged three times before I was twenty-five, and I broke the engagements because I don’t believe it’s fair to ruin someone’s life for not being what you need. I’d have been three times divorced if I’d gone with those first moments of excitement and infatuation that made me say yes to those nice gentlemen. In the years since, I’ve never allowed anyone to get truly close to me, because I recognize that I have nothing to give to anyone at this point in my life, and I refuse to pretend otherwise. What I want and what I realistically have are a world apart and may always be that way, so… It doesn’t make me want any less than we all want, someone to lean on and trust, and love. I’m an emotional person, and I often care far too deeply for my own good. In spite of myself, I do trust, and I want to believe in people. The mistakes continue to add up, but my first reaction is to accept people for what they are when I meet them.

Writing is for me a way to escape a little, but also it’s a way to give back some of the hope that has been badly tainted in my real life. We enjoy happily ever after for a reason, it’s what many of us hope for and aspire to when we meet someone who is all we’ve ever dreamed about and wished for. In a world where we are disappointed, used, and have our dreams shattered on a daily basis, I think there’s a need in us all to believe there are still gentle and loving hearts out there, and that perhaps happily ever after is still possible if you are patient and honest. Most of all, you have to be honest and true to yourself. Everyone seems to like to throw around words like destiny and fate, and Karma–Karma is a big one, and the most often abused. What we sow in this life is what we ultimately reap, and usually the harvest comes when it’s least expected, in small and quiet ways. I think we all need to remember this, especially when we’re passing judgement where we know very little of the person we’re discussing, and even less about the reality of the situation being talked about by those who have no part in it.

My life is precisely that, MY LIFE. You have no idea what my days are like, or how alone I am from day to day, so don’t presume to judge or point fingers. I don’t believe I have the right to dissect your life, your motivations, or your reasons for doing what you do. Why should I accept you invading my life and passing judgement? Think about this, and I do mean think honestly about it. I am a public figure through my work, but my private life is just that–I’ve just given you more than I have given away in nine years of being a public person. So you know me a little better, and maybe the out-spoken and thought-provoking words make a bit more sense now. If they do, great. If not, look into your own soul and ask yourself honestly just why you resist reality. I don’t owe anyone explanation, and neither do you owe me any. But what you do owe me is the respect all people should be accorded unless they reach out with the intent of destroying you. I haven’t got the time or the energy to do about 99% of the shit I’ve been accused of in recent months. I don’t really live in the Twilight Zone, so stop forcing me to visit, please.

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