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Saturday, August 18, 2012

Marva Dasef Unveils Setara's Genie!!!

Today I am very happy to bring you an author who has graced this blog many times. I am very pleased to be one of the stops on her whirlwind blog tour for her new book: Setara's Genie!!!

As always she has brought with her some amazing photos to let us know more about her new book. Before we start learning about the book, though, here is a little bit about Marva if you have never known about her.

Marva Dasef Bio:
Marva Dasef lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and a fat white cat. Retired from thirty-five years in the software industry, she has now turned her energies to writing fiction and finds it a much more satisfying occupation. Marva has published more than forty stories in a number of on-line and print magazines, with several included in Best of anthologies. She has several previously published books and and the Witches of Galdorheim Series from her super duper publisher, MuseItUp.



                                                                     






SETARA’S GENIE
A girl, a genie, a few demons. Would could go wrong?
by Marva Dasef 
MuseItUp Buy Link: http://tinyurl.com/SetarasGenie 
Amazon Buy Link: coming soon


A Bottle of Djinn

Genies or djinns are great fun. Robin William’s genie in Aladdin was a hoot. But when is Robin Williams not a hoot? Okay, don’t tell me about One-Hour Photo, Insomnia, or Death to Smoochy. Nobody bats a thousand.

Ahem. That’s not the subject here. It’s genies.

Let’s not talk about I Dream of Jeannie. That is clearly a complete and utter corruption of the wonderful race of magical beings brought to us from Muslim tradition. So, here’s the skeenie on genies.

From Wikipedia:

In Arabic, a genie (also jinn, Djinn, jinni) is a supernatural creature which occupies a parallel world to that of mankind, and together with humans and angels makes up the three sentient creations of God (Allah). Possessing free will, a djinn can be either good or evil.

The Djinn are mentioned frequently in the Qur’an, and there is a Surah entitled Al-Jinn. While Christian tradition suggests that Lucifer was an angel that rebelled against God’s orders, Islam maintains that Iblis was a Djinn who had been granted special privilege to live amongst angels prior to his rebellion. Although some scholars have ruled that it is apostasy to disbelieve in one of God’s creations, the belief in Jinn has fallen comparably to the belief in angels in other Abrahamic traditions.

Golly, that’s not near as much fun as Robin Williams. Still, a supernatural being that can wreak havoc on humans is right up our alley, right?

In my book, Setara’s Genie, Basit, the genie, serves Setara. Well, ‘serves’ is a bit of a stretch. He suggests, advises, and pretty much makes her figure out how to get things done. Every once in a great while, he will whomp up a little magic if Setara is about to fall off a cliff or something else dangerous.



                                                                Basit



Basit appears in all of Setara’s adventures except one. In that story, an evil genie has tricked Basit into the bottle that Aladdin put him in years before. He introduces himself to Setara as Sharif, Apprentice Djinn Second Class, and claims to be taking over for Basit while he’s missing. Setara is naturally concerned for Basit. The evil genie (disguised as a boy djinn) wants to lure her into helping him kill the Great Vizier ---- screeeech! Calling a halt here. The plot is too complicated to explain in full.

The short of it is that Setara and her gang have to rescue Basit from the bottle. To do that, they have to put the bad genie into another bottle. Setara, Kairav the water demon, Azizah the cave demon, Sheik the dog, and Sulawesi the eagle are all needed to put that dang bad genie back in his bottle and get Basit out.

To learn what else happens to the gang, you’ll just have to buy a copy of the book. 


Blurb:

Abu Nuwas sits in the bazaar on his threadbare rug; a cup and sign proclaim him a teller of tales. For one small coin, he bids passers by to listen. A poor girl, Najda, sells spices from a tray. Would he, she asks, trade a tale for a packet of spice? Abu Nuwas agrees and begins the epic adventures of a girl and her genie.

As did Scheherazade before him, Abu leaves Najda hanging in the middle of each yarn to keep her coming back. Between stories, he questions the girl about her life. He discovers that she’s been promised in marriage to an old man whom she hates, but she must wed him to save her sick mother’s life. The rich bridegroom will pay for the doctors the mother needs. Meanwhile, Najda sells spices in the market to earn enough money to keep her mother alive.

He relates the adventures of the bored daughter of a rich merchant, Setara, and her genie, Basit, as they encounter the creatures of legend and folklore: a lonely cave demon seeking a home; a flying, fire-breathing horse who has lost his mate; a dragon searching for his family; an evil genie hunting for the man who put him in a lamp; and a merboy prince cast out of his undersea kingdom.

Excerpt:

Azizah set her gently down again. Setara straightened her clothing. “Have you seen Basit lately? I called him, but he didn’t show.”

“No, we’ve not seen him since we fought with the dragon demon. Wait! He did come by and told us the happy outcome of your visit to Semidor. It was good the adventure ended with a family reunion, rather than a slaughter. Basit also mentioned that Habiba and Hasib had twin foals, a filly and a colt.”

“I definitely need to get to Semidor to see them. I’d bet they’re as cute as can be. Any magic passed on?”

“Yes, indeed. Both of them fly and breathe fire. Hasib is a proud father to be sure,” Azizah answered with enthusiasm then glanced toward Kairav with a crafty gleam in her eye. Setara giggled, understanding Azizah’s look immediately. Kairav grinned broadly at his mate and winked.

The air next to Nasreen popped, and a solid figure appeared. The mare whinnied and stamped her front legs then shied away.

“Basit!” Setara exclaimed and then looked again. The genie hovering before her was not her Basit but another one entirely.

                                                                   
“At your service, Mistress Setara.” The genie swept a deep bow toward her. He looked nothing like Basit, although Basit didn’t always look precisely like Basit. This genie seemed younger, much younger. Indeed, he looked like a boy no more than twelve or thirteen years old.

Setara stared at the teenaged djinn. She didn’t realize genies were born and grew older like people. “Who are you?”

“My apologies. Let me introduce myself. I am Sharif, Apprentice Djinn, Second Class.”


                                                            Sharif

“I see.” Setara stared at the boy and pulled her ear thoughtfully. She didn’t know what to make of this development. “Where’s Basit?”

“Unfortunately, he’s been detained by circumstances beyond his control. When your call came into Central Spell Casting, and Basit didn’t respond, they sent me as a replacement. What is your immediate need?” Sharif bowed again.

“Oh, I don’t have any needs. I was just going to tell him...well, just tell him what’s new.”

“All right. I can certainly pass along any messages to Basit. However, if I may be so bold, isn’t there anything you want?”

“No. I’m...I’m fine. Um, thank you?” Setara tossed a glance at Azizah and Kairav. They both shrugged. Basit wasn’t exactly prompt, but he always showed up eventually. This was a highly unusual development.

“Well, might I suggest—” The little genie paused.

“What?”

Sharif shook his head sorrowfully. “I hesitate only because not picking up his messages is unusual for a djinn. I’m afraid he may be in danger.”

“Do you really think Basit is in trouble?” Setara asked anxiously. “We have to help him!”

“Ah, now there’s a good suggestion!” Sharif answered brightly.

Setara suspected that he was fishing for just that response. Basit was the only genie she knew. Perhaps Sharif, being an apprentice, would be more likely to grant wishes. She had always supposed she was supposed to do the wishing, but Basit preferred to come up with ideas on his own.

“Yes. I would like—” Setara hesitated. She knew she must word any wishes carefully. 

“I would like to find Basit.” She hoped that was simple enough to not be mistaken.

Sharif put his finger to his temple and closed his eyes for a few moments. Finally, he opened his eyes again and shook his head. “I’m sorry. I can’t find him. However, I know someone who might.”

“Very well. Can you bring this person here, or do we need to go to him, or her?”

“We’ll need to go to him. He is unable to travel right now. After all, he is in his tomb, and it’s not easy for him to get around.”

“He’s dead?” Setara did not like the idea of conjuring up the dead.

“Not exactly dead, just sleeping in his tomb for a few years. He is the Great Vizier who used the blood of Azhi Dahaka to create the warhorses like your good friend, Hasib.”

Setara’s lips pressed together. She thought a moment about visiting a tomb and shivered. Shrugging it off, she said, “If this vizier can help us find Basit, then we will do whatever it takes.”
(End of excerpt)

                        * * * Leave a comment with contact info to be in the draw for prizes * * *


Marva, once again you have created a world in which anything can happen!! This looks like another winner!!! We're going from witches to djins or genies. This time too, we have a teenager. Almost anything can happen with this young genie. I'm excited to read the book and find out more.

Thank you for visiting and I hope lots of people will enter the contest for the prize drawing. Just leave a comment here for Marva or a question. She will be happy to answer you when she can. Don't get discouraged if you don't see your comment right away. This blog has moderated comments, so I need to approve them first.:)

Until the next time I hope you are all enjoying the rest of summer if you live in the Northern Hemisphere and you aren't too cold if you live in the Southern Hemisphere like my friends in Australia and New Zealand. Here it is beautiful and sunny most days except when it storms.:)

For all those who are following my husband's health, I am happy to report he is feeling much better, and his Achilles heel is almost healed. His foot is much improved and the doctor is now confident it will be healing fully too. So he is pretty much back to his old self, though a little diminished in energy.:)

I will be interviewing Amy McCorkle on my radio show RRWL Tales from the Pages on Thursday, August 23 at 3PM Central Time and 4PM EST. By then I should be finished reading her book, Gladiator, which is not PG, so tune in and find out more about this very sexy novel from another Muse author! 

In September I will be interviewing several authors here, one of which is the delightful Cyrus Keith with his book, Becoming Nadia. Also I will be having Kathy Rygg here that same week and the following week I'll be hosting Katie Carroll. 

Don't forget to leave a comment for Marva!!! Thank you for visiting, Marva. It was a pleasure as always to find out about your new book, Setara's Genie and to be hosting you again!!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Meet Guest Author, Michelle Pickett



I am very happy to introduce to you Michelle Pickett, who is another MuseItUp author. She is visiting today and she wants everyone to know about her new novel, Concilium just released by MuseItUp Publishing. I know Michelle, because she was one of the first people to review my book and become a fan.:) I hope to be reviewing Concilium soon!!

Michelle is stopping here as part of her blog tour and she is also giving away a gift card to the lucky winner. Let's find out more about Michelle:

Michelle Pickett Bio:


Michelle has been an avid reader since a young child.  She began writing for personal enjoyment in college, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in accounting.  Deciding sitting in a cubical all day was her form of cruel and unusual punishment, she decided to do what she really wanted to—share her passion for reading and writing with others. 
She wrote her debut novel Concilium in 2010.  It was released July of 2012 by MuseItUp Publishing.  The sequel, Concilium: The Departure will also be published by MuseItUp Publishing with scheduled release date of November 2012.  
Her Debut young adult novel, PODs, will be published by Spencer Hill Press and is scheduled for release in paperback June 4th, 2013.
Michelle was born and raised in Michigan.  She now resides in a small community outside Houston, Texas with her incredibly supportive husband, four wonderful children, a 125-pound lap dog, a very grumpy cockatiel and a cat that thinks she's queen.
Michelle writes adult and young adult Sci/Fi and urban fantasy romance.


This cover is beautiful, Michelle! I can't wait to find out more about this book!!!


                                         Concilium
Blurb:
Leslee hit a strange animal with her car.  Now she’s marked for death.  
It was a simple car accident – the animal didn’t even die – but it drew the attention of the Cruor Imbibo. Driven by their insatiable need to feed, the secret society of Imbibo has devoured the dregs of civilization for centuries.  Afraid Leslee will expose them, and put an end to their meal ticket, the Imbibo want her dead.
The Concilium is Leslee's only protection. Guardian of the ancient secret and the protector of humans, the Concilium fights to control the Imbibo and end their feeding frenzy. Miller works for the Concilium. Keeping Leslee alive is his next assignment. 
Now Leslee is on the run, and the only thing between her flesh and the snapping jaws of the Imbibo is Miller. He and Leslee quickly form a bond, but will falling in love make Miller’s job more difficult? Because if he fails, Leslee will be next on the Imbibo menu.
The Cruor Imbibo are coming, and they're coming for Leslee. 

Excerpt:

     Saturday morning I woke up screaming from the gruesome nightmares. Sweating and shaking, I stumbled into the bathroom, splashed cold water on my face, and brushed my teeth before pulling on my favorite U of M sweatshirt and heading into the kitchen for some cereal. 
     “There’s nothing like the taste of Cocoa Puffs after brushing your teeth,” I said absently, wandering outside to eat.
     I looked around…and dropped my bowl. It shattered into a hundred shards of glass at my feet. 
     Pools of dark blood were splashed throughout the deck and back yard. Blood was splayed across the trees and wildflowers, turning my beautiful yard into something out of a horror movie, something out of my nightmare. 
     “Leslee.”
     I screamed at the sound of my name; I hadn’t seen him when I walked outside. I stumbled over to the chair next to where Miller stood with his hip leaning casually against the deck railing, arms crossed over his chest. 
     “What happened?” I whispered.
     You cut your foot,” he commented. “Come on, you need to get that cleaned. Where are your bandages?” 
     I looked down at my foot bleeding on the wood planks. My blood swirled on top of the blood dried there.
     “Come on, Leslee.” He pulled me from the chair and pushed me gently toward the door, carefully avoiding the shattered bowl and Cocoa Puffs scattered across the deck. 
     “Hey, Les, where’s your garden hose?” Brooks called from the yard. “I’ll clean up a little,” he said, like it was something he did every day. Maybe it was.
     “The garage,” I mumbled as Miller guided me through the back door and into the kitchen.
     “Bandages?”
     “In the bathroom,” I answered. Looking down, I saw blood pooling around my foot on the kitchen floor. “Sorry, I’m making a mess.” 
     “It’s not my floor.” He picked me up and walked down the hall looking for the bathroom, drops of blood falling on my carpet as we went. “Which door?”
     “Second on the left,” I managed to answer. 
     I was flung over his shoulder as he strode calmly through my house like he belonged there. It wasn’t like the romantic scenes in sappy movies where a man carefully carries a woman while gazing lovingly into her eyes. No. It was more like a caveman movie when the hairy, stinky caveman flops the woman over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. That’s what I was—the sack of potatoes. But Miller wasn’t a hairy, stinky caveman. Far from it. 
     I looked down at the back pocket of his jeans bulging with what I guessed was his wallet. I slowly reached down. If I could grab it, I might get some answers to who he was.
     “Don’t,” he said and I jerked my hand back. 
     He put me down on the side of the bathtub with my foot under the faucet to wash away the cereal and blood. I watched him work, cleaning and then bandaging my foot. Now that I could see him clearly, without the horror of fearing for my life and thinking he might be the one to take it, I was struck by how unbelievably good-looking he was. He was movie-star handsome, Greek-god handsome, out-of-my-league handsome. 
     Tall and lean but athletic, he had black hair and liquid green eyes that seemed to pierce through me, a full mouth, and a deep dimple on the right side of his stubble-covered face. 
     For crying out loud! I’m starting to sound like some mindless romance novel. It’s not like he’s perfect. 
     He did have a slight scar over his left eye—just a faint jagged line, but enough to make his face even more interesting. He came pretty damn close to the tall, dark, and handsome man of any woman’s dream, but he was as irritating as they came.
     “Where do you want me to throw these?” he asked, and I realized I’d been staring. Worse, he knew it.
     “The trash is under the sink.” I felt a warm blush crawl across my face.
     “You’re fine. No stitches.” He helped me up and into the living room.
     I sat on the couch, sinking down into the soft pillows. I was so exhausted. Even Miller being in the room and Brooks cleaning up the blood splayed around my yard didn’t keep me from wanting to curl up and go to sleep. 
     Maybe with Miller here the nightmare will stay away. Where did that thought come from? When did he go from being part of the nightmare to my dream catcher?
     “Go to sleep, Leslee. You’re safe. And you’re right. I’m not your dream catcher.”
     “How do you do that? You did it in the car Monday night, and you’re doing it again now.” 
      He didn’t answer as he walked toward the back door. 
     “Wait!” I yelled after him. “Last night, you said you’d explain when everything was over.”
     With an exasperated sigh, he turned to face me. His fists on his hips, he looked like a spoiled child about to have a temper-tantrum. “It’s not over.”

I know after reading that excerpt that I can't wait to read the whole book!! Here are the links for Michelle:
The MuseItUp Buy Link:
The Amazon Buy Link: 
Kindlegraph—get your copy of Concilium digitally signed by Michelle. 

To enter any of the giveaways here are the links:

Blog Tour Give away:
  1. Concilium E-Book
  2. $10 Amazon Gift Card

Rafflecopter Giveaway Code:


Also, please leave a comment for Michelle. Thank you for visiting today, Michelle, and I wish you all the best with Concilium and with your forthcoming publications.
Until the next time, my guest on RRWL Tales from the Pages is going to be Amy McCorkle on Thursday, August 23rd at 3PM Central and 4PM EST. Tune in to learn more about this fascinating author who has placed in the Top Ten of Preditors and Editors Readers Poll for two categories. 

Monday, August 13, 2012

An Update on My Life

Sorry for the sporadic posts this summer, but even though it is summer mine has really been hectic. Lots has been happening in my real life and in my writing life. Though unfortunately, I haven't sent out my second novel yet!! If you were following my writing you know I have had several poems published and that a couple of my flash stories are going to be published soon. I haven't been writing as much, but I will share a poem I wrote when I was inspired:

Carefree Woman

Carefree woman
body swelling with new life
dancing free
enjoying the music with
the hopeful father nearby his
hand on your belly
as you sway with the exuberance 
of youth
squeezing it dry until
motherhood 
slips in stealthily stealing it all
and suddenly you are a parent
waving to the shadows of your youth
copyright 2012 by Barbara Ehrentreu
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At the same time some of my poems were rejected and I just heard a short story I sent to a magazine was rejected. It doesn't bother me too much when my work is rejected, because I usually re-evaluate it and send it out again! That's how several of my poems were published.

Healthwise, I went to the dermatologist and he decided to take off a big freckle. Then it turned out that this freckle was pre-cancerous so he had to cut out the whole thing. I had to have five stitches on my arm. Also, I had a lipoma removed and had to have stitches there too! So now I feel like Frankenstein with stitches on two places on my arm. The good thing is it's my left arm and I'm right-handed!!

Coming up on the blog in two days is a visit with Michelle Pickett, author of Concilium. She is stopping by here as part of her blog tour and I am very happy she is going to be a guest author. Michelle is one of the first people to read and review my book and she gave me a 5 star review. I can't wait to let everyone know about her new book, Concilium. She is also giving away a gift card so come over and leave a comment.

One other thing before I end this. The Olympics are over, but they really took up much of my time for two weeks. I found myself watching things I never had thought about like weight lifting and wrestling. One night I tuned in and watched these tiny women, none over 110 pounds lifting twice their weight. It was amazing watching these women and seeing their struggle and determination. I loved seeing the swimming, gymnastics and volleyball. I think the beach volleyball this Olympics was outstanding and so was the team volleyball. I loved the enthusiasm of all the Olympians and how there was such good will between all of them. I also liked the judging, because it was so fair. The judges were willing to go back and examine things if the country asked for it. Even in the wrestling they examined the video and changed the points. Probably the most inspiring sight of all was Oscar Pretorious who ran a semi-final race on prosthetic legs!

The only part of the Olympics I didn't like was the commentary and the fact that  TV watchers were denied parts of the Opening and Closing ceremonies. As a Kinks fan I was disturbed to know that Ray Davies' performance was cut from the NBC TV feed. Also in the Opening ceremony a tribute was left out of the broadcast. I hope NBC will rethink their coverage of the Winter Olympics in two years.

However, having The Who close the games was great!! The Who's music has been a part of my life for years and it felt right to see Roger Daltry and Pete Townshend again, though each is a little bit older and a little larger. With the fireworks and the stirring music of The Who the end of the Olympics was a lot easier to take! You could forget that you had sat through some of the worst music for two hours. So thank you to The Who for rescuing this disaster. Now what will I do with my time?

Hope you are all having a great summer and I will be back with Michelle Pickett as my guest author. Until the next time check back here in a day.




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