New Role (#MagSwag)

Hey what’s up? I know we are only a couple of days in, but is 2021 treating you better than 2020? If so, cool. If not, well, that sucks.

Look … I’m not going to take up too much of your time. I’m that type that pops in, say what I have to say, and then disappear like a puff of smoke.

Remember All Authors Magazine from a while back? Well, for a while, it disappeared, and many people (myself included) thought it was gone for good.

Well, late last year, I was approached by the heads and asked if I would be interested in being a part of the relaunch. I did confess that I didn’t have a mass amount of time on my hands … like there’s Transcendent Choice, When Karma Speaks, and a whole pile of other stuff. I do more than eat popcorn in the Cave, contrary to popular opinion.

But once they broke down the frequency as well as the “Rotating Door” concept, I figured I could throw them an article or two in the between time.

So … peep my debut in the new All Authors Magazine, now titled Quixotic, by clicking the link.

Quixotic: Issue 1 (Vibrancy)

Day 4: Book Release (#ReversalBookTour)

What else can we say, but, “It’s the official release day”?

It’s really exciting to start the new year off on a high note, regardless of all of the chaos surrounding us in this day and time.
I feel like there isn’t much to be said, so I am going to let the story speak for itself.

Humanity in Retrograde

In this retro-futuristic era, the old look and reproduce as if in the prime of their lives. The babies delivered into this world—sickly, fighting for every second to have a slim chance of survival. To turn this existence on its heels, it requires something … or someone … Special.
When a healthy baby is discovered by Nurse Celestine, she makes it her mission to protect what she believes is a well-kept secret.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long for the observant Nurse Trudy to put the pieces together to utilize for her personal gain as well as orchestrate Nurse Celestine’s ruin. Can Nurse Celestine succeed in combating the determined Nurse Trudy, or will all that is special be exposed and possibly destroyed? Find out in Reversal.

Babies.

Mere infants … fragile, feeble, sickly and flushed of color, lined the nursery of St. Agnes General Hospital NICU Department. This was nothing new, of course. They were all born that way. Those who made it past their first week of birth were among the blessed.

An almost invisible film of mauve and viridian—a sheath that covered their reality—was the translucent haze that weighed upon all things. It was as though the colors had been embedded into the fabric of the world, tinging everything—no matter what its candescence—in those pigments. The darkest of the dark, and the lightest of the light, all seemed ominous and void of vitality.

Dreary. That was the word that best described this place, these people … these babies.

The atmosphere was inauspicious. Everything seemed afflicted with lifelessness. The hospital, antiquated. Though hundreds of years in the future, the setting felt like a 1950’s time warp. The perimeter of the hospital was as inert as its own appearance—scant trees, barren bushes, leaf and debris covered streets.

The perils that distressed St. Agnes General Hospital was the lack of advanced technologies. It was as though the last ten centuries had never transpired. An entire fragment of time had evidently disappeared leaving behind a woefully dull and mechanically limited world which was forced to operate within its mediocre means.

The hallways of St. Agnes General were long, ominous, and cold. The walls were painted in a tainted light green. The doctors wore perfectly pressed white coats which covered their black business suits. Their hair, slick—brushed back into a tight, shiny do. The nurses donned white nursing uniforms with white hats which had red crosses in the center. Skirts at knee length, taupe pantyhose and white nurse shoes. They looked perfect. In complete contrast to their locality.

Beep-beep, beep-beep, beep-beep; first in dots then in dashes. The sound carried a cadence of absolute fear which could give any person goosebumps—that river of icy-hot pimples that ran all over one’s body. Yet the screeching of the monitor’s blaring was far louder than the unhealthy baby that attempted to cry its woes. His voice was as decrepit as his leathery, bony flesh.

Nurse Juliette was an excessively feminine, soft-spoke Asian woman with the tiny frame. Blue-black hair fell to her waist, and Juliette’s spotless face was softly made up.

“Sh, sh, sh. There, there, little one. It’ll all be over soon, I promise. Mommy already knows that you’ll be going to a better place,” whispered Nurse Juliette who was sitting next to his cradle. She gently shook the child’s puny legs. Nurse Juliette’s tone was void of emotion, as though this were an everyday occurrence.

In all actuality, it was.

In complete opposition to the old-looking, ailing child was Nurse Juliette whose stature was strong, young, healthy and … well, perfect. So was the child’s mother and father who both waited for the news of his fate from their hospital room.

And, just as Nurse Juliette swayed the hardly sobbing yet profusely ailing child, the infant took in a sharp lungful and exhaled his last breath.

“Ahh, poor child,” Nurse Juliette concluded, then proceeded to get out of her seat to pick up the phone. “Nurse Celestine? Yes? Good. Please advise the Smithson family that the child has passed.”

“Certainly,” replied the voice on the opposite end. Neither one of the voices even remotely somber.

Day 3: Main Character Connectivity (#ReversalBookTour)

Albert and Celestine’s Connection

I’ve never been the type of writer to sit inside a mold of any kind. I’ve always written in a way that blurs genres, lines and character makeup.
In a typical story the two main characters—Albert and Celestine—would either be related, or have some sort of romantic connection, whether it was reciprocated or not.

I, however, believe that in real life that isn’t always the case. In real life, things aren’t just black and white.
Thus, when mimicking real life via its fictional mirror, it’s important to stay true to certain elements. Blurred lines is one of them.

I was asked, “Why aren’t Albert and Celestine an item?”
The answer is, “Who says they aren’t, but also, who says they are?”
I wanted to leave that up for interpretation; I wanted the reader to speculate.
Were they really romantically interested in each other, were they just friends, was it something else? Something more?
No one knows. In the end, it doesn’t matter. Because romance is not the point of the story anyway.

The point of the existence of Celestine and Albert is to tell you the story that truly matters … the story of “Reversal”. Nothing more and nothing less.

Speaking of blurred lines … let’s talk a little bit about Trudy.

Who is Nurse Trudy and why is she so dead set on getting Celestine busted in the first place?

Why, that’s the big question?

In my mind, when writing “Reversal”, I thought of the iconic Hardboiled novels of the 50s, 60s, and 70s. In those stories, in those days, a villain was a villain just because he/she was. There was no real reason or substance to the person … they just liked being bad.
It beckons the thought of how some people just love drama. They seem to thrive on it.

However, during the writing of the story, as it got deeper, things changed. Trudy was no longer a villain just for the sake of it, she was a person with purpose. She was a person who not only thrived on the drama, but did it because it meant something to her.
Then an image came to mind–one that I might write more about some day in the future in the form of a short story.
The image was that of Trudy and Celestine in Nursing school at the same time. Studying together, socializing together, the works. In time, the quintessential “turning of tides” visits their doorstep. Celestine begins to excel at what she does, whilst Trudy remains the underdog; never to meet the standard that Celestine embodies naturally. Thus, a long and deliberate plan is put into action by Trudy. A plan of redemption. She would prove that Celestine isn’t as perfect as everyone thinks she is.
Years later, they both find themselves in the world of “Reversal”, a world replete with happenstances which call out to Trudy that now is the time for her reprisal.

Celestine is now in a situation where she can only call upon the one person that’s been a mainstay in her life … Albert.

Thus the ties of blurred lines and incomprehensible connections come to life. All because of a single miracle.
A Special miracle.

See y’all tomorrow for the official book release! I can hardly wait to share it with you all.

Day 2: Intangible Character (#ReversalBookTour)

When the location and setting is also a character

Yup, you heard my right. Today I am going to talk about how the location and setting of “Reversal” is also a character in the story. Or at least, that’s how I see it.

Open your mind and let me take you on a trip into the impossible.

Over one hundred years from now a society exists that is living in a reversed reality.

This is not a dystopian future, but the future thereafter. It’s a time when humanity has rebuilt the devastation that destroyed reality as humanity knew it. But, in this time, everything is old, because old is new.

Picture being so far into the future that people are living in a replica of the past. A 1950s replica to be exact.
Underneath all of the vintage allure of this world, one can still find the rubble of a world that once was. Things that exist in our time; things like flying drones, for example. Even cars like 1950s Chevys exist. How strange is that? Wide cars with benches instead of chairs. In the hospitals, the supplies and procedures are a combination of very old and very new. Imagine syringes that are made of metal and glass, but protocol that is modern. Doctors wear two piece suits under their coats and nurses all have white uniforms and hats. All this, but science is advanced and miraculous.

Here, in the world of Reversal, things seem ominous. Even the sun doesn’t glow in a way that illuminates nature, but rather scarcely glows at all. It’s cold, dreary and feels isolating. So much so, that there seems to be a perpetual cloud of obscurity that encompasses the entire planet.

In this upside down world, even evolution is put to question as the forward movement of evolution has been regressed. Now, the universe evolves backwards.

In a romantic way of saying it, I would say that “What once was, is again. and what is now, may no longer be.”

So how does the setting and location play into the whole concept of the story as a character?

Well, because though seemingly mute, it has its own voice.
The echo of the world reverberates throughout the entire plot of the story. It transmutes the dilemmas of the human characters and speaks of a place and time that are tangible. Because it is foreseeable, it is relatable, it is something we know but also something we’ve never seen.

The setting and the location, speak to me. I hear its voice when I read the story. I can only hope that you have that very same experience.

Until next time,

Day 1: Inspiration (#ReversalBookTour)

Hey Yo! The SASS here.

Although I am still high off “The Unmasking” being featured in Concordant Vibrancy 5: Extancy, some people never stop to smell the hot chocolate. Instead, they keep on writing, and next thing you know, boom, a brand new book! This describes my guest who will be taking over The Cave for the next four days to speak on Reversal. Here is the person I’ve dubbed the Mistress Mashup In Chief, Y. Correa.

What was the inspiration behind the Reversal concept?

Coincidence or destiny?
That’s the question I ask myself when it comes to the birth of “Reversal”.
To this day, I honestly don’t know which one it was. But after having completed the story, I’ve come to believe that I was meant to write it all along. So, perhaps it was destiny.

I guess, like with all stories, we should start at the beginning ….

One day, as per usual, I was chatting with my good friend and fellow author A. Lopez Jr. , who’d consequently just woken up. As I routinely did, I asked how he was doing, although I already knew that he was groggy and tired.
That’s when he shared with me that fact that he’d had a “sort of bad dream”. He shared that in the dream, time was going backwards and people were dying young; he was among those people.
The conversation went a little something like this:

Me: That would make a fantastic story. You should write it down.
A.: Naw, I am working on too many projects as it is. But you’re right, it would make a good story.
Me: Then maybe just jot down the concept this way it could be something that you could come back to later.
A.: No, I don’t think it’s my story to tell. You take it.
Me: Me? No, I couldn’t do that! That would be stealing.
A.: It’s not stealing if I am giving it to you. It’s yours, take it. Write the story.

Immediately my mind flooded with the premise of the story—the ins and outs of how that world could function, the myriad things that could happen. More than that, the richness of the location and time setting.
The conversation continued between A. and I, and we went back and forth for some time about how that story would and could work.
Finally, he says, “See? I knew it was yours.”
I smiled. I was grateful for his confidence in my ability to narrate the richness of the story.
He finished with, “It’s called ‘Reversal’.”
“‘Reversal’ it is!” I responded.

I am not altogether done. This doesn’t end with an immediate “happily ever after”.

You see, although I started to write the story that very day it took me three years to finish. “Reversal” was a rollercoaster ride to get done. I mean, like, for real.
I’d find myself in these moments of mental debate ….

I don’t know if I am doing this story justice.
Dear God, it sucks ass!
What the fuck as I thinking?
Should I delete everything and start over?
Naw, I hate it. I’m dumping it.
Wait, this story is pretty damn good. Let me try to add a little more to it.
I love this story. Bad! Ass!
I totally need to finish this thing, like, right away.
😟 Sheesh, what am I thinking? It sucks! I’m gonna delete it.
But I can’t delete it, A. is counting on me!
Damnit! 😖

Round and round the mental rollercoaster went for several years. Until the beginning of 2020. At the beginning of the year I said to myself, “If I don’t achieve anything else this year, I am at least going to finish ‘Reversal’ … good, bad or otherwise.”
Enter 2020, slowly but surely I would add a little bit to the story. A line here, when I could. A line there, when I could, and so it went.
Until November 2020.
Enter NaNoWriMo.
Now, for many, many years I was not the biggest advocate of NaNoWriMo. I have several reasons why. Truthfully, I’m still not that big of an advocate of it. But I said to myself, “I think I am going to dedicate some NaNoWriMo time to ‘Reversal’, but I’m gonna do it MY way.”
By “my way” I was referring to it being a “relaxed” challenge. There was a reason for it. I have been working two jobs for several months, so I knew that I couldn’t dedicate all the time in the world to writing during the month of November, but whatever writing I did do it would be on “Reversal”.
So with the plan well in order, I embarked.
I was blessed enough to have written the majority of the story during November 2020, although I did not complete it by the end of the month. However, the vast amount that I did add paved the way for me to complete the story at the end of the first week of December.
I was so proud, but also, admittedly torn.

Did I not do the story justice in the rush to finish it? Did I cut corners and in turn produce a less than favorable story? Honestly, I didn’t know how I felt about it. I was a hop, skip and jump away from deleting it altogether.
In lieu of disposing of the story, I opted to share it forward. Perhaps someone else’s opinion would help settle my angst.

In comes my Ace, author Queen of Spades.
“Queen,” I said, “here is the deal. I am this close to dumping it. I need you to read it and give me the plain and simple facts. Cold, hard, and all that.”
“Okay,” she responded willingly.

Days later, I was drumming my fingers on a table waiting to hear something back. Like, anything. She was doing the Poker Face like a pro. I couldn’t get an inch or a mile from her. Nothing.
At least, until she was good and ready.

The day she was done reading the story, she was as quiet as a church mouse for the majority of the day. Anxiously, I shook my feet and waited. She was torturing me, I assumed.
Then, at the end of the day, it came.
“Well Y.,” she said, “It’s a super compelling and great story. I loved it.”

I squinted, hardly able to believe it.
“I’m serious. It’s awesome. It was great. As a matter of fact, I can see a second part.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I retorted, chuckling.

“I had a hard enough time writing this part. I doubt we’ll be having a second part.” 😄

Stay tuned tomorrow when I share the Location and Setting of “Reversal” with you all.

Day 10: Book Release (#CVBookTour)

Greetings everyone!

Before we proceed with the official cover reveal and book release of Concordant Vibrancy 5: Extancy, All Authors Publishing House would like to thank our supporters and all of the outstanding authors who have participated in the Concordant Vibrancy collection. The thoughtfulness and creativity put forth on each theme question will mark Concordant Vibrancy’s place as literature that will transcend time.

For information on all things Concordant Vibrancy, please peruse its website:

https://www.concordantvibrancy.com

With a proud and heavy heart, All Authors Publishing House presents the final installment of the Concordant Vibrancy collection, entitled “Extancy”.

Eight exceptional talents intermingle to share their interpretations on the following question: “What intangible elixir is paramount to one’s survival?”

C. Desert Rose expands on the elixir of Awareness in her essay “Frequencies Towards Illumination”.

Carol Cassada outlines the amount of Strength to tackle the medically unexpected in “Caregiver”.

Beem Weeks explores the swiftness of Adaptation in his story “Five Minutes”.

Da’Kharta Rising elicits dark humor and strange situations as the ingredients for Felicity in “The Unmasking”.

Adonis Mann illuminates the subjectivity of Unity in “Axis … Redefined”.

All Optimism needs is a window of opportunity to flourish, as demonstrated in Synful Desire’s tale, “Rome’s Debris”.

Evolution is an intangible necessity through the many reincarnations showcased in “The Itinerant” by Queen of Spades.

The synergy of the aforementioned elements from Concordant Vibrancy I – IV are given lives of their own through “Soul Searching” by Y. Correa.

Day 9: Synergy (#CVBookTour)

Originally, I was going to mention all who have come before, but figured it would be easier to put up this video and save a few keystrokes.

It is the day before the big R & R (Reveal and Release), and who better than to round things off than Y. Correa. She speaks about Concordant Vibrancy as a whole and why she settled on synergy as the supplement to survival. Try saying that six times fast.

Coming full circle … that was the most predominant feeling I got from the completion of “Concordant Vibrancy 5: Extancy.”

I feel like I have so much to say but I am finding it difficult to express.

The “Concordant Vibrancy” project was, in retrospect, executed with expediency. At the time it was being created things felt eternal, now that we’ve come to the end of the road, the time invested feels minute.
I am certain of one thing, however, the shelflife of this collection will be perpetual. The words encrypted within its pages, historic.
This is something that could not have been done without the participants. It was their skills, their wordsmithing, that led to the footprints made by Concordant Vibrancy.
I will never, ever, forget how much this project meant to me.

Now to answer some questions.

What prompted you to be a part of the Concordant Vibrancy concept? Which Concordant Vibrancy books are you featured in? Why did you choose a certain attribute as your answer to CV5’s theme question?

I was prompted to be part of the project because I was one half of the creation therein. I know it’s a short answer. I’m sorry but there isn’t much more I can add. LOL
I participated in all five books. My stories are as follows:

Unity: Alma’s Unsung Angel
Vitality: Genomegenics
Lustrate: Twin Planets
Inferno: Moxy
And now, Extancy: Soul Searching

For each installment I attempted to utilize a theme word that would bring together the concept of the elements. In the very last installment, I wanted to,as I stated at the beginning, “come full circle”.

It was important for me to tie together the fabric of Concordant Vibrancy by showing the world how each element works in tangent. The elements are synergistic; the function together or not at all. Such is the entire collection.

With that said, I truly hope you love the Concordant Vibrancy Collection as much as we do.

Here is a tiny excerpt of my story, “Soul Searching”.

Props for everyone stopping by and talking about their stories. I’m sure, as with the previous four books, there is something for everybody to enjoy.

But … I know you’re not bailing on the tour before seeing the new stuff officially released. That’s coming tomorrow.

Deuces.