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Hello, everyone :)! How are you doing? I'm great - I'm back home in Italy for the Easter holidays, and I've been basically eating for a week. As a matter of fact, I've just come back from the customary barbecue at a friend's house, and I'm just sprawled in bed trying to digest everything I gobbled... ah, I'm going to miss this kind of food when I get back to London! Being home is always great - I love finally getting to spend some time with my mother, my grandma, my baby brother and my boyfriend, not to mention catching up with all my friends. This is why I've barely been online lately - I still have to write that post on Yayoi Kusama, I've got a pile of emails that should have been written and sent off two weeks ago... I'm a disaster, I know :)! I'm popping back online to - finally! - update this blog about the release of the Italian translation of my steampunk - fantasy - humor short story The Tea Demon. I'm really happy about it - seeing one of my stories translated in my language is incredibly rewarding! (I was the translator, too :). I'm posting the Italian and English versions of the blurb below...

Il Demone del Tè:

Il ladro Eric Devon vuole una sola cosa: che la gente lo lasci in pace. E forse dell’altro whisky. Finchè un misterioso sconosciuto gli offre un lavoro così pericoloso che nessuno l’ha mai accettato ed è sopravvissuto per raccontarlo: recuperare un preziosissimo oggetto dall’inespugnabile palazzo dei Mercanti Tartaruga. Intrigato dall’uomo e dalla sfida, Eric accetta—ma lo sconosciuto altri non è che il leggendario capitano di navi volanti conosciuto come il Demone del Tè, terrore del Mare di Nuvole. Eric deve escogitare il piano migliore della storia se vuole completare il lavoro… e riuscire a sopravvivere.


The Tea Demon:

Thief Eric Devon wishes one thing: for people to leave him bloody well alone. And maybe for more whiskey. Until a mysterious stranger offers him a job so dangerous that no one has ever attempted it and survived to tell the tale: recover a priceless object from the Turtle Merchants’ impregnable palace. Intrigued by the man and the challenge, Eric accepts—but the stranger is none other than the legendary airship captain known as the Tea Demon, terror of the Sea of Clouds. Eric must come up with the best plan in history if he wants to complete his job... and survive it too.

You can grab a copy on Dreamspinner Press' website!

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post about kitsune, fox spirits, and their role as tricksters (The Kitsune as a Trickster). I thought it would be interesting to have a companion piece exploring the darker, lesser known side of fox spirits.

Kitsune are very versatile spirits. While they are mostly known as tricksters, the actual mythology connected with these creatures is a lot more varied and complex. Depending on the myth considered, they can take on very different roles. Here, I’ve tried to sum up the ones I’ve identified during my research while writing The Ronin and the Fox, but there might be more I haven’t come across yet!



- The Servant of the Gods

The myobu, or celestial kitsune, serve Inari, shinto god of rice and fertility (and, incidentally foxes). They are Inari’s messengers, they guard his shrines; they are well-behaved spirits, far from earthly temptations. One of their duties is to, occasionally, defend people from the all other kitsune, the ones who don’t serve Inari (called nogitsune, or wild foxes) when they become troublesome. They are also always depicted as white foxes.

- The Kitsune as an Animal

This is the interpretation that puts kitsune closer to actual, everyday foxes (the word ‘kitsune’, after all, doesn’t mean ‘fox spirit’, but simply ‘fox’: because every fox in nature could potentially become a spirit). These foxes live in abandoned houses, often sitting on the roof rafters, and steal food from nearby homes to survive. In fact, foxes are often expert thieves and take particular pleasure in stealing family treasures.

Sometimes, these foxes become almost domesticated. If someone treats them with kindness, they will strive to return the favour: they’ll bring food stolen from the neighbours, for example, and bringing good fortune to the house. In fact, when a Japanese family was especially blessed by fate, someone jealous might spread the rumor that it was because they owned foxes. Such a rumor could completely ruin a family’s reputation; no one would want to marry the daughter of a family carrying this stigma and, on a few occasions, local daimyos ordered the executions of families accused of fox-owning.

- The Kitsune as a Succubus/Vampire

This is the darkest side of fox spirits. Sometimes, they take the form of a hauntingly beautiful woman and appear at night to seduce unsuspecting men. There is a warning, often repeated in the mythology—and that I used in the story, too—that every beautiful woman met after dark could be a fox, and men should be wary. This is not a trick, a prank: kitsune have a very specific reason to do this. They absorb the life energy of humans, and they do this mainly through sex, although a few sources also mention bloodsucking.

Kitsune are so seductive that it’s impossible for men to resist their charms, and the myths say that sex with a kitsune is often too pleasurable for men to bear. Many times, men are consumed by their passion for the kitsune and end up dead, completely drained. Sometimes, though, kitsune don’t kill their victim, but build a relationship instead. One legend even tells of a kitsune who married her human lover and bore his children. However, when the true nature of a fox is revealed—even in human form they have fox traits, like a fox-shaped shadow or a tail hidden under the kimono—the spirit runs away, never to return. This is expected, after all: kitsune are light, transitory creatures, and it is useless to chase after them once they disappear.

Humans are not the only source that foxes use to feed themselves. They eat normal food and are especially fond of rice, adzuki beans, and fried tofu. They also feed on various forms of energy like knowledge, words, and music. Their vampiric nature also drains the territory where they happen to be. A fox spirit is an alteration of the natural order of things and drought, blight, and crops dying out for no reason are all signs that a kitsune is living nearby.

( So, how did I decide to handle all these different aspects in my story? )

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Hello, everyone :)! How are you doing? Today is a grey, rainy day in London, so I'm lazying in bed - the advantages of working from home! This is my first post-university month, and it will be a full one. In 12 days I should be done with the novel translation I'm currently working on, and in a week or so I should finish my current WIP. You know, I've never published anything longer than 35k words so far, and this is going to be my first novel-length manuscript. Exciting - and let's consider that when I plotted it out, it was intended to be a novella... :) In other news, I was over at JoyfullyJay's blog, writing about kitsune, the Japanese fox spirits, and their role as tricksters. One of the protagonists of my latest release, The Ronin and the Fox, is a kitsune - I've always found them very fascinating, and it was great to have the opportunity to talk about them :)!

Here's an excerpt from the post:

Some kitsune are tied to the god Inari and messengers or guardians of his shrines: these are celestial foxes, called myobu. Those who don’t serve Inari and live independently are called nogitsune, wild foxes. Kitsune are pranksters, rather than malicious; they are thieves and often live in abandoned homes. They respond kindly to favours, and can bring prosperity to a man who is generous with them. Sometimes, rich, isolated families were accused of owning foxes, which were the reason of the family’s prosperity. This accusation was often enough to ruin families, and there are cases in which a daimyo ordered the removal or relocation of a family accused of fox-owning.

They can also be very sensual spirits – often they take the shape of beautiful women and seduce men. Sex with a kitsune is more pleasurable than most mortals can handle, and often a man ensnared in loving a kitsure is consumed by his passion and wastes away. It was commonly said that ‘every beautiful woman met after dark could be a fox,’and men should be wary.

So, what kind of trickster is Katsura, the fox protagonist of my novella, The Ronin and the Fox?...

You can read the rest of the post HERE.

You can grab a copy on Storm Moon Press' website!

Hello, everybody :)! Yesterday, a post of mine went up on Storm Moon Press' blog - about my relationship with editing, and the challenge of writing in a second language. Here's an excerpt from the post:

Writing in a second language

The editing stage – for many writers, it feels harder than actually writing the bloody book. While I am no exception, I find essential for one specific reason: I’m not a native English speaker.

As some of you might already know, I’m Italian, and I moved to London about four years ago to attend university. That’s when I started writing in English, and I have to admit my first attempts were rather disastrous. It wasn’t so much because of mistakes, but rather because of how my Italian language infiltrated my use of English. (...)

This problem translates to fiction writing, too. My sentences are forever lengthy; while they might not be grammatically wrong, they have unconventional structures, which sound odd to native English speakers. Also, I tend to use lots of latin-derived words, because they’re very similar to common Italian words: it was only after annoying many a reader that I realized that they sound like pompous purple prose in English. For example, concupiscence = concupiscienza; perspicacious = perspicace; malediction = maledizione. The almost synonyms lust, smart, and curse don’t come naturally to me, and before someone pointed it out, I never even suspected that my choice of words might be unusual.

These Italianisms aren’t my only challenge. I harbour a burning hatred towards prepositions, that I never seem to get right; I tend to mix up idiomatic expressions, or to try and translate Italian ones and end up with stuff that doesn’t really make sense. But most of all, I have issues with the little details that are conventions rather than actual rules – the ones that aren’t technically wrong, but sound wrong anyway. And the thing is, I can’t see these mistakes: I need someone to point them out for me. I can’t tell if I sound Italian, or if I’m making someone sound like they’re from Dublin rather than from Manchester or Alabama. These are all nuances of the language that can only be picked up living immersed in it. I know them perfectly in Italian: but while I’ve been living abroad for a few years, I’m definitely still struggling with them in English.

Read the rest of the post HERE.

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Hello, everyone :)!
I have great news - my second novella, The Ronin and the Fox is out today with Storm Moon Press! This story took a long, tortuous path before being born. I started planning it in summer 2010, for an anthology centered on fantastical creatures. I immediately knew that I wanted to deal with a kitsune, the trickster fox spirits from Japanese mythology. However, it soon became evident that there was no way that I would fit everything in a short story, so I abandoned the project for a while, busy chasing after a billion deadlines, both for publishers and for uni. Before I had the time to notice it, a year had passed, and I stumbled across the WIP and thought to myself - now it's your turn, buddy... :)

In feudal Japan, Kaede Hajime lives as a vagabond ronin, a samurai without a lord. As he spends the night at a village's inn, the innkeeper begs him to help stop a mischevious kitsune, a fox spirit, plaguing their village. But when he captures the spirit—in the form of a hauntingly beautiful man—Hajime learns that the kitsune has troubles of his own. The pearl that contains the fox's soul has been stolen, leaving him a slave to the new owner, who is forcing him to attack the village. Hajime agrees to help the fox retrieve the jewel, but living with a fox spirit isn't easy, and the budding trust between them is constantly tested. Kitsune are tricksters above all, and Hajime must decide how much of the story the fox tells him is truth. What's worse, an old comrade of Hajime's is in town, bringing with him the sour memories of Hajime's time as a samurai. Hajime must find a way to locate the thief and steal back the jewel before the thief turns the kitsune's considerable power against him. You can grab a copy on Storm Moon Press' website!

Here's an excerpt from the story ;)!

Excerpt:

Hajime flexed his fingers, trying to warm them up, before resting them on his katana. The night air was cool. Gravel crunched too loudly under his boots as he walked across the village's alleys.

He'd been patrolling the town for three nights, and still nothing. During the daytime, he'd explored the bamboo forest surrounding the village, setting a number of traps between the tall bamboo stalks where the ground appeared recently trampled. He'd spoken to several villagers, alerting them of his intentions and giving them instructions on how to behave at night. He was sure they would obey. No one would dare disobey the orders of a samurai, and even though he wasn't exactly... any longer... Damn. They would listen to him, and that was enough.

Hajime had never before met a fox spirit. The trickster spirits haunted houses and villages, stealing food and whatever tickled their fancies from the inhabitants. They could shift shape as they pleased, possess people, and ensnare a man's mind with their charms and illusions. Hajime had heard that they could change a field into a kingdom or a cave into a sumptuous palace. They could create pockets in reality and trap a man there for years if they so chose. Hajime fingered the deep red silk ribbon securely fastened around his right wrist. He'd received it from Tanaka-san. The man claimed a priest had blessed it years before, and that it would grant Hajime protection against the fox's enchantments. Hajime hoped he was right. He was not keen on losing his mind and spending the next decade frolicking in a cave at the mercy of some horrific spirit.

The sharp sound of a bell broke the quiet.
( on to the chase! )

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Hello, everyone :)! So, even though it feels like the year began just yesterday, we're already halfway through February. I've completed my degree, and I'm waiting for the results of the final exams to come out - I'm kind of still trying to wrap my mind around that! I'm working as a traslator, working on two novellas and researching before preparing a novel proposal. I should also be looking for an internship, and I'll need to figure out how to cram more work in my days - is there anywhere I can buy extra hours? In other news, I'm over at Top 2 Bottom Reviews talking about my love for mythology, and how I like to incorporate that in my writing - in particular, how the Japanese mythological creature kitsune features in my upcoming novella, The Ronin and the Fox :). Also, see the lovely kitsune drawing from Vicas-Fawx's lineart!

Here's an excerpt of the post:

Every time I tell someone that I’ve just completed a degree in Creative Writing, they ask if that means I’m a journalist, and the answer is, not even remotely. Journalists deal with the real world, every second. Creative Writing students usually suck at journalism, for a simple reason: we don’t do reality.

Personally, apart from full-on fantasy, I love writing about alternative versions of reality. I love steampunk, post-apocalyptic, and I have a soft spot for magical realism. I love taking the real world and adding a layer of magical dust on top, little surprising things hiding in unexpected corners, eyes peering from under a mushroom, a talking pigeon with a pocket watch… I think that’s why I’m so fond of mythology: it’s the result of men adding that layer of magic and mystery, fear and excitement, to the world they lived in...

Read the rest of the post HERE.

What a full day today has been :)! (Here in London it's the 28th already, but since I'm still awake, I'm counting it as an extended 27 :).

I'd like to thank everyone for the lovely birthday wishes ♥! I turned 24 today, and spend a lovely day around Camden with my roommate, then Skyped with all my relatives scattered around Italy and my boyfriend, and ended with a lovely glass of wine and some chatting with my one of my best friends. The Wild Party of Doom is scheduled for tomorrow night - ready to bring down the house with some good ole' rock n' roll!

There's more than one thing to celebrate, actually - yesterday I handed in my very last assignment, and now I'm officially done with university! These three years have passed by so fast. And now, my brain hamsters are enjoying some well deserved peace & quiet, chillin' on a Caribbean beach somewhere in my head, much in this fashion:



In other news, today I was over at clarelondon, blogging about writing and music. Here's an excerpt from the post:

...But when it comes to stories, I use music to set the mood. Metallica’s Whiskey in the Jar for an epic pirate romp; Piers Faccini’s A Storm is Going to Come for windswept cliffs, words that get caught in throats, hard choices; When the Levee Breaks by Led Zeppelin for dry, dusty, gritty settings; 30 Seconds to Mars’ cover of Bad Romance for slow sensual scenes, and low simmering atmospheres… This connection between music and mood helps me keep my author’s voice constant.

Every author has to break the work in bits, a little every day, maybe with some days of pause in between – and every time we sit down to write we’re in a different mood, our minds whirring at a different pace. It’s all too easy to have a prose that reflects that, going from slow and descriptive to snappy and quick, suddenly shifting the mood of the scene. I, for one, always found it hard to slip back into the headspace I needed to carry on with the story. Putting on the same song on a loop helps me slip right back into it, bringing me back to the feelings and tone and pace I was using – it helps me create a pocket-world apart just for writing, and that helps me keep the narrative voice consistent.

Read the rest of the post HERE ♥.

Hello, everyone :)!
How are you? I hope you're enjoying the holidays and having a lovely time with your loved ones. I certainly am - I'm back in Italy, spending time with my family and boyfriend, catching up with friends and eating lots of wonderful food ♥



Also, I have great news - I just discovered (because I'm about as internet-smart as a possum) that my short story Apples and Regrets and Wasted Time is nominated in four categories at the Goodreads M/M Romance group's Member's Choice Awards :).

It's nominated for:
Best Story that Should/Must have a Sequel
Best Title
Best Short Story 25 pages or 15K words or less (book)
Best Cover

Also, the anthology Wild Passions, which includes my urban fantasy short story City of Foxes, is nominated for Best Anthology. Exciting :)!

Voting ends on December 30th. If you haven't voted yet - head to the survey HERE and check out all the awesome nominees :)!

Hello, everybody :)!

in the flurry of cooking, wrapping last minute presents, and hauling mattresses up and down the stairs (... long story that ends with me laying down unable to feel my back!), I just want to wish you all a lovely, fun, yummy, merry Christmas ♥ :)

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Hello, everyone :)!
I'm a disaster as far as blogging goes, I know :) - I still haven't celebrated the fact that my short story City of Foxes, originally published as part of Storm Moon Press' Wild Passions anthology, has been released as a stand-alone! The call for submissions was about humans with animal traits - I just couldn't resist. I have a soft spot for twitchy furry ears and bushy tails moving gently or cutting the air nervously, betraying the mood of the character... so I went to town on it. Fox people, dark, gritty urban fantasy metropolis, a civil war tearing the community apart...

The last thing Jake Sullivan wanted to do upon returning to the city was get involved in the ongoing struggle between the organized militia and the fox people. After saving a fox child from bullies, however, he finds himself in the heart of the foxes' slums, where showing his face as a human can be just as dangerous as messing with the militia in the city proper. The proximity of Liam, a white fox with healing powers, certainly doesn't make things any easier. The attractive fox throws his own powers into an uncontrollable overdrive, not to mention his libido. When several of the fox people are captured by the militia, Jake's presence is like salt on old wounds. Prejudices and politics flare, and Jake's secrets threaten to ruin his shaky alliance. If they are to save the foxes taken by the militia for experimentation, it will take all the cunning and power the clan can muster. Unfortunately, that also means they'll have to put their trust the one place they'd never imagined: in the hands of a human. You can grab a copy on Storm Moon Press' website!

Here's an excerpt from the story ;)!

Excerpt:

Jake woke up with a gasp, and hauled himself upright.

He was in a small, cramped room with walls a collage of metal scraps, a plastic roof. Assorted junk lay on the floor, arranged in neat piles in the corner. Jake craned his neck to the side, spotting a small old stove. The fire was reduced to dying embers.

He was lying on a rickety camp bed, his jacket folded at the bottom. He pushed himself up, shaking his head, trying to clear the—

Wait.

He wiggled his shoulders, puzzled. Tentatively, he leaned back, resting his weight on his arms. Nothing. He reached to touch his left shoulder, pressing down with his fingertips, half-expecting an explosion of pain, and all he found was a neat round hole in a sleeve stiff with dried blood, and perfectly whole flesh underneath. He sure wasn't about to complain, but... what the hell?

He toed into his boots and made his way out of the shed, pushing the door closed behind him. A gray sky hung over a cluster of small buildings of scraped metal and plastic panels. Thin paths snaked between the shanties, crisscrossing apparently at random.

Jake stepped on, alert and on guard. The few people in the street stopped to stare at him, some uncertain, some plain curious, some with frightened, wide eyes. Jake swallowed as he took in their appearance. Broad triangular ears poked out of their hair, covered in a fine fur, red-rust colored. The same shade was matched by the long tails Jake could see poking out behind them, some held stiff, some twitching nervously. A large man caught his gaze and slowly drew his lips back, uncovering sharp fangs.

Jake swallowed. Fox people. All over the fucking place.

That did not bode well for him.

"Hey. Glad to see you woke up, man," a warm voice said.

Jake whipped around, his arms instantly raised in a guard, fists clenched.

"Whoa. Calm down, big guy." A lean fox was standing a few feet from him in worn grey jeans and a t-shirt, hands raised in mock surrender and a smug grin on his lips. His eyes were a pale gold, observing him with a cross of arrogance and amusement.

Jake lowered his hands, feeling vaguely idiotic. "And you would be?" he asked, trying to look menacing. The fox just smirked.

"Name's Liam. I also happen to be the guy who saved your ass, so you can relax. You're in no danger here."

( Read the rest of the excerpt - here be rat people, mutant pigeons and bickering! )