AuThursday – Angelique Migliore

Tell us a little about yourself and your background? 

Religions and Linguistics are my first true loves. I hold degrees in Hospitality and Religious Studies, but food and cooking for others is my love language.

How do you make time to write? 

Writing is my primary occupation. 

Do you believe in writer’s block? 

Yes and no. I believe in creativity-block. If I stall when I write, I’ll move to another form of creating rather than walking away in frustration. I’ll craft or draw or even indulge in some self-care time. When I give my conscious mind over to something else, that usually results in my subconscious working out the block. 

Tell us a bit about the genre you write and why you love it. 

I write Romances in Contemporary, Mythological Fantasy, Science Fiction and Dystopian. I love the flexibility of Romances and the sub-genres I can work with, and I have to have the hope of a better life.

How are you publishing your recent book and why? (*e.g. Indie, traditional, or both) 

I have three Erotic Romance novellas traditionally published with a small press, Tirgearr Publishing. But as Amazon likes to hide ERs in a dungeon so-to-speak, my name and the titles of my books are unsearchable [without a great deal of trouble]. So, I’m currently writing a Paranormal Romance novella for the sole purpose of making my name searchable.

Are you an Introvert or Extrovert? How does this affect your work?

I am an Extrovert, and in the company of most writers, that makes me such a rare breed, I might as well be a unicorn. I like meeting with my critique partners regularly, and, pre-pandemic, in person. I also LOVE conferences!

What is your favorite motivational phrase? 

I’m really not much of a motivational-loving person. It’s my job to get my ass in gear and do what I need to do to get my writing, marketing, and business done, and I’m very hard on myself about it.

That being said, if I had to choose, Benjamin Franklin said,

“…there will be sleeping enough in the grave…”

This quote has stuck with me since I was a teenager.

And more recently, when Lizzo’s “Water Me” comes on, I’m the one singing at the top of my lungs

“I am my inspiration!”

What advice would you give to aspiring writers? 

• Write whatever genre you love; forget about other people’s opinions on that.
• Read widely and voraciously.
• Have fun.

Where can readers find you on the World Wide Web? 

Everywhere!

Here’s my Linktree: https://linktr.ee/angelique.migliore

Do you have an excerpt you’d like to share with us?

Sure! We just celebrated ONE NIGHT IN TAMPA’s one-year book-iversary, so we’ll pull from it. It’s a modern-day, subverted-trope, Cinderella retelling. This is toward the beginning of the book, when our hero and heroine meet.

She vanished into the crowd of photographers, who were gone by the time she returned with waters and bananas. “Thank you very much,” I said. “For everything.” And I meant it. I held up my medal for closer inspection of the skull and cross bones. “Does this mean I’m a pirate now?” 

She smiled at me, and for the first time, I could see cinnamon-colored corkscrew curls escaping from her ponytail at random points. “You’re welcome. And what’s your real name, Cinder-fella?” 

“Since you’re into formal introductions with complete names, I’m Salvatore Convivio Ricco, ma’am, but my friends just call me ‘Viv’.” 

“Ha!” she barked. “I have about five more names than what I gave you.” Her eyes roamed freely over me. “Salvatore? Who are you saving? And Convivio? In Spanish you’d be a feast or a banquet.” 

I leaned back in my chair and gave her a better view at the whole package. “In Italian, Convivio takes on a bit more of a philosophical meaning. It’s more like, to celebrate life full of joy or living life to the fullest.” 

She half-peeled a banana and handed it to me. “You Italians. Why use one word when you can use ten?” 

I smiled from my heart and wagged my eyebrows at her. “Yeah, well, the good news is we make love the same way. You know a lot of Italians, do you?” 

She sat in the chair next to me and took a drink. “Of course—this is Tampa Bay. Are you not from around here?” 

I swallowed a large bite of banana. “Nope. And please explain ‘Mariposa del Pilar’ to me. Isn’t that a bit sacrilegious?” 

“My father is the most devout Catholic of the family and wanted to name me after Santa Maria del Pilar. My mother is the more free-spirited of the two and changed my name with the nurse in the birthing room as soon as my father left to get some Cafecito. My mother said I should have wings, not a yoke.” She peeled her own banana this time.  

AuThursday – E. Curtis

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Talenti’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Gelato.

Which mythological creature are you most like?

I am unable to compare myself to imaginary things. I can’t conceive of being reduced to a made-up creature, not my form of play. Though I have an appreciation for mythology, we now understand how it was a broken social mindset that spawned such legends. Such speculation would be disingenuous.

I have, however, always had an affection for my astral sign, Sagittarius. I always appreciated the idea of firing thought-provoking concepts into the air and sharing what I have experienced with others. This could also explain why my hair is spikey, like a bunch of little antennae sending and receiving signals from a world that I struggle to understand.

What is the first book you remember making an indelible impression on you?

I read The Hobbit followed by The Lord of the Rings trilogy when I was 10. This diversion provided much comfort to me in a dark time. In retrospect, it may have been a mistake to start with such a pinnacle of the genre, because everything I picked up afterwards was a disappointment. I am picky, I always have been, much to the chagrin of my parents, of my mother, who cooked for us.

I always had to have my version of everything: no nuts in my cookies and cinnamon rolls; no red sauce on my pasta, just butter, and parmesan cheese; and I still hate veggies to this day. To me, veggies taste like dirt or pond scum.

The lack of an adequate follow-up to Tolkien did spark my imagination, sent me exploring creative ideas of fantasy, but haunted by a powerful malicious darkness, these excursions took a turn that I did not intend. My writing, that began years later, is a direct product of the experiences of that time.

How do you develop your plot and characters?

My stories develop themselves and haunt me until I put them down on paper. The ideas that are revealed to me through immersive visions/daydreams contain a logic and detail beyond mere nighttime dreams. The work is from a compulsion rather than a desire to write.

Describe your writing space.

My office is a square room with two windows. In it is a large wooden desk, a chair, red carpet on the floor, with many books on shelves around me. I like cherry and walnut stained old hardwood. I do find that the amount of tech, required for my day job, gets in the way, such that it disrupts the natural flow of my creativity, and I am looking for a solution to that.

My desk tends to always be cluttered with papers and things, though I have been told that clutter helps with creativity, giving texture to the workspace. I tend to place pictures and notes of a current work on the blank spots of the wall directly in front of my desk. Though I don’t often look at them, their presence affects the subconscious and keeps me directed on the current work.

Discussion of a Decent Dream

by E. Curtis

GENRE: Dark Fantasy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

In the fall of 1789, on the western edge of the Yorkshire Dales, a dense, persistent fog enshrouds the village of Ingleton. Shadowed spirits hide in the mist and bedevil the townsfolk, heralding a tragedy that has befallen one of their own.

Edmond continues to search for Alexandra, his fiancée, who disappeared the same night that the mist set upon their town. Presumed dead by all others, he visits Alexandra’s empty grave, desperate for any hint of what has become of her. Weary from the sleepless nights on his quest, no longer able to stay awake, Edmond falls into a dream before her headstone and there obtains clues from Alexandra as to her whereabouts.

Haunted all the while by a malevolent spirit, Edmond follows the trail that Alexandra left for him and enters the underworld, only to learn that he has been there before, and in fact, quite often. But more, he discovers how he is to blame for Alexandra’s disappearance.

A dark literary novel rich in imagery, Discussion of a Decent Dream unearths the consequences of a child’s decision to surrender his heart in exchange for unholy power and transcendent knowledge.

Discussion of a Decent Dream is a Finalist in Britain’s Wishing Self Book Awards in the Adult category.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Excerpt:

We ignored the portent that crept into the countryside the day she disappeared. But in the weeks that followed, with no answers as to what had befallen her, with no assurance that she still lived, we came to understand, and most saw the worst in the blanket of mist that stopped time and shut us out from the rest of the world.

I had just turned twenty-one the summer of 1789 when Alexandra went missing. And after all our fruitless searching, in need of some direction, I snuck, under the cover of night, into the yard where her parents had laid their sorrow to rest. Falling to my knees before the stone of her empty grave I spoke with reverence, not for the hallowed ground, but for the call that brought me, as though somehow she could hear me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Curtis draws on personal experiences of the otherworldly for his writing. Through dreams, visions, and waking encounters, his exposure to darkness has motivated him to detail what he has come to know of the preternatural. While a few short pieces have been published on an online literary magazine, Discussion of a Decent Dream is his first novel.

 

 

Website: http://discussthedream.com/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/ECurtisBooks/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/discussthedream

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/discussthedream/

The book is on sale for $0.99 during the tour.

Buy link: www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07BTHW1SY/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

One randomly chosen a winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f2935