Freak Week Day 3: Talking Freak Tradition With Rachel

  The Freak Sorority is the brainchild of Decadent Author, Stephanie Beck. A free series chronicling the lives of paranormal best friends and sorority sisters, The Freak Sorority celebrates sisterhood relationships and the joys and struggles they face. This is the third-annual Freak Week and with an intense fan-following, the event continues to grow. Starting as an impromptu trivia contest, Freak Week now includes trivia, blog hopping and an internet-wide scavenger hunt. Copies of Stephanie Beck’s Panties Optional and Felines and Flowers are up for grabs in today’s give-aways. Find more details at www.stephaniebeck.net

  

       Hello and welcome to day three of Freak Week. My name is Rachel, and I am a succubus. I’ve been a Freak Sorority sister since the seventies when I ran into Sara in a strip club. I’m still not sure why she was there, but what can I say? Being part of the Freak Sorority has given me the female fellowship I’d been missing in my life as a demon and I’m proud to be a  member.

     This past year has found me in a familiar place as I once again undertake the task of detailing the lives and traditions of the Freak Sorority. Since meeting Nick (yes, he also goes by Santa Clause) I’ve been able to focus more on being a librarian and less on...well, being an insatiable succubus. 

     I’m putting together a full handbook on the Freak Sorority, you know, one of those manifestos that would get you killed if you read if when you weren’t supposed to. For now it’s under lock and key on my computer, but one day I’ll get it on paper, bind it and curse the hell out of it. I even have plans of not telling Pammy the correct spell to open it, but shhhh, let’s not mention that.

     I’m finding as I work, that our lovely sorority is missing a few things other sororities have. So far we do have a flower (red roses, long stem), a song (Hey There Little Red Riding Hood) and our founding mother, Sara, is pitching hard to have diamonds be our jewel. I’m not saying diamonds are a bad thing, but I’m more of a ruby girl myself. 

     But in other categories, we’re lacking. For instance, we have no motto, official badge, official crest or jewel. But most importantly, we have no official drink. The other things will come together, but I could use some help.

     Today I’m on a mission to find a cocktail to commission as our official Freak Sorority beverage of choice. I’ll be on Facebook and Twitter today, chatting and doing a little trivia. I’d also love to have drink pictures posted on Facebook—it’s always nice to spruce the place up. Join me at www.facebook.com/StephanieBeckAuthor to visit. I’ll be there until at least 10:00 PM central standard time, so stop by any old time.

***CONTEST***

Please leave your drink recipe, including measurements and serving amounts below. Entries will be accepted here until 10:00 PM Central Standard Time. Judging for the top drink is subject to judge’s preference, but all entries will be entered to win one of three prizes for Wednesday. The winning entry will be immortalized on the Crafty Paranormal’s page on Stephanie Beck’s website, where their drink recipe will live in infamy for all to enjoy. Winners will be announced on this blog and at www.stephaniebeck.net on the Freak Sorority tab after 10:00 Wednesday night.

If you are unable to comment using the blog please email your recipe to stephaniebeckauthor@gmail.com  to be entered.

Thanks all! I can’t wait to see the drink suggestions.

 

As an added bonus,Decadent Publishing will be giving away a print copy of Run Devil Run anthology, a dark paranormal collection of stories, influenced by the LA band, Run Devil Run! Rachel the succubus will fill you in on the details! 

And leave a comment!

Graylin Fox's stop on the DP YA Blog Stomp

Graylin, dear, it seems like forever since I met Tessa, Kyl and family, and of course, Jasper. When did you first write Contagion, and what inspired it?

I wrote Contagion in September of 2010. I had just finished Coming Home and was inspired to write another fae story. I write poetry about vampires, dragons, werewolves, gargoyles, and knights, but nothing hits closer to home than something that is actually possible. I work in medical settings and the genuine fear I saw on parents faces when their child had to be hospitalized for the flu, started my wheels turning. 

This time I created a group of friends to go through adventures together. Contagion is a novella beginning to a series. It's an apocalyptic story about what I thought would happen if someone decide to "help" the yearly flu virus along. It does appear that when I write, people die, and I attribute that to being in a work setting where people die every day. It's a part of life that changes us the most and we talk about it the least.  

How much of you is in Tessa? How about the world of the woods and the cabin? I love the setting for this book! It doesn't have a real post apocalyptic feel, although that is the setting.

A LOT of me is in Tessa. I tend to speak without the filter of an edit or mute button. My mother spent more time rolling her eyes at me than anything else. My life hasn't been easy, I've lost loved ones and been betrayed by people I've trusted, have survived personal violence. Those losses and betrayals rebuilt me stronger even though I didn't recognize it at the time. And neither does Tessa. She is gaining strength even as she feels like her world is shattered and unrecognizable. 

I wanted to place this story in a contemporary setting but one that would leave her isolated from civilization. Every apocalyptic story I've read shows you the loss by taking you through the changes in a large city. I want the readers to feel the loss through Tessa. Her pain at losing her family and unwillingness to even watch the news because she doesn't want the images in her mind anymore. It also helps to place the portals to the Otherworld in areas of the United States where they could be and no human would notice them.  

What have you been suprised to hear about the book from reviewers and readers? Is there anything you'd change, looking back?

I've been very flattered by the reviews. The criticisms I've seen are centered around the length and brevity given the number of characters and revelations. So, yeah, if I knew then what I know now - Contagion would be the first 2-3 chapters of the first book. But when I started it, it was to be a small short story about survival. It evolved over rewrites and edits but never grew to the potential I now see in it. I'm hoping to remedy that in sequels. 

This means for me, this short story now is a wonderful introduction to this cast of characters and shows us how, and why, they met. They also save the world. There is that part. :) 

 Between Coming Home and Contagion, it's clear you have more than a passing interest in Celtic mythology. How did this start, and do you have plans to pull on that world in future works?

I'm half Irish. Belief in the supernatural is part of who I am. My father's Swedish side also has a strong belief in the power of myth,legend, and nature. I love writing with mythological creatures. Giving a dragon allergies still makes me giggle, although I'm sure Jasper would complain. 

I love mythology and blending it with contemporary settings. After all, if I can have an iPhone why can't I call a fairy, or Skype a demon, or find the twitter account of a wizard? The possibilities make me giddy. 

What are you working on now?

Contagion is the start of a series and I'm writing the next one, Interwoven, now. I love revisiting these characters and the convoluted, tangled, relationships they all have in the Otherworld is pushing the story into areas that surprise me daily.

I also have a science fiction story in the works about plant based beings escaping their planet because their sun is going supernova. It needs a lot of work but I'm hoping to submit it this fall. It's tentatively titled Deadly Beauty. 

And I have a werewolf love story on the back burner. It yowls at me from time to time and I'm hoping to have it ready for submits this fall as well.   

Graylin Fox is a science fiction, fantasy, and thriller author and poet. She began writing poetry in 1993 with her first poem published in 1995. In 2008 her characters demanded a larger format and she began to expand her talents into the short fiction market.

Decadent Publishing published her short story, Coming Home, in January 2011. Her short story series, Summer Fae, began with Contagion in April 2011. July 15th 2011, Decadent Publishing released Your Biggest Fan, a psychological thriller.

Her poetry can be found both in print and electronically. There are a handful available as free reads on her website. Lessons will be published by The Stray Branch, #8, Fall/Winter 2011. Unconditional Love published by Moon Washed Kisses in their debut edition. Dark Encounter was published in Strange, Weird, & Wonderful Summer 2010 Issue. Folded In Darkness was published by Dark Horizons. Issue 57, September 2010. Blood Bound was published by House of Horror, Issue 17. It was chosen to be in House Of Horrors 2010 Anthology.

Graylin can be found at http://www.GraylinFox.com