Reader Photo Spotlight: @tldr_bookreviews
This month’s featured reader is @tldr_bookreviews! Many thanks to her for the lovely photograph of The Deadbringer. Give her a follow at @tldr_bookreviews.
AN ODE TO ELLDERET READERS, WHO ARE SOME OF THE DAMNED BEST PHOTOGRAPHERS 💙⚔️
This month’s featured reader is @tldr_bookreviews! Many thanks to her for the lovely photograph of The Deadbringer. Give her a follow at @tldr_bookreviews.
Stay in touch!
Subscribe to my blog, connect with me on social media, or read my books :)
Read the books already? Please consider leaving a review on Amazon. It really makes a difference in helping others take a chance <3
This month’s featured reader is @spellbound_by_books! Many thanks to her for the lovely photograph of The Deadbringer. Give her a follow at @spellbound_by_books on Instagram.
Welcome to the first post of 2022! I hope the New Year has been kind and that everyone is staying safe. So, I'm just going to jump straight into what's been going on with me as it's directly affecting my career.
Like most readers, I know what I like. I have a weakness for troubled souls who turn it around. For me, the redemption arc is one of the most satisfying aspects of a good book.
A casual skim of my bookshelves stories where characters become better in spite of themselves. There’s Pride and Prejudice, where Lizzy Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy give up their biases for love.
When I was a kid, I went to a sleepover at a friend's house. Her family were strict evangelical Christians, which makes what happened later even more inexplicable.
Happy Indigenous Peoples' Day ✊
It's important to remember that the indigenous peoples of the Americas are alive today and that they are not just an anecdote in a history book. Their cultures, beliefs, and stories are not static, are not relegated to the past, and exist in the here and now.
This month’s featured reader is @tldr_bookreviews! Many thanks to her for the lovely photograph of The Deadbringer. Give her a follow at @tldr_bookreviews.
My first real "adult" job was working as the private secretary for one of the main lecturers at the Dental School at University of Michigan. Bradley was an intimidating man, large, with a booming voice when he lost his temper. He got angry at his lab assistants a lot …
Welcome back! I hope everyone is keeping safe and staying healthy <3 Today I’m coming at you with a book review of the duology As Above, So Below by Loren Rhoads and Brian Thomas. For longtime readers, this is not the first time you’ve seen the name “Loren Rhoads” here on my blog. But here’s the thing—I picked up the first book in the duology, Lost Angels, long before Loren and I met …
It’s day 66 of sheltering in place in San Francisco. Clear blue skies and blinding sun are dominating the day, and the the Assistant—Kanoqui the Feral Prince—is quite happy with this change in weather. Kanoqui tends to get rather cranky when there is no sun for him to bask in …
Happy Saturday! I'm excited about today as it marks the 1-year anniversary of Tales for the Camp Fire!! Within one day of the ebook going live, the charity anthology I published reached #3 in Amazon's Best Sellers in Horror Anthologies, and the 100 print books I had taken to Bay Area Book Festival sold out!
It's day 44 of "sheltering in place" in San Francisco. I hope everyone is keeping safe as best they can <3 The shelter-in-place order for the Bay Area has officially been extended to the end of May with some restrictions slowly being lifted starting May 4. I've been thinking about how I keep wishing life would go back to the way it was “before.” But then I remind myself that the way things were before is the reason that so many are without any form of safety net right now and are struggling to survive …
I’m very grateful to be able to work from home and have been keeping busy with working on the sequel to The Deadbringer. One of the chapters I was recently working on had a placeholder for a drink of some sort, and by placeholder I mean typing out the letters “XXX” or “YYY” …
Lately I've been thinking a lot about why my mom enjoyed classic horror and surreal films/TV despite not knowing English. Some of the things she introduced me to included The Twilight Zone--although, she was terrified of Rod Serling because she once dreamt his head was speared onto an antler--Hammer Horror films, the Roger Corman Edgar Allan Poe adaptions, Universal Monsters …
Mexica New Year is nearly here, and I will FINALLY be able to attend the celebrations in San Jose, CA! Unfortunately, the past two new years (Chicoace Tochtli/6 Rabbit and Chicome Acatl/7 Reed), FogCON have fallen on the same weekend as the celebrations …
Hello!! I hope everyone had a lovely holiday. It’s a cold and rainy day in San Francisco as I write this post. The Assistant is sitting in his chair beside me, buried under a blanket because the room that is my office doesn’t really heat up …
This post is spoiler free. This post is indebted to a long-time Ellderet reader who stopped by my booth at SVCC 2019 to ask how to pronounce certain names from The Deadbringer. He told me the way he pronounced them, and I told him the way I pronounced them …
Deep breath. Relax. Remember that no one likes all caps. So, in lieu of all caps, just imagine me and The Assistant running up and down the hallway with glee.The Ellderet Series has made it to RedStarReviews top 10 fantasy list! Not going to lie, it was always a dream of mine to see TES on a top ten-fifty-hundred-thousand fantasy list, but that’s all it ever seemed to me it could be: a dream.
Until now.
Welcome back! Today, I want to share a podcast interview I did with the wonderful folks over at Unreliable Narrators, a few of whom I had the opportunity to meet at Fogcon 8. They asked some great questions that touched upon the premise behind The Ellderet Series, my literary influences, the pluses and minuses of being an indie author, the very important role my culture plays in my works, and if I have ever been stereotyped because I am a woman. Spoiler: yes.
At Worldcon 76, I was fortunate to be a speaker on a panel addressing imposter syndrome. The panel was excellently moderated and touched on a number of points that people with imposter syndrome can use to move forward. Some of the techniques discussed to help "make it to the end credits" included using writing as a cathartic release, viewing your insecurities as monsters that you can conquer, #buildaladder by adding rungs - no matter how small - to help you climb out of your darkness, learn to say "thank you" and to accept praise, or to reward yourself with something positive, like "cake".
The Mexicanx Initiative was a scholarship fund started by artist John Picacio to bring more Mexicanx representation in science fiction and fantasy to Worldcon 76. The scholarship was awarded to 50 people of Mexican ancestry and, let me tell you, those 50 people made a HUGE impact. The Mexicanx Initiative made Worldcon 76 a powerful experience for me because I got to see myself represented on those panels, in those stories, in the language, the idioms, the anger at the injustices of deportation, criminalization, forced separation and herding of children from their parents, and so much more.
Reader Photo Spotlight: @spellbound_by_books
This month’s featured reader is @spellbound_by_books! Many thanks to her for the lovely photograph of The Deadbringer. Give her a follow at @spellbound_by_books on Instagram.
An ode to Ellderet readers, who are some of the damned best photographers 💙⚔️
This month’s featured reader is @spellbound_by_books! Many thanks to her for the lovely photograph of The Deadbringer. Give her a follow at @spellbound_by_books on Instagram.
“Gossip is the swiftest bird alive.”
Stay in touch!
Subscribe to my blog, connect with me on social media, or read my books :)
Read the books already? Please consider leaving a review on Amazon. It really makes a difference in helping others take a chance <3
Welcome to the first post of 2022! I hope the New Year has been kind and that everyone is staying safe. So, I'm just going to jump straight into what's been going on with me as it's directly affecting my career.
Like most readers, I know what I like. I have a weakness for troubled souls who turn it around. For me, the redemption arc is one of the most satisfying aspects of a good book.
A casual skim of my bookshelves stories where characters become better in spite of themselves. There’s Pride and Prejudice, where Lizzy Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy give up their biases for love.
When I was a kid, I went to a sleepover at a friend's house. Her family were strict evangelical Christians, which makes what happened later even more inexplicable.
Happy Indigenous Peoples' Day ✊
It's important to remember that the indigenous peoples of the Americas are alive today and that they are not just an anecdote in a history book. Their cultures, beliefs, and stories are not static, are not relegated to the past, and exist in the here and now.
Below are the web links to each of the HorrorAddicts.net podcast episodes, with The Deadbringer audio drama embedded within their respective episodes. You can also listen on iTunes and Google Podcasts. Happy listening! 🎧
This month’s featured reader is @tldr_bookreviews! Many thanks to her for the lovely photograph of The Deadbringer. Give her a follow at @tldr_bookreviews.
I was born and raised in Texas, and it’s not an understatement to say that the infrastructure for this kind of weather does not exist.
My first real "adult" job was working as the private secretary for one of the main lecturers at the Dental School at University of Michigan. Bradley was an intimidating man, large, with a booming voice when he lost his temper. He got angry at his lab assistants a lot …
Welcome back! I hope everyone is keeping safe and staying healthy <3 Today I’m coming at you with a book review of the duology As Above, So Below by Loren Rhoads and Brian Thomas. For longtime readers, this is not the first time you’ve seen the name “Loren Rhoads” here on my blog. But here’s the thing—I picked up the first book in the duology, Lost Angels, long before Loren and I met …
This month’s featured reader is @spellbound_by_books! Many thanks to her for the lovely photograph of The Deadbringer. Give her a follow at @spellbound_by_books on Instagram.
I. Love. YouTube. Both Crash Course and Kings and Generals have been my faves ever since I came across their respective channels last year. The content is super educational and fun af. Lately, I’ve really been into theater history and Roman history—being able to see the battles reenacted from a bird’s-eye view is wonderfully satisfying …
It’s day 66 of sheltering in place in San Francisco. Clear blue skies and blinding sun are dominating the day, and the the Assistant—Kanoqui the Feral Prince—is quite happy with this change in weather. Kanoqui tends to get rather cranky when there is no sun for him to bask in …
It’s day 59 of sheltering in place in San Francisco. The past few days have been rainy and today is no different, but I love rainy days <3 Another convention I was scheduled to be at later this year has just canceled due to COVID-19, and I respect the organizers' decision …
Happy Saturday! I'm excited about today as it marks the 1-year anniversary of Tales for the Camp Fire!! Within one day of the ebook going live, the charity anthology I published reached #3 in Amazon's Best Sellers in Horror Anthologies, and the 100 print books I had taken to Bay Area Book Festival sold out!
So what is “Last Week This Friday”? It’s just me sharing what made me happy last week in the hopes it brings a laugh or that you discover something new <3 If you’re feeling inspired, leave a comment sharing what recently made you smile …
It's day 44 of "sheltering in place" in San Francisco. I hope everyone is keeping safe as best they can <3 The shelter-in-place order for the Bay Area has officially been extended to the end of May with some restrictions slowly being lifted starting May 4. I've been thinking about how I keep wishing life would go back to the way it was “before.” But then I remind myself that the way things were before is the reason that so many are without any form of safety net right now and are struggling to survive …
I’m very grateful to be able to work from home and have been keeping busy with working on the sequel to The Deadbringer. One of the chapters I was recently working on had a placeholder for a drink of some sort, and by placeholder I mean typing out the letters “XXX” or “YYY” …
It’s day 31 of “sheltering in place” in San Francisco. Dear reader, I hope wherever you are in the world that you and yours are staying safe and healthy. For those of us who can stay home let’s keep trying to do our best to help #flattenthecurve and keep our essential workers—healthcare workers, grocery workers, delivery workers, immigrant workers—safe.
It’s day 24 of “sheltering in place” in San Francisco as the State attempts to help #flattenthecurve. Had Covid-19 not struck, I would be traveling down to Anaheim, CA for a weekend of vending and geeking out at WonderCon …
Lately I've been thinking a lot about why my mom enjoyed classic horror and surreal films/TV despite not knowing English. Some of the things she introduced me to included The Twilight Zone--although, she was terrified of Rod Serling because she once dreamt his head was speared onto an antler--Hammer Horror films, the Roger Corman Edgar Allan Poe adaptions, Universal Monsters …
Mexica New Year is nearly here, and I will FINALLY be able to attend the celebrations in San Jose, CA! Unfortunately, the past two new years (Chicoace Tochtli/6 Rabbit and Chicome Acatl/7 Reed), FogCON have fallen on the same weekend as the celebrations …
Hello!! I hope everyone had a lovely holiday. It’s a cold and rainy day in San Francisco as I write this post. The Assistant is sitting in his chair beside me, buried under a blanket because the room that is my office doesn’t really heat up …
My short story Requiem in Frost is not exactly autobiographical. I’m not a Norwegian girl, and I’ve never lived in a house haunted by the ghost of an extreme metal musician. But there is an important facet that is taken fairly directly from my own life …
My Experience Growing Up Bilingual and How That Informs The Pronunciation of Names in my Books
This post is spoiler free. This post is indebted to a long-time Ellderet reader who stopped by my booth at SVCC 2019 to ask how to pronounce certain names from The Deadbringer. He told me the way he pronounced them, and I told him the way I pronounced them …
Part 1:
In which statements are made, but first . . .
This post is spoiler free. Here only for the pronunciation? I gotcha. Scroll down to Part 2 and Fortune be with you. But if you want to get a clear sense where my pronunciations come from and why I have some names pronounced two different ways, then read on.
This post is indebted to a long-time Ellderet reader who stopped by my booth at SVCC 2019 to ask how to pronounce certain names from The Deadbringer. He told me the way he pronounced them, and I told him the way I pronounced them. This conversation prompted me to ask him if a glossary on pronunciation would be a welcome addition to The Faceless God. I can’t recall the exact words he used in response, but he did say that a glossary or something that explained “however you say the names, even if it’s made up” would be welcome.
This got me thinking how I—as someone who grew up speaking and consuming both English and Spanish—approached names in fantasy books. I realized that more often than not that I say the names of characters, places, cities, etc. with a Spanish pronunciation, especially if the spelling lends itself to it. This feels natural to me. Is this my subconscious way of inserting my culture into my everyday narrative so I can see myself represented? Possibly — I do want to see myself in the world around me and in the fantasy stories I read. All those fantasy names with lots of r’s? You can bet I was rolling the r’s in Perrin Aybara’s name.
As for the world of the Ellderet, the way I approach pronunciation is rooted in my experiences as a first generation bilingual Latinx. That is, I often pronounce the names in two different ways, as if reading them in both English and Spanish. Let’s use the name “Judas” as an example. In English, the word has a hard “J” sound (“joo-dus”), while in Spanish the “J” sounds more like an “H” as in “hoo-dahs.” (As you can no doubt tell, I don’t know shit about linguistics.) In my own personal experience, it wasn’t uncommon for me to hear bilingual speakers pronounce their name or a word (like “guacamole”) in both English and Spanish, and to switch back and forth between the two pronunciations in everyday conversation (Spanglish!).
Circling back to the name Judas, if it were my own name, would I prefer being addressed with one pronunciation over the other? It depends. It’s the individual who dictates how their name is pronounced, not everyone else around them. Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation most certainly had a preference, made it known, and asked others to respect his preferred pronunciation. There may be a character in the world of the Ellderet who shares Data’s views. Feel free to take a guess who it is 🙃
Commander Data explains the proper pronunciation of his name.
I most likely did a terrible job explaining myself but, as I mentioned before, I’d never given this topic much thought. For me, switching back and forth between languages, especially when I’m speaking with someone else who grew up speaking both English and Spanish, is normal. Being bilingual is a part of my everyday life and has no doubt found its way into my writing. #OwnVoices, y’all.
Part 2:
Finally, the pronunciation!
One last thing before I show off my amazing phonetic skills . . . Dear reader, say the names how they feel the most natural to you. But, if you want to know how I say them—how the characters refer to themselves in my head—then prepare to enter the madness I warned you about!
The Ellderet Cast
Kira Vidal (Kee-rah or Keer-uh Vee-dahl)
*Eutau Vidal (Oo-tow Vee-dahl)
Elia (Ee-lee-ah)
Sal Zem (Sahl Sem)
Kim Lafont (umm, Kim. Luh-fahnt)
Teemo-Na’dissima Rey de’Es (Tee-mow Nah-dee-see-mah)
J’kara (Jay-kah-ra or Jah-kah-ra)
Lyse (Leez)
Daemeon (Day-mee-on)
Natsu’es (Naht-soo-ess)
Huas-lan (Whas-lahn)
Telera (Te-le-rah)
E’sinea (Eh-see-nee-a or Ee-sin-ay-ah)
Amonos (Ah-mo-nohs)
Marya Herzmmen (Mar-yah Hers-men)
Kristoff Herzmmen (Kris-toff Hers-men)
Ga’jona (Gah-jo-nuh)
Sa (Sah)
Lauchitl (Lau-che-tle)
Adan (Ah-dahn)
*Eutau. It’s Oo-tow, but “tow” as in “ow!” not “I need to tow my car.” :)
The cities and towns of Moenda
Opulancae (Op-you-len-say)
Suelosa (Swey-low-sah or Sue-los-ah)
Rhaemond (Ray-mond)
Xulmé (Shul-meh)
Ilvra (Eel-vrah)
Kessrennt (Kess-rent)
Jané (Ha-neh or Juh-nay)
Ayotil (Ah-yo-teel)
Nhaleri (Nah-le-re)
Florinia (Flo-ree-neeh-ah or Flor-in-ee-uh)
Ulivi (Oo-le-ve)
It may seem strange that I have multiple pronunciations for the same words, but that’s what growing up bilingual is all about.
How would you pronounce these words? 🤔
Until next we meet,
EMM 🥀
Below are the web links to each of the HorrorAddicts.net podcast episodes, with The Deadbringer audio drama embedded within their respective episodes. You can also listen on iTunes and Google Podcasts. Happy listening! 🎧
This month’s featured reader is @tldr_bookreviews! Many thanks to her for the lovely photograph of The Deadbringer. Give her a follow at @tldr_bookreviews.
This month’s featured reader is @spellbound_by_books! Many thanks to her for the lovely photograph of The Deadbringer. Give her a follow at @spellbound_by_books on Instagram.
I’m very grateful to be able to work from home and have been keeping busy with working on the sequel to The Deadbringer. One of the chapters I was recently working on had a placeholder for a drink of some sort, and by placeholder I mean typing out the letters “XXX” or “YYY” …
It’s day 24 of “sheltering in place” in San Francisco as the State attempts to help #flattenthecurve. Had Covid-19 not struck, I would be traveling down to Anaheim, CA for a weekend of vending and geeking out at WonderCon …
Hello!! I hope everyone had a lovely holiday. It’s a cold and rainy day in San Francisco as I write this post. The Assistant is sitting in his chair beside me, buried under a blanket because the room that is my office doesn’t really heat up …
This post is spoiler free. This post is indebted to a long-time Ellderet reader who stopped by my booth at SVCC 2019 to ask how to pronounce certain names from The Deadbringer. He told me the way he pronounced them, and I told him the way I pronounced them …
Deep breath. Relax. Remember that no one likes all caps. So, in lieu of all caps, just imagine me and The Assistant running up and down the hallway with glee.The Ellderet Series has made it to RedStarReviews top 10 fantasy list! Not going to lie, it was always a dream of mine to see TES on a top ten-fifty-hundred-thousand fantasy list, but that’s all it ever seemed to me it could be: a dream.
Until now.
Welcome back! Today, I want to share a podcast interview I did with the wonderful folks over at Unreliable Narrators, a few of whom I had the opportunity to meet at Fogcon 8. They asked some great questions that touched upon the premise behind The Ellderet Series, my literary influences, the pluses and minuses of being an indie author, the very important role my culture plays in my works, and if I have ever been stereotyped because I am a woman. Spoiler: yes.
2019 Upcoming Events:
10/2/19: Tales of Horror | San Mateo Library | San Mateo, CA | Free | Reading
10/11/19: Stephen Chbosky with E.M. Markoff | Kepler’s Literary Foundation | Menlo Park, CA | 7:30pm - 9pm | Buy tickets
10/19/19: Lit Crawl | Dalva | San Francisco, CA | Free | Reading
The Ellderet Series Makes RedStarReviews’ Top 10 Fantasy Series!
Deep breath. Relax. Remember that no one likes all caps. So, in lieu of all caps, just imagine me and The Assistant running up and down the hallway with glee.The Ellderet Series has made it to RedStarReviews top 10 fantasy list! Not going to lie, it was always a dream of mine to see TES on a top ten-fifty-hundred-thousand fantasy list, but that’s all it ever seemed to me it could be: a dream.
Until now.
Deep breath. Relax. Remember that no one likes all caps. So, in lieu of all caps, just imagine me and the Assistant running up and down the hallway with glee. The Ellderet Series has made it to RedStarReviews’ top 10 fantasy list! Not going to lie, it was always a dream of mine to see TES on a top ten-fifty-hundred-thousand fantasy list, but that’s all it ever seemed that it could be: a dream.
Until now.
That red brick <3 https://www.instagram.com/redstarreviews/
I’m so freaking honored to be included alongside so many of my favorite authors whose works have inspired me. The grin on my face would make Amonos proud. Seriously, you need to check out the list, it’s great. But above all, I’m humbled that The Deadbringer has found its way into readers’ hearts. #AchievementUnlocked
Indie Publishing, Death in Mexican Culture, The World Of The Ellderet | Unreliable Narrators Podcast
Welcome back! Today, I want to share a podcast interview I did with the wonderful folks over at Unreliable Narrators, a few of whom I had the opportunity to meet at Fogcon 8. They asked some great questions that touched upon the premise behind The Ellderet Series, my literary influences, the pluses and minuses of being an indie author, the very important role my culture plays in my works, and if I have ever been stereotyped because I am a woman. Spoiler: yes.
Welcome back! Today, I want to share a podcast interview I did with the wonderful folks over at Unreliable Narrators, a few of whom I had the opportunity to meet at Fogcon 8. They asked some great questions that touched upon the premise behind The Ellderet Series, my literary influences, the pluses and minuses of being an indie author, the very important role my culture plays in my works, and if I have ever been stereotyped because I am a woman. Spoiler: yes.
We also talked about Roger Corman’s The Pit and The Pendulum, the various Dracula films from Hammer Horror, The Assistant (my cat), the Horror Writers Association, and my thoughts about the Next Generation Indie Book Awards. Please check out the interview :)
Welcome to the world of the Ellderet! Indie author @tomesandcoffee joins us to discuss #ownvoices, dark fantasy, horror, sexism, and how her Latinx culture informs her work. https://t.co/2A5NhM6e5Q
— Unreliable Narrators (@UnreliableFeed) September 25, 2018
One more thing! I got behind on finishing up my blog series on Worldcon 76, but I’m still planning to get that done soon. It’ll probably be more like a goodies wrap-up, because I realized that I already said everything I wanted to say in my own right in the last three blog posts I did on Worldcon. Check those out here!
Below are the web links to each of the HorrorAddicts.net podcast episodes, with The Deadbringer audio drama embedded within their respective episodes. You can also listen on iTunes and Google Podcasts. Happy listening! 🎧
This month’s featured reader is @tldr_bookreviews! Many thanks to her for the lovely photograph of The Deadbringer. Give her a follow at @tldr_bookreviews.
This month’s featured reader is @spellbound_by_books! Many thanks to her for the lovely photograph of The Deadbringer. Give her a follow at @spellbound_by_books on Instagram.
I’m very grateful to be able to work from home and have been keeping busy with working on the sequel to The Deadbringer. One of the chapters I was recently working on had a placeholder for a drink of some sort, and by placeholder I mean typing out the letters “XXX” or “YYY” …
It’s day 24 of “sheltering in place” in San Francisco as the State attempts to help #flattenthecurve. Had Covid-19 not struck, I would be traveling down to Anaheim, CA for a weekend of vending and geeking out at WonderCon …
Hello!! I hope everyone had a lovely holiday. It’s a cold and rainy day in San Francisco as I write this post. The Assistant is sitting in his chair beside me, buried under a blanket because the room that is my office doesn’t really heat up …
This post is spoiler free. This post is indebted to a long-time Ellderet reader who stopped by my booth at SVCC 2019 to ask how to pronounce certain names from The Deadbringer. He told me the way he pronounced them, and I told him the way I pronounced them …
Deep breath. Relax. Remember that no one likes all caps. So, in lieu of all caps, just imagine me and The Assistant running up and down the hallway with glee.The Ellderet Series has made it to RedStarReviews top 10 fantasy list! Not going to lie, it was always a dream of mine to see TES on a top ten-fifty-hundred-thousand fantasy list, but that’s all it ever seemed to me it could be: a dream.
Until now.
Welcome back! Today, I want to share a podcast interview I did with the wonderful folks over at Unreliable Narrators, a few of whom I had the opportunity to meet at Fogcon 8. They asked some great questions that touched upon the premise behind The Ellderet Series, my literary influences, the pluses and minuses of being an indie author, the very important role my culture plays in my works, and if I have ever been stereotyped because I am a woman. Spoiler: yes.
This month’s featured reader is @tldr_bookreviews! Many thanks to her for the lovely photograph of The Deadbringer. Give her a follow at @tldr_bookreviews.