Howdy,

Hope you are all enjoying the weekend. It seems like it always breezes by much too quickly.

Anyway, I just popped in to post this little tidbit. My short prose "Madness in the Eye of the Beholder" is featured in the current issue of Masque of the Red Death.

If you'd like to check it out, you can read it here:

http://redmasque.weebly.com/prose.html

All the best,
Gio

Hi All,

Happy Friday the 13th!!!!!

 For some this is their lucky day, for others, it's not so lucky. Here's hoping this is a lucky day for all of you.

Armand Rosamilia interviewed me this week at the Rymfire Books blog where I discuss my story "In the Name of Science" featured in the "Skeletal Remains" horror anthology, edited by Keith Gouveia. I also discuss other projects I'm working on, as well.

Here's the link to the interview page if you'd like to check it out:

http://rymfirebooks.wordpress.com/2012/01/13/author-interview-giovanna-lagana/

Have a great weekend.

Happy New Year!

Another year has come and gone and a new one took its place. Let's hope this one is filled with good health, happiness, love and peace for everyone.

And with the New Year comes a new horror anthology "Skeletal Remains" edited by Keith Gouveia and published by Rymfire Books. My dark historical horror tale "In The Name of Science" is featured in it.

Here is the info and cover on the book:

The Skeleton—the supporting system for so many organisms. Rip off our skin, strip down the meat, and underneath we’re all the same. So why has the skeleton frightened us for so many generations? 

The answer may lie inside these pages.

From the iconic Grim Reaper to the dancing figurines celebrated in Mexico’s Day of the Dead, human skeletons have personified death. Often portrayed as mindless creatures summoned to do unspeakable things by their master, the skeleton is brutal in its simplicity. Much like the zombie, their strength is in numbers and their immunity to attacks that would only harm their non-existent flesh. Join these brave authors daring enough to put nightmare to paper and unearth these Skeletal Remains.

Jonah Buck • Lorne Dixon • Keith Gouveia • Giovanna Lagana • Lisamarie Lamb • Matt Peters • Suzanne Robb • Armand Rosamilia • Rebecca Snow

Only $2.99 eBook and $7.99 Print

available at: Amazon Kindle * Amazon Print * Lulu eBook * Lulu Print * Barnes & Noble * SmashWords

For more details you can check it out at:

http://armandrosamilia.com/2012/01/04/skeletal-remains-release/

My friend Donna Milward is having a book launch contest on her blog for the release of her very first paranormal romance novel “Thoeba”.

You can check out details on her story at: http://www.vamptasypublishing.co.uk/#/thoeba-page/4552072216

She’s giving away three e-book copies of 'Thoeba'. And also a beautiful stainless steel necklace and heart pendant with a garnet in it.

For further details on the contest, see: http://www.earthtothoeba.blogspot.com/

The contest ends Wednesday July 27^th.

Cheers & good luck if you decide to enter. 

Gio

I’m delighted to have my very good friend and one hell of an amazing writer and editor, Louise Bohmer, as my guest on my blog. I’ve known Louise for over six years and have had the pleasure of working with her co-editing several anthologies as well as having her for a boss. And I loved every minute of it. She is such a sweet, super smart, funny lady who can brighten you darkest moods.

We are working on a Steam punk romance novella at this time, and to see her come up with such wonderful ideas and characters that are beyond three dimensional, is incredible to watch.

We had a fun question and answer session that I pasted below. She was kind enough to answer all my questions, even the bizarre ones. 

If you’d like to check out her website and her superb novels or other stories she’s worked on, see this link:

http://www.louisebohmer.com

 Happy reading. 

 1.       In a nutshell how would you describe Louise Bohmer?

Louise: Hmmm…well, let’s see… If Joey Ramone and Dennis Hopper had conceived a love child with Ruth Gordon, I would be that love child.

 

2.       What is your comfort food?

Louise: Too much chocolate. It’s the one junk food I have trouble shaking. Whenever I’m stressed, I crave a Caramilk.

 

3.       If you could be a character you created, who would you be and why?

Louise: Good question. Let’s see…probably Lucifer in an as yet unfinished series I wonder if I will ever write. He’s not the nicest shapeshifter in the book, but I think I’d like to see his world through his eyes for one day, be a villainous rogue for 24 hours. (Plus do all that cool shapeshifting.)

 

4.       If you could be a character in a story you read who would you be and why?

Louise: Oh, that’s easier for me. Hands down, I’d be Peloquin from Cabal / Nightbreed. I recently ran across a thread at Rue Morgue forum that said it best: With Peloquin, Barker captured ferocity mixed perfectly with sensuality. You can’t look away from Peloquin, can’t stop listening to him, even though he frightens the life out of you.

 

5.       Anything in life you would like to go back in time and rewrite?

Louise: Probably The Black Act. While I love the book and many of the characters, overall I’m just not happy with it. There are things I would do very differently now. Break it up into a series, get rid of the hierarchical order of the fae, maybe go back and tell Corrigan’s story.

 

6.       Who is your hero and why?

Louise: Well, I usually go with Clive Barker, so I’ll go with one of my other heroes this time. Lemmy Kilmister is my hero because he really lives life on his own terms, and just doesn’t care what other people think of him. He’s not pretty, and he doesn’t follow trends, but he’s had a solid, successful career in music for over 35 years. To me, that’s admirable, because it isn’t easy to do.

 

7.       As an editor and writer, do you have any advice for new writers out there?

Louise: Don’t feel the need to pigeonhole yourself into one genre. Try writing in many different genres, and use pen names, if you like, to keep the work separate. Don’t limit yourself. The industry is seeing many big changes right now, and I think that could mean a great deal more genre blending and crossover of genres--even more so than we are seeing now.

Also, don’t be so set on seeing your name in print that you rule out ebook publishers. Like I said, the industry is seeing big changes right now. Last month, I believe it was, Amazon’s ebooks outsold their print. Seeing your name in print might be nice, but ebooks and online magazines are just as valid and fulfilling these days.

 

8.       What is your all time favourite movie and why?

Louise: That’s got to be Nightbreed. It doesn’t matter how many times I watch this movie, it never gets boring for me. I can recite lines from it like rote. It is the one film I can’t fall asleep to, because I end up sitting up in bed, listening to every line, taking in every character. It was the first movie I saw as a teen where the monsters weren’t the bad guys, they were the good guys, but they were still feral, fierce, and didn’t back down to the villainous humans who came to ruin their world. When I was a kid, I desperately wanted to be a monster in Midian. (Confession: I still do.)

 

9.       What is your all time favourite novel and why?

Louise:  I have to go with Barker again. Cabal, which is the novel off which Nightbreed is based. As to why, pretty much same as above. I liked that the humans were the bad guys and the monsters were the heroes. I really wanted to run away and join Peloquin and Shuna Sassi.

 

10.   Any embarrassing quirks you’d care to share with us?

Louise:  Ha! Too many to list. One thing I hate that I do is, when I get overwhelmed by stimuli in a social setting, I tend to start blurting nonsense. I don’t mean to, but my brain gets so overstimulated, I start to short-circuit a bit. For instance, I will just trail off on a point, and kind of laugh nervously, because I forgot my damn point. Or I’ll blurt something dumb and wonder where the heck that came from.

 

11.   How do you see the world changing in a century from now?

Louise: Wow, that’s a tough one. It’s hard to say. We’re advancing technologically so fast. Michio Kaku says we’ll have the internet implanted into our eyes, and you’ll just blink to surf the web in the future. I could see that. Books, I think, will be mainly digital and much more interactive. 

 

12.   Where do you see yourself in ten years?

Louise: Hopefully still writing lots and hopefully selling lots too. I’ve decided to take my writing in a more marketable direction, write in more genres under pen names, and just have a great time with it, too. Hopefully still editing, but if I am only writing, that would be nice also. My next goal is to learn how to write a decent screenplay. I’d love to direct one day, but first I want to hone the screenwriter hiding in me.

 

13.   Any embarrassing thing happen to you in the past you’d care to share with us now?

Louise: Ha! Too many to list again. Probably when I flubbed my words at WHC 2007 and asked Ellen Datlow if she edited for Apex, when I meant to say, “You guest judged Apex’s Halloween Contest this year, didn’t you?” She looked at me like I was whacked, and I don’t blame her. (Hopefully she doesn’t remember that.)

 

14.   Do you have any particular nickname or pet name friends and family call you?

 Louise: Too many again. Heh I’ve gotten everything from Wheezie, to Louisfer (my personal favourite), to Boomer, and Bomber.

 

15. What piece of your writing are you most proud of and why?

Louise: I think I have to write that story yet. But if I was to pick from what I’ve currently written, I guess I’d go with an older short story called The Book of Dreams, or even Dark Nectar of the Gods. Everything just felt right when I wrote those stories. They were tough to get out, but when I finally reached that last draft, it was like everything fell into place perfectly.

 

Writer, artist, and teacher, Judith Nasse, reviewed "Rickie the Raccoon Learns About Recycling" on her blog "Children's Book Review" this week. She highly recommends it for young children, ages 3 - 10.

This week, my guest blogger is a very sweet lady and fellow Canadian Donna Milward, whom I met on the Net over a year ago. She is charming, witty, and has a heart of gold. She is also an emerging romance writer who you should keep an eye on because I’m sure you will be seeing a lot of her work in this genre in the years to come.

Her blog is about the antagonist, usually my favourite character. In my opinion, the antagonist either makes or breaks a story.

You can also check out her enchanting and quite unique blog “Earth to Thoeba” at: http://earthtothoeba.blogspot.com/

Plus don’t forget to check out the question and answer section that comes after Donna’s blog.

Happy reading.

Gio

Good to be Bad

I love villains. I love reading them and watching them. But above all, I love writing them.

Consider this. Our protagonist, or hero if you will, has to be likeable. If you are a writer, you’ve often heard that your protagonist has to be ‘sympathetic’. He or she has to be someone everybody can relate to.

Would you support the family man who beats his wife and kids, but ‘only when he’s drunk.’? When he’s drafted into the army after aliens invade Earth, do you want him to come back alive? Or how about the shy teenaged Satanist? Do you care if he gets the girl?  Do you want him to?

No, the heroes and heroines of this world are designed to be reliable. Generic. Predictable.

The antagonist, however, can do anything. Admit it, you love it when the villain enjoys doing something that appalls you. Like reading the obituaries for light reading before bed. Or dining on lost pets.

Is it our powerful desire to see them get what they deserve? Or our need to feel superior?

But of course no one grows up deciding to be evil, right? They all have their reasons for revenge and world domination. Perhaps a bad childhood? A government conspiracy? The radioactive-mercury-laced doughnut that killed his pa?

The possibilities are as limitless as your reaction to them. You can love them. Hate them. Love to hate them. Hate to love them and secretly cheer for them.

That is why I love villains, and I know some of you agree with me. The rest of you should just agree with me now. It will save so much time when I take over the planet.

Donna Milward

1. When did you really know writing romance novels was what you wanted to do?

It wasn’t until a friend asked me to join her at a RWA conference in Washington D.C. two years ago that I got into romance. What an eye opener! The more I learned about that genre, the more I respected it and the more I wanted to be a part of it.

2. I see you love mythology, what Greek or Roman god or goddess is your favourite and why?

It’s always been Athena, goddess of strategic warfare, craft, and wisdom. I appreciate how she is the cunning side of war, not the brutality of it. She knows when to fight, and when to “extend the olive branch” as they say. She invented the concept, just as she created the olive tree as a gift to Athens. She’s a multi-talented deity. Having said that, Demeter, goddess of harvests is my favorite in gardening season

3. You enjoy gardening. Do you have any tips for fellow gardeners?

I cannot stress the importance of weeding. Some find it a chore, I call it therapy. Sit cross-legged (or however you feel most comfortable) in your plot with a trowel and stir gently. Take your time and enjoy it. Remember, these unwanted plants steal water and nutrients from your precious flowers and vegetables. Watch how your plants thrive when they’re not being strangled and are given space to grow.

If your soil is hard enough that it bends your trowel, this means you have clay soil. You either have to replace the dirt or nourish it extensively with manure, compost and lime.

4. Who would be your all time favourite character ever created in fiction?

That one’s hard. I would have to say the companions from the Dragonlance series. Which one I like best depends on my mood. I love Raistlin the dark mage sometimes, but mostly Tasselhoff Burrfoot the kender. He’s adorable!

5. Who would be your all time favourite character ever created in a movie?

Darth Vader!! Best villain ever! When Star Wars came out, there had never been anything like him, and there still isn’t.

6. As a child, what did you dream of becoming when you grew up?

There was a long list. Teacher, ballerina, actress…I know author made it in there somewhere. I remember my first book in grade two was about the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. It had pictures I’d drawn myself and began, “The storm that sank that boat was bad. You should have seen it!” I’ve improved since then…

7. What is the most memorable childhood memory that brings a smile still to your face today?

I’m privileged to remember the day I officially learned to read.  It was a book about horses, and I remember it was a night scene. The word was ‘flashlight’. I was an excellent phonics student, and I applied them, right down to what ‘ght’ represented. I read it in one go, and the doors of knowledge opened for me. From that day forward I could read anything and did my damndest to read everything. It’s a favorite day in my life.

8. Who do think is more important to a story, the protagonist or antagonist?

I have to say antagonist. I’m not just saying that because I love writing them. I find that most protagonists are very much the same-they’re likeable people that something bad happens to, right? A villain you can love, hate, love to hate, relate to, and feel sorry for. You have no story if you have no conflict. Without the antagonist, there is no conflict.

 

 

 

 

Greetings 

My Sci-fi/horror short story “One-Way Trip for the Damned” about a man who wakes up on a space cruiser with no memory and a dead crew is featured in Volume 6, Issue 3 of “Tales of the Talisman.”

Here’s a blurb for the issue:

This winter, we present an action-packed issue of Tales of the Talisman. Ernest Hogan takes us aboard the luxury spaceship Mars-A-Go-Go where a private detective gets caught up in the search for a famous actress's lost body. Meanwhile, Mike Brines takes us to Arizona where another private detective attempts to discover what those elves at The Muffin Man bakery are cooking up! Head back into space with Giovanna Lagana as she introduces us to a man who wakes up on a space cruiser with no memory and a dead crew. Kristin Davis shows us that selkies can learn to love their human forms and humans can learn compassion. These and other fantastic stories and poems await you in this exciting issue of Tales of the Talisman!

http://www.talesofthetalisman.com/bookstore-v6.html

The Amazon link is:

http://www.amazon.com/Tales-Talisman-6-3-Ernest-Hogan/dp/1885093578/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1299531570&sr=8-7

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2011!

Wishing you all a marvelous year ahead. May it be filled with health, happiness, prosperity and so much more.

This year, my New Year resolutions are many. And to make sure I hold true to them, I wrote them down in bold lettering and posted them on the wall next to my desk so I can read them daily.

One of my resolutions this year is focusing on some interesting writing and editing projects I have been working on. “When the Dead Speak in Riddles” is a novel I will be working on first in the next few months. It’s a complex horror novel that I have been co-writing with author/editor Keith Gouveia.  For me, it certainly is a challenge writing this story, especially since the plot is mind boggling and I haven’t written a horror novel in so long. But it’s a great experience and I am learning a lot.

 

On the horizon for short stories coming out this year:

My sci-fi, horror short story “One Way Trip for the Damned” will be featured in “Tales of the Talisman” Volume 6 Issue 3.

And my horror short story “The Calling” will be featured in the anthology “The Snuff Syndicate” coming out later this year by “The Library of Horror Press”.

 

And finally, I’d like to thank everyone who participated in the contest over at Coffee Time Romance last month. It was a huge success. The winner of the Amazon gift certificate is Sara Trimble. Congratulations, Sara!

Wishing you all a great week and year ahead.

Cheers,

Gio