Barataria: Lasting Wisdom for Leaders via Don Quixote

Posted on 09/12/2015 by mapoll

The Man from La Mancha is an endearing classic. One that brings to mind valor, honesty and bravery with a little craziness thrown in for good measure.

As a fiction writer, I enjoy exploring new places – both real and imaginary. I came across the Island of Barataria, a fictional island somewhere in La Mancha, Spain. This island’s guidelines for governing struck a deep chord in me. If we all governed according to these ideas, what a wonderful world we could have! Enjoy the jaunt into Barataria.

(SOURCE: The Dictionary of Imaginary Places by Alberto Manguel and Gianni Guadalupi)

Golden Fog“BARATARIA, an island somewhere in La Mancha, Spain, in a place whose name does not wish to be remembered, the only island in the world surrounded by land instead of sea.

Barataria is famous for having been governed for a week with honourable rectitude by Sancho Panza, who accompanied the ingenious knight Don Quixote throughout his travels. Sancho Panza abandoned his governorship rather abruptly, after having repelled a fearful enemy invasion, armed only with two wooden tables tied to his waist. (His comments on the island’s cuisine were rather unfavourable—he compared it to a prison diet in times of want.)

 

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Mysteries of Britain: The Wookey Hole and the Witch of Wookey

Posted on 07/08/2015 by mapoll

There are so many interesting and compelling legends in our world. This one comes from Britain.

The name “Wookey” Hole sounds like it could be a location in a Star Wars movie. In reality, it is a cave near Wells, England with an intriguing legend. A legend that has two separate stories with the same ending. What fun!

The Wookey Hole is a series of limestone caves near Wells, England, which were carved away over time by the River Axe. In earlier pagan times, the winter death rites of GODDESS may have been celebrated here. Such rites, performed on the sabbat of Samhain (observed October 31), included sacrifice of oxen in observance of the dying of the earth… Goddess was represented by a high priestess.

The cave also may have been used to initiate women into a pagan priesthood . . .

In 1912 excavations at the site uncovered the bones of a Romano-British woman. Nearby were the bones of a goat and a kid, as well as a comb, dagger and a round stalagmite that resembled a crude crystal ball.

According to legend, a bloodthirsty “Witch of Wookey” lived in the cave. In one version, the witch had once been spurned in love and in revenge cast spells on the villagers of Wookey and demanded human sacrifice. The terrified villagers appealed to the Abbot of Glastonbury, who dispatched a monk to confront the witch in the depths of the cave. Her evil spells were of no avail against the monk. The witch tried to escape, but the monk succeeded in sprinkling her with holy water, turning her into stone.

Being ever a romantic, the next version appeals to me even more than the first:

The witch directed her Maleficia against lovers throughout Somerset. She cast a spell that ruined one couple’s wedding plans. The would-be groom took holy vows and became a monk. He exacted revenge by sprinkling the witch with holy water and turning her to stone.

A 20-foot high stalagmite inside the cave is said to be the preserved remains of this witch.

Source: The Encyclopedia of Witches & Witchcraft, Second Edition, by Rosemary Ellen Guiley

Until next time,

MaryAnn

 

 

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A Fog in Ravens Cove

Posted on 04/25/2015 by mapoll

Fog SpookySome days I am painfully aware of being a little kid in an adult body. Take today, for example. I was going about my grown-up life. I had my list and was heading to town to grab my weekly mocha and get a few staples from the general store.

I threw open my door and stopped dead. The blue sky that had graced my morning and was still visible from my kitchen window was being swallowed by an inky fog. I stared at the approaching gloom and took a step. What I did next surprised even me. I shut the door, took off my coat and hunkered into my overstuffed couch.

First, I thought it had been in response to the disturbing Stephen King novella, The Mist, which I had read a few days back. But that didn’t feel right. So I continued to sift through the emotions that made me react this way until a memory bubbled into my consciousness.

To my people, the fog heralds the coming of ‘the one who steals us.’ In times long past, the fog came and children went missing. So as a child I was warned to run ahead of the fog and get home. As a kid I thought, “yeah, sure, another way to scare me into doing what I’m told.”

Then a young boy went missing and hushed whispers about ‘those that take us’ followed. My adult mind says, “how silly. He was lost in the woods or fell into the icy waters and was swept away.” Then, that little kid in me whispers, “they will take me, too.”

When I shut the door I was asking myself, “how can I be sure that boy wasn’t taken by a mystical group of people who travel in the fog?”  So, I did what any child in a grown-up body would do—I decided I could be an adult tomorrow.

Until next time,

(Thanks to James Kari and Alan Boraas and the book A Dena’ina Legacy, K’TL’EGH’I SUKDU, The Collected Writings of Peter Kalifornsky)

To claim a copy of Ravens Cove  or any other Alaska Iconoclast Series, go to www.author.maryannpoll.com, Barnes and Noble,  or Publication Consultants. For a signed copy, please order a book through www.maryannpoll.com

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Marketing Ideas for Emerging Authors. Do You Have a Plan?

Posted on 04/23/2015 by mapoll

LightbulbIt is an amazing accomplishment to write a book. It is even a greater achievement to navigate the stormy seas of publishing and reach the shore with your finished product. If you chose to publish as an independent author, or if you chose to contract with a non-mainstream publishing house, then it is more than likely up to you to market your book. The obvious question is, “where do I start?”

Here are a few ideas:

I can't say enough about the importance of the internet and social media marketing. In today’s world, social media is one of the most important tools for success.  Other than the author, that is. The most powerful marketing tool is the author. I'll address that later in this blog. Here are some internet marketing ideas:

  • Get a website and start blogging. If you are a do-it-yourselfer, there are many tools out there to help you do this. If not, email me and I will be happy to provide you with the name of a great web development guy who gears websites for authors.
  • Get a good social media strategy. This means being active on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media outlets. If you have it in your budget, you can hire a social media manager. Social media is a complex field and an expert can help you navigate the social media world. Since these managers can expensive, you might want to consider doing it yourself. It takes a couple of hours a day, sometimes more. I have found that no matter how good a social media manager is, they cannot personalize my marketing like I can. I use Sprout Social which has helped me get the word out and is streamlined so I don't spend all of my time posting to different sights.
  • Sign up with Author Central at Amazon.com. There you can list your books, post reviews, and obtain many other tools for marketing your book. This is a free service.  Go to https://authorcentral.amazon.com/, create an account, and you are on the way to marketing your book to those who want to read it.
Following are some ideas that involve an author directly. After all, you, the author, are the most important marketing tool for your book:
  • Set up book signings: if you aren't able to sign at Barnes and Noble or other large retailers, you can contact independent booksellers in your area and arrange signings directly. To do this, your book needs to be on the Indie Bound website. Many independent bookstores are members of this organization and will not consider a signing unless your book is on this site.  The website address is http://www.indiebound.org/.
  • Attend arts and crafts fairs or flea markets: for a nominal fee you can rent a table and hold a signing. These are especially lucrative during the Christmas season but are still a great option at any time of year. People love to talk to authors and, in my personal experience, they really find it special to have a signed copy of a book.  To find these venues in your area, just check your local newspaper for events. Usually, contact information for the fair is provided.
  • Always carry a copy of your book with you. Sales happen at the most unexpected times. I never know when I'm going to meet my next reader. I've met them while buying a house, traveling in the RV, and even at a doctor’s appointment.

I hope some of these ideas will help get your story into the hands of many readers. Let me know if you find success with any of these ideas.

Until next  time…….

 

Posted in Author tips, Inspirational, Writing Tips | 7 Comments

What is an Iconoclast?

Posted on 04/16/2015 by mapoll

What does the word Iconoclast mean? This question is one of the most frequent I am asked at book signings. The definition of iconoclast is:

  1. a person who attacks cherished beliefs or institutions.
  2. a destroyer of images used in religious worship, in particular.

My books are subtitled An Alaska Iconoclast Mystery/Thriller because the antagonist is on a mission to destroy — to destroy, not just people, but to take their souls. Iconoclast is a character’s name in the series. It is also an idea that is threaded throughout each book. The following scene gives the reader a taste of the character named Iconoclast:

Iconoclast stood with his back against the slimy, pea-green wall on the north side of the ravine. His most trusted fighters surrounded him in a semicircle, the growing number of demons stood in larger circles around them, spanning the ravine to the slick walls on the south side. He grinned. Just like all good vultures, they could smell blood and had come from around this puny world to feast on those that had taken it upon themselves to live here (Ravens Cove).

 

To see more about the series, go to www.maryannpoll.com Each book is available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, www.ravenscove.maryannpoll.com, www.ingress.maryannpoll.com, www.gorgon.maryannpoll.com, www.publicationconsultants.com and where fine books are sold.

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