Memento Mori Release Date!

RELEASING 

DECEMBER 7TH, 2014

AT MIDNIGHT!

In this prequel to “Vox” and “Aequitas”, readers follow the story of Whitaker Hayward. Whit, an out-of-work architect who is trying to forget his past, is contracted by one of Seraphim City’s affluent magnates, Bloomstein, to investigate a room in a long forgotten house on the outskirts of the city; a room that has no doors. Intrigued by the mystery and seeing a way out of his financial woes, Whit accepts. What begins as a simple investigation soon becomes embroiled in horror as he finds himself returning to places in his past he had long thought were buried and is faced with madness when he finds that the house holds more surprises than one doorless room.

DON’T FORGET TO ADD IT TO YOUR GOODREADS “TO READ” LIST!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22207415-memento-mori

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Excerpt from “Memento Mori: Book 3 of the Monstrum Chronicles”

That’s right. Y’all get a special treat today. I’m posting a small, unedited portion of the upcoming third book in the Monstrum Chronicles, “Memento Mori”. Just a taste of what’s to come. Expect more madness… Just about 8 months until the release! Start counting those days!

Acquolina is now available!

Good morning everyone!

My first short story in The Monstrum Chronicles, Acquolina, is now available for download on Kindle here. At 99 cents, this 46 page story chronicles the tale of Sibyl, a year old fledgling of the Kume bloodline. The Kume are the water-dwelling bloodline of lilitu (vampires) from The Monstrum Chronicles. They have mutated from so many years spent in the water. They have blue tinged skin, black eyes, and scales, occasionally. These creatures are also extremely artistic. The bloodline was created during the Italian Renaissance in the 1400’s. The novel takes place in the late 1800’s in the Kume city of Vitoria, which exists in the Erebus, the dark shadow realm where the lilitu hold territories. Vitoria is the capitol and the home of the Artigianti di Alta. They are the group of highly skilled artisans who protect a collection of the most highly valued artwork pieces created by their kind.

As the novel opens, we find Sibyl preparing for the annual Festival Della Costola, a celebration where one Kume is picked to join the Artigianti di Alta and the various Houses (clans) celebrate their creativity. However, there are also civil tensions rising between various houses which are building toward a terrible possible outcome: war. As Sibyl finds herself chosen as the new inductee to the Artigianti di Alta, she will be pulled in opposite directions by two men: a mysterious outsider who might be her only escape from the rising unrest, and The Ghost, another outsider, who has a vested interest in saving Vitoria by using any means necessary. But do they have their own agendas as well?

Here is the cover:

Acquolina is written for those who want a taste of what’s to come in Aequitas: Book 2 of The Monstrum Chronicles. It gives the background story for two characters who play large roles in the series. The short story also gives further clarification to an event that is referenced in Book 2. Later this evening, I’ll have a soundtrack list up for the short story on my website, so stay tuned for that!

Also, (and I feel pretty bad about this) sorry I wasn’t able to get Inspiration Through Music up on Monday. It was a busy day, I was getting my new car (Izze 3!) and then the new car had a dead battery so I got home rather late. Yesterday, I was rushing to get the short story published and then spent the entire night reformatting it because I hadn’t done it properly. I’m hoping to write the blog this morning. If I’m not able to, I’ll have it up for you later tonight.

Right then! Stay tuned for new stuff! 🙂

~KSilva

Weekly Update…N’Stuff

Good morning, readers!

It’s been a while since I’ve given you all an update so I figured it was about time!

First off, the July photo cover contest for Book 3 ends in less than a week! If you are harboring a photo of a rowboat, please send it in! There are some pretty fun prizes and your photo will be used on the cover of Memento Mori: Book 3 of The Monstrum Chronicles! Details are in the link here: http://voxthebook.com/Photo_Contest.html

Next: I’ve finished writing Acquolina, which is my first short story in the promotion of Aequitas: Book 2 of The Monstrum Chronicles. I’ll be releasing two short stories that pertain to the events of the novel ahead of time so that readers can have some fun background information of certain characters! Acquolina tells the story of a naive young lilitu (vampire) being torn in two different avenues of freedom from her oppressive future, neither one better than the other, but the lure of both too intoxicating to resist. I’ll be editing this during the next few weeks and hopefully will have it up for August 14th!

The second short story, Tulip, will be released in September, although I’m not sure if I’ll make the September 10th release date that I’d set on that.

In addition to all of this fun craziness, I’m still editing and doing lay-out for Aequitas. I just recently got a new laptop and my, oh, my… I love this thing. I’ve been using Microsoft Word 7 for the last five years and have just updated to 10. This is the best word processing program I’ve ever used!!! (And yes, it is deserving of three exclamation points.) I’ve been able to do the lay-out for this so much easier than I would have with my old program. I’m hoping to have all of the editing done in the next couple weeks, finish up the lay-out in mid-August, and get the back cover, synopsis, and other kagatha done in September in time for the October 4th release date!

I’ve also may have a potential book signing with the Rockport Public Library, whom I’ve talked with briefly about it.

And speaking of libraries, I’m also hard at work on organizing a Halloween Reading event with both Camden Public and Rockland Public Libraries for late October. I’ve already contacted both representatives and have locked in the dates. I have about 4 people each night, so I’m pretty satisfied. This is my first time organizing an event so I’m hoping I don’t stumble over myself trying to get everything prepared.

Hmmm… what else? I’ve been working on a couple of other projects here and there (the thromance novel, Night Time, Dotted Line, Memento Mori…etc.) and I’ve got a brand spanking new idea for an apocalyptic novel from watching Jumanji. (Go figure.)

In real life? Well, I’m working a lot. A LOT. I’ve been having some car issues with poor Izze (my red Kia) and have also been dealing with neck and shoulder issues. Crazy stuff. But then again, it’s been kind of a crazy summer. I actually can’t wait until fall when things calm down a bit work wise and things will start getting busier with my writing. Plus, I love the season!

Well, I’d best start getting ready for work. Stay tuned for my Cooking Adventures blog tomorrow where I’ll be sharing with you my weird attempt at Karvara.

~KSilva

Inspiration Through Music: Qntal

We’re going to time-travel all the way back to October of 2009. I was still working on my first book, “Vox”. I didn’t get out much that fall. In fact, I spent most of my time sitting on the couch in my parent’s computer room on my laptop just pouring out word after word, chapter after chapter. This was also a point that I began discovering new music through Pandora. Pandora, for me, holds a bevy of unknown, sometimes undefinable songs which are just waiting to be discovered. Usually, I’ll throw on a station based off of one song I like of a certain genre and let it toss out suggestions from there. When I chose a Loreena McKennitt station while working on my Ireland chapter of “Vox”, I was introduced to the musical stylings of Qntal. And boy was I hooked.

Qntal is a German “electro-medieval” band. You might be saying to yourself “what on earth is that?!” Basically, they incorporate some techno-like stylings into what would otherwise be music you’d hear at a Renaissance fair or in a movie about King Arthur. Often they use the language they would have spoken back in the Middle Ages as well. I’m an absolute sucker for stories about knights. I love the King Arthur legends, really enjoyed watching Game of Thrones, and was completely hooked by the tv adaption of Pillars of the Earth. (I know… I should read these.) The reason I chose to incorporate Qntal into “Vox” is because the Savaric bloodline who are encountered in this chapter, were actually created during that time period. They are an old and noble blood and I felt like I could be better in touch with them by listening to Qntal’s music. Today, I’d like to share 6 of their songs with you and tell you why they are so special to me.

Aequitas Cover Photo… Help Me Decide!

Good morning, readers!

I woke up late and I need to start getting ready for work! This post will be kind of short… hope you can forgive me! I realized last night that I still had not quite decided on the cover photo. I’ve been going back and forth between a couple of them. Your input would be fantastic, readers!

Option #1

The Basilica Cistern, an important location in the book.

This was my number one choice in the beginning. I’d had it in my head that I wanted the covers of all the books to include photos of important locations in the books and not necessarily characters. Everyone has a different image of Torrent and Reid in their heads… so I’d rather not force feed you an image of two guys that don’t fit your expectations for the characters. This photo is a public domain photo. I altered it slightly by increasing the contrast and tinging the colors.

 

Option #2

A dark statue, appearing on the headquarters of The Council of Thema

This is the more dramatic option of the two in my opinion. This statue, while actually being on Westminster Abbey, would theoretically, in book 2, exist on The Bion Fortress, the home of the Council of Thema. Because “Vox” used a photo of a Paris Opera House (The Primavera) which included statues, I thought this one might fit the bill for “Aequitas”. However, I don’t intend on using statue portraits for the remainder of the series… so it might be odd choosing this one now. This photo is also public domain. I photoshopped it, increasing the contrast to darken the shadows and changed the color to a sort of bluish-pink taint.

As for the font, I’d hoped that my dad would draw the title word but I’ve found a neat new font called Daemonesque, which should look very spiffy against either one of these cover images.

Now, its your turn! Please give a vote and tell me which one you prefer more! If you have another suggestion, please tell me about it! I’d love to hear it.

Thanks!

~KSilva

I Forgot the Title!

Good morning, all!

Oh, things have been pretty crazy this last week. For one, I survived 11/11/11, a day where I was tortured by listening to bagpipe music for several hours. While I’m pretty open to most kinds of music, I just can’t handle soloing bagpipes. Sorry.

As of an hour ago, I finally finished cataloging all of the major changes that need to be made to draft 4 of “Aequitas.” It can get pretty technical and so I like to have a reference that I can look at when I go through each chapter. It’s more thorough. Now that that’s all done, I can begin the in-depth revision!

My reading last Monday night was amazing! I had been nervous beforehand but once it was finally my turn to get up on the platform and speak into the mic, I found that it was so dark in the lounge that I couldn’t see anyone! That helped, ha ha. It was truly an excellent group of people that we had that evening at Slainte Wine Bar and Lounge. My fellow authors all did fantastic jobs reading and I’d like to take yet another opportunity to thank EJ, Kate, Mikhu, Georgia, and Tom for their readings. It was definitely a blast and I look forward to the next opportunity I get to do a reading.

This week I’ll have more time to focus on revisions and writing. What I did decide is that instead of writing a shorter collection of lilitu-inspired stories for print, I’ll publish them via e-books. Printing costs are so high that I think it would be better to keep that material online. People could still download it to read on their computers as well as for Kindle and Nook. Once I get some of those stories done, I’ll look into that process further.

Yesterday, I was inspired to write a Christmas-themed thriller. I was thinking about the impending Black Friday sales and thought, wouldn’t it be terrific if I could come up with a supernatural-esque thriller centering around that event? I’m still tickled with excitement about it. Imagine going shopping with your family on one of the craziest shopping days of the year. People everywhere, endless commotion, Christmas carols belting from the speakers overhead… Then imagine you turn around and you’re alone. From there on out, I’ve got the whole story already in my head. It’ll be an interesting one for sure.

Next week, I have a vacation that I’ve been looking forward to for a couple months now. I’ll be taking a family trip out to Upstate New York. Whether or not I’ll have much time to get on-line will be a question of what the internet connection is like where I’m staying. What I do know is that I’ll have some necessary r&r time and I’ll be enjoying it!

Well, I think that’s all the news for this week. Now off to get some writing done.

Until next time, good morning and happy writing!

~KSilva

*Just posted it and realized there was no title. You can see how awake I am this morning. Dur!*

New Monstrum Chronicles Trailer!

I created this trailer about a week ago for my series, The Monstrum Chronicles. I used the theme from Showtime’s series, The Borgias, composed by Trevor Morris. It’s an absolutely brilliant piece of music and really sets the mood for this dark and haunting trailer.

Enjoy!

~KSilva