Baoule Spirit Lovers

Baoule Spirit Lovers

Guest Post by Christy Gissendaner

The Baoule people of Africa’s Ivory Coast believe a parallel universe, called the Blolo, exists where the spirits of newborns waiting to be born and the deceased co-exist with the real world. Every spirit has a mate in the Blolo, who can be enlisted to save their mate’s problems while in our world. Interesting? I certainly thought so. Enough to write a Christmas novella centered on the Baoule culture.

Romantic problems, infertility, and general unhappiness in the real world can be cured by commissioning figurines of spirit mates. Blolo bian (males) and Blolo bla (females) are generally carved from wood and are created to the specifications found most desirable in a spirit mate. Food, money, and attention can be given to the spirit mate to keep them appeased, thus allowing a person to find happiness in the real world.

Active relationships are maintained between spirit mates, particularly in a dream state. It is believed that nocturnal visits from a spirit mate will initiate healthy interaction between a person and his or her physical mate.

Much detail is given to these figurines - plump bottoms, elegant necks, thick legs. All the attributes desirable in a proper Baoule mate. Social status and individuality is acquired by use of adornment, costume, and hairstyle. Even skin tone is considered when commissioning a spirit mate statue.

This very primitive…yet romantic...practice provided the inspiration for Christmas Spirits, a holiday themed novella set in modern-day Georgia. A chance reading in an old encyclopedia and Tedros, the “spirit” of Christmas Spirits, was born! The story is meant to portray the reality of spirit lovers, and I took a very atypical approach to most romance novels.

Keep reading to learn more about Kia’s quest for happiness and just what role Tedros plays in her search for happiness.  

CHRISTMAS SPIRITS: Kia Mays has little time for anything as her lifelong dream of being a fashion designer comes to fruition. For Christmas, she takes time out of her busy schedule to visit her family in Georgia where her beloved grandmother, Naya, reveals a secret of her Baoule heritage.

In Baoule, located on the Ivory Coast of Africa, the people believe in spirit lovers, which you are separated from at birth. Tedros, Kia’s lover from the spirit world, appears to her and reveals that he is there to assist her in finding a mortal lover.

Elliot Melton, the brother of Kia's new sister in law, is also invited to share the season with the family. With the help of a meddling grandmother and an otherworldly spirit, Elliot and Kia soon find out that Christmas is the best time to fall in love.

Buy Links:

http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Spirits-Christy-Gissendaner-ebook/dp/B016G14KS4/

FRIDAY FIRSTS with...Rebecca J. Clark

Happy release day to me! My new book, DELIVER THE MOON, is officially out, and I'm so excited. This was a book of my heart (I have another book of my heart I'll be self-pubbing later this year, fingers crossed), so I'm delighted to finally share this one with readers.

The First Five Sentences of... DELIVER THE MOON

Louisa D’Angelo smoothed her long satin skirt for the third time in as many minutes as she waited for her cue to walk down the aisle.

“Don’t be nervous, dear,” the wedding coordinator said in a voice that had probably honeyed the nerves of many a bride. “Just keep your eyes on the altar, and you’ll do fine.” With that, she gave Louisa a gentle nudge forward.

Louisa wasn’t nervous, nor was she the bride.

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Amazon|The Wild Rose Press

Available now!

FRIDAY FIRSTS with Stephanie Queen

The first five sentences of... PLAYING THE GAME

“Damn it,” Roxanne muttered. Her drink had splashed on her dress. Looking right, and then left, at the partygoers around her, she took a surreptitious glance down to inspect the damage.

A very large, dark, wet spot spread over her left breast. Luckily it was only ice water—or maybe not so lucky, on second thought. 

Amazon|Barnes & Noble
Available now!
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FUN FIRST FACTS ABOUT STEPHANIE

1. Who was your first love? 
He was a summer love. We were 17, lived on a lake and water skied every day. He got to be real good and wanted to become a professional water skier--he even learned to ski barefoot. We were engaged at age 18 but the following summer he was in a terrible water skiing accident and shattered his elbow. The doctors told him he'd never water ski again. He fell apart. We were dis-engaged by the age of 19. Tragic and True. Of course now every time I tell the story over a margarita I can't stop laughing at the youthful absurdity.

2. What was the first Rated R movie you ever saw?
My tragic water-skiing hero and I, on our first date, went to see Live or Let Die, a James Bond movie, at the drive-in no less. He was hot to see it because there was a speed boat chase scene and he and James Bond happened to have the same speed boat. Geesh. I should have known then...

3. If you could live your life over again, what’s the first thing you’d do differently or change? 
Mostly I've had a wonderful life so far--although it's far from over yet! But maybe I would skip the engagement to the tragic water skiing guy... just saying.

More about Stephanie: Stephanie Queen is a romantic at heart, a writer by nature, and has the soul of a cheerleader. She enjoys creating stories where her rose-colored glasses-view comes to life and the good guys always win. Spending most of her life in New England, she's attended many of the area colleges, including Harvard, and even earned a couple of degrees along the way. Although she lost count of all the jobs she's had before she settled on being a Novelist, her favorite was joining with the Keebler Elves to sell cookies.

Playing the Game is Stephanie’s latest release. Other novels by Stephanie Queen include a romantic comedy, The Throwbacks, first in the Scotland Yard Exchange Program series, and a contemporary romance, Between a Rock and a Mad Woman. Both are available atAmazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords. Her next release, The Hot Shots, the second book in her romantic comedy mystery series, will be out this summer.

Visit the author at www.StephanieQueen.com or at her Stephanie Queen author page on Facebook and follow her @StephanieQueen on Twitter.

FRIDAY FIRSTS with Regan Taylor

The first five sentences of... WORLD IN HER HANDS

A huge smile on her face, Sarah Dinetti watched her favorite kind of drama unfold. Kim Turner had no idea what had been in the works for weeks and had been caught totally off guard. After weeks of planning, Kim’s husband, Chris had pulled off the surprise of a lifetime with this huge party celebrating their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.

Sarah looked around the room at Kim’s friends, some who she knew the guest of honor had known since junior high. They had the world in the palms of their hands.

Publisher: eXstasy Books
Genre: Romantic suspense

Amazon|eXtasy Books

Available now!

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FUN FIRST FACTS ABOUT REGAN 

1. Who was your first love?

His name is Roy. I was 16, he was 21 and a mutual friend invited him to a New Year’s Eve party at my house. He was tall, dark and the stuff of my fantasies and when he asked me out at the end of the night I was in love. At the time I lived in New York. He was studying art at Art Student’s League and I thought he was the most brilliant artist I’d ever seen. We dated until he went into the Army and I went off to college. He decided to end things but…not forever.  I moved to California, he apparently moved to Washington, D.C., met and fell in love with another woman and we both went about our lives.

About 5 years ago I was looking for some art for a cover and stumbled on some drawings that looked very familiar to me. I looked closer, did some checking and it was Roy’s. Taking a chance I wrote him and after many, many years – a couple of decades, we reconnected. His wife passed away two years ago and recently he asked me what do I think would have happened had we married all those years ago.

2. What was the first romance you ever read?

Rosemary Rogers’ Sweet Savage Love – and for years and years I read and reread it over and over again. I reread it again last summer and it was as wonderful as I remembered it being the first time.

3. Tell me about your very first kiss?

That was Roy. Okay there were kisses – like you know, you kiss, but they were the peck kind of kisses. The first REAL kiss, the one with passion and romance and bells ringing was when I was 17 with Roy. We were on a train going to Washington, D.C. He was returning to base and I was going to a conference in D.C. We sat in the bar car and I felt so grown up because he was in his uniform and he ordered me a rum and coke (I know, I know, what the heck was a then 22 year old guy doing buying a 17 year old girl a rum and coke on a train – if he happened today he’d be arrested but back then with my mother’s blessing to go, it was a different world.) As we sat there talking he leaned over and kissed me. At the time I was sure those were bells I heard but in retrospect I think it was just the wheels of the train on the tracks. I gotta say that kiss packed a wallop – and a peck’s never done it for me with a guy again.

MORE ABOUT REGAN

An avid reader from childhood on Regan has always preferred the quiet of her room with a good book to dealing with mundane daily life. While working as a police dispatcher she began to write fiction and never turned back. Her favorite times are sitting home reading and writing with her three furfaced children commonly called cats (Miss Missy, Bogie and Mel).

You can find Regan online:

www.Regantaylor.com

http://regantaylorsworld.blogspot.com/

On Twitter at: Msregantaylor

FRIDAY FIRSTS with Rose Anderson

First five sentences of...DREAMSCAPE

“I’m so excited, Ben, look!” Lanie held out her trembling hand. “I’m shaking all over. I’ve never been inside the gate before.”

Looking up at the massive house with its several boarded windows and shutters barely attached, Ben Danowski turned to her in surprise. “Lanie, are you sayin’ you bought this place without looking inside?”

(Becky here: Actually, this is six sentences, but who's counting...)

Dreamscape is available now from Siren-Bookstrand, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other fine online stores.

FUN FIRST FACTS ABOUT ROSE

1. Tell me about the first novel you ever wrote? Whatever happened to it?

My very first novel was a labor of love written approximately fifteen years ago. My husband and I were involved in the restoration of a pre-Civil War house. It was a plain little structure. As far as the history in our area goes, this type of structure was what was built after log cabins. The humble little building was filled with curiosities, namely a trap door in the floor and a hidden room in the cellar. Needless to say it took my fancy.

I love history, so does my husband. We already had a lot to go on when we started working on the restoration project. We knew who the families were when the house was built, we even knew who the builder was. Together we researched and learned all we could about the various farm family neighbors living nearby when the house was newly built. Communities were tight back then. If you were to drive down the back country roads here, you’d find roads and cemeteries with blended names – the many families related to one another through marriages that took place in the 1800’s.

My story took the original family, a few of their children and several neighbors and coupled this information with known abolitionist happenings in the area. In my mind, the mysterious room and the trap door to get into it became a haven for a family of run-away slaves. And for all we know, my little work of fiction is based in fact. The oldest residents in the area remember hearing about a secret room and they called it a hidey hole. This term will get some notice in places of high abolitionist activity.

My story centers on the original family and the dangerous steps they took to see another family to freedom. In this tale, a modern brother and sister discover their family’s role on the Underground Railroad through a journal hidden in a secret room discovered by accident. The two stories entwine as greed battles with good.

I submitted it all over the place using an entire tree’s worth of paper because this was the time before electronic submissions. I never heard a peep. That was disheartening. I tried again this year with a single submission and the courteous publisher actually sent me an email saying it was a wonderful little story but unfortunately the market now was looking for the next Harry Potter. He said I might consider e-publishing or self publishing because it was unlikely to be picked up in this market at this time. It was nowhere near the scope or imagery of Harry Potter. My little story was a Youth story along the lines of Little House on the Prairie. He added another useful bit. He said with Kindles coming down in price, the industry would be seeing them in the hands of children soon. It might do well in that format. His comment was invaluable. I’ll be doing exactly that soon. Not as Rose Anderson though. :) It wouldn’t do to mix my writing.

2. What was the first Rated R movie you ever saw?

The first movie I snuck into acting older than I really was, was the Exorcist. Scared the bejeezus out of me too. The first legitimate R-rated movie was Roman Polanski’s MacBeth. Marvelous movie that. I love Shakespeare. All these years later, I found MacBeth online and watched it again. It’s still a very cool, true to the story rendition of the Bard’s work.

3. What’s the first thing you do when you start writing a new story?

The very first thing, I build the world in my mind. For Dreamscape I’ve been in enough terrific old houses to be able to draw from it visually. I could see the gingerbread, those intricate over-embellished bits of molding and trim the Victorians were so fond of. Having rehabbed old houses, I can envision the jagged panes of glass on the broken windows, the smell in the musty old cellar, the view from the high cupola at the top of the house.

Once the world is set, characters will come walking into it. Before long they tell me their problems or conflicts. I soon discover their likes and dislikes and they’ll eventually tell me where they want to go and who they want to meet. I’ve been told this is writing by the seat of my pants. I’ve found that no matter how hard I try to use an outline, my characters will hijack my best attempt and have their way anyway! I surrender to them and hope they do well by me. :)

You can learn more about Rose on her blog, Google+, or follow her on Twitter @RoseAnderson_.

FRIDAY FIRSTS with Catherine Bybee

First five sentences of...Wife By Wednesday

“I need a wife, Carter, and I needed her yesterday.” Riding in the back of the town car en route to a Starbucks, of all places, Blake Harrison glanced at his watch for the tenth time that hour.

Carter’s startled laugh rode on Blake’s last nerve. “Then pick one of the masses and walk the aisle.”

His best friend’s offhand advice might have held merit, if Blake could trust the women in his life.

Wife By Wednesday will release in early October. You can learn more about this and Catherine's other books on her website.

FUN FIRST QUESTIONS

1. What was the first Rated R movie you ever saw?

OMG... Remember the the movie Porkys?  Talk about a 'B' coming of age movie that was all about teenagers, drinking and sex! I was waaaay to young to be watching it and remember thinking... "What are they doing in the closet making all that noise?" I think my BFF had to tell me. She was a year older than me.

2. Tell me about your very first kiss?

His name was Kurt. He lived a few doors up from me growing up. We'd flirted around all summer long, held hands a couple of times then one night while we sat around talking about absoutely nothing he kissed me. Because I used to babysit his next door neighbors, he'd come over and stand outside the sliding glass doors and kiss me there. I wouldn't let him in the house. It was a summer of kissing and big fat grins all over my face.

3. What’s the first thing you do after you wake up in the morning (other than using the restroom LOL)?

I tell Bittermen to fire up the Lear so I can go to the spa in San Francisco for my workout and message from Sven. Oh, wait... you want to know what happens 'after' I wake up. Oh, okay... Make my kids lunches, get them off to school: One takes the bus, the other I car pool with another mom. I usually check my email via my smart phone then have a cup of coffee while watching the news with my hubby. By eight I'm at my computer doing stupid stuff until I get in the shower and really start my day.

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Catherine loves hearing from her readers and encourages everyone who enjoys her books to follow/friend or even annoy her on:

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Visit Catherine at www.catherinebybee.com