What are Genies?

So, in the news last week, there’s this guy.  He locks up his son for six years in the basement, because…..

Dad believes Jr. was possessed by an “evil female genie.”  What what, you say.  How can that be?  The answer is possession, pure and simple. However, in Saudi Arabia, where this captivity occurred, the belief in the realm of the jinn replaces Westerner’s more prosaic (but actually no different) belief in demons.

What then, you ask, are genies?  Or, less politely…WTF?

Jinn are genies, djinn, jnun. The term means “the hidden.” These mythological figures have been hidden in human consciousness since ancient, pre-Islamic times, revealing themselves through superstition and stories, most famously in The Thousand and One Nights, also known as the Arabian Nights.

You can also get a good dose of genies in Sapphire Blue Publishing’s Shadow of Esagil series by moi.  In the written records of legend and of belief, God created humans from the clay of the earth, angels from celestial light, and the jinn from the smokeless fire. Genies are subject to the same laws of creation as man. And when they sin, they are cursed, as Ash was in The Genie’s Curse. But as the reader will learn, things are rarely as they appear…especially when the jinn are involved.

 My romances about the jinn are fiction, but they are based on what is truly believed about this mysterious race. Not all jinn are evil. Like humans, they are born, marry, bear children and interact in the world. As a community, the jinn can be massless, occupying what would seem to be small physical spaces. Yet, they can also expand and travel the world in a flash.

For the most part, they are invisible to humans. When they have revealed themselves, jinn are described as being similar to the human form, though more imposing and fearsome. If they choose, they can mingle unnoticed among men. And, as I’ve explored in my stories, the jinn can share the pleasure of a kiss with a human, make love, and, more dangerously, fall in love with a human.

 Western lore interprets the existence of jinn primarily as Middle Eastern fable. Yet, some aspect of the jinn has been incorporated into European and American tales of fairies and evil spirits. Most cultures describe their own pantheon of spirits that bear startling similarities to the three types of jinn: marid are wicked and malicious spirits, like devils and demons; ifrit are strong and powerful spirits that are not necessarily evil; ghuls are lesser phantoms who can fly, much like ghosts and ghouls.

Supposed remnants of jinn civilizations litter the world’s archaeological digs. From the forgotten city of Ubar in the Rub al Khali, a trackless expanse of desert in southern Arabia, to the mystical and long-abandoned stronghold of Meda’in Saleh in northeastern Saudi Arabia, and its sister city, Petra, in Jordan. Across Afghanistan, Iran, and Egypt, ruins of ancient sites are still believed by many to harbor realms of the jinn.

Ancient Assyrian depiction of a jinni

 In The Third Wish, Bridget and Ash first meet in an archaeological dig in the sands outside of Jordan, and they get more than a little dusty. In The Genie’s Curse, we get to uncover Ash’s roots in the ancient city of Babylonia, with a carpet ride over to Jerusalem.  The next installment in this series finds Bridget and Ash back together in Amman, Jordan. As the oldest continuously occupied city in the world, Amman is a city fit for a jinni.  

Whether jinn truly exist ultimately is a matter of personal belief. Millions of people in the world today are aware of jinn as creatures of myth; of those, easily thousands accept the presence of jinn as real, unseen wards of a parallel realm.

What do you think?  Are genies out there…or maybe hovering right next to you?

A Question of Identity

One of the major takeaways for me from last week’s ThrillerFest in New York City was that authors can and should diversify their identity.  I had already been thinking about this when, at the final night’s cocktail party, a publisher (who shall remained unnamed) eagerly approached me with a request to get a photograph of “someone so famous.” 

There were a few ways to go with this.  I could have smiled and said cheese.  I could have waved my hand dismissively, muttering “Talk to my publicist.”  Instead, I asked, amused, “Who do you think I am?”

“Well, you’re Erin Brockovich.”  Smile faltering now.  “Aren’t you?”

We are, even for brief moments, who we are perceived to be.  Authors are who their readers perceive them to be.  And it’s our job to deliver a solid book that fits expectations based on how that book is touted.  But that doesn’t mean that you can only write one type of book.  I don’t.  Of course, my thing is genies.  But genies can be summoned and woven into thrillers, romances, young adult suspense, graphic novels, and screenplays.  I am limited only by my imagination (okay, and my time management skills). 

Like a portfolio, the writer and what she writes is her investment.  Don’t put all your eggs in one basket has been an age-old piece of advice and applies now more than ever.  I would estimate that one out of every five published authors who I spoke with is branching out from their established genres.  For example, many thriller authors with established adult fiction have added young adult novels that tap an entirely new audience; the main reason being market share.  Different aged readers simply mean more readers.  Some authors have tapped into their romantic sensibilities to add romantic suspense to their straight-up thriller tales.  Many thriller authors are exploring the graphic novel world.

New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner presented a session during which she discussed her transition from the romance genre to thrillers.  Jonathan Maberry, author of zombie mayhem and the stupendous Joe Ledger novels, has added young adult author to his cache.  Rebecca Cantrell, with a second series book newly released — The Night of Long Knives – is quickly following it with a clever take on the Bram Stoker legend for young adults.

The real Erin Brockovich. (I wish I owned a dress like that.)

Back in the day, an author developed a specialty within her craft and stuck with it…like a union carpenter.  When we stray into other genres, we slip on the guise of a pseudonym.  There is still a lot of discussion around the practicality of changing names, and there certainly are reasons to do that.  But more and more, I’m seeing authors who display their skills through a variety of storytelling methods and readers who are willing to go along for the ride.

And if my next novel banishes genies from the page, I’ll let you know it’s me…Erin.

Best Wishes,

Kellyann

A City Fit for a Jinni

Sweet sugary scents of fruit ripening spiraled around Bridget.  She inhaled, suspended for a moment.  The sounds of the souk faded into a mildly vibrating buzz.  All of her senses suddenly shifted to the intoxicating aroma…and something else.  She closed her eyes, relaxing.  She let the velvety apricots tumble from her fingers back onto the vendor’s crate.  There it was.  A gentle tickle of air lifted a curl of hair from the back of her neck and traveled down her spine with a delicious chill.  He was here.

The Third Wish (June 2009) is the first book in the Shadow of Esagil series.

In the third installment of the Shadow of Esagil series (currently in progress), Bridget Devine is back.  And not far behind her, or above her, or winding all around her, is Ashura-Goreem, ancient jinni and modern-day archaeologist. In this opening scene, we find Bridget in a Middle Eastern open-air market, or souk, in Amman, Jordan. One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Amman is a city fit for a jinni.

Like Rome, Amman is a city of seven hills, which may have been part of its appeal when it was claimed by Rome as one of the cities of the Decapolis — a confederacy of 10 states that was settled by the Greeks. However, the cultural heritage of this ancient city goes much further back.  Archaeological excavations have revealed buildings belonging to the Stone Age, around 7000 B.C.E.  That’s 9,000 years old to you and me.

Located between Israel on the Mediterranean Sea and Saudi Arabia to its east, Jordan has become adept at diplomacy.  It is one of the most liberal and Westernized countries in the Middle East.  The country is ruled by King Abdullah II and Queen Rania (whom I consider one of the most beautiful women in the world).

With the dramatic and mysterious walls of Petra within the borders of Jordan and the ancient site of the citadel smack in the center of Amman, there is certainly a wealth of history and myth to be explored.

Bridget and Ash will explore together.  About 30 miles south of Amman, the ruins of Khirbat al-Mudayna hold the secret to Ash’s condemned jinni kin.  Ash is duty bound to excavate his brother, who was condemned to the sands 3,000 years ago.  But the discovery of exactly what lies buried will challenge the love Bridget and Ash share.  Stay tuned for more magic in The Genie’s Promise.  And to catch up on how Bridget and Ash found each other, read The Third Wish and The Genie’s Curse.

$20 B&N eGift Card Drawing

Extra!  Extra!  Subscribe to the Genie News in Fiction & Fact and get entered to win a $20 Barnes & Noble eGift Card.  I’ll be giving out a gift card each month in the summer.  Just put your email in that little Shazam button to the right…

Besides learning about genie books and trivia from this blog, you can receive a quarterly e-newsletter with tidbits about the history and mythology behind the race of the jinn.  Subscribers will also have a chance to get their wish fulfilled from a reading wish list.  In the newslettter, you’ll have a chance to tell me what book you’d like to read, whether by this author or another, and your wish is my command…if selected in a random drawing.

Explore the world of the jinn with me….

Free Book Giveaway

If you’re not sure what this genie romance fiction is all about, or would just like a captivating, quick read –FOR FREE — now’s your chance!  I’m giving away free copies of my short book Saturnalia to whomever wants one.

Leave a comment for a book.

Enjoy!

My Facebook Friends

It seems ironic and maybe a little dishonest to say I have 1,400 friends.  But on Facebook, I do.  However, I selected each and every little avatar as people who may have similar interests to myself.  (Not counting the dozens of family members and friends I know in real life.  That’s genuine friendship!)  Let’s be honest, though.  I don’t need that many friends.  I started my Facebook page initially with the sole purpose of social marketing.  I’m an author.  I write books.  I would love people to know about them.  This is one way to do it.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the forum.  I’m making what can be considered real friends among the thousand or so.  People I’ve never met who regularly stop by my page and say hello, make kind comments, or just share their experience about a certain topic.  And isn’t that what a friend is.

This week, I had a lovely phone call with a woman I know only from Facebook.  We had a great chat about writing and publishing, and even family (i.e. making time to work with little ones scampering about).  And another woman I know only from Facebook generously read and then reviewed my book The Third Wish on her blog.  I say generous, because it was a good review — but you can read it for yourself.

I’ve never met most of the people who I share comments and laughs with on Facebook.  But I consider them friends.  Lots of people knock the Facebook community (I myself have done so in the past).  But it is a community.  And that’s a friendly thing. 

Come on, be honest.  Haven’t you made some real friends through social marketing?

And if you want to be my friend onFacebook, come on over.  You can never have too many friends.

Join the June Jubilee

Every day in June, I’ll be blogging and chattin’ genie chat over at Coffee Time Romance as part of their June Jubilee.  Click the pretty purple box to enter the gateway…like magic.

It’s a great way for authors to connect with readers, writers and anyone else who happens to be surfing by.  Please stop in and drop a question or a comment or just let me know…

What Would You Wish For?

–see you there,

Kellyann

Sex and Salvation

How much sex is enough? How much sex is too much? I’m speaking in a purely literary sense, of course. Romance is the top genre in fiction publishing right now so, clearly, people want sex. But that’s not to say that every romance novel is a pornographic jaunt through sweaty entwined limbs and thrusting pelvises. Sweet also sells. Hand holding, repartee, and long lingering glances, when coupled with credible emotion, make an enchanting tale.

How to Sell an eBook in a Bookstore…

I’m not really telling, I’m asking…  The bookseller for the Empire State Book Festival, which I’ll be participating in this weekend, e-mailed all the authors asking them to bring their books.  I wrote back and explained that, except for my first book which did come out in paperback, I write electronic books….no paper…no flipping through…no tome on a shelf.  I suggested that I could provide the file on a nifty CD and, surprisingly, the bookseller was very interested and accommodating. She wrote that she realizes publishing is changing at high velocity and that, as a bookseller, she wants to adapt.  I love that!

So, I could go the CD route.  But then I thought, why not flash keys?  They’re flashy, small, seem more techy that the now-clumsy CDs, and can be packed in a pocket.  I went online to investigate bulk, customized flash keys.  Minimum orders are generally 25 or 50 units.  Even then, each unit could cost between $4 and $8.  My book sells online for $3.50.  Doesn’t really add up.  The other issue is that hardly anyone makes less than a 2-gig flash drive anymore.  Most novels in a pdf file are going to take up less than 1 mb…a 64 kb would do it, and is nearly impossible to find. 

I happen to have some small, black, blank flash keys — don’t ask — just hanging around.  I’ve loaded them with The Genie’s Curse and, with a flick of one’s wrist, a reader can unload it onto a hard drive.  A genie in a flash.  I love the metaphor…there’s a genie in there!  Attach a full-color postcard that has all the information that a book cover would and Shazam, an e-book on the shelf.  We’ll see how they sell…

And if anyone has any experience/suggestions for selling ebooks in a non-virtual setting, I could use them in a flash.

Join me on the Flying Red Carpet…

All Romance eBooks is hosting their annual Best of 2009 Award Show on Monday, April 5th @ 9 p.m. EST.  I’m a pre-party sponsor and will be there with my glitter on.  The awards begin at 9:30, but if you come at 9, you could win a copy of The Genie’s Curse.  Sure to be a glamorous book event and you don’t even have to get your hair done.