Same Coin, Flip Side...Poetry from a fantasy author

Here's a small glimpse at another side of me, a bit of my poetry.  I hope everyone who reads it likes it.


Dark Heart Unafraid


Darkness threatens to surround me, swallow my concious whole.

 I can no longer feel the breeze on my face or the sand beneath my toes.

I try to push my monster back, keep them in the shadows from which they came.

But the evil that spawned them is after me again.

Let me live, let me be free, let me exist without this crutch.

Let my deams be nightmare free, just one night out of a month.

Let me not be afraid to be happy. Or live in fear that it will all be stripped away.

Get off my back dark demons. Leave me free to love unafraid.

 For even though I realize not all love brings pain. Let me be to believe it, so I can be happy once again.

Foul creatures you have broke me, shattered me undone. But slowly I rebuild me, bit by bit, by bone.

Because don't I deserve to be happy, my young soul so brutally aged.

You've taken so much just give me for once the courage to love unafraid



Facets


Don't strain your brain trying to get inside my head, it's far to complex for mortal comprehension.

It's been shaped and formed and edges worn and molded by unseen hands.

So many so that even I don't know where the tally of influence now stands.

I've been the lost little girl trapped inside herself looking out at everyone through numbness.

And the dark brooding child with pain as her guide screaming at the world for salvation from the tempest.

I've been wanton and uncaring, unloving of my own body giving it to anyone who chose to ask for it.

I've been oh so alone in a caring loving home with the person that loves me best never really knowing me at all.

A meek timid mouse is what the world see's as my guise, but behind closed doors my fire burns bright.

I've been a victim,a perpetrator, a friend, a foe, a lover of life, a hater of light.

I've been a mans woman. And a womans girl.

I have inside me the scholar and the proverbial class clown.

I have more balls than some men wearing my queenly crown.

I am the lady in the street and the freak in the bed that men hope to find.

 I am a loving mother and a trusted friend ride or die to the very end.

I am me. Multi-layered and ultra-dimensioned. An enigma to myself.

So don't tax your mind trying to find me.

Some days I can't find myself.

Introducing Lawless!!

What makes a character memorable and not just another name on a page?  As both an avid reader and writer, I ask myself that often.  As a reader, I look for characters who aren’t perfect.  Characters with flaws that are able to overcome them and come out on top.  I also have a tendency to fall in love with the underdog.

As a writer, I try to endow my characters with qualities and traits that reflect different aspects of who I am.  Hence the many lesbian and African American protagonist.  I also like to give my characters traits and qualities that I wish I had.  Take for instance Valeria’s snarky, in your face attitude.  That is so not me. (but sometimes I wish it was)

Not a day goes by without a new name popping into my head making me wonder how I can utilize them.  Most of them end up lost in the nether regions of my brain, never to be heard from again.  But every once and awhile a character pops into my head that just screams for me to see them.

When this happens I usually end up putting off what I am working on and giving that character my full attention. Sometimes this results in me writing that particular characters background, and filing them away to use at a later point in one of my stories.  Carrie, Irulan’s doomed first love from Never Again: An Irulan Short, is just such a character.  Carrie popped into my head while I was working on a fantasy story almost ten years ago.  I really liked the character, but there was no where for her in the story that I was trying to tell.  Thus she sat and waited until the perfect setting arrived.

At other times, a character refuses to go quietly to the rolodex in my mind and wait patiently.  These characters want their place in the sun and they want it regardless of who or what else I was writing at the time.  Valeria, Still Rivers, and Theory Cunningham are people that refused to go quietly into the night.  Each of them are the protagonist in Crimson Dawn, Ascension, and The Road To Was, respectively.

Well another character is demanding her time in the spotlight, which is a good thing and a bad thing at the same time.  It’s good because I have a wide staple of characters to draw from for a long time to come.  Its bad because when these new characters come a knocking, they distract me from someone else’s story.

Whatever it may be, I can’t ignore her.  Ladies and gents I give you Lawless.  Lawless is a character in the third Darklife short.  A character that before I began filling in parts of her personality and background, was just going to be a less-than-minor player in D vs D; a means to help Valeria crack the case she’s on.  Lawless is no where near a minor player any longer.  She’s insanely sexy (I see Rhona Mitra as Lawless), relentless and unapologetic in her pursuit of what she wants; regardless of the consequences, and undeniably one of the most entertaining characters that I think I will ever write.

That’s saying a lot considering I haven’t even written her first line of dialogue.  Hell, I haven’t even introduced her to the storyline yet.  Never the less, Lawless is already firmly entrenched in my head.  I can almost see her standing in front of me, none to patiently waiting for me to throw her into the action.  I see you Lawless!

Wondering about her name?  I am a diehard Xena fan.   Lawless is my ode to Mrs. Lucy Lawless, the wonderful actress who brought the chakra wielding warrior princess to life for six seasons.  One of the things that will be included in my description of her, is the fact that she has a chakra with an X through it, tattooed on her wrist.

Aside from being a Xena fan, Lawless is mostly a mystery to the people she interacts with.  Very few people know how old she really is and are privy to information about her past.  She owns a tattoo shop, and is an expert in lost civilizations.  The people closest to her speculate that she has first hand knowledge of many of the places she talks about, but she will neither confirm or deny anything.  Lawless’s sexuality is also very fluid.  She rides the line between ultra femme and tomboy with expert precision.  She’s just as comfortable in thrift shop jeansand a t-shirt,  as she is a ten thousand dollar gown.

Let’s see, what else can I say about Lawless to prepare readers for her introduction into the Darklife world?  Nothing much without giving away too much.  But, I can tell you that for her, Irulan is the one that got away…Lawless is a very sore loser.

Lawless has made herself a very memorable character for me; one that I see living far beyond the short story that she‘s introduced to the world in.  I hope that she is just as memorable to my readers as she is for me.  You’ll meet her soon in D vs. D: A Valeria Short, the next Darklife Short.  I hoped to have it ready by Monday, but the introduction of Lawless to the storyline has caused it to grow quite a bit.  I have re-written my outline and added another chapter.  Hopefully I can wrap things up in time for a Thursday upload date.

To find out more about Crimson Dawn and any of the works mentioned, head over to my website, http://www.ronniemassey.com/.  Also, be sure to sign up for the FrogenYozurt.com newsletter so you’ll know the minute Crimson Dawn has an exact release date.

What happened to the heat? or The groundhog LIED!!!

Ok, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the first day of spring March 21st?  A date that was exactly six days ago.  Didn't not only Punxs-whatever-Phil but Staten Island Chuck, two groundhog NOT see their shadows on Groundhog Day?  That means spring was SUPPOSED to come early.  Tell me over-sized rodents and predetermined date on the calender...WHAT HAPPENED?

For God's sake it is almost April.  One minute the trees are blooming and the world is covered in the eye itch inducing, sneeze triggering, golden death known as pollen, then the next minute I am freezing my tukkas off in almost 30 degree weather.  I live in South Carolina.  I'm supposed to be in the throws of allergy season, not wrapped up in throws trying to stay warm.

What gives mother nature?  Are you taking a week off to vacation where ever it is mythical beings go to relax?  Did we do something to anger you?  Do we not show our appreciation for your bountiful blessings enough?  Tell me something because this sister is freezing her ass off.  I will gladly paint some eggs and light a purple candle to celebrate Ostara if that's what it will take to get some sunshine.

HELLO!  I already packed up my heavy coats and pulled out my capri's.  I do not want to have to go into the bottomless pit known as my closet anytime soon.  GIVE ME HEAT!

Signed,

Cold As Crap

Another trailer is live on youtube

Another trailer is live on youtube.  This one features my favorite Tuatha, Irulan.  Head over and check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw9SwiHOO-Q

Crimson Dawn Trailer Is Up

Hey everyone.  Just wanted to let you guys know that the first Crimson Dawn trailer is up on both my website, Ronniemassey.com and youtube.  Give it a look and tell me what you think.

Official Online Launch

With Crimson Dawn due to be released in April, I have been hard at work trying to promote my urban fantasy with a twist of paranormal romance, debut novel (what a mouthful).  With a definite date in April still up in the air, I have set my official online launch party for May 6th to ensure that copies will be available.

The launch will be May 6th, starting at 5:00 pm, at my website Ronniemassey.com; which I have been hard at work on, preparing for the launch.  If you have visited the site in the past and happen to scoot by sometime today or in the near future, you will notice a few changes.  I have added my DarkWorld Forums, which will serve as a place for my readers to interact with one another and also leave me post.

I have also added a Wibya toolbar.  This toolbar will let me live chat with readers through not only facebbok connect, but twitter, myspace, and a few other im’ s as well.  Visitors will be able to see post from my Facebook author page, twitter, and Youtube channels.

I am trying to make myself and my website as accessible to my readers as possible.  So drop on by and take a look at the changes; take a look and let me know what you think.  Alsodownload a copy of UnSpoken: A Val and Irulan Short, if you already haven’t. 

 And remember to sign up for the Frogen Yozurt newsletter so you will be notified of Crimson Dawn’s definite release date.

Follow Me and Enter Crimson Dawn Giveaway

As a new author, one of the biggest challenges I'm facing is letting people know about me and my work.  Authors have to have an online presence, there is no way around it.  


My website gets an o.k. number of hits per day, (I have a contest going on there as well so head over to Ronniemassey.com and check out my DarkWorld forums), but my blog gets no love from the online community.


I hope to solve that with a giveaway.  Entering is simple.  FOLLOW ME PLEASE.  Two new followers of my blog will be chosen at random on May 6th, and they will receive a 1GB flash drive bracelet, with an e-book copy of Crimson Dawn on it, along with the two existing Darklife Shorts and any more that I any more that I may write between now and then.



So happy following to me, I hope.