Happy Release Day! Guest Post: Alpha Goddess by Amalie Howard

Description:

In Serjana Caelum’s world, gods exist. So do goddesses. Sera knows this because she is one of them. A secret long concealed by her parents, Sera is Lakshmi reborn, the human avatar of an immortal Indian goddess rumored to control all the planes of existence. Marked by the sigils of both heaven and hell, Sera’s avatar is meant to bring balance to the mortal world, but all she creates is chaos. A chaos that Azrath, the Asura Lord of Death, hopes to use to unleash hell on earth.

Torn between reconciling her past and present, Sera must figure out how to stop Azrath before the Mortal Realm is destroyed. But trust doesn’t come easy in a world fissured by lies and betrayal. Her best friend Kyle is hiding his own dark secrets, and her mysterious new neighbor, Devendra, seems to know a lot more than he’s telling. Struggling between her opposing halves and her attraction to the boys tied to each of them, Sera must become the goddess she was meant to be, or risk failing, which means sacrificing the world she was born to protect.

GUEST POST

From Mythology to Fantasy 

Going from actual mythology to fantasy can be a challenge. It’s a fine balance staying true to the mythology while inventing something different and fresh that isn’t just a re-telling of an existing story. For me, it has to be a new visualization. My re-imagining of the Ramayana takes place with a fictional account of how Rama and Sita find each other in another future lifetime—this time within the world of Alpha Goddess in a contemporary setting. In a world fissured by gods and demons, by good and evil, can these two star-crossed lovers find each other, and save the mortal realm in the process? 

I used various elements in Hindu mythology within the world building of my story. Hindu mythology defines fourteen worlds with seven higher worlds (heavens) and seven lower ones (hells). The earth is considered the lowest of the seven higher worlds. In Alpha Goddess, I combined the seven higher worlds to be the Light Realm (Illysia), and six of the seven lower worlds to be the Dark Realms (Xibalba). I kept the earth as the Mortal Realm. Serjana, my protagonist, is the conduit between these three realms. 

Hindu texts and scriptures reference celestial creatures called Devas, which literally means the “shining ones” and loosely translates to “heavenly beings.” In the scriptures, the opposite of the Devas are the Asura, power-seeking deities who are considered to be demonic or sinful in nature. They are both an important part of Hindu culture and appear in mythological scriptures, art, and poetry. In Alpha Goddess, the Daevas and Azuras appear as they do in Indian mythology, influencing our main characters to do different things. They are pivotal to my story, especially because everything is centered on a war between these two factions and the battle for human souls in the Mortal Realm. 

Vishnu is the second god in the Hindu trinity, along with Brahma and Shiva. In the Hindu Trimurti, Vishnu is known as the preserver of moral order and the protector of life, balancing the processes of creation and destruction. Hindu scriptures talk about the manifestation of a god or goddess into mortal form to avert human tragedy or to guide humanity. Vishnu is known for taking the form of ten avatars to restore order in the world, the most popular of which are the incarnations of Lord Krishna and Lord Rama. According to the scriptures, Vishnu returns to earth as Kalki, seated on a white horse, as the tenth and final avatar to end the final age of darkness and the destruction of the Kali Yuga (what in Hindu mythology is essentially the apocalypse). 

I weave many of these elements into Alpha Goddess and give Vishnu another fictional avatar in my story. This is what takes my story into the realm of fantasy fiction—Vishnu’s incarnation in Alpha Goddess doesn’t exist in the actual mythology. However, certain characteristics that define him do. He is described in the scriptures as having blue skin and wearing yellow clothing. In Alpha Goddess, to give Devendra (my fictional avatar of Vishnu) a more modern edge, I opted to give him blue tattoos all over his chest and arms instead of making him blue as he is depicted in the scriptures. It was a simple change, but one that made him more current and more accessible to my young adult readers. While many elements in the world building are similar, they are there to give authenticity to the story, but the actual characters and their story are fictional. 

At the end of the day, my hope is that Alpha Goddess will make readers more curious to learn more about actual Hindu mythology. If that means that they do an online search for the story of Rama and Sita, or more information on Indian gods and goddesses, then I have accomplished my goal. Part of reading is knowledge—introducing readers to new ideas and new cultures. We live in a world that is becoming smaller by the day … why not learn more about the people surrounding you?

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About the author:

NEW YORK CITY – Young adult author Amalie Howard enchanted readers with her debut novel “Bloodspell,” a Seventeen Magazine Summer Beach Read. She returns with an impressive five new books to be published throughout the next two years.

First, readers will take a dive into the deep blue sea in the first novel from Howard’s new oceanic science fiction two-part series, The Aquarathi. “Waterfell” (October 29, 2013, Harlequin TEEN) tells the story of an alien shape-shifting princess who hides among humankind, and fights to save her species in the depths of the Earth’s oceans when an enemy murders her family, threatening the future of her underwater kingdom. The sequel “Oceanborn” will follow in 2014.

Continuing a tradition of strong female characters, “The Almost Girl” (January 7, 2014, Strange Chemistry) introduces readers to a tough, independent soldier from a parallel universe who is thrown into an earthly mission that has her second guessing life as she knows it. “The Almost Girl” is first in a two-book series.

Howard’s “Alpha Goddess” (March 2014, Skyhorse/Sky Pony Press) seamlessly blends Indian mythology and fantasy. Her unique take on the Hindu myth of Ramayana, the epic love story of Rama and Sita, has already piqued the interest of a Hollywood producer who is eager to adapt the book into a film.

Having landed publishing deals with three presses in just the span of one month, Howard is a sought-after novelist with her finger on the pulse of young adult readers. After the release of her first book “Bloodspell,” she earned a stellar reputation as an engaging writer with a sixth sense for what young readers are really looking for in literature. Howard has been honored by the Royal Commonwealth Society, and is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She lives in New York with her husband and three children.

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