Published April 12th, 2013
Description:
The discovery of an ancient bottle unleashes a Genie - and the wrath of the Demon Gypsies chasing her...
When Suzette (“Suki”) is released from her bottle by two teen girls, she is more than a bit surprised that a Genie of her calibre is beholden to two average high school students. After dealing with dignitaries and noblemen, however, she believes this will be a welcome break.
Until she discovers the teens’ hidden powers and that one will come to possess the Amulet of Pollox, a necklace that contains the secrets from some of the greatest minds throughout history. Unfortunately, she’s not the only one who notices. The Amulet draws the attention of the two powerful and vengeful Demon Gypsies who have pursued Suki through time and will stop at nothing to snatch the girls and the Amulet.
Suddenly, Suki is not just helping the girls navigate high school crushes, she’s safeguarding them from danger unlike anything they’ve ever known. To make matters more complicated, she must also fight her attraction to James - her protector through the ages - whose sudden arrival threatens her resolve and her heart.
A time-traveling Genie and her unrequited love...
Demon Gypsies with an insatiable quest for power...
And the teen girls whose existence threatens them all.
This is the world of “Released,” book one of The Romani Realms series by Mia Fox, a Young Adult trilogy featuring elements of paranormal romance and steampunk.
I keep an idea file for my writing, and believe me it gets long. Notice that I didn’t say that its gets “long with amazingly marketable and commercial ideas.” No, I simply said “long.” The truth is that probably 70% of my ideas are either too wacky to be developed or don’t have enough to sustain them through an entire book. And, then there are the grains of gold that actually take flight -- something that started as a seed of an idea and actually sprouted into a full fledged plot with an assortment of characters that can be well developed.
In the case of “Released” there were more than one idea that hit during the same time period that led to its writing. First, I was shopping and stumbled upon a beautiful, old-fashioned perfume bottle with a diamond gemstone encrusted butterfly on the front. Around the same time I was given a locket by a friend, again with a butterfly emblem on it. I couldn’t ignore the coincidence and my over-active imagination started to jot down ideas about a guardian butterfly. Opposite of a delicate and beautiful butterfly are the black birds that often congregate in the oak trees near my home.
The morning that I started to write notes about Suzette, a genie who is released by two ordinary teen girls and can shape-shift into a butterfly, I took a break and walked outside into a particularly foggy and cold October morning. One of those black birds, an extremely large and threatening specimen, started to caw at me. There was something about that bird that stuck with me. It was almost as if it dared me to not write it into my story as well. With the sight of that bird, that somehow seemed angry that it didn’t strike my imagination first, the character of Raven was born.
I wish I could say that the story just flowed out of me from that point, but I’m not blessed with an immunity to writer’s block. Still, I’ve learned to keep my eyes and mind open to inspiration, my own guardian angel against writer’s block.
Description:
The discovery of an ancient bottle unleashes a Genie - and the wrath of the Demon Gypsies chasing her...
When Suzette (“Suki”) is released from her bottle by two teen girls, she is more than a bit surprised that a Genie of her calibre is beholden to two average high school students. After dealing with dignitaries and noblemen, however, she believes this will be a welcome break.
Until she discovers the teens’ hidden powers and that one will come to possess the Amulet of Pollox, a necklace that contains the secrets from some of the greatest minds throughout history. Unfortunately, she’s not the only one who notices. The Amulet draws the attention of the two powerful and vengeful Demon Gypsies who have pursued Suki through time and will stop at nothing to snatch the girls and the Amulet.
Suddenly, Suki is not just helping the girls navigate high school crushes, she’s safeguarding them from danger unlike anything they’ve ever known. To make matters more complicated, she must also fight her attraction to James - her protector through the ages - whose sudden arrival threatens her resolve and her heart.
A time-traveling Genie and her unrequited love...
Demon Gypsies with an insatiable quest for power...
And the teen girls whose existence threatens them all.
This is the world of “Released,” book one of The Romani Realms series by Mia Fox, a Young Adult trilogy featuring elements of paranormal romance and steampunk.
GUEST POST:
“Searching for Inspiration”
“Searching for Inspiration”
I keep an idea file for my writing, and believe me it gets long. Notice that I didn’t say that its gets “long with amazingly marketable and commercial ideas.” No, I simply said “long.” The truth is that probably 70% of my ideas are either too wacky to be developed or don’t have enough to sustain them through an entire book. And, then there are the grains of gold that actually take flight -- something that started as a seed of an idea and actually sprouted into a full fledged plot with an assortment of characters that can be well developed.
In the case of “Released” there were more than one idea that hit during the same time period that led to its writing. First, I was shopping and stumbled upon a beautiful, old-fashioned perfume bottle with a diamond gemstone encrusted butterfly on the front. Around the same time I was given a locket by a friend, again with a butterfly emblem on it. I couldn’t ignore the coincidence and my over-active imagination started to jot down ideas about a guardian butterfly. Opposite of a delicate and beautiful butterfly are the black birds that often congregate in the oak trees near my home.
The morning that I started to write notes about Suzette, a genie who is released by two ordinary teen girls and can shape-shift into a butterfly, I took a break and walked outside into a particularly foggy and cold October morning. One of those black birds, an extremely large and threatening specimen, started to caw at me. There was something about that bird that stuck with me. It was almost as if it dared me to not write it into my story as well. With the sight of that bird, that somehow seemed angry that it didn’t strike my imagination first, the character of Raven was born.
I wish I could say that the story just flowed out of me from that point, but I’m not blessed with an immunity to writer’s block. Still, I’ve learned to keep my eyes and mind open to inspiration, my own guardian angel against writer’s block.
EXCERPT:
Phineas and Raven burst into Suki’s life with a taste for power and revenge directed at the innocent teens Charlotte and Samantha.
Samantha lay unconscious on the pavement. Her legs were both bent behind her body at distorted, unimaginable angles. Blood oozed from a nasty gash at her temple. The blackbirds immediately descended on her, tag teaming their efforts of lapping up the crimson river and maliciously playing with her hair, pulling and pecking a few strands loose as if wanting to return home with a souvenir of the atrocity.
“Stop it! Get away from her!” the driver of the car stumbled toward Samantha’s body, shooing away those nasty blackbirds into the night sky. “Oh my god, what have I done? Somebody call an ambulance!”
He shouted this last plea at the group of neighbors who had assembled to find out what the commotion was about. The crowd grew as police, a fire truck and an ambulance arrived on the scene. Within minutes everyone had a job to do. The police were taking statements, the fire crew worked to remove the fallen tree and the two paramedics tried desperately to save Samantha’s young life.
The two blackbirds flew low, attracted by the carnage. One even dared to swoop in on Samantha’s body yet again. A fireman swatted at the overly zealous bird, which only led it to dive bomb again, extending its talons against his cheek.
“Damn it,” he exclaimed.
“What’s wrong?” one of the paramedics asked, looking up.
“Just some stupid bird actually scratched me.”
“Want me to look at it?” the paramedic asked.
“Nah, I’ll be fine. Just take care of her,” he said motioning to Samantha.
The blackbirds cawed loudly and flew away from the gathering crowd. At the end of the darkened street, they shape shifted back into their bodies, the devastatingly beautiful Raven and Phineas, two demon gypsies who had plagued me for centuries.
Phineas and Raven burst into Suki’s life with a taste for power and revenge directed at the innocent teens Charlotte and Samantha.
Samantha lay unconscious on the pavement. Her legs were both bent behind her body at distorted, unimaginable angles. Blood oozed from a nasty gash at her temple. The blackbirds immediately descended on her, tag teaming their efforts of lapping up the crimson river and maliciously playing with her hair, pulling and pecking a few strands loose as if wanting to return home with a souvenir of the atrocity.
“Stop it! Get away from her!” the driver of the car stumbled toward Samantha’s body, shooing away those nasty blackbirds into the night sky. “Oh my god, what have I done? Somebody call an ambulance!”
He shouted this last plea at the group of neighbors who had assembled to find out what the commotion was about. The crowd grew as police, a fire truck and an ambulance arrived on the scene. Within minutes everyone had a job to do. The police were taking statements, the fire crew worked to remove the fallen tree and the two paramedics tried desperately to save Samantha’s young life.
The two blackbirds flew low, attracted by the carnage. One even dared to swoop in on Samantha’s body yet again. A fireman swatted at the overly zealous bird, which only led it to dive bomb again, extending its talons against his cheek.
“Damn it,” he exclaimed.
“What’s wrong?” one of the paramedics asked, looking up.
“Just some stupid bird actually scratched me.”
“Want me to look at it?” the paramedic asked.
“Nah, I’ll be fine. Just take care of her,” he said motioning to Samantha.
The blackbirds cawed loudly and flew away from the gathering crowd. At the end of the darkened street, they shape shifted back into their bodies, the devastatingly beautiful Raven and Phineas, two demon gypsies who had plagued me for centuries.
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About the author:
Mia Fox is a Los Angeles-based novelist who writes across varied genres including contemporary fiction, chick lit, as well as young adult/new adult focusing on paranormal romances.
She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from U.S.C. followed by a Masters Degree in Professional Writing also from U.S.C.
Her first chick-lit novel, “Alert the Media,” is based on her previous professional life working as an entertainment publicist. Today, she is happy to leave that world behind her, preferring that any drama in her life is only that which she creates for her characters.
Mia is happily married to her best-friend, a Brit who has inspired her with annual visits to England, an appreciation for dark chocolate, and the blessing of their three children.
She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from U.S.C. followed by a Masters Degree in Professional Writing also from U.S.C.
Her first chick-lit novel, “Alert the Media,” is based on her previous professional life working as an entertainment publicist. Today, she is happy to leave that world behind her, preferring that any drama in her life is only that which she creates for her characters.
Mia is happily married to her best-friend, a Brit who has inspired her with annual visits to England, an appreciation for dark chocolate, and the blessing of their three children.
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