Beauty in Ruin

I've only got an hour but I wanted to share a couple things.

This is what happens when I am left to my own devices for periods of time. I've been house-sitting for a friend who had a family emergency. In the midst of my quiet time in the canyon, all hell broke loose. Fires raging from all sides, no sleep, high alert, ash raining down like snowflakes, the skies turning dark at midday -- it was all quite biblical. I couldn't leave, so I hunkered down with the animals and tested new electronic things to amuse myself. First, I taught myself to record and edit audio -- the digital way -- the 21st century way. I've needed to do this for quite some time. The last time I learned to record and edit audio was in the early nineties at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where I have hazy memories of being deep within the under recesses of the school, plugging cables into sockets and unwrapping and rewrapping miles of wires (last year an old friend told me he was the one who set up the miasma of audio equipment down there and we laughed while reminiscing how one could get stuck in those endless, winding, corridors editing for days, like troglodytes never seeing the sun, passing out in the hallways, and watching the cockroaches climb out of the vending machine one just bought coffee from. Chicago has its own brand of humor). Anyhow, I put together my first spoken work piece for Sisters of the Wasteland. This will not be the project's final form, nor am I about to start writing poetry, or doing spoken word for that matter, but it's a test. I will be doing a lot more audio like I used to do, but I suspect it will end up more as lyrics and songs. Also, I love to mix found sounds. Always have. I tend to listen to the world in an odd way. Ask anyone's who's ever been in the car with me as we go under a freeway underpass and motorcycles race overhead, and I'm transfixed by the distorted echo, wishing out loud they would do it again. Beauty in ruin. Generally, that's about the time someone asks me if I'm tripping balls with a worried expression on their face, but I digress.

Here's the link if you want to give it a listen:

https://soundcloud.com/scarlett-amaris/sisters-of-the-wasteland-audio

I also did some test shots for the upcoming series, Lux in Tenenbris, on the seriously mysterious goings on in fin de siecle Paris, which will make it's debut in the middle of August on Patreon (yes, it was originally scheduled for the beginning of August, but I missed the first window of filming thanks to the unscheduled arrival of the hellacious Sand Fire). These are actually the wrong contacts. I could have sent them back, but once I opened them -- I had to give them a go. I know they're a little much -- but still..............

Before I run, I wanted to share this as well as the 'so-called real world' is swimming in the zeitgeist and we step closer toward the black iron prison every day (of course, one could argue we're already there. I might agree.) It's a short film by my friend, director and writer, Eric Shapiro, called HOAX, which you can watch for free on Amazon - just press HERE

The hour has struck. Time for me to go.

Much love from where the worlds touch,

S - xx

p.s. Here's the link to the Patreon page where the new series will be happening - Lux in Tenebris

Un rêve dans un rêve...

Nicola Samori, School of Pan, 2011

Often when I wake out of dreams the first thing I do is write down the fragments floating around in my head. The problem is if I don't do so sometimes the dream scenarios become trapped and refuse to make way for what I need to be thinking about and working on. There's about twenty or so ragged and dog-eared notebooks full of these which I revisit from time to time. I thought maybe I would start sharing some of them here because sometimes these scenarios blossom into bigger things. There's stacks of them in the third Saurimonde book where I took written pieces of my actual nightmares, rearranged the elements of six or seven separate instances into one semi-cohesive supernatural nightmare sequence, then I added in the mythology and remixed them again (sort of a mild version of the cut-up technique). I think maybe that's why when they work, they have resonance.

So here's the fragment from this morning. I find the idea being trapped or lost within the cycles of incarnation is a theme which often permeates my subconscious.

"The room was lit by the muted television set and a haze of bluish smoke hovered in the air from the cigarette they shared between them. She didn't think she had ever stared into someones eyes and seen herself so clearly before. The feeling frightened her because it spoke of other times and places where they had known each other. Stroking the plane from his eyebrow to cheekbone with her fingertips, she chose her words with care. “I know you.”

“So you are beginning to remember...?”

Burying her her head into the nape of his neck, she whispered against his skin, “You are not the only accidental guest on this darkened planet -- I was never meant to be here either.”

Will it go into the next book? Maybe. Speaking of the next book, I've got the outline down and it will center around the enigmatic north porch of Notre Dame de Paris, the Belle Epoch alchemists, signs, portents, and chance encounters -- some of my favorite pet obsessions. Most likely it will be a supernatural thriller which I am kind of excited about writing. I feel the need to re-root myself back into the twenty-first century for a while, and put the puzzle pieces together in a different configuration. It might not work. One never knows. I loved the outline and the ideas behind Demon Priest, and it had a cracking opening, but three chapters in I realized I had made a fatal error -- I'm not a strong enough writer to narrate a whole book from a male perspective. At least not that kind of book. But that is how you learn, and possibly I'll use that first chapter for something else one day, or figure how to come at that story from another point of view when the time is right.

Here's the prologue from Demon Priest: (another snippet of a dream).

"There was that noise again. The throbbing of drums echoed across the valley punctuated by faraway screams. Stirring, she opened her eyes to see the bright spots of firelight glowing like fireflies in the distance. Smiling to herself, she shifted on the ground near the mouth of the shallow cave. Let them celebrate me, she mused. Let them have this night to shout and dance and to make love under the stars. Soon they would be no more, like the others who came before them. She was tired now -- so very tired. The time was near when she would retreat into the cool earth where she would slumber and dream in endless darkness. No one would find her there. She knew these lands like no other and indeed, she had been here before the mountains had been formed, when there was only a vast, endless ocean. Then, the tectonic plates crashed together and what was molten soon cooled as slow moving glaciers formed the first valleys. Like herself, the terrain changed and was born anew, only to become old again. The humans called out to her, shouting her name while waving their cups in the air. A giant effigy burned sending sparks flying out into the night sky as the smaller bonfires were extinguished. I will return, she promised as the weariness took hold of her again. I always do. These humans mean little more to me than insects now. Sighing one last time against the dirt, she murmured, But first, please grant me oblivion..."

There's not a huge amount of news to be had. Currently, I'm finishing up a project I should have completed ages ago. It's tricky and complicated and doesn't want to follow any known set of screenwriting rules -- but it is a challenge -- and I do love a challenge. I only have a certain amount of time out here to get it completed so it's been occupying most of my waking attention.

The sun is rising, the desert is stretching its sun-kissed skin, there's coffee brewing in the kitchen, and I need to get down to writing for the day...

Much love from where the worlds touch,

S - xx

SAURIMONDE III -- C'est Fini!

What a month it's been so far! I'm sitting here in Los Angeles, basking in the hot February sunshine. It's such a blessing after so many winters in the freezing cold of the Pyrenees, and as much as I may miss my home, I will never miss the cold.

So first --  the very good news -- Saurimonde III is finished! It's currently available on Amazon Kindle (the physical copy will be out next week) and it's the first book launched on our newly formed Lux in Tenebris Publishing label. There will be lots more about that development in the near future -- so keep an eye on this space!

Saurimonde III:

 Safety is but an illusion...

In the search for a young woman who may already be dead, the tragically lovely Saurimonde, along with her handsome consort, Sordel, travel deep within the mysterious zone where she comes under the spell of the powerful cult leader, Na Dag'ma, who, after initating her into their strange faith, sends her on a quest to find a dangerous ancient relic.

Amid a quagmire of lies, dulplicity, and collusion the veil between worlds becomes threadbare – one existence bleeding into another – as Saurimonde and Sordel wander further into a supernatural web. Upon finding what they seek, will they be able to break free? Or be forced to become the ultimate sacrifice?

It's available here: Saurimonde III Amazon Kindle

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Even though it's been an age (not really, it only feels that way) since I've been sequestered in the back beyond, Melissa and I managed to record a new podcast at the BTS studios as soon as I hit the ground yesterday.

In our sixteenth episode we try to get back into the swing of things after our month long break with: a show dedicated to wine lovers, like how red wine is great for sex, as well as another book by Mandy De Sandra, Fox News Fuckfest, for all your bizzaro political erotica needs! (And, yes, we forgot to turn off the A/C at the BTS studios again, damn it!).

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Tomorrow, we'll be filming for our brand new super secret project that I am so excited about! Maybe I'm finally starting to travel out of the crossroads. I say this with cautious optimism because I've thought the same thing a couple of times over this last rather surreal and harsh year only to be knocked back to square one and told to wait. Still, all I can do is follow the signs wherever they may lead...

Much love from where the worlds touch,

S - xx