Chronicles of the Siren: Tidal Vortex (new book coming soon by Amanda DeShane)
Chronicles of the siren: Tidal Vortex, releasing June 16th:
Teaser from Chapter Nineteen.
Looking down at my attire, I decide it will not do. I need to entice and seduce with my body. Boldly, I strip my dress and bikini off. I let the clothing float down into the watery depths of the sea. Swimming as fast as I can, I dart past other sea life on my way to the boat of Nimrod sailors. The water has gotten lighter as I swim, up right under their boat. With a swish of my tail, I push myself through the water towards the back of their boat, then pop my head up above the water. One of them spots me right away as he reaches his hand out and shoots an inky smoke out towards me. I call forth my trident. Grasping it firmly in my hand, I point it at the inky black smoke. All while hoping and praying like hell that this will work. When the inky smoke touches my trident, a bright white light suddenly explodes forth into the air. I swim in place, watching as my light whizzes through the air and devours the dark inky smoke. The light, after devouring the black magic, swiftly approaches the man, who had been welding the deadly black inky magic. As it touches him, he screams as if it burns the nasty power out of him. The magic wielding man who attacked the ship with his black inky smoke fell into the water. Abruptly the light boomeranged back into my trident and disappeared.
“Men, don’t look at her! We are royally fucked now that the general is dead.”
The remaining men look helpless and terrified. They clearly don’t have the dark, smoky power that the other man had possessed. There’s no time to waste, so I start singing a haunting siren’s melody. A song so ancient that it was ingrained in each siren at birth, the same way a body part just is. The words are not even English, yet they just flew out of my mouth in some long, almost forgotten language. The song echoes hauntingly over the water.
The men in the boats shout while others scream for everyone to cover their ears. At least two young men ogle my breasts on full display as I sing, while I make hand movements to tell them to join me for a swim.
“Cover your ears, lads! Remember, they are monsters!”
The leader stuffs earplugs in his ears before he stands up, aiming a gun at me as I swim closer to the boat. Abruptly, another of the men stands and wrestles the gun from the man, aiming it at me. The gun positioned towards the sky goes off with a ‘Bang’ that echoes on the water. “It’s just a beautiful woman!” the man says takes the gun and drops his gun to the floor of the boat, then leans over the side of the boat towards me.
I reach up and run my hand down the side of his face in a gentle luring gesture. My mind connects with his and immediately I know what he desires the most. Speaking telepathically to his weak human mind I say, ‘Come handsome, I will show you where you can find riches beyond your wildest dreams. Money will no longer be a worry, and your time will be wanted by everyone.’
Another man a mere moments after I finish talking mind to mind with the other man drops his gun to the boat floor. He stares almost love struck into my eyes. He too leans closer over the edge, ogling my body with his lust filled gaze. Reaching out with my mind I connect with his mind. Within seconds I know what his desire is. I reach up and smile as I run my finger over his muscular arm as I speak telepathically to him, ‘Come, I will show you what its like to be with a woman that can rock your world. None of those other women knew how to please you, but once you experience my mouth theirs no going back.’
Their gazes’ feel oily and tainted as I fight the urge to swim away. I didn’t waste a second more. Reaching forward, I grab both men’s arms tightly, pulling them into the water with a splash! They both are so entranced that they don’t fight me at all. My siren song has convinced them that they will get what they most desire.
“Shoot it! Shoot it!” a man towards the front of the boat screams as I disappear under the boat with the two Nimrod sailors ensnared with my song. I dig my sharp nails deeply into their arms. I grasp them tightly, all while taking us deeper with every swish of my tail.
Bullets flew through the water, luckily missing me, as I had been smart enough to angle my escape right underneath them. I slip beneath the boat and out of their range within seconds. I swam deeper and deeper, the water getting darker the further down we went as I push through seaweed. Part of me instinctively wants to brutally tear their throats out, but I hold my predator instinct back for now. It did not take long for the sailors to run out of oxygen, bodies convulsing, as life left their eyes. Letting go, I watch as they float further down into the deep to their watery graves. Two down, two more to go. I must protect my people on the ship! I thought to myself. Swiping my tail as fast as possible, I cut through the water to the surface.
I surface a few feet from where the boat rocks on the now choppy waves, then start my song all over again. The two remaining men turn around, clutching their guns and each other as they visually shake.
“Cover your ears, Fred!” the taller of the two men yells, as he lets go of the other man in order to point the barrel of the gun at me.
“I can’t help it. We are horrible people killing these beautiful creatures! She’s so beautiful.” Fred practically drools as his greedy eyes fall to my breasts and he leans forward. The other sailor tries to talk sense into Fred as he aims his gun at me. Fred noticing the gun grabs it out of his hands and throws it into the water where it lands with a ‘splash.’
“Get a hold of yourself, man!” the other man yells as he slaps Fred in the face.
“Ouch! What was that for?” Fred yells.
“Get yourself together, man!” the man yells as he scrambles to the boat floor and grabs another gun. Rising to his feet he aims his gun at me again. He quickly scoops up ammo despite his shaking hands, before proceeding to sloppily try to load the gun.
Fred’s gaze lands on me again and he becomes entranced, almost as if he cannot help himself as he leans over the edge of the boat, reaching his hand forward towards my breasts that bob on the choppy waves. I don’t even have to read his mind to know what he desires. With no time to drag him to the deep, I strike. Jumping forward in the water, I tear his jugular out! My sharp teeth make short work of it. I spit out the chunk of flesh, letting the water take it. Leaving his limp form to hang over the side of the boat. The copper taste of blood is thick on my tongue as I swim beneath the surface, narrowly avoiding the bullets the remaining sailor is now firing through the water like a madman. Singing will not work on this last man. He has been too smart and strong willed to fall into the lure of my call. I stay right under the boat for a few minutes, holding the rough underside of the boat as I wait for him to run out of ammo. When I hear a familiar click, I swim quickly to the right side of the boat. Hauling my body up the side, I grab a gun within reach, then aim it at the man who stands with his back to me, while he digs into his red plaid jacket for more ammo. Before I can let myself feel any regret, I pull the trigger. ‘Bang!’ I hit my mark, then watch as the man falls into the water lifelessly, floating face down. Red blood seeps into the water, clouding it red, as I lower my sore, protesting body back into the water, then make my way back to the ship.
Page Break
Exclusive Author Interview with Author Amanda DeShane.
Tell us a little about Tidal Vortex and how this story first came to be. Did it start with an image, a voice, a concept, a dilemma, or something else?
The idea started with knowing that I wanted to write a book that combined a real world setting with that of a fantasy story loosely based on siren/mermaid/Greek mythology. I looked at mermaid and siren photos online as I tried to piece together what I wanted my main character to look like. It was important for Teal to look slight of build, have teal eyes, black hair, and be beautiful. She needed to be attractive yet have morals, and an instinctive edge to her personality. After I decided what she would look like and her personality, I moved on to asking myself what I could do that would make the beginning of this novel unique compared to other siren books. After some brainstorming, I decided Teal would start life abandoned on the Wales seashore. At the young age of twelve years old she is framed for the murder of her father, who she later finds out is her adoptive father. Teal finds herself wrapped up in an intricate web she does not know about. The quick engaging prologue showcases how she was found as a baby. Chapter one opens starting with a lucid flashback dream as she watches her younger self get framed. Starting the story this way made it unique and was written intending to make the reader wonder, “How will this progresses to arriving in Atlantis? What supernatural is she?”
Who are your main characters? Tell as a little about what makes them tick.
Teal Bowen- Is 17 going on 18-year-old. She is a strong female character who at the young age of twelve has gone through the traumatic experience of being framed for her adoptive father’s murder. She is bold, kind, sarcastic, has morals and sees the world in black or white. Teal’s struggles with anxiety are showcased when circumstances literally sweep her off into the waves. She has exceptional hearing that used to get her into a lot of trouble younger in life.
Connor- Is 20-year-old siren man who has been trained from a young age to become an Atlantis siren guard. He has been brought up under strict conditions and laws that forbid guards to have any physical contact with royal sirens. If a royal even just lays their hand on you in public, you are carted off and tied to a pole out at sea, to await your painful death. He sees firsthand how the ancient heavy-handed laws of Atlantis are oppressing the siren people, yet he knows he is only a guard. Poseidon cannot even help the siren people since he has grown weak, because of the curse Zeus put on Atlantis and its people over eleven thousand years ago. When Connor first meets Teal, he thinks she is just another haughty royal who cares for nothing other than themselves. She soon proves him wrong.
Which character was most challenging to create? Why?
I think Teal was the most difficult to write mainly because her background was incredibly difficult to sort out in my head before writing. She gets framed, then goes to prison, then ends up at sea, then finds herself tossed into a world she never dreamed existed. For the first bit she thinks she is hallucinating, but eventually she realizes what she is seeing must be the real deal. She had to be strong, have animalistic instincts, yet vulnerable sometimes too.
What special knowledge or research was required to write this book?
I had to research on Atlantis, Greek mythology on Gods, Goddess’s, guardian animals, sirens, prison, boats, sailing, tidal vortex’s, waves, dragons, mythological creatures, and mermaids.
How did you go about developing the setting(s) for this story?
Settings and world building are actually one of the area’s I excel in. I absolutely love writing out settings and making my readers feel like they are there. I started out as an artist painting and writing poetry on occasion. Because I was a painter, I have a fine eye for detail and can describe anything I can envision in my mind. It’s like painting except with words! :)
Which scene was most difficult to write? Why?
The most difficult scene to write would be the attempted rape scene. I had an extremely hard time with the decision to include this scene the way I did. It was a tricky scene to write for many reasons but one of the main reasons was because rape is a very triggering topic for many. I knew I needed to be sensitive to my readers and at the same time I had strong reasons for why this scene needed to play out the way it did. At first, I wrote this scene to give Connor a chance to redeem his horrible attitude in the beginning. My first thought was that he could scoop in and rescue Teal. I needed him to start caring about what happened to Teal, and I wanted to up the stakes. At the same time, I needed to bring awareness to a major issue within Atlantis. Siren guards in Atlantis must serve as guards for over a decade before they can mate or procreate. Keep in mind sirens are part mammal and have animalistic and predator instincts. So, these restrictions along with the unfair laws for the general population have created a problem within their society. As a result of these restrictions have caused some siren males with less self control to resort to forcing bonds on unmated female sirens. It was during my final revisions of this scene that I decided I wasn’t okay with Teal just being a victim. I wanted her to get a chance many women sadly don’t get. I decided she would fight back brutally. Her siren instinct would take over and she would be out for blood. Teal decides that she under no circumstance will be anyone’s prey and makes sure that the siren man cannot victimize anyone else ever again.
Were you a young writer, a late bloomer, or something in between? What advice would you give to others who took up writing at a similar life phase?
Well, I am a mid life writer, but my phase of life has less to do with my age and more to do with my limitations I find myself dealing with in regard to health issues. I took up writing as a career to pursue shortly after I became unable to continue working outside of the house due to mobility and pain issues.
What special support people (critique partners, writing group, beta readers, editor, agent, author's assistant) do you rely on? How do they help you?
As an indie author it takes a team to help make sure a book is fully ready for release. I have been blessed to find and build friendships with critique partners, beta readers, and friends with editing experience. I have also done a lot of learning about editing myself.
Do you prefer writing in silence or to music?
I prefer to write with a noise canceling headset on while listening to violin music.
Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?
I get my ideas from photos, dreams, and my imagination. I have a highly active imagination and have a container full of cue cards with ideas just waiting to be written up. Along with ten books in different stages of completion.
Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
I think I try to be both original and to deliver what readers would like, it’s a very fine balance. As the author, sometimes you know the story better than the reader and must decide based on what you are plotting to line up for the future books.
What attracted you to the genre(s) you write in?
I was attracted to writing fantasy because I love the fact that anything is possible if I can find a plausible way to explain it. When you write knowing that anything is truly possible it leaves massive possibilities space to appear.
If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
Being an author is a journey, not a destination. Learn the difference between traditional publishing, self publishing, and vanity press publishing. The last of the three you don’t want to touch with a ten-foot pole. If you are planning to become an indie author, learn as much as you can about everything involved in the publishing and writing process. Example: Writing, editing, formatting, cover design, proofreading, beta reading, ARC reading, how to publish and what each platform’s rules are.
Pre order your copy now!
Chronicles of the siren: Tidal Vortex, will be available worldwide at:
Releases June 16th!
Apple Books (iTunes.), Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Google Play Books, Kindle, Amazon, Bookmate.com, Odolo.es, Hoopla, Gardners.com, 24sumbols.com, Hoopla, and many more locations worldwide.
Join me on my journey as an author on Instagram.
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