Under the Sea Giveaway Hop (Sep 14th – 20th)

Giveaway is now CLOSED. Congratulations to winner Sarah S!!

Welcome! This hop runs from September 14th to 20th and is co-hosted by I Am A Reader Not A Writer and The Musings of ALMYBNENR.

I’ve always loved the sea, and especially the mythical creatures who live there. Another love of mine is Greek mythology. Given the geography of Greece, it’s no surprise they have so many myths that involve sea voyages and sea creatures in Poseidon’s dominion. One of my favorite compilations of sea-faring tales comes from Homer’s Odyssey. In that book, we meet sirens, cyclops, lotus-eaters, Scylla and Charybdis, among many others. So, when my publisher put out a call for an anthology featuring sea creature romance stories, I had the perfect story in mind–an update of one of my favorite tales from the Odyssey–Odysseus vs. the sirens.

According to Homer, the sirens were females whose enchanting songs would lure ships onto the rocks and sink them. Odysseus wanted to hear their songs but obviously could not endanger his ship or his men. Determined nonetheless, he had his men tie him to the mast of the ship so he could not escape and do harm. His crew, however, wore earplugs of some sort to block out the singing.

Wow, I wanted to retell that story, only in a more contemporary setting. Not terribly difficult.

Odysseus became Otis
Circe, a temptress and Homer’s lover for a year, I merged with one of the sirens to create my story’s heroine, Circe the siren. Like that alliteration? I did.
Where else could the book be set but in Homer, Alaska.
Instead of being on his own odyssey, Otis is a fisherman aboard the vessel The Calypso (the name of another character from The Odyssey).
Poseidon plays himself in my story and for fun I gave him a one-eyed merman as a sycophantic accountant (because I always tip my hat to accounting in my stories).
Also as a nod to Homer, I created a little coffee shop called “The Lotus-Eaters Cafe”.

I’ll admit, it’s these homages to the classics I’ve always loved that make being a writer a truly enjoyable experience.

Now, hopefully I’ve either whet your appetite for Homer’s Odyssey or for my story, “The Sweetest Song” which is part of a four-author anthology called Tidal Whispers. If the former, you can download it for free using this link:

Homer’s Odyssey (Kindle format) <<–If you don’t use a Kindle, download Calibre software (free) to convert from MOBI format to other formats such as EPUB.

If you’re interested in my story, or any of the other three fantastic tales of the sea and its paranormal critters included in the anthology Tidal Whispers, please leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of Tidal Whispers*.

In your comment, tell me what type of mythological sea inhabitant you would choose to be if you had to become aquatic yourself — mermaid, selkie, siren, or something else altogether. Please be sure to leave me your email address (in the form or in the body) so I can contact you if you are the winner!

When you’re done, hop on over to another blog hop participant using the Linky list below:

LINKY LIST

THANK YOU for visiting me today!!

*Disclaimer
Comment by 11:59:59 PM Pacific time on September 20, 2012 for your chance to win. One winner will be selected randomly by using Random.org and assigning an ordinal to each comment as determined by date stamp order. Winners will be contacted by the blog owner by September 23, 2012. Only one entry per ISP address. The contest is OPEN to international readers. No purchase necessary to enter. Odds of winning dependent on number of entries received. Void where prohibited.

35 thoughts on “Under the Sea Giveaway Hop (Sep 14th – 20th)”

Aww, what a sweet button! Have a great hop. xoxo

I’m thinking I would love to read ‘Tidal Whispers’. Oh, and Mermaid, I would definitely be a mermaid. May already be one.

Reach me at farawayeyes18@gmail.com

What a great theme for a hop! I loved Claire’s story in this anthology! 🙂

I would like to be a mermaid. (although being a siren with an amazing voice would be pretty cool too.)
Thanks for the giveaway. aimeelavalle(@)gmail(DOT)com

Under the sea is an amazing place. I would like to be a SIREN, what fun.

I would like to be a mermaid.

I would love to be a mermaid. But, I haven’t really read about other underwater feminine creatures before.

I would be a mermaid. Thanks for the giveaway!

Adriane dot marshall at gmail dot com

Would love to be a Siren.
thanks for the giveaway!

warisha_jayanti@hotmail.com

I think I’d choose to be a mermaid! Thanks! saltsnmore at yahoo dot com

I think being a selkie would be cool since I could still come hangout on land as a human~ MostlyMisha[at]gmail[dot]com

Looks so tempting. Good luck with the blog hop. 🙂

I would be an Octopus and use those tentacles to do many things at once. Liking reading and washing dishes.

I would be soren or mermaid.

whatmorebooks@hotmail.com

I’d love to be a mermaid. Thanks for the giveaway! I’d love to read this.
cohlesguerra at gmail dot com
– Cohlina

I’d love to be a mermaid!
Thanks for the giveaway.

I’d love to read this.

Probably a mermaid. jbsmunky at aol dot com

I’m in love with Kelpie so I will probably choose that lol! even though they are horses XD Thanks for the great giveaway!
red_tigergirl2(at)hotmail(dot)com

I would choose to be a mermaid.
morales_y at yahoo dot com

Id be a mermaid .Thank you for this chance to win have a fantastic weekend .
flanagan@mebtel.net

Great contest:) Hmmm who doesn’t want to a mermaid…hehe:) But for something different, I’d go for water dragon:)

I would be a selkie, great question

I would love to be a siren, because I love to sing :D! Thanks for being a part of the Under the Sea Giveaway Hop, and for the awesome book :).
email: ssweett_rebelde@hotmail.com

I’d absolutely want to be a mermaid. I did imagine that as a child…and I don’t think that “fantasy” has ever gone quite away! Thanks for the giveaway! It’s a great hop!

Zara Alexis
zgarcia(dot)alvarez(at)gmail(dot)com