Over at BonBon Break, Lauren Galley writes … A letter from a teen to her mum

“Making a difference…one girl at a time.”

GIRLS ABOVE SOCIETY is a 501C3 organization founded by Lauren Marie Galley, an 19 year old actress/model and college honors student. This organization provides mentorship and awareness to teen girls facing the pressures of today’s society. GAS is the home of “Girl Talk”, a signature program lead by Lauren that builds the confidence and leadership every young girl needs to become an excellent role model in their community.

Bec Stafford interviews Lynette Lounsbury.

Bec: Dominic Mathers is your central character in Afterworld. Can you tell us a bit about him and the Trials he faces in the Necropolis? How long did it take you to write Afterworld?

LL: Dom is a guy who is really uncomfortable with his place in the world – he feels out of place in his skin, in his family and in his country. His family lives in India and he doesn’t know how to deal with the poverty he sees there. He is quite depressive and would be happy never to draw attention to himself. I thought it would be interesting to follow this sort of person into the afterlife – it takes death to make him realise that life is actually quite an amazing thing. The Trials are something I adapted from Roman history – the idea of taking pleasure from wielding a huge amount of power over others suited the Nephilim, particularly Satarial who was incredibly angry with the humans. In the beginning, it was a place to train and prepare, but as people became more listless and “stuck” he turned the Trials into a way to torture and “collect” humans.

It took me nearly two years to write Afterworld – I was writing around having a baby boy who demanded a lot of time – but it was also a complex story and there were periods of time where I just needed to think it through.

Bec: Afterworld features a nasty Nephilim, Satarial, and I’ve read that you lecture in ancient history, as well as creative writing. Do you find that the former often informs the latter? Can you talk to us a bit about Satarial and how his character developed?

LL: My love of ancient history definitely influences my writing. I love mythology especially – the stories that people believe and which define their cultures.

The Nephilim are mentioned in quite a few ancient traditions. Sometimes they are called “The Watchers” and other times “Giants” – and in the Bible it mentions that they were the children of Angels and human women.

Satarial is the name of one who is recorded in a Jewish manuscript called The Book of Enoch. Since the first part of the name means “adversary” but the whole name means “on the side of God” I thought he must have been a very interesting and complicated being.

Most religions also have a flood myth – from the Mesopotamians to Indigenous Australians – and so I put the two together. I found Satarial’s motivation in the fact that humans (in this case Noah) allowed his people to die in the flood. It’s just a case of me reading these ancient stories and imagining the human face behind them.

Bec: You grew up in Papua New Guinea, are the editor of Ytraveler.com, and each year you volunteer in the South Pacific on behalf of an Australian aid organisation. How do your travel adventures influence your writing, and do you like to write while you’re in transit and abroad?

LL: Travel influences everything I do. Growing up in PNG meant we had very close contact with magic and witchcraft and people who both practised and completely believed in it. I remember some locals bringing a little owl to our house once when I was about 6 and they were talking about how it was evil and carried spirits in it. It as actually just a very cute little bird, but I can still remember that the locals really believed it was evil, and that was all that mattered. I was heavily influenced by this idea that our beliefs control us.

 Travel has made me very aware of the “serious” side of the world. Which sounds a little bleak – and I don’t mean I like that. I just know from experience that the world is fragile and that for a lot of people it is a difficult journey.

I write a lot when I am overseas. I just feel more open and inspired when I don’t have “everyday” life to worry about. And I like warm weather – hot even – I’ll write anywhere if its hot. 

Bec: Which of your fictional characters Burns Brightest in your mind and why?

LL: Eduardo definitely burns brightest in my mind. This is a being who has been waiting for thousands of years for the love of his life and is committed to continue waiting. He’s not happy about it, he is not enjoying it – but he won’t give up. And at the same time, he is not so jaded that he doesn’t see something valuable in Dom. He invests time, energy and eventually love and loyalty into Dom and because he is willing to give like that, he  opens himself up to the possibility of letting go. When he lets go – he ends up finding what he was looking for.

Aura Borealis dishes on Temperley London’s gorgeous dresses.

Temperley London’s Cruise 2014 ‘Enchanted’ collection, celebrates beauty with richly embellished fabrics, bold colours and hand painted floral prints. Effortless sophistication, meets ultra femininity, with richly draped and structured silhouettes.

There is a focus on dresses, strong separates and novel evening coats. Yet another stunning collection from Temperley, who consistently promise fine quality and continue to graciously deliver.

‘No good deed ever goes unpunished, Mellea…’

Mellea Wendorn hasn’t exactly had a normal life. Misfortune seems to follow her, and her family, wherever she goes.  However, when Mellea stops to assist a mysterious young man suddenly her prior hardships seem trivial. His name is Leo. He is a Successor, a child of the Guardians of Selestia. He is royalty.  He is handsome.  And he wants Mellea completely to himself.

Unable to escape the Guardian’s laws, Mellea must learn the ways of the royals. She is convinced her life can’t get much worse. But when a timeworn Guardian enemy arises from the shadows, Mellea must make a choice that will change her destiny forever.

Mellea is not rich and she has to work hard to help her parents make ends meet. One day, after leaving her job, she sees a man being chased and shot at. When he’s hit, he falls from his flying board and Mellea cannot help but stop to see if he is ok. It turns out that he is a pompous and rude Guardian who tells her that she is to be his wife. Not only is Mellea shocked, but also trapped. She is going against her father’s wishes by having any contact with the Guardians.

While Mellea is kept at the Guardian Tower, she meets others and begins to form friendships. The family is in turmoil as the political leaders see an uprising of Mech attacks and life outside their house as dangerous. The Mechs are people who’ve had body parts replaced with robotic/android parts to become partially mechanical and use their extra strength to try to bring down the Guardians. Now that Mellea is to be wed to the family, she also has to learn how to fight and protect herself from attack.

The writing style is non-stop action and movement. There is very little downtime and the characters are funny and fit into the story well. It has both science fiction and magic, as well as love, lives, and secrets.

I recommend this to readers who enjoy a feisty female lead, a little romance, and political uprisings. Fans of the Elite Series by Kiera Cass would enjoy this book. My favourite part of the story was the hot and cold relationship between Mellea and Leo, as well as Mellea and her parents. It was an enjoyable and fun read and I really loved it. 

Paperback, First Edition, 360 pages

Published January 21st 2014

ISBN13 9780992407407

MDP adds:

You can read more of M. J. Steven’s work on this blog in her cosplay article.

We have this serious glut of strawberries going on at our place right now. I know, I know. Tough problem to have, right? Well, it’s not really a problem. I can tell you there’s not many of those delicious red berries going to waste. Our patch is netted, so we’re not sharing too many with the local wildlife (here it’s not just the insects and the birds, but reptiles like blue tongue lizards and baby skinks as well).

The chickens are getting the few imperfect ones, and the rest are either scoffed on the spot by my kids, or actually making it to the kitchen. I have a couple of strawberry recipes for you – this first one is a simple savoury dish to serve with friends as an entrée or snack over drinks.

What You Need:

• 3/4 cup of fresh strawberries, half some of them, dice the rest.
• 1 round of camembert cheese. Like everything, buy the best you can afford. For this recipe, it’s best (but not essential) to buy one that comes in its own box.
• Balsamic glaze (found in the salad dressing isle of your supermarket).
• Bruschetta or crusty bread to serve.
• Pancetta or prosciutto to serve.

How it’s Done:

If you’re lucky enough to purchase a Camembert in its own box, all you need to do is remove it, and any plastic packaging. Score the top of the rind with a sharp knife in a criss-cross pattern, about half a centimetre deep. Then pop it back in box, without the lid.

Push the strawberry halves into the scored rind, sprinkle the diced pieces on top, reserving a few to keep fresh to serve,

Bake for around 12 – 15 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees C, until cheese is melted through – beware of over-baking though. Camembert has a habit of re-setting if it over cooks.

To serve, place on a cheese platter, drizzle with plenty of balsamic glaze. Add crusty bread and prosciutto if desired. Sounds like a strange combination – but it’s delicious!

If you don’t have a Camembert round in its own box – I didn’t – don’t despair! Cut a square of baking paper, and another of foil. Place the baking paper on top of the foil, the unwrapped cheese on top of that, and, holding firm, tie it with kitchen twine.

This helps to keep the Camembert in shape and stop any leakage of hot oozing cheese all over your oven tray. You should be able to see where I’ve tied the twine in the ‘before’ photo here. Otherwise, prepare and serve exactly the same way.