Take a tour through Laura Tolomei’s cities and lands where travel battles imagination.
I’m a great believer in imagination. It’s an author’s first and foremost tool if the goal is to hatch great storylines filled with equally outstanding characters. And it goes without saying both have to move inside a particular setting in order for things to work properly and be credible. I mean, describing 30th Century Earth requires a lot of inventiveness, not to mention faith the planet will still be here, but creative thought alone couldn’t do the trick. As authors, we all rely on our personal experience to fill in missing parts or enrich existing realities, particularly if it comes to characters that we draw from modified versions of the people we know. This happens with settings, too, so I guess the more travels, the more places to describe or use to create inexistent worlds, but it’s not necessarily so.
True, many of the places I describe in my books, I’ve actually seen with my own eyes, yet for many more I invented the location basing it only pictures or other people’s descriptions. Of course, traveling is more fun than sitting at home looking at pictures, but in the end, I don’t think it makes a difference if imagination supplies for the missing sensations that are associated to that specific place. So maybe in my books you couldn’t spot the real from the imaginary, even if I wonder whether one seems more credible, truer, less fake somehow, than the other. I like to think there’s really no difference, but I’ll let you be the judge of that.
Let’s start with the description of a place I know first-hand, having visited it just 4 years ago, Selimos archaeological site. I loved the place, not to mention the feelings it gave me, so much that I couldn’t forget it and had to set one of my novels, Spying the Alcove, in it.
Spying the Alcove
By Laura Tolomei
Genre: M/M, M/F/M, M/F, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance
Publisher: eXtasy Books, www.extasybooks.com
ISBN: 978-1-55487-347-0
Release date: August 1st, 2009
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PG Excerpt
Not much remained standing of the once proud city of Selimos, destroyed twice by a spiteful fate disguised around 400 BC as Carthage, then in 250 BC as Rome. Named after the celery plant, its official symbol, Selimos had held twenty-five thousand people at the height of its prosperity.
Valerio knew all the history, but somehow it became irrelevant whenever he looked at Selimos’s breathtaking views, which gave the place a feeling of being out of the world, closer to the gods than to humans.
Eventually though, destiny had paid its debt to Selimos. Today it was the largest archeological site of Europe, a part of humanity’s treasures. Located in Sicily’s southwestern border, set on top of a hill overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, Selimos lay in the fertile valley of two rivers, surrounded in the south and west by water while green plains embraced its northern side. The city had a linear design with a complex structure made of temples, sanctuaries and a necropolis, all protected by an impressive set of defensive walls. Archeology had also uncovered many private homes, which testified to a rich city flourishing on trade and agriculture. Too bad, the only building still standing was Temple E, dedicated to Hera according to some theories. The rest of what must have been Selimos’s architectural magnificence was just rubble as if the city had suffered a major earthquake, its ruins resembling the pieces of a giant puzzle designed for an unknown god’s amusement.
Setting is also very important in another novel of mine to be released this coming February, The Sex, Book 1 of my new series Viturs Saga. While I was writing it, I took a trip to Jordan and the places I visited, from the deserts to the mystical valley, fascinated me to the point I had to put them in this upcoming series. The story takes place on a fantasy planet, Sendar, and in the sneak preview excerpt below, our heroes have to go through a canyon dug in bedrock in order to reach the Nephis Valley, a magical and sacred place.
Virtus Saga
The Sex
By Laura Tolomei
GENRE: Gay, Fantasy, Paranormal, Adventure, Series, m/m, m/f, m/m/f
RELEASE DATE: February 1st, 2010
PUBLISHER: eXtasy Books
BUY LINK
http://www.extasybooks.net/ebjmsite/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage_comingsoon&product_id=7318&category_id=54&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=44
The prince, his lover, his woman, three like the sides of the pyramid they’ve sworn to retrieve if sex, passion and jealousy won’t stand in their way.
Unedited PG excerpt
“I think this is a spiritual journey.” Ylianor sighed, looking at the uphill climb unwinding through the high rocky walls, barely enough to go single file, and feeling traces of those who had undertaken it in the past.
Seventy-two hours, two full days had passed since their arrival, exhaustion taking its toll along with the need for a regenerating time alone, even if she had missed them more than she cared to admit. Watching the dark and blond heads walking up the narrow path had crunched her heart painfully, although their absence had also made her stronger in a way. And it had worked miracles on them, too, the demon even going as far as embracing her tightly when they had met again. “Couples are required to let go of their past life before joining in the future one as clean spirits,” she continued, speaking of the vague auras she perceived still clinging to the place.
“Then no one’s better qualified than we are.” Chris teased. “It seems we haven’t done anything besides interpret the past to decide what our future will be.”
“So let’s go and meet the future.” Prince Caldwell strode forward, followed single file by Ylianor and the demon.
After a few twists and turns, the passage widened, allowing them to walk side by side, Duncan moving between Chris and Ylianor. Seemingly endless, the journey felt unreal as if they were abandoning one dimension to enter into another, probably because the limited horizon visible was unlike anything she had experienced before. Closing in on both sides, the high bedrock walls reached the sky, not entirely straight, but curving the upper edge, thus creating the illusion they were going through a tunnel with little light to guide their steps. Stella’s rays would be gone soon anyway, the high peaks effectively cutting much of them off during the day, allowing only scarce light to filter through and reflect on the rocky ground before bouncing off to the walls. The air felt warmer and thicker due to the heat trapped in the stone folds without any means to escape. Running water was the only sound that broke the silence, and though there was no visible sign of it, Ylianor felt it run in two parallel canyons, dug inside the hard bedrock, flanking their path at a higher height almost as if the liquid, after retreating from the main road, had created an alternative space of its own. She loved the smell of the place, too, musty, hot, yet filled with a spice of its own which was neither plant nor animal, its acrid odor filling her nostrils and sliding down to her throat.
Suddenly, the rift tightened again and they had to proceed single file once more while light faded fast. Looking up, Ylianor wondered if they would reach their destination in time, when the stony walls surrounded them completely, bringing them to an abrupt halt. On close examination, they discovered that just like the entrance, here, too, the rocks seemed to touch, leaving an extremely small opening in between, which required they bend and twist in order to squeeze through. And they stepped into another world.
On the other side of the cleft, mountains enclosed an exquisite green valley, guarding it like a precious gem with their snowy peaks and rigid walls. The breathtaking view left Ylianor speechless as her gaze traveled around to fix more details as possible. Now she could see the water, running inside open stone channels within the mountain’s walls, which circled the perimeter, then fell in a smooth cascade into a small pond at the plateau’s eastern edge. And the contrast between the white snows above and the glittering green would have kept her gaze glued, had there not been something else to demand her attention, almost imperiously if she had to define the sense of urgency pervading her.
Did you recognize it? The place really exists and it’s the stone way leading to Petra’s fabulous ruins, the same canyon you probably saw in Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, the wonderful 1989 movie. If you remember, he rode through it—I can still see him egging the horse to go faster in the narrow space between the massive stone walls—reaching the fabulous city where he has to save his father, wounded inside one of Petra’s impressive buildings.
Now for something I’ve never seen, but dreamed about since I was a little kid. Maya and Aztec cultures fascinate me and I’ve seen tons of pictures about them, though I’ve never actually been there. So when I wrote the story of a bloodthirsty sorcerer who loves to sacrifice young women to his god’s presumed hunger, I couldn’t think of a better place to set it than in a Central America style context…my Central American, of course.
Sacrificial Sex
by Laura Tolomei
novella,
Genre: M/M, Horror, Dark Fantasy, Paranormal, Sci-Fi
ISBN: 978-1-55487-243-5
Heat Level: 4 flames
Release date: March 1st, 2009
Publisher: eXtasy Books www.extasybooks.com
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PG EXCERPT
Primax, the brightest star in their sky, lit the high plateau where Ashantarie rose in silent splendor. The city had stood on the flat hilltop since time’s beginning, the pulsing heart of their advanced civilization. Its stone buildings, tall and elegant, attracted Primax’s blinding light, which shed illusory reflections with the passing day. Most of the official buildings, Temples in particular, were pyramidal in style. The triangular masonry structures climbed up to the sky. Some had smooth, steeply sloping sides that met at an apex. Others had sharply angled steps, which reached a towering altar at the center of the top platform. The pyramids, standing near the rich part of the city, dotted the landscape and commanded an attention that was hard to deny. In fact, many fell in love with Ashantarie after just one look.
People greeted him, busy with chores and businesses, but never enough to spare a quick hello to a very important member of the community. Walking rapidly, Mylos acknowledged everyone, though he did not stop to chat. His purpose clear, he headed to the city’s outskirts and climbed the steep hill to Primax’s Temple.
Huge stones set in a circle protected the sacred open area. Only the autarchy had permission to cross its boundaries and of course, Mylos was more than qualified. With a firm step, he strode across the stone ring, quickly approaching its center, then stopped to look around. Luckily, no one was around at lunchtime, the hottest time of day. Ashantarie had a fiery climate all year round. Primax’s merciless rays enflamed the desert plateau and temperatures quickly rose to high degrees already by early morning.
And reading over it, I realize it’s surprisingly similar to another fantasy place I described, Atlantis. In my short story, The Moon Priestess, I imagined the fabled city very much like a Mayan one, mixing some elements with other places, too. And the final effect is startlingly to say the least.
The Moon Priestess
By Laura Tolomei
In eXtasy’s Anthology ATLANTIS ALLURE
Released: March 15th, 2008
Publisher: eXtasy Books
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PG EXCERPT
Though she had taken action to change the future portrayed in the dream, it still haunted her as if warning of something else. With a sigh, she got up and went to the temple’s open space. Slender white columns enclosed the sacred area where ceremonies were held. She peered through the columns, her gaze sweeping over the fields in the distance, bathed with the moon’s pale glow.
A little bit further, she caught the sea’s glittering reflections, its slow waves adding to the illusion. The warm night seemed peaceful under the soft light and she was almost tempted to drown in the darkness, leaving the world behind. But she knew better. With a sigh, she turned around and faced the Temple’s other side.
Atlantis rose beneath her, impressive in its stony beauty made softer by the moon’s glow. Tall buildings dominated the city, imposing structures of fine sandstone, which reflected a warm brownish color. From the temple, she saw some parts of the city lit by torches that, mingling with the moon’s glow, created odd flickering games of lights and shadows.
She loved Atlantis, born and raised on its green plains, trained inside its tall buildings. With one sweep of her gaze, she embraced it all. Atlantis was built in a great valley surrounded by hills, which gave the impression that she wore a crown. All the temples were outside the city on the hilltops, as if, being physically higher, the gods could protect the city better.
The Moon and Sun temples, Atlantis’s main worship, faced each other on opposite hills. One was built in white washed stone, the other a bright yellow that made the sunrays dance. Otherwise, they were almost identical twins. The temples had stood there forever, she had been told countless times, to protect the city from harm. Her family had lived here for generations and, now that she was the only one left, she could think of no other place in which to live. And yet…
So what do you think? Do you get more the feel for the real places or the imaginary one?
Laura Tolomei
Website www.lallagatta.com
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