Loading ...Guest Blogger Lucynda Storey
Bitten by Books is excited to welcome author Lucynda Storey today as our featured Guest Blogger! She will be talking with you today about Del Fantasma! Check out the contest at the end of this post! You could win a pair of Del Fantasma shot glasses (US only) and a pair of Del Fantasma stories, Texas Tea and another of the winner’s choice.
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Del Fantasma
E-book Tales from the Other Side of the Bar
On a seaside coast, where the sun is warm and the ocean creates a surreal beauty, sits the Del Fantasma bar. Located in beautiful Vista Loma, not far from the Pt. Loma lighthouse, the bar is run by the enigmatic Cody Warren, a vampire with secrets. His clientele varies from coyote shifters to vamps and just about anything in-between. He’s been there a while now, and figures he can tell you a tale of love based on just about any drink he’s mixed.
Why, the fact is, he’s been responsible for some of those stories since he has the uncanny ability to make love matches better than any yenta. So, pull up a stool and have a drink at the Del Fantasma. If Cody mixes it for you, you just might find the love of your dreams.
So began the best selling series of e-Books at Aspen Mountain Press. The idea is old. Driving to San Diego from Los Angeles back in November of 1979 I happened upon the Point Loma Lighthouse. I saw it in the distance, got out of the car and snapped a photo of the picturesque location. Little did I know at the time, but the camera had caught an amazing photograph. From the hilltop, I shot down at the lighthouse, capturing it standing like a lone sentinel on the coast, in the background, a blue-grey ocean with tiny whitecaps and behind that, obscuring the horizon, a fog rolling in.
When developed I saw in that photograph all those amazing elements and my imagination went into overdrive. Perhaps it was from a childhood spent watching the Dark Shadows soap opera; perhaps it was because a few weeks earlier I’d seen the midnight showing of Halloween, but I couldn’t help but think that the place was haunted, that supernatural beings like vampires and werewolves inhabited the area. The idea wouldn’t let go of me.
As I developed my own writing talent, the idea continued to nag at me, begging for release. The photograph and the location were so beautiful I didn’t want the stories to be scary and horrific. By this time I was immersed into the romance genre and decided that the Point Loma lighthouse and surrounding area would be a place where lovers could meet. But by what mode?
Cody Warren and the Del Fantasma bar burst into existence.
You see, Cody is a vampire. A good man, turned during an awful experience in Afghanistan during a military operation that didn’t go quite right. Adjusting to his new “life” was difficult. Wandering to find himself, Cody finally fell in love with the same region I did.
But, what could he do for money? Being rather eternal has drawbacks, especially further down one’s future history. After all, it would look a tad suspicious to the governmental authorities to be paying benefits to a man who lived well past the age of say, 120.
Then he hit upon the idea of the bar. Bartending school fit his nighttime schedule, as did the actual work. He’d be able to “die” at an appropriate time and not worry about nosy investigators sixty or seventy years in the future.
Every story in the Del Fantasma series is named after a mixed drink that will not be repeated. Every story in the series has at least one character with paranormal characteristics; every story has a scene with Cody in the bar that changes its interior décor at the whim of its owner.
The first story in the series, Texas Tea, was written by talented author Maura Anderson. Maura caught the essence of Cody more perfectly than I had a right to expect from a person who couldn’t be in my brain picking and choosing the figments of my imagination that made up Cody and the Del Fantasma bar.
So far we’ve released stories with the following drink names:
Texas Tea by Maura Anderson
Slow Fuzzy Screw by Sharon Marie Bidwell
Screaming Orgasm by Michelle Hasker
Sea Breeze by Jade Rivers
Silk Panties by Celia Kyle
Black Wolf by Jade Buchannan
Riley’s Sparrow by Mary Winter
Latin Lover by Tina Bendoni
Tie Me to the Bedpost by Celia Kyle
Future drink stories include: Black Dragon, Arctic Kiss, Scotch on the Rocks, Ménage a Trois, and Virgin Special. The stories are as steamy as the authors want to write them and include both homosexual and heterosexual couples. We’ve had shapeshifting coyotes, tabby cats , psi-vampires, merrows, sea sirens, and fae folk. The world of Del Fantasma is wide open to all sorts of paranormal beings!
Our authors often have heated debates over Cody and have spawned fun jealous posts as to who will write Cody’s story and win him for themselves. Visit www.AspenMountainPress.com and sign up for our newsletter. There you can keep abreast of the latest Cody sightings and drink stories coming out of the Del Fantasma bar.
For authors interested in the possibility of writing one of our Del Fantasma stories, you can email Nikita Gordyn, our Editorial Director, at AMPSubmissions@gmail.com. Ms. Gordyn will be able to tell you if a drink name has been reserved, and provide the Del Fantamsa guidelines (our authors’ writing bible for the series).
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Questions and Contest: Now, I am going to open up the internet floor so to speak and let our readers ask some questions and share your stories. Feel free to post as many questions or comments as you like. The author will be answering them on and off the rest of the day.
Readers, here’s how to enter the contest. You can do one or all of these things, and each one will give an additional entry. ONE lucky participant will be chosen to win You could win a pair of Del Fantasma shot glasses (US only) and a pair of Del Fantasma stories, Texas Tea and another of the winner’s choice.
1. Ask the author a question (ask as many questions as you like, but only two questions count towards entries). Your name will be entered for a chance to win the fabulous prize mentioned above.
2. SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter here on the right hand side of the site. This is for new subscribers only.
3. Post a link to the Guest Blog here today at another blog or website and you will be given additional entries to win. You MUST post those links in one response here in this thread. The more places you post the event, the more entries you get, so spread the word!
4. Purchase a copy of ANY of the awesome Del Fantasma books mentioned here today and send us a copy of the receipt for your purchase to: racoo.smith @ gmail.com (no spaces) for an additional entry. You get an entry for each one you purchase.
5. Add us as your friend on Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/bittenbybooks
Add us as your friend on Facebook: http://www.new.facebook.com/profile.php?id=614064436
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/weirdstuff
6. Stumble, Digg or share the post with any social networking sites. There is a button right at the end of this post that says “Share” that you can use. 
7. Twitter the URL for this event: http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=1164
The contest will run through tomorrow 9/18/08 at noon Pacific time to allow our East coast and international readers a chance to win too!
Be sure to include an email and name where we can contact you if you are a winner.
We will be awarding the prizes and posting the winners to the Bitten by Books website later this week.
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Wow, I love that the basis for these stories started from a photograph and then spawned into a series that sounds fantastic
Will you write a story in this series? Cody’s perhaps? and does each author come up with the drink name or is it a group effort? Thanks for introducing me to this series 
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Intriguing start for a series, Lucynda. I don’t see you as the author of any of these stories. Have any of your own Del stories been published?
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Great premise with a vampire bartender. I love the hazy atmosphere of the coast. What are you willing to share about your forays into slash fiction?
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This is very exciting. I can’t wait to get my hands on some of these books. My question is “Have you tried all the drinks you have written the stories about?”
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Lucynda, What a fascinating concept!This is the first time I’v heard about this series. I love all paranormal creatures, but have a real weakness for vampires.
I’m wondering if any normal mortals ever make their way to this bar. And if so what happens to them?
Can you talk a bit more about Cody without any spoilers?
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I’m interested in the Menage a Trois and the Tie Me to the Bedpost, LOL.
How would I go about mixing these?
Deidre
deidre_durance@hotmail.com
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Howdy Lucynda,
I love how the books are titled after drinks it just fits well with bartender Cody.
Ok questions:
If I could only read one of the series which one would you suggest and why?
What is your favorite made to order drink? (can be any thing)
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I would like to know what is a psi-vampire?
What are merrows and the Fae Folk? This sound alot like a story I just finished called Dead until dark I love vampire stories but would probably lose my breakfast,lunch and dinner if I met a vampire but I love the stories and can’t wait to read these stories.
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These stories some great! I’d love to read them!
Count me in.
Sorry no questions I couldn’t think of any right at the moment.
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What a clever idea!
Why was there a decision to write the books using different authors?
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Writing in all its various forms and formats is worthy of accolades if done with passion and done well. I certainly give them to you.
Query….
What are your top types/style of genre you read in your spare time? (ok, stop laughing and strike spare time to read “If You Had Spare Time”)…
And secondly, what geographical place inspires you most?
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I love the sound of this book and the others. What did you do with picture? Did you keep it?
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This sounds like a great series! I’d love to check out the submission guidelines - I couldn’t find them online, are they posted anywhere?
Thanks for the great post.
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Del Fantasma Submissions Guidelines:
http://www.aspenmountainpress.com/submissions/info_6.html
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Well, this is my frist vampire bartender story, what a great idea.
How do you stir up your creative juices to get your ideas?
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I love the idea of each story being based off of a drink. I doubt anyone could read these without trying out the recipe…even if Cody didn’t make it. lol
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I’m a contemporary romance writer and published author, but these books sound real interesting. Best of luck!
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Was it hard to open this ‘world’ to other authors or did you find it easy to do? Do the authors come up with what drink they want to use or do you make suggestions (either off the top of your head or based on the submitted story)?
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Hi Arwen,
Yes, I am writing a story in the series. My drink is the Arctic Kiss, which is a combination of 2 oz Finlandia Vodka and 3 oz of Champagne.
Each author finds their own drink and then they email Nikita to reserve the drink. Each drink will only be used once, so the reservation process is important.
The authors write the stories on their own, but they have gotten together for group promotional efforts.
Lucynda
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I think I covered Sarai in the response for Arwen…
I’ve already dabbled a bit into Arctic Kiss…its been fun matching together to polar opposites
Lucynda
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Mario,
My foray into slash has been an interesting journey, but the bottom line is I became great friends with Laura Baumbach a few years ago and I’ve written a few slash stories under the moniker L. Picaro. Not all L. Picaro stories are slash, nor are all L. Picaro stories written by me. My bestselling slash to date has been Plain Brown Wrapper: Coming Home.
I think one of the things that resonates with slash readers is the built in conflict that already exists with the outside world accepting a homosexual relationship. Add that to the fact that it must be very difficult to approach people as potential dating material when you’re not sure how you will be accepted.
The slash fiction for the series has picked up on that in varying degrees. I’m partially convinced that is why paranormal is successful right now too…how does a vampire approach a person who may or may not be receptive to his/her lifestyle?
Lucynda
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Marnie,
Have to say I have not tried all the drink recipes, although several of the authors have tried their own. I’m diabetic and a lot of those are difficult to make friendly to my condition. Plus, I’m just not a big drinker. I can nurse one a looong time.
Lucynda
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Patricia,
I think the mystery of Cody is what makes him so special! Every story adds just a bit more about him, peeling him back layer by layer.
Mortals have made it into the Del Fantasma bar choosing either to look for a paranormal individual, or choosing to be blissfully ignorant they are in the same room with a specially gifted person. In Texas Tea, the heroine is a photographer who is keeping a promise to a ghost when she meets her coyote shifter. She is also a Big Beautiful Woman. Several of the stories have a paranormal partner paired with a mortal.
Lucynda
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Deidre,
Wow
First of all, the drink recipe matching the title is at the end of the book. We’ll be putting together a Del recipe book a little later. At this time we don’t see a definitive end to the series since it is so utterly wide open. I think the authors love the springboard of Cody, the bar and Vista Loma, and the name of a drink. They can be really creative.
Tie Me to the Bedpost recipe
Ingredients:
1/2oz Malibu Coconut rum
1/2oz Midori Melon Liqueur
1/2oz Sweet and Sour Mix
1/2oz Lemon Vodka
Ice Cubes
Shake with ice, strain into a whiskey sour glass, and serve.
Menage a Trois I don’t have the recipe for yet as it is still a “coming soon” release.
Lucynda
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Cander,
That has to be one of the toughest questions an owner/editor has to be asked! It really depends if you have a preference or not regarding slash fiction. And truly, the stories have not disappointed me yet in any way. But, if you really need a “first” I think you’d have to start with the first which is Maura Anderson’s Texas Tea. She did an awesome job setting up the series for the authors to follow.
Let’s see, my favorite drink…there’s this Mexican restaurant here in town that makes a kick margarita; there’s a sushi place that sells a sparkling cold saki, and then there are the old standbys from the 70’s that I enjoy…Harvey Wallbanger, Singapore Sling, but in all honesty…I really, really love my Bushmills and drink it with diet coke. I don’t think there’s a real name for that drink.
Lucynda
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Stephanie,
A psi-vampire, in the simplest explanation, is one that feeds off of energy rather than blood.
A merrow is sort of like a merman, although JM Snyder would be far better at explaining that than I.
Fae folk are similar to fairies, but Mary Winter and Cynnara Tregarth are my experts in that realm.
And, I have to agree with you, I think I’d faint too if I met a “real” vampire. But, I grew up on Barnabas and Quentin Collins and a lovely Saturday nighttime television show called “Creature Features” which showed old time movies and never had a nightmare, so who knows?
I really enjoyed both the newer versions of Frankenstein and Dracula as I thought they did a reasonable job of sticking close to the authors’ stories.
Lucynda
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Frankly, there are so many drinks out there and it takes a while to write a good story. Our goal was to have one Del a month and it would be nigh on impossible for one author to tackle that project. Several authors are signed up to write a second story, and even a third story, but we don’t contract them until they are finished, so the speed of creating the story is totally up to the author.
So far we’ve released ten Del’s.
Lucynda
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The Muse
Spare time reading…that is a good one.
I just finished reading a fascinating story called “Murder at the Richtofen Castle”. Here in Denver, we have a real, honest to god castle. It was built by the Red Baron’s brother in the late 1800’s. If I could live there, I would. I love castles, collect them and enjoy visiting them. So, the title caught my eye. The murder was real, but the dialogue had to be created, but the author had so many fascinating real life details about life at the turn of the 20th century. I read a chapter a night.
My own favorite genres include science fiction and fantasy, but really, I read anything that captures my interest. My fav author is Terry Brooks, and all the Apsen Authors!
Favorite place of inspiration. The Hand Hotel in Fairplay, Colorado. I always get a lot of writing and editing done there and try to go up every three or four months. They have no phones in the rooms, no televisions and no Internet access. Great for concentration…and the sunroom off the back of the hotel (which only has 13 rooms) is astounding. There is something about the quietness of the mountains.
Lucynda
http://www.AspenMountainPress.com
http://www.LucyndaStorey.com
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Katie Bug,
I kept the picture. Unfortunately, I took it back in 1979 and have no idea where the negative is. I got it out not long ago, intending to send it to Maura Anderson, but it never quite made it.
Lucynda
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Cate,
Email AMPSubmissions at the address on our website and ask for the Del guidelines. As I mentioned before, we generally only contract completed works.
Anyone reading these posts is welcome to do the same; we make no guarantee regarding acceptance and get back to those submitting to us within six to eight weeks.
Lucynda
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Dina,
Stirring up creative juices has never been a problem for me according to my mother. In fact, I do a workshop on “Priming the Pump” and will be giving it this weekend in Colorado Springs.
Ideas are really everywhere. All you need is a curious mind…one that thinks, “What would happen if…” or “I wonder what happens next…” or “What would I do if I were in that situation…?”
I find music inspires me quite a bit as well, although I do not write with music playing.
Lucynda
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LOL Kim, I’m curious, but not always brave!
Lucynda
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Thanks, Ida. Experienced writers are always welcome to submit. We’re pretty flexible about a lot of things and are always willing to “talk”.
Lucynda
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Sewicked,
It was VERY hard to let the idea go out into the world! That’s a problem with a series work like Del Fantasma-you have to let other people run too. Some authors don’t have ideas for a series, but opt in with something like this because it frees their creativity.
Initially, when I started writing full length stories, I couldn’t see how to make them into more than one story. After all, the story was finished! With the Del’s the framework is there, but the story can still be complete. Other than Cody and the bar, it isn’t necessary to have anything else be the same…the tie in is provided.
Lucynda
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[...] September 18, 2008 at 1:56 am (Uncategorized) Guest Blogger Lucynda Storey [...]
Hi folks! I’m priming my laptop to leave for RAW tomorrow but I thought I’d stop by.
First, I’m incredibly honored to have had Lucynda trust me to write the first Del Fantasma - Texas Tea. I’m not sure WHY it seemed to click so well - maybe because I grew up in Southern California and had visited the Old Point Loma lighthouse a lot? But when she told me the premise, I begged to be the first!
I was even more honored when Texas Tea won a Fantasm award!
I love Cody and regularly beg to write his story but I only get a cackle in response.
I did try the Texas Tea drink and it about knocked me on my A$$! Right now Menage a Trois is being co-written by myself and Jade Buchanan, a good friend of mine. It it we meet another of my coyote shifters, one of Jade’s wolf shifters and the woman they both want — while they try to deny wanting each other. After all, wolves and coyotes are natural enemies!
I also have another Del in the works - Firestorm - think a fire drake and a fire witch, both sent to investigate the California wildfires and they each think the other is the prime suspect - maybe with a little help from Cody:)
Any questions for me? LOL
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Have you ever heard of a drink called “Lava Lamp”? It’s my favorite drink; 2-3 kinds of rum & lots of fruit juice; reds & yellows. It flows sort of like a lava lamp, sort of.
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Oh interesting, Sewicked. I’ve never heard of it but as an almost non-drinker, there are a LOT of drinks I’ve not heard about.
Now I’ll spend part of the plane ride thinking about what kind of story would be behind that drink!!!
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Sewicked,
I’ve never heard of a Lava Lamp either, but it sounds good, and just the sort of drink I shouldn’t have. There are a couple of drinks that have Polynesian names that have fun juice combinations too.
Lucynda
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For me, it’s remarkable in that it was so good (& mild enough) that I not only finished my drink, I drank half of another one. I don’t actually like the taste of alcohol so the other flavors have to outweigh that of alcohol.
I also like a Hot Scotch (hot chocolate with a shot of butterscotch schnapps or try the minty version with peppermint schnapps).
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