Book Sale!

It’s that time of year again: the Smashwords End of the Year Sale! Until January 1st you can get:

Love Lies Bleeding for 25% off

Blood Magic FREE

Tooth & Claw FREE

Bleeding Heart: New Release

Speaking of Bleeding Heart, the paperback will be out in early January! 

Happy Reading,

Aspasía S. Bissas

 

 

New Novel by Aspasia S. Bissas: Bleeding Heart

When up-and-coming actor Ash is unexpectedly turned by ancient vampire Emma, he revels in the freedom of his new life. But freedom soon turns to crushing oppression. As Emma’s grip on him tightens, he begins to lose everything decent, everything human, inside him. When he realizes the strange woman who haunts his dreams is the same one Emma wants dead, will he stand by while Emma has her way again?

Mara killed her demons and left everything behind–so why does it feel like she’s still not free? She doesn’t know if she’s being haunted or hunted, but one thing she’s sure of is that she’ll have to face a reckoning for her past. Will she find a way to the future, or lose everything?

Bleeding Heart is a dark fantasy novel about nightmares, illusions, control, and revenge. Old meets new meets ancient in this follow-up to Love Lies Bleeding.

I’m happy to announce that Bleeding Heart has been released as an e-book! Don’t worry, if you prefer a hard copy, the paperback will be out soon.

At the moment, Bleeding Heart is available on Amazon and the Smashwords site (click on the links to download now!)

I just want to thank everyone for your support and patience: I hope the wait was worth it ♥

Happy Reading,

Aspasía S. Bissas

P.S., Feel free to share this post 🙂

P.P.S., Follow me on my official site: AspasiaSBissas.com

 

Bleeding Heart Cover Reveal

 

What do you think?

Fun fact: the statue is part of the “Monument à Denis Diderot,” located in the Panthéon in Paris (a great place to visit, by the way). I chose this as the image for my next book way back when I chose the image for Love Lies Bleeding.

Just a reminder that Bleeding Heart will be available in October (just in time for Halloween!). In the meantime, you can download my other books:

Love Lies Bleeding: Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books
Blood Magic: Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books
Tooth & Claw: Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books

If you prefer paperback, use this link to order Love Lies Bleeding from Bookshop – a portion of each sale goes directly to independent bookstores, as well as to myself. Thank you for supporting indie! ♥

 

Cheers,

Aspasía S. Bissas

[This was originally posted on my official site. Follow me at AspasiaSBissas.com]

New Book Announcement: Bleeding Heart!

 

“Bleeding Heart” is almost here! Keep an eye out for a cover reveal soon…

 

Book bloggers/reviewers: please leave a comment if you’re interested in reviewing Bleeding Heart.

 

Want to get reading now? Download my other books:

Love Lies Bleeding: Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books
Blood Magic: Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books
Tooth & Claw: Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books

If you prefer paperback, use this link to order Love Lies Bleeding from Bookshop – a portion of each sale goes directly to independent bookstores, as well as to myself. Thank you for supporting indie! ♥

 Also, now is a great time to follow me on my official site: AspasiaSBissas.com

Cheers,

Aspasía S. Bissas

6 Words About Vampires

As a writer, I love words. As a vampire fan, I write about vampires. It seems natural to combine it all into one post; and so, I bring you words about vampires…

Related: “Sanguisugent” (adj), blood sucking or blood thirsty. Wikionary says “sanguisuge” is obsolete, but I think it’s due for a comeback.

 

I’ve written about revenants, if you’re curious to find out more. The word itself was coined in 1814 by Laetitia Matilda Hawkins in Rosanne:

“‘Well, but what is it? What do you call it in French?’ ‘Why, revenant, to be sure. Un revenant.'”

 

“Philosophy will clip an Angel’s wings,
Conquer all mysteries by rule and line,
Empty the haunted air, and gnomèd mine—
Unweave a rainbow, as it erewhile made
The tender-person’d Lamia melt into a shade.”  -John Keats, “Lamia”

Fun etymology: Lamia literally means “swallower, lecher,” from laimos “throat, gullet.” (Source). Read more about them in my post here.

 

The first use of “undead” was c. 1400, but its use as a noun to mean vampires and other creatures dates from 1904. (Source)

 

“It’s a reflex. Hear a bell, get food. See an undead, throw a knife. Same thing, really.” -Ilona Andrews, Magic Bites

 

 

I know the word exsanguinate from the X-Files episode “Eve,” but it was first used around 1800, coming from the Latin exsanguinatus, meaning bloodless or deprived of blood.

 

“My first word of the new year was ‘exsanguinate.’ This was probably not a good omen.”

-Charlaine Harris, Dead to the World.

 

 

 

And of course, we can’t forget the word that all the others relate to:

 

The earliest form of the word “vampire” dates to only 1734, although stories of monsters that rise from the dead and attack the living can be found even in ancient times. The idea of blood-gorged walking corpses goes back to at least the 1100s. There’s some debate as to where the word comes from, but it most likely has its roots in the Old Church Slavonic “opiri.”  (Source)

“It was too much, the weight of it all was too much. Maybe that was why emotions were deadened in vampires; the alternative was to be overtaken by them, crippled, left stranded and isolated and trapped by unbearable sensation. How could they hunt if they felt sympathy, empathy, love for their prey? How could they —how could she —live with themselves?” Aspasía S. Bissas, Love Lies Bleeding

Yes, that’s a quote from my own book (I’m sneaky that way). Get my books to find even more words about vampires:

Love Lies Bleeding: Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books
FREE Blood Magic: Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books
FREE Tooth & Claw: Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books

If you prefer a good paperback to an ebook, use this link to order Love Lies Bleeding from Bookshop – a portion of each sale goes directly to independent bookstores, as well as to myself. Thank you for supporting indie! ♥

Did I miss your favourite word about vampires? Let me know in the comments…

Cheers,

Aspasía S. Bissas

 

A Quote, A Review & A Request

 

Dragonscale Clippings recently shared a review of Love Lies Bleeding: 

Love Lies Bleeding by Aspasia S Bissas Although this novel starts off almost predictably (for a vampire tale) it soon develops into something quite unusual. Read more…

Give it a read, and don’t forget to stop by Dragonscale Clippings’s blog and follow and like! Many thanks for the kind review ♥

Speaking of reviews, if you’ve read and enjoyed any of my books, please take a minute now to leave a rating or review (links below). And if you haven’t read my books yet, now is the perfect time to start…

 

Love Lies Bleeding

A novel about delusion, obsession, and blood.

Goodreads

Amazon

DOWNLOAD HERE

Paperback available from Bookshop – when you use this link, a portion of each sale goes directly to independent bookstores, as well as to myself. (It’s also available on most other online book sites.)

 

Blood Magic

Myth and magic collide in this story about choices, transformation, and retribution.

Goodreads

Amazon

DOWNLOAD FREE

 

Tooth & Claw

A dark fantasy story about memory and delusion, violence and consequences; inspired by real events in Belle Époque France.

Goodreads

Amazon

DOWNLOAD FREE

 

Feel free to leave a rating/review on any other book sites too!

Thank you for supporting authors ♥

Cheers,

Aspasía S. Bissas

Quote of the Day

 

Have you read and enjoyed any of my books? If so, please leave a rating and/or review!

 

Tooth & Claw

Goodreads

Amazon

Download FREE

 

Love Lies Bleeding

Goodreads

Amazon

Download

Order Paperback (When you use this link, a portion of each sale goes directly to independent bookstores, as well as to myself.)

 

Blood Magic

Goodreads

Amazon

Download FREE

 

Feel free to leave a rating/review on any other book sites too!

Thanks for supporting authors ♥

 

Cheers,

Aspasía S. Bissas

Controversial Characters: Buffy’s Dawn vs. Angel’s Connor

SPOILERS AHEAD

Whenever a show has a devoted fandom there’s always going to be something that, right or wrong, the fans aren’t happy about. The big controversies on Buffy and Angel were the late additions of two new characters, namely Dawn and Connor. Now that I’m re-watching both shows, I’m looking at both characters with fresh eyes, wondering whether they deserved the hate.

Dawn

Dawn was introduced at the end of the first episode of Season 5. “Buffy vs. Dracula” (a great episode, by the way). Her introduction was really well done, first with hints and foreshadowing going back as far as Season 3, then with her unexpected appearance in the episode. After years of being an only child, Buffy suddenly has a sister, and everyone acts as though she’s always been there.

After some perfunctory hinting that Dawn is this season’s Big Bad, it comes out that she’s actually a mystical, dimension-unlocking Key, put into human form by some monks with too much time on their hands, and given to the Slayer as a sister for protection from the Hell God (Glorificus/Glory), who needs the Key to get back to her hell dimension before her window of opportunity closes. Got all that?

Yeah, it’s a lot.

I really believe all the planning around Dawn went into the character’s concept, and very little into the execution. Dawn is supposed to be fourteen when she shows up, but she’s written like she’s eight. It’s both painful and annoying to watch this teenager smiling with her mouth plastered in ice cream. Or interrupting Buffy’s training sessions because she’s “bored.” Or threatening to tell their mom that Buffy slayed in front of her. At fifteen, Buffy, Willow, and Xander were fighting monsters, trading quips, and hanging out at the Bronze. Their characters were funny and interesting. But somehow at fourteen Dawn is too young to be left alone without a babysitter.

And yet by season six Dawn manages to get worse, alternating between whining that no one spends time with her, and screeching for everyone to get out of her room. Maybe this is a realistic portrayal of teenagers (I have my doubts), but nobody watches TV for realism. If we’re supposed to sympathize with Dawn, the writers made it really difficult, especially when she shows no empathy for what anyone else is going through.

(I want to add that none of this is the fault of Michelle Trachtenberg, the actress who played Dawn. She did a decent job, but just didn’t have much to work with.)

By the seventh and final season, Dawn’s over her annoying phase, and even proves herself useful and capable– but she also fades into the background. Season five was supposed to be the show’s last season, but since it ended up extended for another two years, I don’t think they really knew what to do with her once she was no longer The Key. Overall, I think the Dawn character had a lot of room for improvement, and the writers/producers repeatedly dropped the ball. The show could have been just as good, or better, without Dawn.

Also, she killed Miss Kitty Fantastico.

Connor

Connor’s origin story begins in season 3, and is almost as convoluted as Dawn’s. When two vampires hate each other very much (after spending centuries together as a couple), and unknown forces conspire to get them back together for a night, sometimes the mommy vampire finds herself nine months later going into labour in a back alley, where she finally just stakes herself to get the whole thing over with.

Connor is the human-ish son of Angel and Darla, both vampires, one with a soul. His existence is cause for much excitement, mostly by nefarious cabals who generally want to kill the kid. Despite Angel and co.’s best efforts to protect baby Connor, he ends up in the hands of Angel’s longtime enemy, a vampire hunter named Holtz. Stuck between letting Holtz take the baby or watching Connor fall into the hands of those who will definitely kill him, Angel chooses the lesser of two evils. Holtz escapes with the baby by jumping through a portal to the darkest hell dimension: Quor’toth. The portal is then sealed behind them with no way to open it.

Angel tries to get Connor back, but realizes it’s impossible. Once Angel accepts that he’ll never see his son again (it takes only a few days, apparently), another portal opens and out comes an armed teenager wearing a skin suit and trophies made of body parts. I’m not gonna lie– it’s pretty epic.

We soon find out that not only did Connor survive Quor’toth, but he can kick some serious ass. Besides impressive fighting skills, he has super speed and strength. He can easily jump on a moving bus and he’s got a vampire’s sensitive hearing (but none of the drawbacks, like a need to consume blood or intolerance to sunlight).

I thought he was an excellent addition to the show, but a lot of people disagreed. Connor was so hated by some fans that when rumours started about bringing Spike to Angel, people started urging (there may have been a petition– I can’t remember) the producers to kill off Connor and bring on Spike. Note: none of the characters actually had to die to add Spike to the cast. It should also be noted that the dislike of Connor spilled over into people specifically targetting Vincent Kartheiser, who played Connor. The actor did an awesome job and deserved none of what was directed at him. This is why fandoms have a bad reputation.

I never understood why people found Connor annoying. Yes, the character did a lot of questionable– and some downright wrong– things (same as pretty much all the other characters, I might add). What haters didn’t seem to get (or care about) is that Connor is a deeply traumatized kid. He was raised in a hell dimension, by a man who (rightfully) hated his father and manipulated him into wanting to kill Angel. And that’s only the start of what Connor went through. He’s a tragic character who manages to never be boring. He also undergoes a fair bit of character development, and a redemption that continues in the comic books (meanwhile Dawn in the comic books goes back to being annoying, but with added recklessness). Watching these episodes again, I’m finding I like and sympathize with Connor even more now. It’s too bad he was hated– he could have pulled off his own show.

In the end, my opinion on these characters hasn’t really changed. Dawn didn’t improve Buffy, even though her initial season included one of the best villains ever. Meanwhile, Connor, despite having one of the cringiest storylines (him + Cordy = ew), was a great character and a solid addition to Angel. But what did you think of Dawn and Connor? Share in the comments…

Can’t get enough vampires? Download my books now:

Love Lies Bleeding: Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, Amazon
FREE Blood Magic: Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books
FREE Tooth & Claw: Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books

If you prefer paperback, use this link to order Love Lies Bleeding from Bookshop – a portion of each sale goes directly to independent bookstores, as well as to myself. Thank you for supporting indie! ♥

Cheers,

Aspasía S. Bissas

[Originally posted on my official site: AspasiaSBissas.com]

End of the Year Book Sale

 

It’s that time of year again– the Smashwords end-of-year e-book sale has begun! Get Love Lies Bleeding for 25% off (and as usual, Blood Magic and Tooth & Claw are free)! The holidays are a great time to catch up on your reading (or maybe even complete a challenge). Download my books and get started right now….

Get LOVE LIES BLEEDING 25% Off

Get Blood Magic FREE

Get Tooth & Claw FREE

Photo by Perfecto Capucine on Pexels.com

 

Happy Reading!

Aspasía S. Bissas

(PS: The sale ends 1 January 2023)

First Look at My New Book

 

Photo by Alex Fu on Pexels.com

Although there’s still work to be done, some parts of my new book (no title yet) are ready to share! I thought I’d give you all a taste of the opening chapter. This book continues the story started in Love Lies Bleeding, introducing some new characters along the way. Fair warning, if you haven’t read Love Lies Bleeding yet, this excerpt contains spoilers. (And a trigger warning for anyone sensitive to violence.)

Spoilers Ahead

Mara was hungry and lonely. Hungry, she could take care of.

She was in London. She’d been there for what felt like months, but really was only a little over a week.

Nigel and Dominic were dead.

She’d killed them.

They’d deserved it, she reminded herself as her anxiety started to spike. Dom had betrayed her, and both of them were threats to her and Lee. Even more than vampires usually were.

Her mind, as it so often did, latched on to Lee. How was he doing? Was he all right? Did he forgive her for leaving, for abandoning him?

It was for the best, all for the best. Always for the best.

An image of a bashed-in skull appeared in front of her. Nigel’s unseeing eyes staring, judging. She blinked and Dominic was there, lying on the ground, a dagger with a broken handle buried in his chest.

No, she muttered; not real.

 But it was real. Or had been. She could still feel Nigel’s skull shattering under the iron poker, could still feel the handle of the blade breaking off as she tried to twist it in Dominic’s heart.

She knew it had happened; she just couldn’t believe it. Maybe because it felt as though they were still with her. Or maybe because she hadn’t bothered to check to make sure Dom definitely wouldn’t be coming back. Either way, she’d felt as though she was being followed ever since.

Part of her hoped Lee had tracked her down, not only because she desperately wanted to see him, but also because the alternative didn’t bear considering.

Was Dominic still out there? Was he her ghost, her shadow, her hunter? Leave it to him to keep chasing her from beyond the grave.

Or had all her victims broken free, the restless shades of her centuries of slaughter? She’d come home and unlocked their tombs.

The edges of her vision started tinting red. Right, she was hungry. Blood first, ghosts later.

The bars were always good for an easy meal. The streets were already full of rowdy patrons heading to the next place, or getting into brawls, or stumbling home, heads fuzzy and defenses down. It wouldn’t take much to get one to follow her instead, to wander off into a dark corner of the city where prying eyes didn’t reach.

She’d have to play the game a few times tonight, if she wanted enough to be sated without taking too much from anyone. It wasn’t how she usually fed—how she used to feed—but she was trying something new. Feeding without hunting, without killing. Without the thrill. No matter how much blood she drank this way she was always left empty. But she survived, and it kept any more ghosts from haunting her.

Rising voices caught her attention: a man and a woman’s. The man’s voice was laden with threat; the woman’s, distress. Mara’s pulse quickened. Maybe she’d be playing a different game tonight, one where a predator would get bled. It was always nice when people got what they deserved. And so rare.

She approached the area where she’d heard the voices, making sure to look innocuous. Just a girl out late, alone, quick steps and head down—no threat to anyone. Or so they’d think—so they always thought—until it was too late to think at all. But when Mara reached the spot, an unlit path next to a park playground, she found a woman standing calmly facing the other direction. No one else was around. Had they already left, or had Mara misheard and gone to the wrong place? She stopped, confused. The woman turned to look at her.

Too late.

(© Aspasía S. Bissas)

Let me know what you thought of it in the comments below. If you haven’t read Love Lies Bleeding, or my free stories “Blood Magic” and “Tooth & Claw,” download them now:

Love Lies Bleeding: Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books
FREE Blood Magic: Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books
FREE Tooth & Claw: Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books

If you prefer paperback, use this link to order Love Lies Bleeding from Bookshop – a portion of each sale goes directly to independent bookstores, as well as to myself. Thank you for supporting indie! ♥

Cheers,

Aspasía S. Bissas

                     

[Originally posted on my official site: AspasiaSBissas.com]

Book Quote and an Ask

 

If you've read and enjoyed any of my books, please take a minute now to leave a rating or review (links below). And if you haven't read my books yet, now is the perfect time to start...

Love Lies Bleeding

A novel about delusion, obsession, and blood.

Goodreads

Amazon

DOWNLOAD HERE

Paperback available from Bookshop – when you use this link, a portion of each sale goes directly to independent bookstores, as well as to myself. (It's also available on most other online book sites.)

 

Blood Magic

Myth and magic collide in this story about choices, transformation, and retribution.

Goodreads

Amazon

DOWNLOAD FREE

 

Tooth & Claw

A dark fantasy story about memory and delusion, violence and consequences; inspired by real events in Belle Époque France.

Goodreads

Amazon

DOWNLOAD FREE

 

Feel free to leave a rating/review on any other book sites too!

 

Thank you for supporting authors ♥

Cheers,

Aspasía S. Bissas