Tina Glasneck, USA Today Bestselling Author

Enter the story world of dragons, magic, and romantasy

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Peppering facts into fiction

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History is brutal, but ... 

If we don’t know history, we can’t see the patterns and ripple effects in our modern day.

But Tina, you write fantasy and romance. How does history affect your writing? I love to write all in one world, but in different time periods, as I pepper history through my stories..

But fiction is not fact; yet we can braid those things together, while entertaining  and informing.

One such topic I uncovered while writing my time travel paranormal romance is that of cruelty of Napoléon, who historians often praise. But, did you know France forced Haiti to pay reparations to France to ensure their freedom?

I don’t remember hearing anything about this while growing up. The lack of information caused me to dig deeper.

My stories are set in this timeline, mostly, and I wanted to reference something historical that still impacts today. This meant shining a light on Haiti’s history and presenting some of it as part of the background for the story.

The tale of independence for present day Haiti from French rule came with generational consequences.

As France was creating fashion trends with its 18th century, mouse hide eyebrows, Haiti, known as the French colony of Saint Domingue, which had gained independence in 1801, was once again fighting off a new potential colonial rule, this one being Napoléon. He was hell-bent on retaking the colony and threatened to reinstate French rule and chattel slavery.

The fight for independence was brutal. But it wasn’t until 1805, when Haiti became officially independent. Here’s the caveat: for France to recognize this, Haiti had to agree to pay France 150 million francs, as well as a 50% discount on exported goods to them.

This debt did not go away.

In 1838, France agreed to reduce the debt to 90 million francs. It would take Haiti 122 years to pay it off, finally settled in 1947.

The world we see today, the moving pieces and nuances, we can often discover by digging deeper. After all, nothing is how it might first be perceived.

The United States didn’t recognize Haiti until 1862. This meant that the US also didn’t trade or have commercial relationships with Haiti, although benefitting from its pressure on revolting against French rule. It is suspected that because of Haiti’s revolution, this is a partial reason of why Napoléon gave up on the “New World” and agreed to sell the Louisiana Territory, what is known as the Louisiana Purchase.

France will not give reparations or payment back to the modern day Haitians, and… just in case you think Britain was any better, well, they were paying reparations to actual slave owners descendants until 2015.

Why am I showcasing this? Because with a wealth of knowledge comes power to enact genuine progress. Yes, history is often evil… but the more we know, the more we can help to change our world for the better, and I’m hoping to do that with my stories too. There is nothing like taking the darkness of history and fighting back with the fantastical and have the good guys win.

My dragon series continues to play with history, sprinkling in historical truths, and lighting it on fire with beautiful magic.

Ask Tina

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How did your writing journey come about?

Story was my safety net growing up, and in the colorful in-between of reality and my imagination, I found comfort in the great pages of wonderful books. A book was the best of gifts to me. It gave me a chance to travel, learn, escape…to love, to fight for what was right. It offered me more than my every day.

Especially when my every day shifted more to criminal justice and figuring out ways to help the disenfranchised and ensure that every person has a fair shot under the law. As a then paralegal, I had high hopes for every client that walked through those doors.

But one fateful day, things changed.

A disgruntled client’s family member burst into the office. They demanded that things be done on their case. This wasn’t odd. The paralegal is often the one to take the brunt of the abuse; think of it as customer service on the front lines.

Yet when they promised to come back and shoot up the office, I was terrified. None of my education had prepared me on how to duck and dive, to potentially push heavy furniture around. So instead, we were sitting ducks with only one way out and all of the windows painted shut.

I panicked.

I took this fear home with me, and every day when I returned to the office, it gnawed at me. Would this be the day I’d die?

There was no plan on what to do, but my mind wouldn’t rest without something being done… and that is when I started writing. It began as a paranormal romance, but due to this trauma quickly shifted to something more sinister.

I needed to process the darkness.

Now, that's meant diving into the world of magic and the fantastical...  

But back then, well,  there would be more threats, and I’d be more prepared as I’d pour all of that angst into my fiction.

Processing my every day in a high-stress environment came a lot easier by my spending time creating characters and solving their problems. It empowered me and gave me hope, peace, and a way to express myself.

Although I left being a paralegal behind, I still find the sweet solace of storytelling to be my anchor.

I’m happy to say that the family member never returned with a weapon, and safeguards were put in place to protect the staff.

Oh, and the book that came out of this trauma is Deadly Sins under my pseudonym, Rayne Marrow.

New Music New Reality

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Today I’m rewriting my past, with a changed mindset, and embracing my new reality.

We are told many things growing up, receiving tons of nasty or negative messaging.

Sometimes, that includes messages that our heart’s desires will never come true and that we should stop trying.

I’ve always been drawn to music and the arts.

Art feeds other forms of art.

But due to limitations, I thought those days of singing were long gone… dreams that just weren’t meant to come into fruition. Today, though, I sort of wish I could go back and tell my younger self that it would all be okay, that young Tina would become this Renaissance woman, capable of breaking glass ceilings, following her heart, and will find her happiness.

Creation, bringing something from an idea into reality, is like no other feeling. It is physically manifesting a new reality of something that you only saw as possible in your mind and now can hold in your hands, listen to, and just enjoy.

The Process

I don’t know if you remember, but a couple of months ago, I mentioned how I was starting a story, and the character would only speak with poetry. This is one of the heartwrenching poems. But even when the poem was done, there wasn’t a sense that the journey was over. It called me to do more with it.

Yes, I went out in search of a producer and we worked on it.

Then, no longer was it just about the words, the lyrics I’d created, but a chance for me to sing again, too.

I took it.

The Result

I grasped ahold to a future I only saw in my mind’s eye and gripped on to it for dear life.

No matter where this will take me, I’ve created a piece of life’s soundtrack, and hearing my melodic voice will always prove that I am truly unstoppable.

“Vibe with Me”

Written by Tina Glasneck, and performed with Nicholas Berg

Learn more

New Music Coming Soon

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Stories usually have a way to begin…

It is the process of sitting in my imaginary café, meeting up with characters. Characters usually appear as if summoned.

Luckily, they tell me their stories. Some come in, take a seat, and don’t have anything to say. Others chit-chat but don’t have enough substance to create a full story around them (or they don’t quite know who they are at the moment), while others are like meeting up with an old friend.

My current work-in-progress did none of the usual. Instead of sitting in my imaginary cafe, she wanted to communicate through poetry.

Writing leads to more

There are times that the words, which flowed, were gut-wrenching, other times triumphant. She caused me to place a mirror up to myself, to peel back a layer.

From one such poem, Vibe with Me came to be.

But having a poem was not the end.

Suddenly, as if serendipitous, I found myself looking for a producer willing to work with me.

I met the wonderful Nicholas Berg.

The Process

Unsure of what I was doing, I jumped off of that bridge as quickly as I could, and Nicholas helped to give me the confidence I needed to not only write the song but to sing on the track. As such, this harmony track brings it all to life, and I can’t wait for you to get a chance to listen to it too.

A woman’s heart is truly filled with stories and treasure.

I learned this by listening to the soft voice and feeling the nudging that this is something I needed to do.

What happens when a poem leads to music?

I’m an author of fiction.

But something is calling me to dive deeper…and write all of the words. So, today, I will add singer-songwriter to my credentials, and walk through this door that has newly opened to me.

Join me, as we vibe together! Head over to Youtube and subscribe

Krampus

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It’s December 5th, and that means… Krampus is coming to town!!!!

Over the years, I’ve seen his popularity grow. But I thought a bit of an introductory post might be helpful in letting you know who this figure from lore and legend is…

Who is Krampus?

Krampus is the half-goat, half-demon, bad Santa, dates back to pagan times. He has sharp teeth, a long tongue, large claws, is tall, hairy like a goat and with cloven hooves, has a long tail, sometimes can be seen with chains, and carries a sack and switches. He is said to appear to take away those who have made the naughty list.

Yep, that sack isn’t for toys but to stuff the bad boys and girls (and adults) into it. 

This holiday figure has gained attention over the years, even with some Christmas horror movies, like the movie named after him, called Krampus, A Christmas Horror Story, Krampus: The Reckoning, Krampus: The Christmas Devil, and more (as listed on IMDB)

Yep, he even has a song “Karol of the Bells”.

As Krampus becomes more popular in pop culture, we see more with the Krampuslauf (The Krampus Run).

In Southern Germany, Austria, and even here in the States, many places participate in Krampus Night by dressing up, watching the Bad Santa parade, and even enjoying this anxious-filled yuletide. Yep, it’s sort of like if Halloween and Christmas had a terrifying and shaggy baby with horns that walked around with large cowbells, a sack, and switches.

He has pagan origins. Some mention that Krampus was once a fertility god, and could be associated with Pan—at least physically and that he was part of the winter solstice rituals. Legend even proclaims him to be the son of Lady Hel, from Norse mythology.

Why is Krampus associated with St. Nicholas?

In Germany, December 6th is known as St. Nicholas Day, when St. Nicholas will place sweets into the shoes of good girls and boys. But on the night before, St. Nicholas (St. Nick) goes from house to house with Krampus (who also is wearing chains). You see, St. Nicholas was a known exorcist. This would then make Krampus the one who is doing St. Nicholas’s bidding – totally changes the idea of Santa Clause.

I’m happy to share my love of lore and legend, and since Krampus plays a major part in A Half-Cocked Vampire: A Vampire Urban Fantasy, I invite you to continue to dive into this holiday tale, now knowing about the magic of Krampus, too!