Tina Glasneck, USA Today Bestselling Author

Enter the story world of dragons, magic, and romantasy

Blog

Woot! Winner!

By

Winner! Thursday Threads

I’m happy to share that I won this past week’s #ThursThreads, a weekly flashfiction contest hosted by author Siobhan Muir.

What is flash fiction?

Flash fiction is when you tell a story in 250 words or less. It’s a great challenge that often can wake up the fingers to write.

I must admit that I needed this win. The past 40 days have been super hard with ongoing health challenges leaving me both physically and mentally exhausted. Yet, this week, I wanted to create something, just to lean in and listen to my muse a bit. This gave me an opportunity to write without overtaxing myself and hope that I’d been missing as I silently struggled.

The battlefield was quiet now.

When the first line came to me, I saw it in technicolor, almost as if I stood on that bloodied field. I could feel my chest pounding, my body aching, and the weight of so much betrayal which I carried on my shoulders. It was visceral.

I can never predict how the muse will behave. Writing allows me to live a thousand lives (or maybe even remember past ones (???) the jury is out on that. But when it takes over the physical senses and becomes so real, I am happy to pen it on the paper (or page).

Wriiting is different for every author.

It is finding the magic in the shadows as the story unfolds…

Currently healing, I’d be remiss to say it was just a one-off. I know that this is only a snippet of a story that will come to life; its germinating in my soul, sprouting roots, and when the idea is formed, it’ll be planted.

And I can’t wait.

This marks my 5th win in the #ThursThreads contest. I am stoked and honored.

You can read the story and learn more about the honorable mentions, as well as the runner-ups and more stories here.

The Cusp of Change

By

Do you feel it? We are on the cusp of change.

And I thought a lot about us.

No, this is not about to get creepy or stalkerish. I mean in the sense of the importance of community. As one of my readers, you are a vital part of all that I do.

This past weekend, I spent 3-days with a 30-hour meditation workshop. It was amazing, powerful, and life-changing. It also gave me so much peace of mind. I’ve been meditating daily, practicing yoga, and journaling. Yes, I’ve been working through all of my mental blocks to grow.

 Just when it comes to learning about the power of deep breathing to calm the mind has allowed me to respond differently to my everyday. So far, I’ve continued my daily yoga and meditation practices. Not because I have to, but because it helps me to feel better.

 The thing about life is that we are not meant just to survive. We are here to thrive. I know this sounds all woo-woo! Yet, because I write about magic, I like to think that we can indeed find it in our daily lives with the family, friends, and peers we choose to share our time and lives with. Certainly, no man is an island. In this global community, we are all connected. 

Mindfulness

The older I get, the more the existential question of the meaning of life hits. But through taking time, I’ve come to understand that life is about contribution and community. In writing down goals and analyzing them, I’ve found that storytelling is my cornerstone of happiness. My goal is always to provide escapism through the tropes of kick-butt heroines, who are defeating monsters tackling evil, peeling back layers to display our shared humanity. Nothing is ever easy, but it is through growth that characters overcome and prevail. No matter if they are young or midlife, life has a way of throwing us curveballs and opportunities to grow. I like to think that each story echoes a place in the ecosystem where you can find yourself and relate.

Community

And you are a part of that community.

This community we’ve built, to be honest, is one thing that helps me to get out of bed daily and to continue to create. The idea of these characters and my world may be from my imagination, but through sharing these gifts and things with you, they can continue to take shape and come to life.

So, thank you so much for joining me in this community we’re building, and we’re not done yet!

TINA GLASNECK is a USA TODAY and international bestselling author. She enjoys creating tales inspired by Norse mythology, mythological creatures, and kickass heroines. In 2021, she will be sending a catalog of her books to the moon with the Writers on the Moon Project.

Writers on the Moon: Tina Glasneck’s Stowaways

By

Image of the Writers on the Moon Payload, courtesy of Dr. Susan Kaye Quinn, Writersonthemoon.com

We’re one step closer on the Writers on the Moon mission with our lunar time capsule with Astrobotic. Now it’s time to reveal who my stowaways are for this mission.

The Writers on the Moon payload has been shipped and delivered to Astrobotic to start the cleanroom assembly process and integration into the Peregrine Lander.

There are so many steps to getting this off the ground, with so many moving parts. Yet,  I’m ecstatic to be a part of it.

Introspection

I’m a writer, composing stories is my passion — be it urban fantasy, paranormal romance, fantasy or anything else. I find solace in words.

Yet, throughout creating the files, my portion of the payload, I spent days contemplating over every word. I’m quick to say that I was trying to find ways to weave my entire life together in a two-page document. It wasn’t the facts of my life that brought me to my knees, as every struggle and triumph helped shape me. Life is more than pain — it is the hope-filled light of love, friendships, faith, and laughter that paint each day with a new beauty. It is from the warmth those moments bring us that helps to propel us forward.

A part of me was an enigma, even to myself. Looking back and finding out all that I’d done over these 42 years has amazed me. Scouring the internet produced long-lost interviews, writings, and even an IMDB listing and page.

I’d been so busy fighting to become someone that I’d let slip away the fact that I was indeed already someone.

Now, placing my lovely stone moon-inspired crown on my head, I step into my purpose, my light.

This seems to be a great time to announce who my stowaways are.

Who are my stowaways?

As a stowaway, those included were able to submit a question. The question was tagged with either the asker’s name (and in some cases, their name and the name of someone they wished to honor).

My thought in doing this is that everyone included would be able to look up at the night sky and find hope. Even more, their names will be discovered by future anthropologists, as well! A bright spot of hope that glows every night.

The nine stowaways are:

Elizabeth James, Scott Reid, Patricia J Burrett, Sandi Kimbauer,Barbi Morales, Jerilynn Rodriquez, Eleanor Elizabeth Forman, George Corcoran, and, Amee Foster

All slots for the stowaways have been filled, and the recipients of these spots notified.

Over the coming months, I expect so much more to come out about this project.

The Writers on the Moon project has even been added to the Astrobotic’s Wikipedia page. Yay!

What an exciting journey, and I am so happy to share it with you.

Important information about the Lunar Time Capsule

  • There are officially 125 writers on the Writers on the Moon Manifest. On their personal manifests, many writers included stowaways. Writers from around the world are a part of this wonderful project.
  • The Lunar Time Capsule will be sent via Astrobotic’s Peregrine Lander.
  • Currently, the mission is scheduled for sometime in 2021.

This blog will be continuously updated as the mission progresses, so stay tuned.

Want to visit the official Writers on the Moon blog? Check it out here.

Missed my prior posts about the Writers on the Moon mission? Catch up.

Writers on the Moon is also onboard the Lunar Codex.

NASA, Space and Loki?

By

How NASA inspired an 80s kid to dream big

I’m an 80s kid. We were raised with an overwhelming appreciation for NASA, Space and practically fine-tuned to the heavens’ celestial dance above.

I grew up between Star Trek and Star Wars, with Space Camp movies and the possibility of attending NASA’s space camp. Indeed, we even spent hours contemplating what we’d do if we were ever “Lost in Space” or found an alien, like “ET,” to return home.

Space was the magical equivalent of the metaphysical. While fantasy draws from the Earth, with its tales of fantastical reaches of herbs, crystals, and bohemian chic dressing (I’m looking at you  “Hocus Pocus”), the mysteries of Space were something pushed by those in charge.

I can still remember Presidential speeches about the importance of space travel.

Man has looked up to the sky for millennia in search of meaning and connection. Others have sought to tell the future and past according to the celestial dance. With Perseverance, the Mars Rover’s recent landing, we’ve entered a new era of space achievement.

NASA formed? How did we get here?

In response to Russia’s launch of Sputnik into Orbit, the United States officially formed NASA, starting the space race.

The strides we’ve taken to arrive in Space are extraordinary. Before Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon, in 1958, NASA officially launched Project Mercury. In the middle of the cold war with Russia, America searched for the best test pilots to lead the first-of-its-kind mission.

NASA’s project Mercury 7’s mission: ensure that humankind could survive in orbit.

“If there is one thing I’ve learned in my years on this planet, it’s that the happiest and most fulfilled people I’ve known are those who devoted themselves to something bigger and more profound than merely their own self-interest…”

John Glenn, NASA Astronaut, Project Mercury

As one of the authors involved in the Writers on the Moon project, I am humbly aware of how this experience might be the pinnacle of my entire existence.

Space

I’ve looked to the Moon for decades. The Moon’s beauty has soothed me, worked its magic where I no longer felt lost in the Cosmos of time. Under her beauty and the shimmering glow of the shimmering stars, I take heart in knowing that a part of me will be there, in the lunar time capsule, for future generations.

The gravity of the situation also rests on my shoulders. To know what an honor this indeed is—for the history, my family,  for me. This spark of being part of the first mission is all extraordinary.

Life has changed. In what was previously a time of hopelessness, hope has returned. Shifting in a time of stillness, and magic in a time when faith was sometimes fleeting.

I am #54 on the Manifest for the Writers on the Moon payload, and the countdown is on! This week, the payload was shipped off to Astrobotics.

So, what does that mean?

As part of the Writers on the Moon project in the first commercial payload, my books will join the Astrobotic’s Peregrine Mission 1 on the United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket. Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos, current Amazon CEO, supplies the flight’s rocket engines. With an updated, projected launch of late 2021, the payload will be delivered to Lacus Mortis, on the Moon for future anthropologists and generations.

Since I write fantasy, I am happy to take the Norse gods with me in my catalog, including the debonair Loki.

http://books2read.com/u/3GAzYQ

By all current projections for the next project on which I am working, I expect Loki to play a role in the upcoming novel, Four Times the Fight, releasing at the end of March.

Loki has a piece of my heart, and I can’t wait to share the next part of his adventure with you.

Want to know why I love Norse mythology? Check out the prior blog here.

Writers on the Moon is also onboard the Lunar Codex.

With Mars Rover Landing Comes Hope

By

At the time of this email, a winter storm ravages the United States causing massive power outages and Arctic temperatures.

With the unusual weather causing heavy snow, ice storms, and a wintery mix, watching the Mars Rover landing served as a beacon of hope. It stirred something in many of us reminiscent of the NASA push of the 1980s.

Hope is essential for our survival.

As a kid of the 80s, there was so much information given to us about Space. Be it through movies, like Space Camp, to even watching the tragic Space Shuttle Challenger launch at school in 1986, to even the school trips to NASA. I would look up at the sky and always find a piece of hope.

Even later, entering high school, my eclectic sensibilities found greatness in worlds beyond our own, especially when viewing the celestial bodies. I proudly bore the nickname of Moonbeam and basked in the beauty of the Moon’s glow.

So, having an opportunity to have a piece of my soul on the Moon is confirming and life-changing. (Let’s face it, all of my books contain my sweat, blood, tears, and a part of my essence. I am so claiming a part of me is off to the Moon—LOL).

Just as the Moon shines at night, it signals hope and that light is just around the bend. We can find hope in our natural world, for sure.

Yesterday, like many of you, I watched NASA’s Mars Rover Landing and was completely stoked. The rover will drill and take samples from the planet’s soil. We have no idea what science will reveal to us about all that Mars was, but I can’t wait to learn more about what is in the great beyond.

NASA’s Artemis Program.

We have taken such great leaps in space travel and exploration, and I’m also waiting with bated breath for NASA’s Artemis Program.

According to NASA’s website, “Artemis is the first step in the next era of human exploration. Together with commercial and international partners, NASA will establish a sustainable presence on the Moon to prepare for missions to Mars.”

So, what will it mean when we colonize the Moon for future space exploration? Will we finally head toward the Pleiades star system and answer many of our most complex mysteries?

Watching the Mars landing, the compiled 4D video of Mars, as well as knowing that a helicopter is flying around Mars is just mindblowing. To think we’ve accomplished all of that in less than sixty years is impressive in itself. Who knows where and how far things will have developed by the 100 anniversary of the Moon landing?

Yesterday’s Mars landing is just the beginning of a great adventure, and I’m happy we get to see it all develop in real-time.

As we look forward to the upcoming missions, we celebrate this great feat! I’m ecstatic to be a part of the Writers on the Moon project (Even more, there’s not just one mission we’re on, but two. Writers on the Moon is also onboard the Lunar Codex.)

Tina Glasneck is a USA Today bestselling author of fantasy (Urban, PNR, mythic). She enjoys creating fantastical tales starring Norse gods, dragons, vampires, and magic. She is one of the one hundred twenty-five authors set to send their work to the Moon in a lunar time capsule in July 2021. One day she hopes to travel to Asgard and see what all the fuss is about.