Fun Facts About Wonder Woman

Melinda did fun facts about one influence for Amazon Heat, Amazon Mythology. Today,  I'd like to focus on the other inspiration, Wonder Woman. Here are a few fun fact about this awesome super hero who kicks butt in an awesome pair of boots.

1. Wonder Woman was created by William Moulton Marston (the inventor of the polygraph).


2. Wonder Woman's alter ego is Diana Prince/Princess Diana of Themyscira. 


3. Wonder Woman made her first appearance in December 1941 in All-Star Comics #8. 


4. In creating her William Marston wanted to create a feminine character with all the strength of Superman plus all the allure of a good and beautiful woman.


5. Initially, Wonder Woman was an Amazon champion who wins the right to return Steve Trevor — a United States intelligence officer whose plane had crashed on the Amazons' isolated island homeland — to "Man's World" and to fight crime and the evil of the Nazis. Her origin story was later revamped to increase her Hellenic and mythological roots. She received the blessing of each deity in her crib, Diana is destined to become "beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, stronger than Hercules, and swifter than Mercury." Her origin was changed yet again in 2011 making her a demigod, the natural-born daughter of Hippolyta and Zeus


6. Wonder Woman had arsenal of powerful god-forged weapons at her disposal, but her signature weapons are her indestructible bracelets and the Lasso of Truth.


7. In the television show the bullet proof material the braclets were formed of was called 'Feminum'. In the comic books, it was called 'Amazonium'.


8. Wonder Woman spinning into costume was also solely a television fixture. She would spin her lasso around herself in the comic books to transform.


9. She depict her as a masterful athlete, acrobat, fighter and strategist, trained and experienced in many ancient and modern forms of armed and unarmed combat, including exclusively Amazonian martial arts.


10. In May 2011, Wonder Woman placed fifth on IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Heroes of All Time.

Who else loves Wonder Woman as much as we do? Do you have any fun facts to add to the list?


Amazon Heat was released on January 9, 2012 from Carina Press
 

2 years ago...
Driven by grief to find a cure for cancer, Elizabeth DeMarco left Logan Spencer to accept a position on a research expedition to the Amazon rainforest. Kidnapped by guerrillas, she was saved by a secret all-female civilization, the last of the ancient Amazons. But Elizabeth discovers she's traded one form of captivity for another.
Today...
Logan never stopped searching for Elizabeth. While consulting in the remote Brazilian interior near where she was kidnapped, Logan suffers what should be a fatal fall. Near death, he's collected by the Amazons and magically healed. Elizabeth is the first person he sees as he wakes.
But there's no time for a joyful reunion. The Amazons' mystical medicine is rapidly changing Logan. They want his DNA and plan to take it—and then kill him. Logan and Elizabeth must escape before dawn or Logan—and their second chance at happiness—is doomed.

Find Amazon Heat at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and Carina Press.   

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonder_Woman
http://www.wonderwoman-online.com/marston.html

Fun Facts about the Amazons by Melinda Leigh

I'm letting my inner geek out to play today.  When Rayna Vause and I teamed up to write Amazon Heat, we did some research and learned there are many versions and stories of the Amazons in Greek mythology.  Here are some fun things you may not have known about the various legends.

• The Amazons were a tribe of warrior women who kicked butt across Asia Minor. 
• In order to prevent their race from dying out, the Amazons, uhm, visited a neighboring tribe, the Gargareans. In some stories, male children from these liasons were killed.  In others, the infants were delivered to their sires.
• The Amazons didn't kill all the men they defeated. Some they took as slaves. In some legends, they used such males for, well, you know.
• Amazons had their right breasts removed to ensure accurate aim with a bow. Can we have a collective ewww here?
• One of the labors of Hercules was to acquire the girdle of the Amazon Queen.
• Amazons are first mentioned in Homer's Iliad.
• Marriage was seen as a sort of slavery to men and was prohibited. 
• The statue on the left is a depiction of an Amazon preparing for battle.  Amazons were trained to fight hand-to-hand, with all weaponry, and on horseback.
• Amazons remained virgins until they had killed three men, therefore proving themselves as warriors before they were allowed to reproduce.
• The Amazons fought against the Greeks in the Trojan War.

Any other geeks out there?  What are your favorite myths?

Amazon Heat was released on January 9, 2012 from Carina Press
 

2 years ago...
Driven by grief to find a cure for cancer, Elizabeth DeMarco left Logan Spencer to accept a position on a research expedition to the Amazon rainforest. Kidnapped by guerrillas, she was saved by a secret all-female civilization, the last of the ancient Amazons. But Elizabeth discovers she's traded one form of captivity for another.
Today...
Logan never stopped searching for Elizabeth. While consulting in the remote Brazilian interior near where she was kidnapped, Logan suffers what should be a fatal fall. Near death, he's collected by the Amazons and magically healed. Elizabeth is the first person he sees as he wakes.
But there's no time for a joyful reunion. The Amazons' mystical medicine is rapidly changing Logan. They want his DNA and plan to take it—and then kill him. Logan and Elizabeth must escape before dawn or Logan—and their second chance at happiness—is doomed.

Find Amazon Heat at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and Carina Press.  



sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazons
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/previous_seasons/case_amazon/index.html

Head Games

Recently, I started editing a book I wrote a number of years ago. I must say it was a little scary re-reading my early writing. I alternated between cringing and being pleasantly surprised. On the upside, after revisiting my old work I was able to see how I've grown as a writer.  I'm going to invest some time and hopefully make it fit for public viewing eventually. However, the one thing that hasn't changed in all this time is my love of writing paranormal stories. 

I love having the freedom to create my own world and make up my own rules. I love mixing reality and science with the seemingly impossible. As a reader I enjoy being drawn into strange new worlds whether they be just a few degrees off normal or a land far, far away. Getting swept up in exploring the mythology that another author has created is part of the fun. With the popularity of books like Twilight and the Sookie Stackhouse series, I'm clearly not the only one enamored of this genre.  For that matter the fact that you're reading this post here at Here Be Magic  means I'm obviously not the only one in love with paranormal romance. However, as much as I enjoy a sexy shape shifter or dark and brooding vampire, there is one thing I like better. 

I love stories about people with psychic abilities. Precognition, telekenesis, pyrokineses, whatever, I find all of it fascinating. I can't tell you how many times I reread Linda Howard's Dream Man or rewatched Firestarter or episodes of The Dead Zone. I figure the reason I enjoy stories about psychics so much is because they appeal both to my creative side as well as my inner science geek. The idea that there are amazing abilities hidden deep within untapped areas of the human brain is a cool concept. It gives me all types of inspiration. Prime example, one of my current WIPs involves a character with telekinetic abilities. He gets upset and things start flying around the room. I'm having fun writing it especially now that I'm getting into the action of the story and he'll get to use this ability to defend himself. Now that I've shown you mine, it's your turn.  

What kind of paranormal stories do you like?  

Who is on your must read list?  

~Rayna

THE DOUBT MONSTER by Melinda Leigh

No, I'm not talking about a new paranormal creature or a Halloween costume. I'm referring to self-doubt, which is just as scary.

I'm having a problem with my current project.  It's a good kind of problem.  I just received several really great reviews on my debut book, SHE CAN RUN, a romantic suspense releasing at the end of November from Montlake Romance.  These were biggies, too.  Publisher's Weekly and RT Book Reviews.

SO.  Now I'm staring my work-in-process in the face, thinking, "is this as good?"

Rayna Vause and I have a paranormal novella, Amazon Heat, releasing in January 2012 from Carina Press.  I should be more relaxed about subsequent reviews, right?  Guess what?  I'm not.

I know in my brain that there will be good and bad reviews down the road. Readers and reviewers are as different as authors and books. There's something for everyone out there in the literary world, and that's a beautiful thing.

How do you overcome the mid-manuscript doubt?