Updates

This month, I'm going to try to get back to my rhythm of posting blogs and participating on twitter, etc as I'd planned throughout this year. I've also gotten back to going to the gym, writing, etc. Here's for getting back on track (again, lol)! Things are now starting to stabilize a little, which is a relief.

I've registered for the RWA National Conference. Woohoo! It'll be my first one. I'm sad that Nashville was flooded since I'm originally from there and spent most of my life there. I'd planned on going to the conference in Nashville initially, but with a few hefty expenses arising, I reluctantly decided it wasn't going to be feasible. Now that the conference is in Central Florida, I'm able to go for sure, and I'd be stupid to not go.

On a sidenote, I've added Bob Mayer's blog to my blog list. He has a Warrior Writer class that I took online at the beginning of the year, which was awesome. Very good information.

That's about all I can think of at the moment. =)

The Friday 56

The Fifth Sentence

"The old photographs showed a small stream winding through it all, flanked by carefully selected plants, its waters sheltering huge surly koi." - Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews

Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
* Post a link along with your post back to this blog.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Into the Paranormal: Fylgjur and Norse Mythology

Today, I’ll be discussing a mythological being I found out about a while back. It is called the Fylgja. The Fylgja is a guardian spirit of Norse mythology. They carry a connection to a person or sometimes family and protect or prevent harm from befalling its human. Fylgjur usually appear to their person in the shape of a woman or an animal. While researching this, I read that they are most often seen in the animal form during sleep; although, they could be awake, but if one were to see their fylgja, it is an omen of their encroaching death. Though, when the fylgjur appear as women, they are looked on as guardians, which is fascinating since valkyrjur (valkyries) were also females that would appear to the Vikings in female shape and lead the men to Valhalla. Valkyrjur were also connected with animals.

I’ve been very intrigued by this subject ever since Elizabeth Black guest blogged at The Deadly Vixens (a paranormal blog I used to be part of) about different mythological creatures that are out there for paranormal authors to partake in that step outside the norms of vampires, werewolves, and ghosts, which I love so much. I couldn’t imagine not writing about these more common mythological creatures, but I’ve decided to eventually write a novel on the fylgja. I definitely plan on dipping into how the fylgjur and valkyrjur’s similarities, but that’ll have to wait until next week! I can’t give too much away so soon, can I?

Some great links to find out more about fylgja are:
http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/mythology/text/Supernatural_Beings.htm
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/222990/fylgja
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fylgja

What do you think about this topic regarding fylgja? What are some mythological creatures that you’ve heard about recently that delve outside of the normal of the paranormal genre that you really enjoy or that you’d like to find more information about? Let me know! =)