Novelista

  As the year comes to a close, I don’t want to reflect—only look forward.  However, how do we know where we’re going, if we don’t know where we’ve been? My personal journey this year has been difficult, and, at times, downright dark.  With all that has happened, I feel as though I have weathered this storm rather well.  I am in a better place as I head into the new year. I have been working through early drafts of my new detective novel.  Polishing makes every draft better than the last.  I even have the outline and beginnings of a second detective novel. The sixth book of the World In-between fantasy series stalled.  However, lately, Berty and Silvia have been rewriting parts and pulling me into a different direction than I originally planned.  And, I like where it’s going to go.  It might get a new title. My plans are to continue devoting time to my writing.  I will not be taking any new editing or beta reading projects for the time b...

The turn of the millennium feels like it was only yesterday. Soon, the ‘20s will be roaring. Before the decade ends, let’s see from where we’ve come. My first book, The World In-between, debuted in 2011. At my writers’ group the other night, I was talking about reading books and wondering how someone can write something complex and interesting. Then, I wrote the 125,000 word epic fantasy series beginning with its multiple plot threads and array of characters in a magical setting connected to the mundane world. So far, the series has five books: The World In-between, Bow of the Moon, Secrets of the Sages, Whispers, and Hope. And, I am currently writing the sixth. In-between writing the series, I’ve also written two stand alone science fiction novels, Tricentennial and Where Pirates Go to Die. The former being a dystopia whose secrets tear apart a family that struggles to find themselves and each other. The latter is space opera where pirate outlaws lea...

It has been almost a year since I last typed the sixth book of my fantasy series.  Before the last day of July, that is.  As I have mentioned in previous posts, I write my first drafts on pen and paper, then type it.  I started typing it again.  Getting to this point has been a struggle. Rewind to November of 2016.  Hope, The World In-between book 5, released.  I already began writing book 6 as soon as I penned the final word of 5.  That’s how I work.  I write and type simultaneously, even the same book.  The exact day my book released, my mom was admitted to the hospital. I would take my writing to the hospital.  Sometimes, I’d get pages done, but mostly nothing. After my mom’s death, I kept writing although not as much.  I lost the connection to my characters.  No amount of pen ramble would bring that back.  Writing another genre helped. I put my fantasy series aside.  I hoped that someday...

It's spring, or so the calendar tells me.  The weather hasn't made up its mind yet.  Such is life in Southwestern Pennsylvania. I'm sharing an excerpt of the detective story I've been intermittently writing with my fantasy series.  This story takes place in present day, has no portals to magical worlds, and is currently titleless. Here is an introduction of something different.  From the first page: Rain pattered Zia’s umbrella while the cold, spring air made her arm ache.  She thought nothing could be worse than Pittsburgh’s winter for her mending bicep.  Then, Pittsburgh’s spring came.  Tucking the umbrella’s rod between her neck and shoulder, she rubbed her upper arm.  Her pace increased as she peered at the six story red brick building—the only legally occupied building in one of the forgotten, dilapidated sections of the city.  She hurried inside, hoping its warmth would ease the pain. An original to the building, out of comm...

A Christmas themed flash fiction based on my characters from Where Pirates Go to Die.  On display at the Mount Pleasant Public Library. The Xmas Log By: IE Castellano My crew and I returned to the Tigerlily tonight without having to maim anyone. A Christmas miracle. The Christmas party slogged, especially since Dirk made us take anti-poison nanos that blocked me from getting an eggnog induced buzz. His caution is not unfounded, though. No one knows how this new Milky Way Consortium will act even with the different aliens represented alongside humans in the government. My idea of caution is armored formal wear that hides a few blades from the entrance scanners and bringing along our alien crew member. Gogi turned heads in her native regalia. Her feathers sparkled as if she rubbed in some of the pink quartz dust of her home planet. We were the epitome of what the Consortium tried to achieve with their “share Christmas with aliens” party: Humans and aliens work...

I gave myself a Thanksgiving deadline to finish writing the first draft of Book 6 of The World In-between series.  While I have made great strides on the book, it will be not be finished come Thursday.  Berty and company are on their way to the final major plot point in the story as I write this blog post.  The final plot point keeps getting more complicated the closer I get to it.  Hopefully, I ’ll have it all wrapped with a bow on top by Christmas. In the meantime, I’ll be joining other local authors at the Mount Pleasant Public Library during the Shop Local Saturday Cookie Tour again this year.  There will be books and cookies. During this special event, my books will be $5 and $10.  I take cash and all major cards. When:  Saturday, November 24, 2018  10 am to 2 pm Where:  Mount Pleasant Public Library 120 S Church St. Mount Pleasant, PA 15666 Parking:  Parking Lot beside library (metered) or on Church Street Th...

My writing group meets twice a month at the library and a few times a year for the various holidays, we write flash fiction or poetry.  I had no idea what I was going to write about for Halloween.  A fellow author at the group mentioned in passing something about driving down the road with thumping coming from the car's trunk.  I scribbled down a premise and used some imagery from this year's road trip to the desert SW.  Pictured above is north eastern AZ. For your reading pleasure: Thump by: IE Castellano Thump . Thump . “No. No. No!” She slammed her hand against the steering wheel. “We are not going back.” The old car’s headlights revealed the outlines of cacti and sage brush standing just beyond the dirt road. Thump . Thump . “Don’t argue with me. You can’t change my mind,” she said. She wiped her palm on her pants. Thump . Thump . Thump . Thump . “Fine. I’ll tell you. If it’ll shut you up.” She glan...

This past Sunday, I attended the Sunday Salon at the Mount Pleasant Public Library in Mount Pleasant, PA.  It was the second salon they did and the last one for 2018.  The library will begin again in January 2019, the third Sunday of the month. The theme for this month centered around "Falling for Fall."  Three local artists displayed incredible paintings and local authors and poets read fall centric selections.  My selection that I read takes place within the same world of the World In-between Series.  Enjoy. An Autumnal Outing by: IE Castellano Brenda twirled on the wooden platform, watching her lilac cloak float in a circle around her. A faint dry crispness tickled her nose. She paused to study the bundle of branches that encased her family’s chambers. Some of the green leaves looked less green. She switched to skipping across the platform so she could watch the door. Hearing her mother and father convince her brother to leave his trucks at h...

Flash Fiction for Valentine's Day on display at my local library. Teri tapped her toes to the beat of the background music in the coffee shop.  Early, as usual, she sipped an easy-to-drink grandé something or other while watching the door.  Every time it opened, she wondered if Steve walked inside. Sure, she studied his photos before coming.  However, people tended to embellish or downright lie on the internet, especially on dating sites.  The profile stated that Steve was six-four, blond, blue-eyed with an athletic build.  His photos showed the blond part, the blue eyes part, and the not so shabby body part (under well-fitting clothes).  But, his blond might have gone bald and his athleticness could have been long before he found the glorious comfort of cake.  If those were even pictures of him and not ripped out of a magazine. She glanced at her half gone coffee.  When she looked up, her stomach fluttered.  A man who looked a lot...

This Saturday, Nov 25th 11 am – 2 pm Mount Pleasant Public Library, Mount Pleasant, PA I’ll be joining other area authors at this Cookie Tour stop. Going to be in the PA Laurel Highlands this weekend?  Come say hi and get a book or three. There’ll be cookies! The Borough of Mount Pleasant’s 4th annual Cookie Tour supports local businesses.  Tour starts at 10:30 am.  Get tour information, map, and a chance to win a $100 Visa card at the Gazebo in Veterans Park (corner of Diamond [PA 819] and Washington Streets). See you there!

Letter to Nowhere By: IE Castellano Agostus Hoverall Hillside Village Cemetery Hillside Village, USA 1 November 2017 Haunt Council Congress of Ghosts and Ghouls Nowhere Re: Mountain Top Inn To whom it may concern: The Mountain Top Inn accommodations have been quite unsatisfactory.  I have had the worst Halloween in three centuries during my visit.  This so called hotel needs to be stricken from the logs immediately. In the rooms, the beds have too soft a mattress, allowing one to fall asleep easily and stay slumbering throughout the night.  Precise controls keep water at a constant warm or cool temperature regardless of fiddling.  The wide corridors lack tables, mirrors, vases, or other items, which could fall in front of, on top of, or behind guests as they traverse to and from their rooms. Common areas have plenty of coffee cups, snacks, and scalding beverages.  Chairs and tables abound.  However, guests o...

This year, my writers’ group wrote flash fiction or poetry or whatever for July 4 th about freedom and liberty.  The writings get framed and displayed in the local library.  Since, although it’d be a fun trip to the country, visiting my small town library isn’t in your summer plans, I’ve posted my flash here. They Came By: IE Castellano I was a small child when I witnessed their ship land—war torn and ragged.  These people emerged from malfunctioning airlocks not all that different than us, only where it mattered.  They knelt in the soft dirt, crying.  When they rose, they asked for sanctuary—a place to start over—a place to live their lives in peace.  Their elders had seen peace.  Their young knew it not.  They relayed stories of war and ravaging, of death and destruction.  They wanted better—to provide a future for the next generation. We sympathized.  We offered them the chance to make new lives on our planet....

What exactly is a Wood Listener? Beyond being able to communicate with the trees, no one seems to be able to tell Hope what a Wood Listener does, nor can anyone tell her why someone wants to steal her Listener magic and leave her for dead. The fifth book in the epic fantasy series shifts the focus from Berty to his niece, seventeen year old Hope, as she comes into her own, magically speaking. Since she first crossed the portal ten years ago, Hope learned to straddle two worlds—the mundane modern world and the magical world in-between the portals.  As the only Wood Listener in centuries, she struggles to find her place in life.  Unbeknownst to her uncle, her parents, and her innocent friend trailing her, Hope stoles into the magical side only to find her place fraught with danger. Hope (The World In-between, 5) now has a paperback edition available (in addition to the hardcover and ebook editions) where they sell paperbacks ( Amazon and Barnes & Noble...

A blue Victorian similar to the one at 727 Oak Street While Hope (The World In-between, 5) gets ready for its paperback debut, Dreamweaver (Book 6) plows forward.  The beginning of the sixth book in the epic fantasy series takes place in a dream world modeled on Berty’s world—the day Silvia introduced him to the world in-between the portals—however, he has no memory of the past ten years.  Like in Book 1 ( The World In-between ), Berty goes to 727 Oak Street to interview the mysterious Silvia.  Unlike Book 1, Berty’s brother, Jon, magically appears to aid his journey.  Or does he? An excerpt from Dreamweaver (The World In-between, 6) Chapter One Dream Home Something moved in Berty’s peripheral vision.  When he looked towards the opened door, the old woman had gone.  “Where’d she go?”  He stepped closer to the door.  “Hello?” he called.  Crossing the threshold, he stepped under a brass chandelier.  He stopped himself i...

Hope in hardcover Writing has finished.  Editing has ceased.  Physical and digital manifestations of my words now appear in book form (at least in pre-order until Nov 22 nd ).  Hope (The World In-between, 5) is a reality. Hope sees the worlds on both sides of the portal through different eyes.  Yes, Berty is still a major player in the book, but I decided to take the lens away from him.  The reader gets to know him better through his niece, Hope.  Who, in turn, gets a bigger piece of the adventure, whether she wants it or not. Ten years after others fought the Battle of Fairyland, seventeen-year-old Hope struggles to find her place in the world.  Which side of the portal should she be spending her time?  Can she suffer through the rest of high school without detention?  What about college?  Neither magic nor archery are majors.  What exactly does a wood listener do with the rest of her life?  An unknown enemy sh...