Smorgasbord Invitation – Most Viewed Author Interview – Tina Frisco with a book reading.

I was thrilled to have so many of you over for the Sunday Interview series .. and this year it was the Author Book Reading and Interview.. My first guest was Tina Frisco and the post is still being viewed, making it the highest viewed interview of the year. I have taken the liberty of updating the reviews today.

Welcome to the series that is connected to Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore. After setting the cafe up last year I intend now to use as the focal point for all book promotions here on Smorgasbord. Once in the cafe, authors can be updated in the twice weekly posts with their new releases and also excellent reviews… but they can now also do a book reading and interview as they might do in a real bookstore.

I can think of no better author to kicke this new series off than Tina Frisco who is so supportive of all who follow her blog and on social media.  She is a friend, confidente and at times our conscience. Multi-talented with a deep understanding about all aspects of humanity, Tina is an example to us all of how we should treat people and animals.

This is intended to be an interactive interview with you the reader and it would be wonderful if you could therefore ask Tina your questions in the comments section. Tina will respond to those over the next couple of days.

First something about Tina Frisco

Tina Frisco is an author, singer-songwriter, RN, activist, and student of shamanism. Born in Pennsylvania USA, she attended nursing school in New York and lives in California. She began writing as a young child and received her first guitar at age 14, which launched her passion for music and songwriting. She has performed publicly in many different venues. Her publishing history includes book reviews; essays; articles in the field of medicine; her début novel, PLATEAU; her children’s book, GABBY AND THE QUADS; and her latest novel, VAMPYRIE. She enjoys writing, reading, music, dancing, arts and crafts, exploring nature, and frequently getting lost in working crossword puzzles.

Welcome Tina and thank you so much for starting off this new series.

If one of your books was selected to be made into a film; who would you like to play your main character and why?

If my latest novel, Vampyrie, were made into a film, I’d want Julia Stiles to play Phoebe Delaney. She’s a strong dramatic as well as comedic actor, two qualities most evident in Phoebe.

Although Ms. Stiles is a bit older than Ms. Delaney, she has a youthful appearance. However, she’d have to be willing to dye her hair red and wear green contact lenses!

Changing the appearance of a novel’s protagonist in a script for the performing arts somehow invalidates the work for me. This was done when The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown was brought to the big screen, and I spent a good third of the film trying to reconcile the novel’s protagonist with the one before me in the theatre.

My second choice to play Phoebe Delaney would be Molly C. Quinn who played Alexis in the TV series, Castle.

Which four famous guests would you ask to a dinner party and why?

Tina Turner – American-born recording artist, dancer, actress, and author. Music and strong female energy are vital to the survival of humankind. Tina Turner is the epitome of a strong female and dynamic performing artist.

The Dalai Lama – Tibetan holy man and government leader. The world is in dire need of a formidable and compassionate spiritual presence exemplifying nonviolence and absolute awareness.

Woman Chief – warrior and chief of the Crow people. The energy of the Earth is female. As patriarchal dominance comes to an end, strong female guidance is the imperative for transitioning into the Golden Age of Enlightenment.

Oscar Wilde – Irish playwright, novelist, essayist, and poet known for his ostentatious dress, brilliant conversation, and biting wit. Humor is to thriving what breathing is to life.

These four would make for some lively dinner conversation, don’t you think?

If you were offered three wishes to change the world, what would they be?

1. Destroy all weapons of war and prevent their re-creation by dismantling multinational corporations.

2. Encourage worldwide development of sustainable energy, organic farming, and natural forest conservation.

3. Teach children compassion and tolerance for diversity by establishing a weekly gathering, across the globe, where people of different cultures and religions sit quietly across from one another in pairs and do nothing but look into each other’s eyes for five minutes.

I was reading through the reviews for Plateau and it is clear that everyone who read the book was touched deeply in one way or another. Here is an extract from one of the reviews

“You have the choice to nourish or you have the choice to destroy with your power,” is the statement made by Ruby Plenty Chiefs, and which begins the Prologue of Plateau, a superbly written book by Tina Frisco. In this spiritually guided story, the readers are introduced to the E’Ghali culture and its people in the experience shared by a young indigenous womon, W’Hyani, and guidance of the Power Deck Cards. In these pages, it is learned that to gain insight and meaning of life, one must observe and adhere to the value of each card; in doing this, it allows the individual to connect their physical life and their spiritual life on a conscious plateau.

Can you tell us the inspiration behind the story and also how long it took you to research the story?

In late 2011, I became very disheartened by the number of documentaries focusing on apocalyptic interpretations of prophesies in relation to the 2012 winter solstice. December 21st of that year marked the end of a 5,126-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar. For the Maya, the end of a long cycle was always a cause for celebration. But many people today allowed fear to drive their thinking and determined humankind would be annihilated when that 5,126-year cycle ended.

In the early 1980s, I became apprenticed to a medicine woman. I knew the world was not going to end on 12-21-12 and felt compelled to inject a message of hope into our collective unconscious. Plateau was my way of doing that. No research was needed, as the story derived solely from what I’d learned during my apprenticeship, aided by my fertile imagination! This was not the case for Vampyrie, however. Extensive research was required; much more than I’d anticipated.

Apart from humanity you also consider animals to be very much part of our spiritual journey. Can you tell us of any particular experience you have had that touched you deeply and demonstrated this belief?

Much of my compassion for nonhuman animals stems from childhood abuse, both witnessed and experienced, perpetrated against both humans and nonhumans.

A neighbor family of my Sicilian grandmother had a dog who was neglected to the point of abuse. He was kept outside on a short leash, his fur was matted and knotted, and he had a terrible odor about him. Whenever anyone other than immediate family approached, he would growl, bark ferociously, bare his teeth, and eventually foam at the mouth. I felt as much compassion as I felt terror. I knew he behaved the way he did because he was in great pain, both physically and emotionally. I wanted to hug and care for him while simultaneously wanting to flee for my life. One doesn’t forget an experience like that.

It is clear that love and understanding lie at the heart of your writing. Particularly in your posts on your own blog and as a guest. Difficult I know, but could you give us the message you would like spread around the world to achieve peace and unity…. In around 100 words?

If humankind is to survive on planet Earth, we must keep our hearts open. If we close them to one, we close them to all. So no matter how painful, we must keep our hearts open and act from love instead of reacting from fear. We must practice gratitude and compassion within every moment and with every breath. In so doing, we will elevate the human species to a higher consciousness, facilitating peace, unity, and love.

Tina will now give us a book reading from her book Vampyrie.

She struggled to open her eyes against a light that glared with penetrating force. When she realized she was in a strange environment, she bolted from the sofa on which she was lying and ran across the room, knocking into several pieces of furniture along the way. She found the nearest wall, glued her back to it and pressed her hands flat against the surface, ready to spring on a moment’s notice.

“Where in the hell am I?” she shouted to whoever might be listening.

“You are in The Haven,” a voice answered from across the room.

She spun her head in its direction and squinted to adjust her vision. A lean-figured man was sitting in a chair with a book on his lap. He appeared to be in his early forties, with chestnut hair greying at the temples and parted to one side.

“Well how in the hell did I get here?”

“You fainted. I carried you.”

“Fainted? I don’t faint. I’m not the fainting type. And what’s The Haven? Where is it? And who in the hell are you?”

The synapses in her brain fired so quickly that she barely kept pace with her thoughts.

“Forgive my lack of etiquette, madam. I am Sir Michael Allan David. I found you lost in the catacombs and brought you to my dwelling. It is called The Haven, for it is the refuge of The Vampyrie.”

“Vampyrie? What in the hell is a vampyrie?’

“I will tell you all you need to know when I return.” He stood and placed his book and reading glasses on the small table next to his chair. “Now excuse me for a moment while I leave to prepare us some libation.”

Phoebe opened her mouth to respond, but before she could utter a word, he quickly added, “And I would be greatly obliged if you would cease using the word ‘hell’ in every other sentence. Cursing does not become you.”

Then he disappeared out of sight.

Not to be outwitted, Phoebe shouted, “And I would be greatly obliged if you would cease calling me madam. ‘Ms.’ is the correct form of address nowadays.”

She shook her head hard from side to side, attempting to clear her mind. Libation, cease, obliged, dwelling – who talks like that nowadays? And catacombs . . . in North America? The more she questioned the legitimacy of this man, the more she questioned the reality of her situation. As her thoughts collided with one another, she teetered on the brink of overload.

In an effort to wake up from what she hoped was a nightmare, she shook her head hard several more times. It didn’t work. She closed her eyes and repeated the action; but when she opened them again, the scenery hadn’t changed. This was no dream. She was where she was and had better get a grip.

Within that moment of decided resignation, it dawned on her it would be wise to orient to her surroundings in case she needed to make a quick exit. Her eyes darted around the room, looking for doors and windows. It seemed as though she’d entered a time warp.
The furniture was beyond antique, with frayed upholstery and wood that was scratched and worn. Wall hangings were faded black-and-white or sepia prints. A large threadbare tapestry hung over the fireplace. Lamps were cast iron with sickly yellow shades. The wallpaper peeled at the corners and along several of the seams. All windows were covered by heavy drapes drawn from one side to the other, making them appear like oppressive shrouds rather than potential exits.

Had she stepped into a Charles Dickens novel? And where were the doors? Were there any aside from the one through which her captor had departed?

And then, of course, there was Sir Michael. He spoke with a British accent, but Vampyrie sounded Norse. Not only did his home look like a bedraggled portrait of antiquity, he himself looked like a relic. His grey suit bordered on threadbare, and he wore an ascot. His cheeks were a little sunken and very pale. He had an odd odor about him; not repulsive, just unrecognizable, almost mysterious. She wasn’t afraid of him, yet she thought she should be.

The pitch-black, moss-filled tunnels were bad enough, but this place was downright creepy; the kind of creepy that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and run for cover. What on earth had she gotten herself into? This couldn’t possibly be the home of the gentleman who’d rescued her. Yet she knew he and the ash-white token of a man she just met in this room were one and the same.

Her knight in shining armor was at best a vestigial man, a remnant of the past.

Here is one of the reviews for Vampyrie.

A different kind of vampire story August 16, 2017

A brilliant theory that Frisco brings to this story – good vs. bad (rogue) vampires and a story that takes us through fast-paced action with the protagonist, the impetuous Phoebe who finds herself abducted by a vampire in the beginning of this curious tale.

Although the story revolves around the theme of vampires, the story is a twist on the vampire theory, bringing unpredictable action with the characters who find themselves entangled in this alternative world of secret vampires.

Throughout the story we’ll find ourselves wondering why Phoebe’s father kept their vampire history secret, and why did her mother mysteriously disappear out of her life when Phoebe was a young child. But the events that follow the story keep us engaged and waiting to find out about – The Origin of the Vampyrie and how all the characters involved came to be part of the Vampyrie circle. Through this journey Phoebe discovers who she really is as we watch her grow through the learning process.

This book is far from the average vampire story containing blood and gore, but a delight to read with Frisco’s quick witted writing and her uncanny knack to be able to insert love and compassion even in a story about vampire lore. A recommended read.

Also by Tina Frisco

Read all the Reviews and buy all the books: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B009NMOFNY

Here is how you can connect to Tina on her website and social media.

Website ~ http://tinafrisco.com
Amazon ~ http://hyperurl.co/3vme2a
Facebook ~ https://www.facebook.com/TinaFrisco.Author
Twitter ~ http://bit.ly/14VXY49
LinkedIn ~ http://linkd.in/1aAGwXl
Google+ ~ http://bit.ly/1Fc1Uzn
Goodreads ~ http://bit.ly/165vmVp

I hope you have enjoyed this reminder of the interview in July this year… thanks for dropping in.. Thanks Sally