“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.” 
– Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou was an American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. She received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees. She provided a voice to so many hearts across the world and when she ascended from this world, her presence was severely missed. 

Muse Magazine will be featuring Maya Angelou during the month of February. She was truly the embodiment of what it meant to not only love others, but to also love oneself. Love is shown in many different ways and for many different reasons, but kindness is the greatest form any one being can show another. 

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Huge News! One of our House Ourania members is officially a self-published author!! Her book Shadow of Twilight is available for pre-order and will be launching February 16th!! We are incredibly proud of her! 
Check our her author interview and book below:

Get a Sample Today:

Shadow of Twilight: Book 1 of Fated Darkness Series | SAMPLE - Heather Smith - Wattpad

From the moment Amelia's mother was brutally murdered, her father made sure she knew to never reveal the secrets of her lineage and the powers that it possessed. But no one warned her of what would be unleashed when she met her fated mate. When she shakes Alpha Gabriel's hand, Amelia knew right away that he was her mate, and dread quickly set in. 
 
Once they completed their bond, Amelia begins to receive dreams, warning her of an attack. An old enemy is lurking in the shadows, watching as she matures into the wolf she is destined to be, but can she figure out who he is and how he's connected to her past, or will she be too late to save her pack, her family, and her mate?
 
The nightmares are only the beginning as a new wave of powers overwhelm her. It's a battle of wills, hearts, and minds, with their lives on the line, and Amelia must decide what she's willing to give up.

Review: Amelia and Gabriel have captured my heart and ran away with it. As a long time fan of shifter novels, this has become one of my personal favorites. Amelia is the strong, independent female lead my heart has been longing for. Gabriel is the tortured Alpha we all love. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves shifter novels and bada** female leads. - Sclark71517

Author Interview

Interviewer: Please introduce yourself to our readers. 
Heather: Well hello, I am Heather Smith, author of Shadow of Twilight.

Interviewer: Let’s begin. What caused you to pursue writing? Was there a defining moment?
Heather: I'm not sure if there was ever a defining moment. I've just always loved to read and watch fantasy based movies and television.
I've always had a very active imagination that would grow to be too complex for my brain to hold so I'd write it out. Next thing I knew, I had a book in my hands. 
I'm not really sure I ever considered writing books or being an author until my late teens when I literally had a four hundred page document on my computer screen. 
That was when I knew this was something I loved and wanted to continue doing.

Interviewer: What made you decide to pursue self-publishing and how is it going so far?
Heather: Well, I tried to go the traditional route and just never really got anywhere. 
The more time I spent in the Wattpad community and in my writing groups, I realized traditional publishing wasn't the only way to go. So, as I talked with more self-published authors, I came to the conclusion that this may be my opportunity.

So far, honestly, it's a pain in the a**. LOL. There is a lot of misinformation out there and there is a HUGE learning curve. I can definitely advise what NOT to do when first starting out. But I've also learned a lot. It's been a bumpy road but it's also given me clear guidelines on how to handle my next publication.

Interviewer: How do you feel your book plays into the paranormal romance genre?
Heather: Honestly, I think it's more fantasy than paranormal, since it has more aspects of magic, than science or natural occurrence. But the debate over genre definitions is for another day.
It's definitely a romance that's for sure, but I feel that my book isn't stuck in just one or even two categories. It also has aspects of adventure and drama. Although, when I write, I definitely tend to focus more of my attention on the relationship between my characters than the plot. I want to show character depth and growth rather than just an adventure that takes you from point A to B.

Interviewer: Would you say you have a favorite character and why?
Heather: Honestly, my favorite character to write was probably Amelia/Rey. I think she's a perfect representation of everything I am and wish to be. She's a strong woman who doesn't let other people's opinions define her. She's sassy and clever. She has a mind of her own and doesn't let a male dominant society tell her she can't be something. 
Rey was neat because she keeps Amelia in check. Constantly being the reasonable half and the one that reminds Amelia when she's acting foolish or being just downright dumb. Also, adding her wolf-spirit reminds us that when it comes down to it, we're all animals with basic needs and having Rey reminded Amelia that sometimes it's ok to give into those primal urges.

No shame in the game. ;)

Interviewer: Love it! Do you have a favorite ship in your book?
Heather: Well, obviously Amelia and Gabriel are special to me, but I have to say Damon and Cordelia were fun to write. They're not as serious or complicated as Amelia and Gabriel and it was refreshing to write a more relaxing couple in the midst of so much uncertainty and drama.

Interviewer: What would you say was the hardest part to write? 
Heather: Hardest part? Oh boy. Probably the end. the last ten chapters or so. But, I don't mean hard in the sense that it didn't come to me easily. I mean hard as in how difficult it was to finally be done. Writing so much action and emotion in just two or three days took A LOT out of me. I was emotionally and mentally drained for weeks afterwards. I'm pretty sure I cried. 
In those last few chapters there was a lot that I had to wrap up for book 1 that would carry into book 2 and I'm pretty sure I had a mental breakdown when I was done. LOL

Interviewer: What was the most fun part to write?
Heather: The most fun. Oh for sure the more intimate scenes. wink wink The funny part is that I had never written a sex scene in my life until I wrote Shadow of Twilight. So, discovering that part of myself definitely opened my eyes to not only my character but myself as well. Exploring Amelia's sexuality and getting to the more intimate moments involved in sex was really interesting to write. I didn't want to write a porn scene, I wanted to showcase two people finding comfort in one another. Two people who learned to love after learning to please. To find the quiet moments and learning to pause for them when two people make love. That's what I hope I conveyed in those scenes.

Interviewer:  Final Question: Is your current book a part of a series? If so, can you give us a brief explanation of the series for our readers?
Heather: Yes, Shadow of Twilight is the first book in the Fated Darkness series. Fated Darkness follows the journey that is Amelia Smoke's life. 
Amelia is a werewolf that has just reached adulthood, ready to take on the world only to be saddled with a fated mate that she never wanted or asked for. We watch as she decides what to make of her life when fate throws a wrench in her plans. Life is made of choices and every one of them leads her in a new direction. We get to see how she handles all the twists and turns that life and destiny throws at her and find out whether she can overcome even the cruelest of acts.

Will love be her guiding light or her downfall?

Interviewer: Thank you Heather for your time and for doing this interview. Congrats on the upcoming release. We wish you the best!

Check out Heather’s work at https://www.heathersmithauthor.com or on her Wattpad profile linked above. 

Sarah Schott is our spotlighted author/member of the February Valentine Issue. Her book is intended for mature audiences and contains scenes not appropriate for younger readers. 

Check out her book Dark Country here: Dark Country - J.D. Scott - Wattpad

Sarah Schott is our spotlighted author/member of the February Valentine Issue. Her book is intended for mature audiences and contains scenes not appropriate for younger readers. 

Check out her book Dark Country here: Dark Country - J.D. Scott - Wattpad

||A Beauty, a Beast, and a mythic Wild West||

Captain James Dawson knew that her life wasn't going to get any easier by making a deal with a captured "fairy" prince. But when the terms of the bargain involve her deepest fear, she can't imagine how her life could get any worse.

Sheriff Kelyn Creedy isn't who he says he is, but he starts to think that's for the best when his mail-order bride isn't as advertised either. The woman who calls herself "Jayme Vann" is strong-willed to a fault, suspicious of men, uneasy around his kin, and afraid of her own power.  She's running from something, too, and the longer she refuses to tell him why, the more the Sheriff suspects that ignorance might be blissful after all. 

As murder and myth spiral out of control around them, Kelyn and Jayme begin to see that there's a beast inside them both. Kelyn is a killer. Jayme is a lie. But they might find beauty in their darkness, if they can trust each other long enough for it to bloom.

Cover and graphics by the absolutely amazing _Foxicious

Author Interview

Interviewer: Can you introduce yourself for our readers?
Sarah: Everyone knows me on Discord as Rabbit, but I'm SarahSchott on WP and my pen name is JD Scott. I've been writing since I was 10, so for the greater majority of my life at this point.
I'm a Healthcare worker, so I started writing for myself this past year as a way to cope and take care of myself. Writing is a very natural part of me and my life.

Interviewer: What inspired you to start writing? Was there a defining moment?
Sarah: As a kid? I had a teacher at that age (10) that helped me realize that I loved writing stories (and poetry). Thanks to her, I started and still haven't stopped. I think the defining moment early on was realizing that I liked writing stories, that my teacher and classmates like hearing/reading them, and that I was good at it. It was a major confidence boost at a time in my life when I had basically nothing else to call my own, and didn't think there was anything that I was good at.

Interviewer: What would you say are the genres you generally write in?
Sarah: Romance/erotica, fantasy, paranormal/supernatural, and a bit of sci-fi. I've been a big fan fiction writer since fanfiction.com's second year of existence (dating myself!). I also write a lot of nonfiction, largely religious/spiritual/theological pieces.

Interviewer: Do you conduct a lot of research for your books or wing it?
Sarah: So this is an interesting question for me to answer. Yes, but also no. See, I have ALWAYS researched things that interest me, ever since I was old enough to read (about 5). An area I definitely feel that I can hold my own in, is the mythology, culture, and history of the Insular Celts (ie, the Scots, Welsh, Irish, and Cornish). So I wrote a LOT in that area. I've read and researched so much over the years, that I can pretty much wing things as I write. I write what I know...and a lot of the things I know, I've researched for years, just for the love of it.

Interviewer: Any plans for publishing? If so, self-publishing or traditional?
Sarah: I absolutely want to publish. I would prefer traditional, but I'm willing to go the self-publishing route if that doesn't pan out.

Interviewer: Do you have a favorite character? If so, who is it and why?
Sarah: Kelyn, hands down. Dude cracks me up every time I start writing his dialogue. Plus, gotta admit, in my mind he's a fine specimen of the masculine form, so I'm a fan. He's also based off of a mythological figure I've had an affinity for and interest in for years (the Lord of the Wild Hunt). I've wanted to write a story featuring that mythology for ages. Don't ask me how he ended being a psuedo-Welsh cowboy. It works for him, tho.

Interviewer: Do you have a favorite ship in either your own books or others?
Sarah: In my own, Kelyn and Jayme. They're just so freaking fun, in my opinion. In others? I will go down with the Dean and Castiel ship with no regrets.

Interviewer: What part of your current book was the hardest to write and what was the most fun?
Sarah:  Oof. The rework/edit of the beginning. I got 28 chapters in and realized I needed to go back to the beginning and streamline the story. I've been struggling with that since September. Thankfully, I've gotten on a track I think works well and that will stick.
The most fun? Hmm. I'm really enjoying the supernatural serial killer plot.  Wasn't expecting that, truth be told. And, of course, the smut. The smut is always fun.(edited)

And, uh, for the record those two things are NOT related. 

Interviewer: Final Question: Is your current novel a part of a series/ If so, can you tell our readers a little about the series?
Sarah: Dark Country didn't start out in my mind as a series, much less one with six books total. But here we are. The series is called The Dark Worlds series, which is a nod to the sci-fi-ish element of the world building (what if, instead of going up to space, humanity figured out how to go sideways, ie, into parallel dimensions?) The series is a massive love letter to my Irish and Scottish ancestors, as it tells a-not-unfamiliar-story of conquest, rebellion, survival, and triumph. I'm not sure what to say, since I only have rough notes for everything past book 2. But books 1-3 will take place in a Wild West-like setting, as the core group figures out that they're not as safe in their hiding place after all. Books 4-6 will get progressively dark, as it deals with the 'fighting back' arc, if you will. I'm planning to tackle some pretty heavy stuff, but through it all, I hope to stick to the heart of it all: the story of two people who have done some pretty terrible things, who learn to love themselves and each other in spite of it all. The Dark Worlds series is a love story from beginning to end, with integral themes of redemption, grace, forgiveness, and ultimately resurrection (in the broad sense of dying to one's old self, to become their truest self). I think themes of that nature are sorely lacking in a universal spiritual sense in our time and place in history. This is my way of saying through the ancient art of storytelling, "hey, we can be better. Always. And we can help each other be better, too."

Interviewer: Thank you for time and for answering our questions. We wish you the best with publishing and Kelyn & Jayme's story!
Sarah: Thank you! And thanks so much for picking me for this month's spotlight!! 

Please note the information in this section is purely an opinion or based on vague facts. You can take it or leave it as you wish. Olympus and Muse Magazine have no intention to influence you or persuade you in any way on the information provided here. This is a resource to help guide you in the field of writing. Not a fool-proof manual. 

Examples of Romance Tropes

Does not include all or most of the romance tropes. Information based on article from personal opinion and  reedsy blog (11 Popular Romance Tropes — and How to Make Them New Again (reedsy.com))

Trapped in an Elevator: This trope has been expressed in many different ways and variations over the decades. It is one of the oldest romance tropes and seen in various movies and books. Usually, two people who either do not know each other or don’t like one another are trapped in an enclosed space. During this time, they must lean heavily on one another in order to get through the experience. They come to appreciate each other and end up falling in love. This trope is a classic among romance writers and has potential for spicy or clean story arcs. There is also a fine line between creepy and romantic with this trope.

The Love Triangle: This classic romance trope is the most drama-filled of the OGs. Usually one person loves another, but that person loves someone else. Or two people love the same person and they must choose between the two. Many times these stories are filled with heartache and love confessions. Usually, three’s a crowd and someone, if not everyone, gets hurt. However, in today’s society and our exploration of sexuality, some authors are taking out the forced choice to get their cake and eat it too. Authors can twist this trope in many different ways and make it all their own. 

The Fake Relationship: This is another popular romance trope. For some reason, whether internal or external, two people must pretend to be in a relationship. Neither have apparent feelings for the other, but the situation usually benefits both parties. However, the ruse eventually becomes more real than either of them had expected and they fall in love. Once their arrangement ends, they part ways, thinking there is no hope for a real relationship to blossom… until one- or both- of them declare their true feelings. This one is a holiday favorite. This particular trope is well-paired with Billionaire,Mobster, and Biker tropes as well. It adds a little suspense to the story. 

Enemies Become Lovers: This is a favorite amongst the romance fans. Two characters meet and immediately dislike each other, perhaps due to opposing views or often because of a misunderstanding. This dislike will become inflamed until some sort of event (perhaps a Trapped in an Elevator situation) will force them to look at one another in a different light. The characters will likely try to deny their softening feelings until they become impossible to deny, usually when jealousy comes into play. 

The Belated Love Epiphany: The protagonist loses, or is at risk of losing, someone they overlooked. And only in their absence does the protagonist begin to realize what the other character meant to them.

The epiphany leads the protagonist to run through an airport, train station, or similar in order to stop the other character from leaving by declaring their love. This is one of the cheesier approaches, but grabs at your heartstrings nonetheless.

Friends to Lovers: Two childhood friends go through the trials and tribulations of adolescence together, counting on one another. Fast forward to their adult lives: they haven’t spoken in decades but think of one another every so often. Brought back together for some reason, they reignite their friendship. For a while, they may see each other as just friends, but ultimately realize that — despite all the years apart — they were meant to be together.

Secret Royal/Billionaire: A royal figure or billionaire is tired of being in the public light. They just want to be treated as a normal person for a while, so they adopt a disguise or go somewhere they won’t be recognized. Then they meet someone who doesn’t give them the preferential treatment they’re used to. In fact, this new person likely treats them with casual disregard. This intrigues the secret royal/billionaire, who looks to get to know the other character better. The two form a relationship which blows up when the unsuspecting character finds out their love’s true identity, and feels betrayed by the lie. But then they get over it, one way or another, and the two end up together.

Destined to Be Together: While a lot of these examples of romance tropes have to do with two people slowly realizing their feelings for one another, the Destined To Be Together involves couples who know right from the start that they are in love. Their intense immediate bond is what maintains their resolve that they’re meant to be together while the universe, typically, conspires to separate them.

Second Chance at Love: This romance trope can play out in a number of ways. Perhaps a couple breaks up only to reunite decades later. Maybe they have been deeply hurt in the past, and have spent years avoiding any kind of romantic relationship. Now they will meet and learn to give love another chance. This is a hopeful trope that readers enjoy because it enforces the theme that “it’s never too late.”

Forbidden Love: The forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest, right? This romance trope involves two people who are desperately in love but are forced apart — either by their families, their culture, or geographical distance. Whatever the case, something is preventing them from being together. You could also call this the “Star-Crossed Lovers” trope, as the term “star-crossed” means that destiny has ruled something cannot be.

You’ve Changed: Instead of following two people on their path to love love, this kind of story starts out with two people who are already in love, and likely married or in a committed relationship. One of the people in the pair ends up getting a new job or falling in with a new crowd of friends that changes them in some way, perhaps by altering their values or priorities. Maybe their new situation is simply eating up all their time so that they are no longer as dedicated to the relationship. Their significant other will make their feelings known, and eventually leave, when the relationship continues to disintegrate. This will cause the protagonist to realize that despite their high-flying career or flashy friends, their life is empty without their significant other, and they go back to their old ways, eventually convincing the other person to give them another chance.

For more information on writing romance: 
https://www.silverpetticoatreview.com/2020/02/03/writing-a-great-love-story-courtney-walsh/

~*~

Bonus Prompt:

“You smile like an idiot when you are talking to her.”

What is the Olympus Community?
“It’s a Creative Community with a unique twist on it. We create a positive environment in our Community and allow our members to be mentored by their Muses (House Leaders) in nine houses inspired by the Nine Muses of Greek Mythology and the unofficial tenth Muse, Sappho. Writing is a journey and we recognize that. But just because you’re taking a journey, doesn’t mean you have to take it alone or that you can’t ask for help. That’s why we’re here. Take your creative journey with us. Experience the mentorship of our experiences Muses (House Leaders). Be a part of a positive environment. Meet people who will support you on your journey. And above all, know that you do not walk this path alone.”

The Houses are:
Clio (Historical Fiction)
Euterpe (Non-Fiction, (General Fiction: New Adult, Young Adult, Adult))
Thalia (Humour, Short Story, Poetry)
 Melpomene (Thriller, Mystery/Suspense, Horror)
Terpsichore (Sci-fi)
Erato (Romance)
 Polymnia (Fan Fiction, Teen Fiction)
 Ourania (Paranormal, Vampire, Werewolf, Urban Fantasy, Magical Realism)
Calliope (High Fantasy, all other forms of fantasy aside from Magical Realism and Urban Fantasy, Adventure, Action)
House Sappho-Grace (Graphic Design)
House Sappho- Anemoi (Beta Readers)
The Fates (Editors)

If you are interested in joining the Olympus Writing Group, apply in the link below:
https://www.wattpad.com/story/220998019-olympus-writing-group-open-for-new-members-and