Tina Glasneck, USA Today Bestselling Author

Enter the story world of dragons, magic, and romantasy

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Finding Magic in the Ordinary

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I was a preemie, born two months early and weighing less than a bag of flour.

Doctors didn’t think I would make it.

My mom went into shock from blood loss and had to have a transfusion, and life became one big battle.

While having coffee this morning, I realized how everything life had thrown my way over the years has compounded to allow me to tell stories, to weave together brokenness and shards into tantalizing tales.

All of the seeds of hope sprinkled throughout the years have created a beautiful field of wildflowers that bloom. How is it possible that all of those moments have created a daisy chain, a crown which I wear on my head to make the fantastical?

Be it my connection to the Brothers Grimm — I studied at the university they taught at in Germany, to the fairy tale highway, to that of German and the Norse/Germanic gods, to Latin and Hebrew.

To combine my training and education and travels (my struggles and triumphs — be it learning Hebrew, traveling in underground tunnels in Israel, dipping my toes in the Meditteranean). To all now culminate in fashioning tales that combine all of my life’s experiences–these seeds– to be beautiful.

The ground, me, who was once considered barren, now can produce so much beauty.

This scorched ground instead rose, thrives, and waves her banner of beauty despite the ashes, dancing in flames, taming them, walking with them, and allowing them to reveal the shadows and all it is that hides therein.

Maybe it’s the change in the season, the hope rising, but the lessons I’ve learned have always produced such bounty and fruit.

But this year, as visions of delight appear, I can’t help but be reminded of the little girl that danced in wildflowers, wished on dandelion fluff, and found magic all around her.

I’m so happy to still know that little girl in me.

May today you embrace the magic you wish to see!

A little bit of kindness inspires characters

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This is one of those stories that has taken a bit. One of my favorite characters is Harley from The Hell Chronicles. When I was in college, I met a man who was brawny, strong and had a heart of gold.

We’d spend hours talking on the phone, and a part of Harley is based on that purity, that joy. Sometimes the voices in our heads lead to our forfeiture. But sometimes, writing gives us a chance to do that deep shadow work to know that we are worthy of love — of giving it, and receiving it.

That in that beautiful imperfection, in the darkness of doubt, we find comfort and respite. In all of those years of being told I wasn’t good enough, he looked at me and said I was. I will never forget that.

I haven’t spoken to him since 9/11 when somehow I made sure that he was fine, and he was. You never know who’s life you may have touched by your kindness (or when you’ll wind up in a book because of that pure heart and compassion). Today I am back in Harley’s head, and his emotions are so pure… just woah!

This is from today’s writing session: Harley loved Hel with his every passing breath. Time was irrelevant, but still, in the body of a 24-year-old man, he’d tolerated bullshit, such falsehoods, and abuse, but it was the lost leading other sheep over the cliff to shamanic drumbeats.

Love wasn’t a curse or a burden, but something to treasure, the most valuable of words, of actions and sentiments. Men fought wars to win a woman’s affections, without patronizing them, without disrespect, but with uttermost care. They’d bruise knuckles and egos to rescue untamed hearts, and die on their swords for that one thing, the uninhibited love of a good woman.

And that is what Hel was.

#WIP #SureasHell #AmWriting

Happy Solstice

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Today is the Solstice. Wishing you a wonderful Yule if you are celebrating.

It has been a wonderful day in the Glasneck household, as we celebrate with meditation, hot tea, and great games. We will end the day with cookie baking and heading outside to catch the Great Conjunction (both Saturn and Jupiter will be out and visible tonight – and the clouds have moved out to allow us to see this).

For me, this is the first year of intentionally celebrating the Solstice.

And it has been a wonderful day for me to hone in and focus on hope, knowing, and entering a new season.

My characters are so here for this news, too!

Over the last couple of days, my characters have lined up, and they are eagerly awaiting their chance for the next story. So, that means, for me, I’m setting up a writing and release calendar.

Being Happy? Why Not Me?

Everyone has a different way of celebrating the holiday season. For me, it has been about making space and taking stock, slowing down. You might even say, getting myself in alignment for the life I wish to lead.

2020 has given me so much time to reflect and pinpoint those areas in my life that I want to change.

Now is the time I jump ahead into the unknown, you know?

That means dreaming, visualizing with love, and permitting myself to take those steps, but also getting out of my way. I sometimes self-sabotage.

Solstice, today, helped me to know that rest is good, that rest indeed allows us all to refuel so that we can continue to do those things we love. For me, this includes creating the stories you love. If I don’t refuel, I will burn out and walk away from writing, and I don’t want to do that.

This is all fresh from my brain, and these are the things I’m doing today.

  1. Journaling – setting my intentions and writing out what I need in my life to be happy.
  2. Quiet Time – setting aside a time of my day, when I can be still;
  3. Getting out of my way and available for growth in areas of my life, I’ve overlooked.
  4. Setting goals – both short term and long term.
  5. Surrounding myself with good people.
  6. Walk in gratitude – -the process of being thankful is so important.

I have decided to hold space in my life for good, to shake off those limiting beliefs, and move forward.

2020 has given us so many lessons, and I’m still learning them. I’m still trying to make sense of everything that has happened this year, and in all of that, not lose hope for a better day.

On my day-to-day, I can control those moments of journaling with a cup of coffee or sketching with music playing in the background. Those moments will feed and fuel me.

So, tonight as I light my candle and breathe in that bit of peace, I will celebrate these small moments filled with cookie dough, sugar, and guinea pig cuddles.

This solstice and holiday season, I wish you much respite, hope, and peace.

Cover Reveal: Four Times the Fight

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Are you ready for the next Leslie book?

I’m happy to share teh cover and reveal the blurb for FOUR TIMES THE FIGHT!

This supernatural vampire life itches, and the dark arts are at play.

When Leslie is knocked out by a ghost and fails her test to join the Order, her future is at stake.

Until she discovers a hidden safe in her apartment that includes handwritten runic staves and an old Revolutionary War button from her dead father.

Now, she’s on a quest to find his connection to magic.And her purpose. But nothing is ever as easy as it seems.What lurks in the dark must come to light.

The search for a hidden treasure leads to Leslie coming face to face with the legendary Headless Horseman.And she’s one magical blade’s swing from joining his troop.

Ack! This vampire may have bitten off more than she can drink…

Discover what’s at stake in this new urban fantasy take on vampire lore with Four Times the Fight.

Preorder Today for the March 27, 2021 release!

https://books2read.com/FourTimesVamp

Four Times the Fight will be a great installment in this fun and humourous Urban Fantasy series (of course, with a bit of romance in there, as well). 😉

Vlad the Impaler

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In this series of vampires, why is it called the Order of the Dragon? The answer might surprise you, as it has true, historical ties to the most famous of vampires, Vlad the Impaler.

There has been much speculation about how somebody could combine dragons and vampires.

Well, what if I told you that Vlad the Impaler was born into the family of Dracul. Draco is the Latin word for Dragon. Vlad, who we later would call Dracula, followed in his father’s footsteps to enter the Order of the Dragon.

Since the Order of the Dragon is indeed older than Vlad, it made sense to keep much of that accuracy.  Vlad, the Impaler, did not create the Order but became a member of it.

The Order of the Dragon was the name of the historical Order created by the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund to defend Christian Europe against the rising strength of the Ottoman Empire.

In my research, knowing the connection of vampire lore and combining that with the historical accuracy of the Order of the Dragon, it was a logical leap to fuse these two worlds.

Of course, Vlad’s full story has not yet been shared, although I introduce him as a main side character in Three Little Words. I expect to see a lot more of our fantastic Vlad the Impaler and more from legend and folklore as the series continues.

Fun Fact: Vlad (Vlad III) had two brothers. For a diplomatic negotiation, he traveled with his father to learn about such. However, soon after, things soured. Taken, he and his brother, Radu, were held hostage. However, still considered princes, they were educated in science, philosophy, and even the art of war.

While away, Vlad’s father was murdered and his brother buried alive. Vlad III would rise to capture, lose, and recapture his father’s seat, using insane practices, including impaling people.

The history with Vlad is rich with insanity. I can’t wait to bring some of it out in my Order of the Dragon series.

Learn more about the Order of the Dragon series, here!