Florida Gothic...May Not Be What You Think... Mitzi Szereto Does...Unique...

(Turn the sound down low for background mood...)

Got to tell you right away, that Florida Gothic was not what I expected... As a long-time gothic fan, I was expecting something like Heathcliff, or other similar novels where people live in castles and there is romance, suspense and more...NOT! So, if that is what you're looking for, don't buy this...

On the other hand, Mitzi Szereto has written in a range of genres and I've always liked her writing, so I was willing to read on...Be prepared, this Gothic is from the Horror side of Gothic--and horror is what you're going to get! Starting with how the main character is...killed...

On a muggy Sunday evening, Ernesto Calixto Martinez is run over by an expensive black Hummer with the vanity license plate kngpdro. There are no calls to 9-1-1, no attempts to keep him from going into shock, no offers of comfort. There’s nothing but the SUV driver speeding away, leaving a broken old man to die in his own pee and shit on a dark Miami road by a smelly canal. 

Ernesto’s not yet fully dead when the alligator finds him. After making quick work of his left arm, it takes some chunks out of his already scrawny right leg. As he listens to the sound of sharp prehistoric teeth crunching tired old bone, he drifts in and out of consciousness, convinced he must be dreaming—hoping he must be dreaming. His brain feels like a waterlogged ball of cotton, but it’s not water but blood that’s misting his thoughts. Only after he dies does Ernesto appreciate the extent of the damage done to his body. His left arm has been torn off at the shoulder, leaving behind a bleeding gash festooned with ribbons of raw flesh and tendon, the alligator having slithered back into the murky canal to savor its tasty prize. As for his leg, its meat and muscle have been pulverized to a lumpy pulp by a primitive creature as efficient in killing as it is lying in wait for victims. Ernesto nearly vomits when he sees it. 

Except the dead can’t vomit...

~~~

Ernesto is not only a victim of a hit-and-run... a nearby alligator sees him and waddles over for an unexpected meal!

Gory death...gory afterlife... You know, something like the infamous scene everybody thinks of when they say "Thanks for the ride, lady..."

A dead man’s rage is like no other. Ernesto can feel it bubbling like boiled tar inside the dead shell of him until it spills from his lips in gluey strings of blood-blackened bile. He rages at the man who hit him; he rages at the drivers who ignored him; he rages at the people responsible for the creature that took what remained of his life away. That’s what happens when baby alligators are dumped in lakes and canals after their owners discover their “pets” won’t stay small forever. Usually you hear about it when the adult versions show up on a golf course and interrupt someone’s game. Then it’s reported as a funny news story—something to be chuckled over after the reports of drug busts, government corruption and murder are presented. An old Cubano’s gator-mangled body probably wouldn’t qualify as a funny news story.

~~~

I try not to enjoy revenge...but I've got to admit, this guy deserved to take it! So be prepared for a hunt like no other, as Ernesto finds hate, anger and a need for revenge keeps burning even after death...

He had plenty of time to think and, first, realized that he had died just as his daughter had...by a hit-and-run... and the one who killed her had just got out of jail... He would be the first... He knew unfairness in this world was wide and sometimes it seemed to come from God. He was willing to take it from Him... But, not from his peers, those humans who chose to act in evil, drinking and driving, without taking responsibility for what they did! Indeed, was God allowing him to stay here for exactly what he had in mind? How would he know? But he continues on his search...

He lives alone as he finds his way through the world that holds evil, his only friends the bugs and maggots that now occupy his home and even his body... But he sits remembering his beloved Esperanza.

Ernesto decided to go outside. He wanted to see the moon, possibly for the last time. Its brightness lit up the closed Venetian blinds like the screen in a movie theater, reminding him of happier times. He and Esperanza enjoyed looking at the moon together. They would hold hands and he’d sing to her “Moon Over Miami” from the film, though he was no Don Ameche. Back when they were dating, they went to see the musical at a movie house in Matanzas, though by then it had been out for more than a decade. Ernesto wanted to relive those joyful moments, but the stark aloneness of his dead self staring up at the sky with his dead eyes couldn’t bring them back...

~~~

I admit that I am not a fan of this type of horror, but there is an underlying story that is intriguing even while horribly graphic... Just as the terrible horror is happening in Florida right now, and other catastrophes across the world, including Texas, we are pulled into the individual story that arises out of the world we live in. Ernesto lived after death for a length of time... and when the door knocked, he was ready...

Soooo, "thanks for the ride..." Mitzi! Your writing saved this book for me... I don't know how you do it...But, those who enjoy graphic horror, do check it out!

GABixlerReviews

Mitzi Szereto (mitziszereto.com) is an author and anthology editor of multi-genre fiction and non-fiction. She has her own blog Errant Ramblings: Mitzi Szereto's Weblog, and a web TV channel Mitzi TV, which covers the "quirky" side of London. Her books include Oysters and Pearls: Collected Stories; Rotten Peaches (The Thelonious T. Bear Chronicles) and Normal for Norfolk (The Thelonious T. Bear Chronicles) - the cozy mystery/satire series co-written with celebrity author bear Teddy Tedaloo; Phantom: The Immortal (co-written with Ashley Lister); Love, Lust and Zombies; Darker Edge of Desire: Gothic Tales of Romance; The Wilde Passions of Dorian Gray; Thrones of Desire: Erotic Tales of Swords, Mist and Fire; Pride and Prejudice: Hidden Lusts; Red Velvet and Absinthe: Paranormal Erotic Romance;  Getting Even: Revenge Stories; Dying For It: Tales of Sex and Death; In Sleeping Beauty's Bed: Erotic Fairy Tales; and Wicked: Sexy Tales of Legendary Lovers.

Phantom: The Immortal - The Story Behind the Erotic Sequel - by Mitzi Szereto

Phantom: The Immortal
The Story Behind the Erotic Sequel

by Mitzi Szereto


It’s hard to believe that Phantom: The Immortal has been ten years in the making. My co-author Ashley Lister and I kept getting involved in other things, and our project got lost in the fray. But we finally put our heads together and said, “Let’s finish this book!”

We were both quite keen on the idea of writing a contemporary sequel to Gaston Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera. When we initially began work on our novel, pretty much no one had done any kind of sequel or re-imagining of Leroux’s classic. In our case, we didn’t want to do a re-imagining. 

We decided to take the main character and fast-forward him to the here and now, adding in subtle paranormal themes that suggest immortality and reincarnation. We decided to take on the roles of the two main protagonists: the Phantom and Christine Delacroix. I’d write one chapter as Christine, with Ashley writing the next as the Phantom. We continued like this, switching back and forth until the book was completed. We even structured the novel into “Acts” and “Scenes” to give it that theater feel.

In Phantom: The Immortal, the Phantom has lived beneath the Paris Opera House all this time. Suddenly a beautiful young soprano who’s the mirror image of his beloved Christine Daaé shows up for an audition. Obviously, he must have her at all costs. 

I don’t want to give too much away by telling you how he goes about it, but it’s safe to conclude that our Phantom isn’t exactly shy about letting his desires be known and making them come to fruition. And it’s all in the name of art, of course!

Phantom: The Immortal is erotic romance, Gothic romance, paranormal romance and even romantic suspense. We hope everyone will enjoy reading our novel as much as we enjoyed writing it!






Links:

Mitzi Szereto’s Website: http://mitziszereto.com

Mitzi Szereto on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mitziszereto

Mitzi Szereto on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mitziszereto.fanpage

Mitzi Szereto on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/72445.Mitzi_Szereto

Phantom: The Immortal website: http://mitziszereto.com/phantomtheimmortal/

Ashley Lister’s Website: http://ashleylister.co.uk

Errant Ramblings: Mitzi Szereto’s Weblog: http://mitziszereto.com/blog

Mitzi TV: http://mitziszereto.com/tv

Fantastic Story Collection, Oysters and Pearls, by Mitzi Szereto

I was so pleased that I have been able to get things going again with ebook loads into my reader... So happy that, when I read the two books that were submitted at two different times from Mitzi Szereto, I decided to do a spotlight on this author...

I can take or leave erotic stories; I have read a few books over the years but none caught my attention as did Oysters and Pearls: Collected Stories...

First because of the author's excellent storytelling... Second because of the breadth of  both the research and settings of the collection. In this one book, Szereto has taken us across the world into different lifestyles, religions, and times, as well as different personalities of her characters... What was very exciting to me was that the style of writing matched the type of story. For instance, in the first story, we meet a young Georgia girl who wants to act, but refuses to leave her home... she becomes enamoured with the lead in a vampire-themed

television series, but still we find the fresh innocence of a starlet encountering an experienced actor playing a vampire...but is he just acting?

~~~

The next story is funny, but probably could be oh so true, and will be an adventurous read for any wife whose husband has a particular love; e.g., sports for instance... This time it's BobDylan...

“It’s All Right, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)”     

“Lay, lady, lay…” Oh, god, not again! That horrible nasal whine. Sounds like the man should blow his nose. “Lay across my…” I’ll give you brass beds. Maybe a nice brass bedpost to smash your head in with. Oh, bliss. Oh, silence. 
“Hon-ey, did you pick up my blue suit from the cleaners yet?” She sighs. Yet another thing she’s forgotten. Like the Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes for the kids. She’ll catch hell tomorrow morning at breakfast. She can see their matching blue eyes, glaring at her in accusation. “M-a-a-a-h-h!”

~~~

In this very common story, we see the wife move forward into marriage...and then...toward finding herself again! By any way it Takes...Very Cool story!

~~~

Heading to Derbyshire, she looks for signs from the last time there, walking down Bakewell... getting one of the Bakewell puddings that are, oh, so delicious... then continues her tour enjoying being back, finally stopping for lunch in a pub when she sees...an old friend...who soon also enjoys that Bakewell pudding... They were both glad she'd come home...

~~~

Next we head to Kyoto, where a young woman travels alone, sees someone to whom she is attracted and...

~~~

We soon meet Mrs. Atropos, a lovely Greek lady who was a seamstress by trade... and a wife/widow by happenstance... She forgets how many times she's been married but never forgets the intimacy shared with each one...Loving each man, she always creates something beautiful for them to wear and presents it as a joyous gift of her feelings...only to many times have him wear it as his funeral suit...Yikes!

Most of all, she missed the sound of the bouzouki. Her husband Nicholas played the bouzouki, pulling the notes from the strings with all the virtuosity of an artist stroking paint onto canvas. Nicholas and his magic fingers. Mrs. Atropos smiled as she reached for the bundle of blue denim beside her, taking the next piece of what would, by the end of the day, become a brand new pair of jeans to be sold in the crowded alleys a few minutes away in the city’s downtown—the downtown for those on a budget or too poor to shop in nicer cleaner places like the pristine shopping malls with their pristine food courts and pristine people. Although soon she’d be lucky to even afford the alleys, for according to her boss Mr. Rodriguez, business had dropped off in the months since Mrs. Atropos arrived on the floor and layoffs at the factory were a possibility. Well, there was always another factory and another sewing machine and another bundle to be stitched together. She was a good worker; she’d sewn from the time she was at her mother’s knee.

~~~

Had to be enthused about a woman who had moved from the city into a log cabin. City life hadn't been helping her blood pressure, and moving to the top of a mountain, with a neighbor more than a mile away was turning out to be perfect for her... "Some might call it 'solitary.' I call it 'smart.' The less dealings you have with people the less trouble you're going to get."

But then outside noises started and she began to get worried...I soon began to feel quite happy that I've recently had ADT installed! LOL... Because there in that cabin, she started finding the cabin open and food missing! "My Zombie, My Lover" will answer anything you want to know more about this quite...strange...story...

~~~

When he finished, he'd look
up and see me reclining on
my side, nude. Like the
famous painting, he'd say,
The Odalisque.
I am his Odalisque...
~~~

Dubai! I will never have visited there like I did in the story, Odalisque... I'm sure you will guess the ending of this story, just like I did...
Do we have a future? I asked.
Inshallah, he answered. If Allah is willing. 
We'd go dancing--the Kasbar...where we'd rub up against each other like two cats in heat...Music thundering in our ears, lights flashing, no one watching and everyone watching...

~~~

I enjoyed all of the stories, but I must select Escape as my favorite!

Escape...     Night after night, day after day I wait. I wait for what I cannot avoid: the inevitable. I do not wish to marry him. He is old, and he is ugly. The flesh hangs from his neck and upper arms in mottled rolls; I dare not think of the rest of him! His teeth are the shade of rotting timber with holes riddled through by worms. His eyes rake over me with a familiarity that causes my body to flush with shame. It’s as if he has already tasted my flesh, smelled my scent. When I see him I want to curl up into a tight ball and hide. But hide I cannot. For Father has other plans. It is considered acceptable for pretty young women whose bodies retain the flush of youth to marry ancient trolls, but this is a fate I’m unwilling to bear...

It is wonderful to see and learn of a young girl who has been promised to an older reigning leader, who decides she will not fulfill this promise. And the way it is done is a story beyond belief, yet, is so very satisfying...I loved it!

~~~

I must stop discussing each individual story or I shall still be writing a long time since there are many other stories in the collection with a total of 17, all of which are quite lengthy and with a story that will entertain, delight, or surprise, especially the last one, which I'll just give the title...The Turnip...
Although I've read an anthology or two, I must say that I've never enjoyed the stories in any other collection as much as those within the book, Oysters and Pearls. While I do not mind explicit sexuality if it is totally within the storyline, I do caution that if you are not interested in erotica material, please don't buy it. Truthfully, I did not find anything beyond what I have read within adult romantic suspense books...With that clarification, I highly recommend this for your consideration...


GABixlerReviews



Please Note: Mitzi Szereto is being Spotlighted at this time--next with an article by the author, telling about how her next book came about... If you haven't already read the three previous posts, Click here and go back to the first where she is introduced...

"Letter to Valentino" from Oysters and Pearls Collection by Mitzi Szereto

Letter to Valentino     

Rodolfo Alfonso Rafaello Pietro Filiberto Guglielmi di Valentina d’Antonguolla. A richly spiced mouthful of consonants and vowels that form your name. But I imagine you were a mouthful. A mouthful I’d never get to taste, except in my dreams. Rudy, my Rudy, did you even know how I felt? How I wished we could have danced together, your slim Sicilian hips swaying madly to the music, your hands encasing my more rounded counterparts. Pelvises joined in song—or as joined as they could possibly be under the circumstances. 
We would have
danced the tango like you did in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, our eyes boring into each other’s as we glided like a pair of seals in water along the dance floor, your hardness pressed to my softness, our breaths intermingling in mist and roses. How many times I dreamed of you taking me dancing at the Coconut Grove, me in a beaded gown, you in tails. You were such a good dancer. They say you used to be a gigolo at Maxim’s before you came to Hollywood, a taxi dancer for lonely matrons. People say such cruel things...

They say you loved Ramon, then later, Paul. I don’t believe any of it. How could I, when your black eyes burned into me as I sat in the front row of the movie house watching The Sheik? Eyes don’t lie. Nor did the pulsing between my thighs as I watched you kissing Agnes Ayres. Sheik Ahmed Ben Hassan.

I wanted to be your Lady Diana Mayo. And at night in the lonely darkness of my bedroom I was...

Sometimes I thought it might be nice to play the temptress for a change, Dona Sol corrupting your Juan Gallardo. You made such a handsome matador, with those brocaded toreador trousers hugging your backside and thighs and those delicious...

. 

I adored this story... A woman who had met Valentino in her teens is now older, looking back toward the man she had fallen in love with so many years ago. She stills pines for him, so she writes him a fan letter??? a love letter, more like it...😍

Szereto has done extensive research on this short story which reviews many of Rudolph Valentino's movies and on through his death and what happened during this time period as fans mourned this great screen lover. This is a perfect example of why I so enjoyed the book. This book includes erotica, but the stories are complete and interesting in themselves!

What I didn't foresee was... ahhh, you'll have to find out...but it was a fine ending to the story, I must say!

I was forced to get into the spirit of the Letter and do a little research myself and create a little fan page...what do you think? P. S., I was not a fan of Valentino...until I read the "Letter to Valentino..."

Book Review Coming Next...

Spotlight on Mitzi Szereto, Sharing Two of her Latest Amazing Books! Let's Meet Her First!

Mitzi Szereto is an author and anthology editor of multi-genre fiction and non-fiction. She has her own blog of humorous essays at Errant Ramblings: Mitzi Szereto’s Weblog, and a web TV channel Mitzi TV, which covers the “quirky” side of London, England. Her books include (Featured this Week)Oysters and Pearls: Collected Stories; Phantom: The Immortal (co-authored with Ashley Lister); Rotten Peaches (The Thelonious T. Bear Chronicles) and Normal for Norfolk (The Thelonious T. Bear Chronicles)—the cozy mystery/satire series co-authored with celebrity author bear Teddy Tedaloo; The Wilde Passions of Dorian Gray; Pride and Prejudice: Hidden Lusts; Love, Lust and Zombies; Thrones of Desire: Erotic Tales of Swords, Mist and Fire; Red Velvet and Absinthe; Getting Even: Revenge Stories; and Dying For It: Tales of Sex and Death. Her anthology Erotic Travel Tales 2 is the first anthology of erotica to feature a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Mitzi divides her time between the Pacific Northwest and the UK. Her next release will be Florida Gothic, the first novella from her new gothic horror series (coming in spring 2017).

Social Connections!

Mitzi Szereto Website:

Errant Ramblings: Mitzi Szereto’s Weblog: 

Mitzi TV:

Twitter: 

Facebook: 

Goodreads:

Upcoming events (Feb. 2017):

Winter Writing Workshop on Lummi Island, WAT
http://www.recretreats.com/event/creative-writing-workshop/

I met Mitzi Szereto through her book, 
Pride and Prejudice: Hidden Lusts... 
Check it out!

Coming Next!

Adult Novel Witty Erotic Satire of Well-Known British Story...

"Elizabeth did not know which was more unpleasant--the sight of her mother or that of her sister Mary, whose moustache had now been joined by a beard..."

"One Morning Mr. Bennet announced
to his family that a guest would be arriving
at Longbourn. "I have received a letter from
my cousin, William Collins, who, when I am dead,
may turn you all out of this house as soon
as he pleases,.."

Pride and Prejudice:


Hidden Lusts








By Mitzi Szereto







I admit I decided to read and review this book out of curiosity because I had never read the original Pride and Prejudice given my business education and background. After reading the book, I did a little research and confirmed that this book does faithfully follow the original story line. Check out an excellent overview plus an interesting relationship diagram of the characters. Let me quickly say that any potential reader should understand that the book primarily consists of that specified in the subtitle. Indeed, I would say that it probably should have been the main title, as that is the predominant theme...

What I am saying is that nearly every character in this novel will be sharing their hidden lusts...with you... If you don't want to read these erotic thoughts and actions, please don't buy the book.

The most fascinating thing about the book I found was the seamless way in which Szereto has merged her contributions. While I didn't compare the actual wording, I believe the tone and majority of the concepts are true to the original story that spotlights on a family by the name of Bennet who has five unmarried daughters. As the father contemplates their future, he realizes that, should he die, they will be homeless since even their home would be inherited by the next male in the family.

Mr. Collins, in fact, has also been thinking about this, but for his own reasons. Through support from a wealthy woman in his small town, he has been named rectory of Hunsford parish. But stories have started to circulate about his involvement with the young boys of the congregation and his benefactor Lady Catherine de Bourgh has demanded he get married and settle into proper married life.

Having some sense of familial responsibility, Mr. Collins decides that one of the daughters of the Bennet family would undoubtedly fit his needs. He chooses the second oldest daughter, Elizabeth, after being told that Jane, the oldest was already involved. And thus it began...

Pictures of high society women's fashion during those days has always amused me, given the propensity for the decolletage and the willingness to place a woman's breast out for view. When I saw this caricature, it so fit with the Hidden Lusts that run rampant in this adaptation that I had to include it. For surely even other women sometimes doddled:

"Elizabeth, finding herself rather annoyed at her sister, rejoined her friend Miss Lucas... Charlotte's fingers once more sought out Elizabeth's arm, stroking the exposed flesh above her glove in a manner that was not at all displeasing, particularly when they quite by accident brushed against her bosom, seeming to remain at that vicinity far longer than was prudent...

In fact, Elizabeth was quite distraught that Mr. Darcy, about whom she could not decided whether she hated or loved him,  was being pursued by a woman of his own class, who wore this type of gown, offended Elizabeth:

"That she had chosen again so inappropriate a gown to wear in mixed company was a source of amazement to Elizabeth, who considered it most impolitic for a lady to place on display the areolae. Unless she was very much mistaken, Miss Bingley appeared to have applied some form of rouge to them..." 

Readers, don't even attempt to get seriously involved in the trials and tribulations of young girls who face the possibility of being homeless unless they find suitable husbands, and, preferably, someone with whom they would fall in love. This is a racy romp that is funny--perhaps just because it is a satire of a much-loved novel?

The outrageous humor kept my interest throughout most of the novel, although toward the end it was getting a bit much for me. Still, for the appropriate adult audience, I must add my agreement that Ms. Szereto has, while honoring the original manuscript, done an excellent job in inserting those hidden lusts that could very well have been in in the minds of each and every character from the original novel. Readers--you know who you are...

Book Received

From Publisher

GABixlerReviews