Comic Con, Payson, Mesa, Pirates, Dancers, Where Does It End?

Finally recovering from Phoenix Comic Con weekend; mostly because I never really stopped until today. No complaints, but a break is stunning. I fully admit to spending the day offering quality time with my laptop and watching Ancient Aliens on Netflix, while devouring Mountain Dew cupcakes. Yes. This is my life. 

On the flip side, I am thrilled to have a publisher that thinks so highly of me and my work that she never allows be to be bored. Thank you so much Arizona Publishing for keeping me hopping! From an interview at Phoenix Comic Con, to live PODcasts, a trip to Payson with a great group of authors and a pretty steady seat on Mesa’s Second Friday art walk; I had no idea it could be this good! Thank you!

June is shaping up to be just as busy as May, so please come find me. I love seeing friends and familiar faces when I am doing the book thing, and when I am dancing with bint Hazine.

On the note of dance, my gods do I have to get back into it. Writing and directing the Check, Mate! Show for Phoenix Comic Con was a thrill a minute but I purposely took myself off the stage as much as possible. A wise man once told me “it takes a rare beast to write, direct and star in a show”. I can fully admit that I cannot be that beast, at least not just yet.

I will be dancing again with bint Hazine for the Pirate Mud Wrestling event (July 28^th at Revolver Records, Phoenix). Hells, I may even get muddy again! I am also eager to be a part of another very unique dance project, but that is a mystery for now.

I cannot write of all these events, performances and projects without offering huge thanks to everyone involved in them. So, I close this entry with a list of some of the key players that rarely receive enough praise.

Shaun “Blaze”

Eli “Steele”

JD “Sanji”

Jess “Sumomo”

Max

Adam Tuerff – Mischief Makers / Thunder Stump

Jenn “Buz” – Ok, Millie

Dellene – GD Frippery

Char

Patti – AZ Publishing / Connotations

Stacy “Maggie Pye”

And so many others who create a secondary family and a safety net for me to fall into when things get a little nutty. Thank you!

bint Hazine: A Tale of Ecstasy

Bint Hazine: A Tale of Ecstasy

J.J.M. Czep

512 BC.

The great King of Wu tested Master Sun Tzu, commanding him to train the royal harem of 180 concubines as soldiers. Sun Tzu, a man of great honor and military prowess, divided the tittering females in two companies and appointed the king’s favorites as commanders. The concubines giggled at Sun Tzu’s order. Sun Tzu told the king that his position as general was to ensure the soldiers understood the order.

Upon reiteration of the command, the harem giggled once more. Sun Tzu ordered the execution of the favored concubines. Of course, the king protested! Sun Tzu however, explained, it was the position of these appointed officers to enforce soldiers’ compliance to the general. Once appointed, it was a general’s duty to carry out his mission, even against royal protest. Following this test of character, and the execution of the king’s favorite girls, both harem companies performed their maneuvers flawlessly under the rule of newly appointed officers.

1690’s AD.

“Un! Deux! Trois! Quatre! Cinq! Six! Sept! Huit! Neuf!” Gennie’s voice carried over the deck as the tip of her blade glinted in the midday sun.

Gennie shook her head as she watched the disheveled attempt at synchronicity before her. “You are dancers, are you not?”

“Only some, Korsana.” The front most woman in veils and silks rotated her shoulder as she allowed the sword in her delicate hand to droop.

“Do you really think this is going to work?” Blaze’s sarcasm was an unwelcome tone in Gennie’s ear as the man sidled up beside her. “You aren’t very good at the sword, what makes you think you can teach them?”

She sighed as she scanned the clutch of harem hens that had opted to join Ecstasy as escape from cloistered captivity under the Sultana’s rule.

“Non.” Gennie jammed the cup of the sword into Blaze’s chest. “Voila.”

Short-lived relief spread across the collective weary brows of the harem girls.

“Non, non, non!” Gennie marched toward the closest woman and grabbed her sword hand.

The woman pulled away and crossed her delicate arms wrapping the silk veil over her soft shoulders, leaving Gennie holding the weapon.

Gennie’s eyes caught the flash of gems covering the woman’s breasts. “Mais, possible.” She tore the veil from the woman’s shoulders. “This only restricts your movement.”

“Ay!” The woman grabbed at the veil, “Emshi!”

Gennie forced the weapon into the harem girl’s open arms. The veil, she held away. It was the glint in Gennie’s eye though that struck the woman. “Do you think you are still in your cozy harem?” Gennie’s gaze fell upon each of the dozen or so pretty faces arrayed on the deck. “You are on my ship, my Ecstasy. I was not slave to your Sultana par ce que I was willing to fight.”

“We fought.” The interruption was swallowed back as it hung in the air. “We did.” The speaker looked about at her harem sisters for support.

“C’est vrai,” Gennie swept the veil around her head and shoulders. “dans the palace, against a few eunuchs.” Gennie gestured crudely at her own crotch, “Practically women, aussi. Mais, you must continue to fight out here, against even the likes of assassins!” Gennie’s finger swept in Blaze’s direction.

The harem girls looked at one another.

“You are on my ship. You will earn your way.” Blaze staggered back as Gennie snatched the sword from the his hands.

“Korsana, dit.” Gennie’s lips formed each word carefully. “Beddek hada?” She shook the veil.

The attention of all harem girls were on Gennie and this one of theirs that stood defiant before the one who freed them..

The woman’s eyes darkened, determination crossed her jaw; her delicate hands gripped the sword.

“Na'am – Aaywa” She took the stance that Gennie trained, but she did not count as the pirate woman.

She looked over her shoulder and nodded to her harem sisters. An unspoken command, one Gennie knew well the power of, was given.

“Wahid!” She swung the scimitar high over her head and drew it through the space between her and the Korsana.

Gennie did not flinch, though she saw the sudden shift of the shadow behind her and allowed a smirk to dance across her face.

“Ithnan!” She drew the upturned blade to project from the point just at the waist of her sheer black harem pants.

A second veil filled Gennie’s hands as another, in a shimmering green bra, took up the blade she had carried from the Sultana’s treasury.

“Thalatha!” More voices and more blades cut the horizon with unnerving synchronicity.

Gennie took a step back, to close the space between her and the assassin, she smiled and tipped her head back to look up at the man.

“Arba’a!” They sliced the horizon a second turn.

Veils lay in pools at the feet of the women in only glittering bras and sheer flowing black pants. Gennie nodded, her eyes glinting like the bosoms of her new army.

“Khamsa!” A wave of soft, graceful shoulders jutted to the fore as blades struck the boards of the ship like a roll of thunder.

“Sitta! Sab’a!” Gennie smirked at Blaze’s flinch from the imagined score to the back of one knee then the other.

“I cannot wait to show the boys.” Gennie imagined the response this display might draw from de Xavier, or better still, in Gennie’s mind, the sword master himself, Theodorick.

“Thamaniya!” The harem’s dance thrust their other shoulder forward.

It was the glittering final thrust that drew Gennie’s hands in applause.

“Tis’a!” Every perfectly pampered arm leveled at the heart of their invisible adversaries.

The beauty of this closing pose was worth the afternoon of shade-less repetition of the maneuvers.

“Tu voit.” Gennie slapped her hand against Blaze’s arm and snatched the blade from his grasp. “Je sais. Cette la, mes femmes des treasure.” Gennie paused. “Non, my bint Hazine.” She slapped the blade against the side of her leg and shoved the veils into Blaze’s arms.

“Allez! Encore!” She smiled directly at the first concubine, the one she unveiled. “Mais, in your tongue.”

The woman’s eyes lowered a moment in obedience. “As you say, Korsana.”

“Voila.” Gennie tapped the back of her hand against the assassin’s chest. “What do you say now, mon ami?”

Blaze did not immediately respond as his eyes were dazzled by the glistening bodies clothed in glittering attire as the sun glinted off the shifting edges of synchronized scimitars.

Gennie continued her saunter to her cabin, leaving Blaze to look from bint Hazine to the haughty captain. A moment more of contemplation was all he needed before following.

Blaze paced to the small window of the main deck cabin, leaving Gennie to bow over her logs and pages.

“And now that you’ve trained them,” Blaze stared in wonder at the stunning killing machine Gennie had forged, “Your shimmering Spartans,” he quipped, “what will you do with them?”

Gennie did not look from her task of jotting notes of the day and the tally in the number out on the deck. “As I see, I will have my very own personal guard.” She lifted her eyes to check if Blaze had his face turned to her. “Do you not think it suitable?”

Blaze turned, his expression one of pre-assumed annoyance as Gennie hoped. “I am pretty sure no matter how well you train them, they’ll still just be harem girls who’ve only ever won a battle with a lot of crying and pouting.”

It was again Gennie’s quiet smirk that made Blaze realize how dangerous these women really were.

“They really are very distracting in all those jewels.” Gennie sighed and wistfully turned the feathered quill against her cheek.

“Mesmerizing.” Blaze gripped the slot in the door with whitening fingertips and flipped the latch.

“I will allow you to borrow them,” Gennie rested her chin on threaded fingers. Blaze’s pale eyes turned only slightly from the dancers.

“Only on occasion, should you have need.”

His eyes were again on bint Hazine, his consideration of the offer turning in his mind. “Just so long as I get to keep my gun.” He grumbled.

“Oh of course,” Gennie’s eyes were in her books again. “I would not dream of taking it when you are out with the ladies.” She made certain to catch the assassin’s eye. “And you would not dream of leaving a ship that has become just ever so much more interesting.”

The music of bint Hazine singing out the numbers in the tongue of the Sultana floated in as Blaze pushed open the door of the cabin.

“Non, non,” Gennie waggled the feather at Blaze before he could close the door. “Please, leave it open, mon ami, I do like a bit of music while I work.”

Blaze rolled his eyes and marched away, leaving the door open wide.

There be seven deadly sins,

Sure as there’s as many seas,

But never, in all history,

Have murderous beauties such as these,

Trained in dance and arts, grace and fair

By rulers unfair, cruel and without care,

Glittering treasures from shores of every sea,

Freed by one marked a devil’s queen,

To live as free women,

Shimmering beauties

Re-schooled in arts most deadly,

These are bint Hazine.

Meet the inspiration for this story and watch them dance at Phoenix Comic Con 2012! Joining with The DREAD Fleet, bellydance troupe bint Hazine take the stage in Check, Mate! an original script by: J.J.M. Czep. The story of Ecstasy and her fellow ships of The DREAD Fleet continues in the live, hour long performance at the Phoenix Convention Center, May 27th and 28th. For more information see the Phoenix Comic Con site.

Copyright: The DREAD Fleet and J.J.M. Czep

Happy St. Patty's Day!

I am not Irish, but I do adore folklore and the color green, and I am always looking for fun ways to play with dialogue. So, here is a short piece; dialogue only, in honor of the holiday. Enjoy with some brisket and cabbage and good old green beer.

Luck (Dialogue Only)

by: J.J. M. Czep

“Stop yer squirming. You’re only hurtin’ yerself fightin’ like that. Just give me what I’ve rightfully earned.”

“Aye, an’ what be this thing you’ve earned by trussin’ up an ol’ man, eh?”

“Donnot try t’ play me for a fool imp. I know the rules o’ your kind.”

“Indeed? An’ what be the rules of an imp, then?”

“You must grant me a wish.”

“That be the rules o’ the little people, the Leprechauns, not old imps.”

“You know what you are!”

“Aye, but you said I was an imp.”

“Enough. You’re a Leprechaun. An’ I know that means you owe me a wish.”

“Aye, indeed, if that be what I am. I owes ye a wish. So what ‘ave ya?”

“I’ll ‘ave your gold.”

“Aye, ehm, well, for that ye’ll have t’ be lettin’ me go.”

“No way. I know how tricky you folk are.”

“Aye, an’ still ye be a fool. How am I t’ lead ye to me gold if’n I’m unable even to git there meself?”

“I suppose that is true. But, what if I let you go an’ it’s all a trick?”

“That’s a chance you’ll have to be takin’. If ye want the gold. An’ you do want the gold, don’cha?”

“I want the gold.”

“Y’ could make a wish instead.”

“I’d wish for the gold, then.”

“Aye, well to ‘ave that wish you’ll have to do as I said previous.”

“Fine. Then, I’ll tie this ribbon to you so you can lead me an’ not run off.”

“If that be a way t’ ease yer mortal mind.”

“It be.”

“We’ve been walkin’ some time. These woods are thick and it is getting’ dark. This better not be a trick.”

“No trick, good sir fool. You asked fer me gold, I be leadin’ ye right on to it.”

“Down there?”

“Aye, if ye wants the gold. I’ll have to be goin down there to git it. Your leash be a bit too short.”

“This is another trick. If I let you down that hole you’ll not come back out.”

“Aye, now what good would it ‘ave done me t’ lead ye this far. Ye sees the rainbow. Ye sees it’s colours runnin’ right into that hole there. So, it mus’ be so, the gold is there.”

“True.”

“There’s still time to change yer wish though.”

“Why would I want to do that?”

“Well, so it tis, then.”

“Just get the gold.”

“So you’ll be settin’ me free then?”

“Aye, but I am goin’ down there for the treasures. I’ll not have you lock me away from it all by some magic.”

“Of course, of course! I would not dream of such a thing, but if ye be insistant upon it, down with ye. I will keep well enough in this dark, an’ dangerous wood, all by my little lonesome.”

“Good then. Ah! Look at it! Jus’ look at it all! I’ll be comfortable for the rest of my years!”

“Aye, of course, of course, sir fool.”

“Leprechaun, help me out wit’ this load.”

“Now, see here then. I helped ye t’ my treasures an’ travelled with a fool ribbon about my person to appease yer lack o’ trust. Like some animal I was leased t’ ye through a wood where I knows folks. An’ all this after ye tricked me int’ a trap of devilish devising. An’ now, ye needs my help t’ gets out of the hole ye got yerself into. Tsk, tsk, sir fool.”

“Leprechaun! You tricked me!”

“No, no, my fool. You ‘ave me gold as you asked. I told ye to be lettin’ me go. I told ye t’ be mindin’ yer wishes. But, now, ye be havin’ me gold. The ‘hole’ load of it. Far too much fer one man, los’ in the wood, t’ be carrying back t’ enjoy. Ye should’ve listened when I said to let me free. Should’ve made another wish at least.”

END

Tovrea Castle for Kids too!

For those out of Arizona or who just don't know about the wedding cake styled castle that sits just outside the cit of Phoenix, I would love to share Tovrea Castle at Carraro Heights.

I started as a volunteer working in the cactus gardens that surround the castle and moved into the castle recently as a docent. This does not mean I live there, just that I would love to! The castle is open for public tours beginning March 10th, so please, call up and reserve a space. If you ask for Jenn I will certainly try to be your guide.

Past gardening and learning enough about the grounds and castle to educated the public, I was recently asked to work on one of several writing projects. I am excited to announce my position as writer of children's books based on the castle and the owners! Stunning, right?

While I cannot go into deep detail for the moment, I can say I am seeking an artist(s) to work on the images for these books. If you have an interest in Arizona history and offering your talents to a non-profit organization, please contact me.

Arizona parties are most welcome of course, but out of state works too!

I hope to release more about this stunning piece of Arizona history in future posts on this blog or my Ancora imparo blog.

Adventures at the Arizona Renaissance Faire

I am starting with the “thank you”s. Thank you to Ann Chamberlain of The Arizona Renaissance Festival Book Shop! You made me feel so very welcome my first year selling books at the faire that I was giddy to return this year and made it my goal to do so! Thank you to Char and her mom for welcoming me into their home and feeding me for the weekend of the faire. I am honored to be to lucky to stay in such a lovely home with open minded, creative, wonderful people, who by the way make a mean chicken casserole! Thank you to Max! I would not sell half the books that made it into the hands of the public without your faith and sales skills.

So, yes, another year, another Pirate Weekend at the Arizona Renaissance Faire. I am so grateful for the unseemly lovely weather Arizona has this year. Captain Blackstrap did not get the chance to wear her captain’s coat for very long, but people seem to dig the belts more anyway. It was great to see at least a few familiar faces on Saturday when it was only Max and me. The best was running into one of my Teen Creative Writing students from Rio Vista! I am excited and as always a bit nervous about seeing some of the pictures taken by all of the roving photographers, but by all means tag them on the social media and send a few my way. Max always looks stunning with all his pirate style. And, it was a pleasant surprise to be visited by my GD Frippery friends and Top Hat the Pirate.

I am always sort of relieved when the stash of books sells out. This is especially true at the faire. It is impossible for me to sit at the book table so imagine how chained I feel just having to hang out there for hours as the world passes by. I was happy to visit Moon Mermaid at the Twig the Fairy house and to run into some of my favorite drummers there too. I do wish I had more time to sit to watch Ghazal Beledi dance, but what I did see was astounding as usual.

On Sunday, with the rest of the crew present, we really took the faire by storm. We raided Enchanted Images for a group photo and to visit with some of the members of Delirium. Casey (Captain Red Cap) even managed to escape her tower for a short while to visit and take a photo with us!

The tournament was a bit of a disappointment this year as the pretty, pretty prince won the day. It is pirate weekend folks, isn’t the bad guy supposed to win? Shameful. Commodore Max made it worth while though by taking second place in the pirate contest. Proud and maybe a little jealous, but can you really think of anyone more deserving?

All in all, a great weekend and hopefully many more impressed fans and followers of Captain Blackstrap. Now, to get my fingers clacking at put Max’s story to paper. Faire winds to those still entertaining at the faire and to those who have not yet been, I will see the lot of you at the next DREAD Fleet event, if not before!

Pirates! What is your profession?

ARR! ARR! ARR!