S.M. Cozza

The Seven Paladins - PROLOGUE

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 12:45:01 -0400

The universe was changing.

The sky had lost its pigment, the stars their shine, the sun it’s effervescent glow. Darkness had cast its shadow over the world like a steel wool blanket, scratching at all that it aimed to protect. The Council was forced to call upon their ancestors, the chosen ones who were destined to cast the darkness out and begin a new world, one that no one had ever prepared for. Although the Council had predicted that the world would survive much longer without their interference, they were forced to take precautionary actions, as the world was headed towards its demise much faster than one would hope. The humans had destroyed it, practically devouring it with their avaricious hands, blood of their brothers dripping from their ignorant crimson fingertips.

Consumed by war and destruction, the world was coming to a bitter end. Infectious chemicals soaked the air until it was too heavy to breathe, causing new fatal illnesses to latch on to whatever living things reachable. The human population had decreased to a mere #####, forcing many struggling families into famine and financial losses. Many necessary members of the work force became ill, eventually passing, leaving more and more empty slots in crucial societal branches.

Many attempted to continue on living their everyday lives; some succeeded, but many eventually fell. Several decades passed, and the leaders of each country joined forces to form an alliance to bring their precious earth back into the light where it once was. Weapons of destruction were permanently banned in an effort to promote world peace, something that the world had been striving for since the beginning of time. For years, the allies lived in peace; the world was reconstructed, the air cleansed, but it was never the same as it once was. Many still struggled, and infectious diseases still lurked in every corner.

However, no one but the Council knew that it wasn’t just the humans’ ignorant mortal ways that had caused this near-apocalypse; no, it was much larger than that.

A man known only in legend but never seen by a knowing eye, a man who was consumed with power and rage and corruption, a man who would travel to the ends of the world and back, sacrificing everything only to obtain ultimate, unlimited power. Adhikar. Adhikar possessed powers not natural to the mortals’ world, powers that were given to him by an unknown source. Born human, he slaughtered his family along with the town in which he resided in an unmistakably furious effort to obtain power and respect. His powers were never traced back to their origin, but they were far greater than any mortal’s strengths. He was convinced of death’s rewards, of destruction’s rebirth, and of earth’s longing for subjugation.

The time had finally come for the Council to act. The allies’ peace treaty had been interrupted and the life of the world was at stake. It was time for war. A war unlike any other.

New Short Story!!

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:39:02 -0500

It’s called “Live.”

I wrote it for my Fiction Writing class, and I must say, I’m quite proud of it :D

Read it HERE.

I'm in one of those "i want to write a novel in one night" moods.

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:43:09 -0500

The Seven Paladins (sneak peak at my graphic novel!)

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 20:28:00 -0500

Every candle must burn out.

Every body must expire.

Every world must end.

Earth was only meant to last so long.

But this perennial question remains—

How long?

Whether the natural death of the world is near,

Or it is to be forced upon itself,

It’s demise is nevertheless approaching…

Today's Objective...

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 14:01:22 -0500

Finish writing dialogue for volume one of my graphic novel, The Seven Paladins.

LET’S DO THIS.

My Graphic Novel: The Seven Paladins

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:51:17 -0500

Alright, so this is currently my most exciting project. I’ve always wanted to be an artist, and I’ve always wanted to be a writer - so what better thing to do than make a graphic novel!!

The Seven Paladins was formed from the Buddhist/Hindu belief of the seven Chakras. These are similar to Greek’s four elements (water, earth, fire, air) that you are probably a lot more familiar with. The seven Chakras are:

Sahasrara (thought/time/space): Crown chakra (top of head) - Spirituality and self-knowledge (purple/white)[1000 Petal Lotus]; gateway to cosmic consciousness, see into others’ minds; inner wisdom and death of body
Ajna (light/dark): Third Eye chakra (above and between eyebrows) - Intuition and self-reflection. 2 essences combine into one. Intellect, wisdom, insight, mind development, open mind. Shiva/Shakti: the two halves of Ajna. (indigo)[2 Petal Lotus]
Vishuddha (ether/sound): Throat chakra (center base of neck) - Communication and self-expression, faith, confession, responsibility, growth, maturation, security (blue)[16 Petal Lotus]
Anahata (air): Heart chakra (centre of chest) - Love and self-acceptance, compassion, tenderness, passion, devotion, unconditional love (green & pink)[12 Petal Lotus]
Manipura (fire): Solar Plexus chakra (below sternum and above navel) - Power and self-definition, fear, anxiety, expansiveness, all matters of growth (yellow)[10 Petal Lotus]
Suadistana (water): Sacral chakra - (between navel and groin) - Sexuality and self-gratification, relationships, violence, addictions, basic emotional needs, pleasure, reproduction, creativity, joy, enthusiasm, morality (orange)[6 Petal Lotus]
Muladara (Earth): Root or Base chakra - (base of spine) - Survival and self-preservation, instinct, security, sexuality, lust, obsession, stability, sensuality, family, loyalty (red)[4 Petal Lotus]

As you can see, each chakra has a title (with translation) followed by several characteristics of that chakra. they are also represented by unique colors and flowers.

The Chakras are often portrayed in an image that looks something like this:

Each chakra has a unique icon, pertaining to a certain part of the body. When they are all combined, it creates one whole human being. This idea will be translated into the 7 characters as they fight together and transfer their powers into one massive evil-fighting mega monster of awesomeness!

I decided to go with the classic graphic novel approach: super heroes! I mean come on, who DOESN’T love superheroes? Anyway, to accomplish this, I turned each chakra into an individual character, each with their own special “abilities” pertaining to their chakra. Each character lives in a different country around the world, and they are eventually called together to ultimately stop the world from ending.

Here is a list of the characters I have so far:

Sarah Brinn (Sahasrara): GISBORNE, NEW ZEALAND

Studying Philosophy at University of Gisborne

Abilities: time travel, telepathy,

Shiva & Shakti Njoo (Ajna): BEIJING, CHINA

8 year old twins, Shakti is mute but Shiva can always tell what she’s thinking (brother and sister, dark and light, respectively)

Abilities: Shiva-darkness, moon, shadow, flies around in dark smoke

Shakti-light, lightning, flies around in bright white light

Vincent Walker (Vishuddha): NEW YORK, AMERICA

Journalist and photographer for the New York Times

Abilities: uses voice as weapon..high vibrations and loud noises cause destruction

Anna Faust (Anahata): DRESDEN, GERMANY

Nurse

Abilities: airbender

Manisha Khan (Manipura): PALI, INDIA

Exotic Dancer

Abilities: firebender

Simon Birch (Suadistana): LONDON, ENGLAND

Biology Professor at Birkbeck College

Abilities: waterbend

Mukhtaar Abasi (MUHK-tah)(Muladara): NARO MORU, KENYA

Tea Farmer

Abilities: Earth affinity, can move roots, etc.

[as you can probably tell, I used “bender” terms from Avatar: The Last Airbender, simply because it makes the most sense in my notes. Laugh all you want, but it totally works, am I right? XD ]

The plot/dialogue is still being written, and characters are being drawn. I will post the first volume as soon as it is finished!!

Up and Running!!

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:07:24 -0500

I finally finished posting alllllll the stories I could find! Well, the good ones at least.

I’d really love to get some feedback, whether it be from fellow writers or just people who want to read (:

♥

So I'm a writer.

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:12:00 -0500

I decided that I needed a nice fresh blog for just my writing alone, so here it is.

I have a few novels (that aren’t finished yet) posted on my sidebar, and it would mean a TON if you checked them out (:

Most of them are fantasy-ish, but not allll of them. (Forgotten Playground, for example, is kind of a twisted love story slash mother-daughter bonding story.)

Happy Reading!!

[To view my writing blog, CLICK HERE]