Teaser Tuedays: Carmen Stefanescu - Shadows of the Past
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
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Grab your current read
•
Open to a random page
•
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
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BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
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Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
Here's my teaser:
Had his folks talked him into giving her up, made him see reason? Helping her out of her predicament meant a huge risk for him - loosing his family, his friends and his position among his peers.
Shadows of the Past
Publish date: 4th December 2012
Publisher: Wild Child Publishing
Genre: paranormal/light romance/light
horror.
Blurb
Anne's relationship with her boyfriend Neil has disintegrated. After a two-year
separation, they pack for a week vacation in hopes of reconciling. But fate has
other plans for them.
The discovery of a bejeweled cross and ancient human bones opens a door to a
new and frightening world--one where the ghost of a medieval nun named
Genevieve will not let Anne rest. This new world threatens not only to ruin
Anne and Neil's vacation but to end all hopes of reconciliation as Anne feels
compelled to help free Genevieve's soul from its torment.
Can Anne save her relationship and help Genevieve find her eternal rest?
The twists and turns in this paranormal tale keep the reader guessing up to
the end and weave themselves together into a quest to rekindle love.
And... surprise, surprise... here is a short interview with the author of the book, Carmen Stefanescu, if you'd like to know more about her writing.
Share 3 teasers from your book, each consisting of 2 sentences.
1.
Genevieve
wrapped the dark mantle covering her shoulders more tightly around her and
swallowed her fears as they began the cautious ride through the silent forest. They
rode on through the silent night, enveloped by their own silent guilt.
2. "Oh, God.
Please forgive me," Andrew muttered under his breath when he bowed his
head to kiss her and their lips met in a passionate first kiss.
Genevieve's spirits fell and her heart skipped a beat when, a couple of
seconds later, she opened her eyes and her gaze fell on a knot strangers.
3. Anne shivered; why
the deep feeling of having seen this place, this forest before and the eerie
sensation of being present here only in the body, while her mind was far away?
Away from Neil, the man who'd betrayed her trust and her love.
Share 3 pieces of
advice for beginning writers like myself.
1. Follow your dream! Read, write.
Read and write.
2. Be civil, good-mannered even towards
editors who reject your manuscript. If they take the time to write you an
explanation, be courteous and thank them.
3. Swallow the bitter tears of
rejection and go on querying. Never give up! In the end your dream will come
true. It's what happened to me!
Why historical fantasy?
I
have a fascination for Medieval Times.
As the events in
Shadows of the Past take place
during Medieval England, I read as much historical info as I could. Especially
details regarding life in monasteries. I had
to do a thorough research. I found out quite interesting things.
The same I did for Wicca. What Wicca means
and what do Wiccans do and what their view on existence is. My next novel Dracula's Mistress, you know the
fascination this name creates, is again a historical novel. Historical
paranormal. Medieval Romania/Walachia.
You started with poetry, like myself. Share a short poem.
Well, a difficult
decision. I will give you the poem whose first lines are a motto for Shadows
of the Past. By the way, I even have a poem with the same title.
ETERNITY
In the quiet solitude of a
small, remote convent,
Only prayers seem alive on
the lips of holy sisters.
Candles flicker in their
hands like lost souls in search of light,
And the yellowish, faint
glimmer makes a halo' round their whispers.
Era is eternity. Garments,
litany unchanged.
Just a film of smoke on walls
clings mute witness to new faces,
To the passing-by of time, to
deathlessness of love and hope,
To this monolith of faith
heaving over age and spaces!
TORPOR
I learned to love my empty
days
While waiting for the sleep
to come.
Old-fashioned, silly, paper
flowers
float above my head,
flooding the stifling silence;
without questioning myself
I fall asleep in the
moonlight.
Plans, about tomorrow, are
supremely
unimportant !
Author bio:
Carmen
Stefanescu was born in Romania, the native country of the infamous vampire
Count Dracula, but where, for about 50 years of communist dictatorship, just
speaking about God, faith, reincarnation or paranormal phenomena could have led
someone to great trouble - the psychiatric hospital if not to prison.
Teacher of English and German
in her native country and mother of two daughters, Carmen Stefanescu survived
the grim years of oppression, by escaping in a parallel world, that of the
books.
She
has dreamed all her life to become a writer, but many of the things she wrote
during those years remained just drawer projects. The fall of the Ceausescu’s
regime in 1989 and the opening of the country to the world meant a new
beginning for her. She started publishing. Poems first, and then prose. Both in
English.
Find her on:
Amazon
Blog
Trailer: Shadows of the Past
And my haiku for today:
Carpe Diem
March 26th, #154 - Spring Lanterns
after the sunset,
writing a spring night haiku -
just candle lanterns
after the sunset
inspiration rivalry:
spring lanterns or moon?
NaHaiWriMo
March 26th - key
spring lanterns turned on -
old man's key to happiness:
chess game with loved ones
An interesting movie presenting the transformation and addaptation process.
Based on Neil Gaiman's book, Stardust is a great fairy tale which gathers so many mythical, supernatural creatures in an amazing adventure while seaking true love. got to love it!