Showing posts with label Wild Child Publishing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wild Child Publishing. Show all posts

Monday, July 13, 2015

Guest Blog by Carmen Stefanescu


Shadows of the Past
Carmen Stefanescu

Publisher: Wild Child Publishing

Genre: paranormal/light romance/light historical/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? 

A touching, compelling story of tragedy, loss and the power of endless love and good magic.

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. 



 
Guest Blog by Carmen Stefanescu

I thank Gothic Mom for suggesting the topic of this post -
What does it mean to live among the shadows of a legend, in Dracula's country?

            I won't bore you with economical, social and political details. I'll leave these for another place and another time.

            By the way, have you ever thought that the blood of someone famous, whose name inspires even nowadays, a feeling of admiration or unease or dread may be flowing through your veins? No? I must admit that I haven’t either, till I wrote the novel Dracula's Mistress and, come to think of it, Dracula’s blood may flow through my veins, too, as I am a native of his country.

            If you go outside in the street, in the States, and ask at random, ordinary people passing by "Have you heard about Romania ", you’ll be, most often, met by frowned eyebrows, confused looks or shrugging. Or even answers like: "Well, I don't know... is it South America... or maybe Africa...."

Ask the same people "Have you heard about Dracula's country?" A large grin will lighten the face of your interlocutor. "Oh, Dracula. Yes, yes, I heard about it. Somewhere in Europe. Transylvania.  Vampires."

So, I’m glad to live in a country known to everyone, be it only because it’s linked to a name bearing negative connotations: creatures of the night, fangs, sucking the blood of maidens, crimes and horrors. Dracula is said to have drunk his victims’ blood, terrified his enemies and turned into a bat at will. The border between legend or history and figments of people's imagination is difficult to perceive in his case.

Strong connections between the British Royal Family and Vlad the Impaler, the 15th century nobleman whose deeds inspired the vampire legend, are exploited now for advertising reasons. Books, movies, restaurants, T-shirts, fan clubs, toys, posters, wine.... So many products with this name Dracula. It's a powerful brand and a source of inspiration for generations to come.

There are many people in Romania bothered by this analogy, Romania - Dracula's country. I’m not. I’m proud to be one of his country people. And I chose to think about Dracula as a symbolic personality, a hero, a true leader, who used harsh yet fair methods to reclaim the country from the corrupt and rich boyars. I wish there lived another man like him in his present-day country!

            Anyway, words are never enough to describe the place. Beautiful landscapes with gorgeous mountains and mysterious ancient forests, clear rills coming down grassy slopes to meet the Danube.

            Well, not to mention that there are enough elements in the Romanian mythology - ghosts, zombies, vampires - to be a real attraction for visitors. We have our paranormal, haunted places, too. If you want to know more about them, I invite you to visit my blog and the posts under the title: Mysterious Romania.

My best advice to you - come and visit Romania and you'll see for yourselves how Dracula's country really looks like. And to prevent getting bored while crossing the ocean, get a copy of Shadows of the Past and read it. Otherwise you don't know what you are missing! (The other novel I mentioned at the beginning of the post will be released by the end of 2015, I hope)

            Thank you, Tiffany, for hosting me today!

Author bio: 

Carmen Stefanescu resides 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. 

Carmen Stefanescu's Links:


Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...