Veiled Mist by Eleanor Beaty Blog Tour Guest Post/Interview/Giveaway

BLURB:
On the Caribbean island of Maurray, spoiled-rotten, fifteen-year-old Hanna wakes up to a nightmare. She is not the daughter of an aristocrat but the orphan of a Gypsy. She is the descendant to a mystical Gypsy tribe. Their magic is strong and has lasted six hundred years. Ornella, the tribe’s guardian, arrives at the island with her mutt, Count Dracula, to guide Hanna. Hanna is told she must embrace her heritage or die at the ripe age of seventeen. But Hanna does the unthinkable, she chooses death. She hates Gypsies and would rather die. What she doesn’t know is that her death will destroy the entire tribe. What she also doesn’t know is how persuasive Ornella can be. The nightmare begins.

GUEST POST: 

Why I write Young Adult Paranormal Fiction. 

I was always a spiritualist, but not a serious one. While growing up, the mystical beliefs and the rituals from the African religions were a part of my culture. New Years were always at the beach, watching the believers of Umbanda and Candoble, dressed in white, offering flowers and notes with their wishes, to the water goddess, Iemanja. Wishes of prosperity, health, happiness and love. At midnight we would enter the shallow water and jump 7 waves for good luck.

I didn’t question whether their wishes came true, nor if jumping those seven waves made me lucky, but I believed there were spirits out there watching over us.

My first personal experience with spirits came after a very bad year in my life during which I almost died. I went in search of guidance in spiritual centers. I found one where I met two very nice older women. I told them I felt my life was a series of bad events. I wasn’t going anywhere. They offered to come to my office and clean it. Clear my professional path. I accepted.

They came at night, smoked out the office and told me they would leave a spirit to guard the house. Great, a private guard. A few months went by and things got worse, which made me wonder how effective my guard was. I hit rock bottom when my assistant left, taking all her salary receipts, then went on to sue me for the salaries I couldn’t prove I paid. I was angry and hurt because I had helped her in so many ways.

A friend then sent me a friend to fill the assistant position. Soon I found out my new assistant was a medium and worked in a small spiritual center. I asked her if I could attend. I was freaking out with the possibility of losing the lawsuit.

At the center I found out my guard was an ignorant spirit, who did more harm than good because he couldn’t tell the difference between good and bad. Great!

I know it sounds crazy, but there is a food chain in the spirit world and he was at the bottom. He had to go. He would be replaced by another spirit, of low light, but powerful, and more aware of right and wrong. His task was to protect me, not the office.

I asked what the spirit’s name was, since I could call on him whenever I needed. He called himself Lord of the Swamp. Really? Nothing normal like John or Paul? If he was a Lord why did he end up in a swamp? My assistant gave me a look that warned me to respect swamp-man, so I shut up. I’m a very curious person and kept asking, but she would not tell me his story.

The first time I called on him, I was enveloped by a strong putrid stench. I thought it was my impression, but then I noticed that every time I called on him the same thing happened. That was his way of telling me he was there. I hadn’t made the connection; Lord of the Swamp smelled like a swamp! Thankfully, only I could smell it.

There are certain rules when dealing with spirits like Lord of the Swamp, but I wasn’t aware of them so, after a few months of experiencing life with such an amazing guardian angel, albeit stinky, I decided to start the day offering Swamp-man a white candle and a white flower in gratitude, while asking God surround him with light. One day my assistant walked in while I was praying and gasped in horror. (She was freaky, because she could see spirits and hear them and sometimes she would be talking to me but looking over my left shoulder at some spirit.)

She explained I shouldn’t offer him flowers or call him by a nickname (Mane- short for Manuel) because that diminished him before the group he commanded.

He was a spirit from the lower sphere. He lived in darkness. Offering him a flower and light was the equivalent to giving Darth Vader a flowered cape.

Great, and I thought I was doing something good; he deserved to rise from the mud. He had done some amazing things. Kept me safe. I didn’t lose my third child because of him. But that, she told me, was not what he wanted. I had to respect him. I could simply thank him, and maybe a black candle.

Stubbornly, I continued to light a white candle every morning. Black candles are too creepy. One day I noticed the leftovers of the candle looked different. It always differed between a clean plate and some bit of wax and a few black dots. But now there was a flower inside a circle. The black wick was bent at the end and the tip spread open like petals. The next day again a flower, and several days after that. I realized something had changed. A week later my assistant told me Swamp-man was given a choice to either grow to stay with me or leave my side. He chose grow, which meant he would have to spend sometime away. I felt happy that he wanted to make the effort to stay with me. He stayed for many years and then moved on. Now he comes to visit and uses the stench to announce his presence.

Because of this experience with Lord of the Swamp, I began to read, and the more I read about spiritualism the more fascinated I became. It is logic and scientific but mystical and mysterious at the same time. I wanted to pass that on in my books, but not in a preachy way, instead through adventure and action, and that I have. In all my books you will find spiritualistic themes. I plant a seed of curiosity and people begin to wonder. Is paranormal fiction or reality?


INTERVIEW:
If you could travel in a Time Machine would you go back to the past or into the future? 

If I could choose time travel I would go back to the 60’s, here in Brazil, where there was so much to accomplish and so much to learn. I’m actually afraid of the future on earth seeing how destructive we are. Now given a choice to head to space, to another planet, I would take future.


If you could invite any 5 people to dinner who would you choose?

Anwar Sadat – a man a greatly admire for his courage.

Liam Nielson – needs no explanation.

Graham Green – for his experiences and life as a spy, and his sense of humor.

My father – for his incredible wisdom, and his adventurous and mysterious life.

Queen Elizabeth 1 – for her courage and strength and all she accomplished.

If you were stranded on a desert island what 3 things would you want with you? 

I would take a thick spy or mystery book, a large sharp knife and moisturizer.


If you could have any superpower what would you choose?

I would want to foresee the future.


What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Coffee.


If you could meet one person who has died who would you choose?

I would choose Ayrton Senna – the Formula 1 driver. He touched my life and my heart in such a way that I could never again watch a race without crying. He was controversial and imperfect by so illuminated. I always felt he came with a big mission. He united the country in such a moving way.


Night owl, or early bird?

Early bird.


One food you would never eat?

Meat.


Please tell us in one sentence only, why we should read your book.

My stories and characters are original, unconventional and captivating. My books bring growth through humor, magic and adventure.


Any other books in the works? Goals for future projects?

Yes, Fallen Ruler comes this month and Souls of Darkness soon after.


Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.

My most rewarding experience after being published was hearing from an adult how my book helped her go through life as a child. She read the series I had written many times. Every time I get such feedback from a child it makes all the difficulties of being a writer worth it.


If you could jump in to a book, and live in that world.. which would it be?

James Bond, as James Bond. Any and all of them. I love spy stories full of action.


What was your favorite book when you were a child/teen?

The Once and Future King by T H White.


What's the best advice anyone has ever given you?

The best advice I’ve been given – learn to accept criticism and not take it personally, but view it as a learning process. The toughest thing for a writer is to be told what you wrote isn’t good enough. I used to crawl under my bed, now I ask how can I make it better?


Hidden talent?

Cooking. I love experimenting with exotic flavors. And I make the best chocolate chip cookies!


Favorite Food?

Japanese – Uni.


Finish the sentence- one book I wish I had written is...

Winnie the Pooh. I love Milne’s play with words and sense of humor, which we only understand when older.


What is your favorite scene in the book and why do you love it?

My favorite scene is when Hanna delivers the doll to Steve and realizes that she had felt the same fear he feels when she was small. That moment she starts to allow the true Hanna back.

Favorite Place: Italy 

Best Christmas present: Creepy Crawler Factory (Long time ago). 


Favorite Book: I don’t have one, as books to me represent a time in my life, so I have many. The one that I never forget is T H White’s -The Once and Future King.


Favorite Author: Again I have many, so here are a few: A. A. Milne, T H White, Andrea Camilleri, Christian Jacq, Robert Ludlum, Leon Uris and Luiz Sergio.


Favorite smell: coffee!


Favorite series: Again, picking one is impossible so I’ll say Justified and The Mentalist.


Nickname: Lolo


Favorite writing spot: At my desk, at home.


Favorite movie: Hard to answer as I love to watch films– so I’ll pick a recent one – Argos.


Favorite dish: uni sushi


Favorite color: Nowadays I favor the color that favors me, black, but I love white and beige.


Favorite quote: I read a poem while in college but I can’t remember who wrote it, nor have I been able to find out, which leads me to suspect I might not remember it correctly. This is what stayed with me -I came upon my self in the middle of the forest, I laughed, I cried, I lived and died and understood nothing - we can never say we understand life because we’ll never be done learning.


Gifts: now-a-days – one expensive one!


My best trait: Kindness.


My worst trait: Difficulty to forgive betrayal.


Skittles or M&M: M&M

AUTHOR BIO: 

I am Brazilian born and raised, of American parents. I live in Sao Paulo with my third husband and children. I studied at the American school in Brazil, in boarding schools in Switzerland and the US. I have a BA in English Literature from FIU. I published a YA trilogy in Brazil and another YA novel in Turkey in 2001, now in its fifth edition. My passion is history and spiritualism. Besides Veiled Mist, I have another YA novel, Fallen Ruler, being released soon.




ONLINE LINKS: · Website http://www.eleanortbeaty.com 
· Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Eleanor-T-Beaty-Author/116550148485360 
· Twitter @ eleanortbeaty 
· Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6452631.Eleanor_T_Beaty 

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