Stopping by The LUVNV today is the Eleanor Beaty's Discover Your Destiny Event, organized by Novel Publicity. Every Thursday over the next three weeks, we're posting guest posts, giveaways, and excerpts from Eleanor Beaty's novels, Veiled Mist, Fallen Ruler, and Souls of Darkness. Today, we're spotlighting Veiled Mist. Read on to learn more about the book, read an excerpt and guest post, and enter two awesome giveaways for a Kindle Paperwhite, copies of the all three books, two $25 Amazon gift cards, swag, jewelry, and more!
Veiled Mist
by Eleanor T. Beaty
Publication: July 9th 2012
Genre: YA Paranormal
Genre: YA Paranormal
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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.
"An engrossing and convincing thriller, set in an exotic part of the world, elegantly yet efficiently told. Eleanor Beaty is a writer well worth keeping your eye on" ~ Jon Breakfield, best-selling author of Key West.
“The storyline for this book is delightfully original [and] chock full of intrigue and the paranormal… I enjoyed every minute of the story and think you will, too.” ~ Nancy Medina, book blogger
"An engrossing and convincing thriller, set in an exotic part of the world, elegantly yet efficiently told. Eleanor Beaty is a writer well worth keeping your eye on" ~ Jon Breakfield, best-selling author of Key West.
“The storyline for this book is delightfully original [and] chock full of intrigue and the paranormal… I enjoyed every minute of the story and think you will, too.” ~ Nancy Medina, book blogger
“Then what…” he stepped back still holding the gun to Hanna’s head. “Todd? You took Todd? Put him down now!”
Hanna heard the click. Michael was about to pull the trigger. She wanted to do as he’d said, and was about to, but the African warrior appeared near the Cabin and shook his head. “No.”
“You put him down,” Michael hissed.
“We can’t. We need to get him to a hospital. If we don’t, he’ll die. Please let us…”
“You’re not taking my son anywhere near those traitors.” Michael jammed the rifle’s nozzle against Hanna’s head, hurting her and almost making her lose her grip.
“If you shoot me, I’ll drop him,” Hanna said.
“Put him down.”
The warrior continued to shake his head. Hanna wished he’d do more than that. A little help would be nice. “You can shoot me, but I won’t put him down.”
“Hanna,” John whispered.
“He knows his son will die if we drop him,” Hanna said.
“Do you have a death wish?” John hissed.
All three heard a distant sound coming from their left. Hanna wondered if her guess was right.
“Put the gun down Michael,” John II said.
Hanna couldn’t see her grandfather.
“Williams? You’re behind this?”
“I am, drop the gun.”
“You bastard. I won’t let you take my son from me.”
“I’m not taking him from you, just getting him to the hospital. You can hate me later, but I’m going to do this even if I have to shoot you.”
Michael lowered the rifle. “You’re going to pay for this. Did you kill my dogs?”
“They’re resting. Hanna and John, head to the clearing.”
Hanna heard the radio static.
“Ray, how far are you?” John II asked.
“One minute.”
“It’s the chopper,” John whispered excitedly, as they made their way to the clearing. “Wow, this is so cool.”
“Quiet John, we can still get shot,” Hanna said.
The chopper now hovered above their heads, its bright beam aimed at the clearing. Hanna realized they stood on a putting green. She took a few steps back and crouched to protect Todd from the wind caused by the chopper’s blades.
“Why are you doing this?” Michael screamed as the chopper prepared to land.
“Because I owe you. Please, Michael, let us save him.”
“No,” Michael screamed, darting towards Hanna.
Her grandfather fired. Michael took another three steps and fell. The black chopper landed. The pilot got out and helped them with Todd. Moments later the chopper lifted off. Both Hanna and John watched speechless as their grandfather and Michael grew smaller. The chopper banked to the right and they lost sight of Tornado Hill. Hanna felt for the boy’s pulse. It hadn’t changed; it was weak, but steady. She looked down once more and saw the warrior’s green glow sliding down the hill, like a water stream.
A character that is hard to like…at first
by Eleanor T Beaty
When you first meet Hanna Williams, the main character in Veiled Mist, you might not fall in love with her. You might even give off a groan as the story opens because Hanna starts off as a snob, mean even, shallow and futile. In other words, she’s a typical high class teen. But Hanna is a bright diamond…in the rough.
Many wonder why have a main character that is difficult to love? Because I think we tend to allow a first impression to form our opinion of people and we shouldn’t. I have done so many times and from that bad habit I learned people have layers.
The first impression: Hanna’s a spoiled, insufferable brat. The final impression: well… I will leave that up to you.
Through Hanna I tried to show her not so glamorous traits by using a twist of sarcasm, not intending to be preachy. I think it’s sad when shallowness and selfish behaviors are valued personality traits, so I showed them with humor. The fact that Hanna thought sleeping in a sequined gown would guarantee she would not be the gypsy from her dreams was comical and outrageous. In her mind if she slept like a princess, she was one!
Hanna represents many of us, not for her high class origin, but for the normal tendency we had as teens to not care about anyone or anything but ourselves. So what if the ice is melting in the North Pole? I mean, come on, it’s only ice, and like the fridge, new cubes will replace the ones I used in my ice tea. Let’s not get started on those white bears. What difference do they make? How does mankind benefit with their existence? We can always find a home for them in a Zoo. We could even add some color to their new home. White is boring.
And because she is a normal teen, writing as Hanna was not easy for me. I started off using a close relative as a muse and found myself staring at my own behavior at that age. Gosh, it was so long ago I had forgotten about that. It took a few uncomfortable moments to reconcile who I am now with who I was. It was a painful growth process. Unfortunately I didn’t have the help of such a crazy and determined mentor like Ornella! I wish I had.
Through Hanna I was able to make fun of myself, which was comforting as it showed I had grown. When Hanna decided to spend the last year of her life in a self imposed spiritual retreat, she tested turning inwards, looking into her soul, and found there was an empty space. She realized that if she spent a year staring at that empty space she would die of boredom. She tried to list what she had accomplished until that moment and came up empty, with the exception of finding out she was her family’s shameful secret. She couldn’t write her Eulogy. Or she could but it wouldn’t be longer than a paragraph, if that, and all she could do was list her physical attributes.
At that moment she had found a mirror and what she saw made her uncomfortable. And you think, ok, here she goes, turning point. Wrong. Still Hanna doesn’t want to walk the path of change. She wants things to remain as they were, and continue to live life in a comfortable oblivion. Don’t we all, because change can be hard.
Then came the best part as a writer and human; turning the table on Hanna. The change was forced by Ornella, using Hanna’s own worst fears against her. Watching her react, fighting to stay the same, provoked mixed feelings. To the bitter end she resists, but loses the battle because those who love her, the people who know the real Hanna, weren’t willing to give up on her.
Hanna is special even though she doesn’t know it. She has a quirky personality and the most unexpected reactions. She’s annoying and she’s unique. Her logic is flawed and she doesn’t want to look reality in the face, but you can’t help but hope she’ll change. When Ornella, the six-hundred year old gypsy, and her mutt, Count Dracula come into Hanna’s life, one wonders who has the strongest will. A tough call. When reason doesn’t work, Ornella turns to very unconventional methods to convince Hanna she must embrace her mystical path in order to save not only herself but the entire gypsy tribe. Ornella and the Count find that changing Hanna is not a battle but a war they must fight and win to survive.
So what I wonder is, will you come to love Hanna as the story progresses? Will you cheer her on? Or will you prefer another character by the end of the novel?
Eleanor T. Beaty is a Young Adult Paranormal author. A worldly person born in beautiful Brazil and spent much of her childhood in several places (Argentina, Switzerland, and the US to name a few). She holds a BA in English Literature and is published in both Brazil and Turkey.
Eleanor loves spirituality and magic - both have allowed her to gain a strong grip on life and enjoy what it has to offer. She believes that everything has a reason and understanding those reasons help us deal with the difficult moments. Eleanor currently enjoys life with her husband in Brazil.
Eleanor loves spirituality and magic - both have allowed her to gain a strong grip on life and enjoy what it has to offer. She believes that everything has a reason and understanding those reasons help us deal with the difficult moments. Eleanor currently enjoys life with her husband in Brazil.
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