A very big thank you to the lovely and wonderful Tammy Middleton from Tam's Two Cents.
She has been an amazing friend not only to myself but to everyone under the branch of Staccato Publishing. For the month of November the authors with Staccato have been given a spotlight month, including interviews, give aways, guests blogs and an amazing chance to win some of Staccato's finest books.
It is now my turn ~ for my spotlight we have an interview and Tammy wrote a review for me based on My Demonic Ghost.
TAM'S TWO CENTS:
*From Blog*
Maree has taken the concept of demon possession to a new
level with My Demonic Ghost. Dark and captivating as we follow the story of 15
year old Rachael Hastings (the host) and Lock (her demon).
When Rachael travels to Whitehaven to visit her ailing
father who dies soon after she unwittingly becomes her father's demons new
host. Lock links himself to her with a kiss, wrapping her in chains and tying
her soul to him. As a banished spirit he must feed off a human host to remain
in our realm. In a welcomed twist, the pair become more dependent on each other
as their feelings for each other grow stronger, all the while their journey
takes them to the depths of hell to face the 7 deadly sins.
Maree's imagery is vivid and creative and you are
transformed into this world alongside Rachael and Lock. I loved the hierarchy
of the realms with the Royals, different levels of spirits and the Hunters. The
character's had depth and realism to them even if most of them were demons or
spirits. I also liked that the storyline was complex and detailed, giving us
history on the different spirits and insight into their current names. Linking
the 7 deadly sins into the story was pure genius right down to the differing eye
color of the spirits that linked beautifully with their unique names and
backgrounds.
In a race against time Rachael and Lock along with
several other spirits and their hosts attempt to defeat the sins, therefore
gaining access to the third realm where Lock's soul can be safe from the
Hunter's and he can find peace. In the end as the Hunter's close in, what will
Lock sacrafice for Rachael?
I was hooked from the first page and I anxiously await
the sequel, Maree leaves us with an unexpected twist at the end, I must know
what the future will hold for Lock and Rachael!
4/5 stars, definitely recommend this book, but that's
just my two cents!
Self confessed chocaholic, Jacinta was
born and raised in Melbourne Australia with her loving family of five. Even as a
child Jacinta had an itch to write. Writing was the one constant hobby she clung
to, also trying her hand at piano, flute, tennis, horseback riding and
drama.
Jacinta works full time in the family
business and spends her afternoons either playing basketball, reading, writing
or hanging out with friends. She is always happy to try something new; getting
her real estate license, practicing ninjitshu, Zumba and parkour to name a few.
For her future, Jacinta sees herself
writing. It is a large part of her identity and something she hopes to continue.
Aside from her love of stories she loves Japan and its unique and beautiful
culture and history. From their delicious sushi dishes right down to their
wooden sandals and kimonos. She is also a huge cat person and loves to snuggle
up in front of the fire for a good movie or book. Her favorite genres are
paranormal and fantasy but she also loves anything written by thriller writer,
Stephen King.
I had to have a few minutes inside the mind of this
creative author; here is my interview with Jacinta Maree author of My Demonic
Ghost...........
INTERVIEW:
*Tell us a bit about
yourself.
Currently I am sitting in
a hotel room in Queensland, finally letting my ghoulish white skin see sunlight
so I am pretty happy at the moment. I am Australian and a middle child in a
family of five. I have an awesome party trick which lets me touch my tongue to
my nose, also helpful when there is food on my face and my hands are full. I
LOVE anything and everything oriental. I have a strange obsession with
collecting tea sets and teapots as well as unique chopsticks. I've also turned
myself into an art collector, too bad I've run out of wall spaces to hang the
pieces. I am a cat person and I love playing video games. I am not afraid of
spiders or snakes but i am terrified of bees and wasps. I have been bungee
jumping in New Zealand, recently returned from Japan back in July and my next
travel destination is Malaysia in January and Kansas City in May.
*Where were you born and
where do you call home?
I was born and raised in
Melbourne Australia. Regardless of where I go or where I end up, that will
always be my home. I lived in my current house for my whole life.
*What was your inspiration
for My Demonic Ghost?
A few things triggered My
Demonic Ghost, mostly I was getting a bit tired of the same story line where
Angels = good and demons = bad. I wanted to write from the perspective of a so
called 'monster', and I wanted to challenge the readers into cheering on the bad
guys. It wasn't as simple switching the roles around so Demons are human loving,
they have both good and bad qualities in them just like the 'angels' or hunters.
I've tried to make them human I guess. It was Descartes the philosopher who made
me start questioning the likely hood of a 'demon god' and a afterlife full of
corruption with his teachings of the consciousness.
*For those who are
unfamiliar with your novel, how would you introduce it?
Casper the not so friendly
and misunderstand ghost with some bad ass Deadly Sins thrown in. It's a world
where, like it or not, you are dragged into a losing battle between the Banished
Spirits (demonic ghosts) and the Hunters (angelic spirits). With no choice but
to go along with the demonic ghost's demands, you start to unravel the awful
truth about the afterlife. It's an upside down road that makes you want the
demons to win.
*What are the Pro's and
Con's to being a published Author?
Pros are most definitely
the amazing people you get to meet. Every single person who I've met since I
started up with Staccato have been so kind to me and extremely friendly. I
honestly don't have any cons, sure it can be scary to have your hard work thrown
out there into the big scary world of publishing but in return you get to learn
and develop more as a writer and really come to understand what other amazing
works and authors are out there. If anything, it's motivating to become better.
*What was the first thing
you did when you got the news My Demonic Ghost was being
published?
I was so shocked when I
found out the first thing I did was chase down my father. I was at work, looking
over my emails when I got the wonderful news and he was just about to walk out
the door. I could barely catch my breath once I caught up to him and then I just
started to cry. It was a good couple of minutes before I could talk properly.
After that I was very secretive about it, it was one of those moments when I was
scared I was going to wake up and everything was going to just be a dream. It
wasn't till the front cover came through that it finally kicked in that this was
seriously happening.
*Whom in your life would
you say has influenced you the most?
Obviously my parents are a
huge influence, they are kind, hard working, ambitious and have taught me to
reach for my dreams. Writing was just something I did on my own, I would tell
only my parents about my books and had to almost hold them down to listen to
every single one of my silly stories. I wrote so many of them it wasn't funny.
They taught me to believe in myself.
*What has been the most
interesting comment (or review) about your book?
I always find it so
interesting when I read over people's reviews because everyone is different.
Some people would tell me how scary the creature Mother was, others would
comment about the love between Rachael and Lock. At one point I had to laugh
when a young girl sent me a comment saying she wished to harbor a banished
spirit one day. I hadn't really thought about what it would be like if I (not
Rachael) had a ghost attached to me. I didn't know what I would do. And not just
a ghost either, but a Banished one with the spiritual ability to summon magic
and mind control. I admit, I'll be too scared to do anything.
*Who is YOUR favorite
Author?
Brent Weeks and Stephen
King, hands down. Though now that I am meeting more and more new authors I feel
like my list to growing everyday.
*What are you reading
right now?
Right now I am reading The
Reaping by Leighton M, which I am absolutely loving at the moment.
*What research did you do
while writing this story?
During the time I was
writing My Demonic Ghost, I was learning about Descartes Inferno and studying up
on other afterlife myths. A large chunk of the book is created from my own
imagination, giving ghosts and spirits new faces, new duties and
classifications. I wanted to step back and just ask the big question, is the
afterlife really like anything we've been taught through personal religions?
Studying Philosophy really helped open my eyes to the infinite possibilities
about the afterlife. Maybe things aren't just black and white but also have a
cloudy grey area.
*Tell us your latest
news.
Sticking to the topic of
writing, I've just completed My Demonic Ghost - The Reapers which is Book Two. I
plan on releasing three books in the Demonic Ghost series, but the more and more
I dive into their world the more I learn about the characters, their struggles
and their inner ambitions. A part of me fears that there may even be a book four
if I don't plan it properly. Aside from paranormal romance I want to branch out
and write different genres, I want to try out sci-fi, high fantasy, dystopian
and many others. In my little planner book that I carry with me everywhere there
are so many difference ideas and plots it's now just a matter of picking which
one to start.
