Cover Reveal Dracula's Mistress

There were moments when I thought I would never be able to do this.

         Well, I’m happy to say I was wrong.

So here, finally, is the cover for my new release

                            Dracula’s Mistress.

Genre - Paranormal historical, with a smidgen of romance.

And I can also let you know the date 16^th March 2017 with City Lights Press, an imprint of Wolfpack Publishing, USA.

I gave my first interview in Romanian

Here is my first interview, as an author, in Romanian,  given to a Romanian blogger Mela  Ruja Diaconu from
http://recenziicartibune.ro

Interviu # 106 Carmen Ștefănescu

Mela Ruja Diaconu | December 17, 2016 | recenzii | 6 Comments

1. Ce este important de știut despre dvs?
Îmi este greu să vorbesc despre mine. Ce pot să vă spun? Sunt o persoană obișnuită, ca oricare dintre cititorii acestui blog. Sunt profesor de limbi germanice, „rentier” în prezent. Adică la pensie, ceea ce îmi permite să mă concentrez asupra altor lucruri. Și, de cîțiva ani, autor. Cititul este prima și cea mai mare pasiune din viața mea, secondată acum de scris.
2. Vă amintiți cum ați intrat în lumea lecturii?
Încă de mic copil am fost o cititoare avidă, familia mea având o mare contribuție la asta. Am crescut înconjurată de cărți. M-am născut într-o perioadă când cititul era cea mai la indemână și plăcută petrecere a timpului liber. În facultate am studiat de asemenea şi literatură universală și comparată. Acest lucru a sporit și alimentat dragostea mea pentru literatura de pretutindeni.

3. Cum ați simțit nevoia de a scrie?
Pentru a nu plictisi cititorii blogului am să mă refer direct la ceea ce am scris după evenimentele din 1989.
In anii ’90, apariția și la noi a internetului mi-a facilitat legătura cu lumea de afară. Am participat la un concurs de poezie online, am fost acceptată, și așa a reînceput atracția mea pentru scris. În limba engleză de data asta. Câteva din poemele mele au fost selectate în 2 volume de antologie de poezie contemporană în limba engleză. Ele au apărut în format de carte obișnuită/paperback, în anii 2002 si 2004. Am primit și un premiu, cupa de argint pentru poezie in 2002. Încetul cu încetul, această mică reușită m-a insuflețit să scriu mai mult. Mi-am lărgit sfera creației către proză.

Read the whole interview here:

http://recenziicartibune.ro/2016/12/17/interviu-106-carmen-stefanescu/

Reviews (XXVIII)

Amazon.com

Not An Ordinary Paranormal Romance 

 5 stars

April 22, 2014

R. E. Wood "R. E. Wood" (Pa) 

This review is from: Shadows of the Past (Kindle Edition)

Carmen Stefanescu weaves a story that ties a tragedy from the 1400's to a present day couple. Justice and closure take half a millennium to come to fruition.

Genevieve is a child that meets a harsh set of circumstances in the 1400's. Everyone she comes to care about meets with a horrible fate. Each time it seems she's found some semblance of happiness it's torn away. Under the most bizarre happenstance she finds her true love.

Moving forward 500 years we meet Anne. Her unsettled life is haunted by feelings and visions she tries desperately to unravel. The knocks in her love life come together as she fights through this ghostly mystery. I don't want to issue spoilers.

This book has elements of romance and horror that made it a fun read for me. I lean toward horror, usually, but found this tale captivating. It certainly moves along with well-crafted prose and finishes with a satisfying ending.

Buy link:    Wildchildpublishing.com

           Amazon.com

Book Reviews (XI)

Book Review: A Satan Carol by Alan S. Kessler

Book description:

Nostalgic for the Inquisition and plague, Satan feels neglected by the modern world that no longer cares about heresy or blames him for disease and death. He plans to create a new genesis, a place where people will love him. For that, his son needs just the right soul.

A Satan Carol is a horror story with a message for those who want to understand God's apparent absence as the intersection of freewill and choice. It is a story with religious themes written for a secular reader. It is, in the end, a tale about family values even if they originate in hell.

My Review

Reading this novel brought to my mind the morality plays of the 15th and 16th centuries which involve a direct conflict between right and wrong or good and evil and from which a moral lesson may be drawn.

The novel starts in Ireland 1848, with a moving depiction of the Irish famine, the pressing atmosphere, and the people who try to survive; with Meg who believes herself blessed by Christ. She runs along coaches to beg for the rent she has to pay to her landlord Mr. Green. In Liam, her son, the villagers see a healer whose power could only come from Christ.  

In the same chapter, the story moves then, all of a sudden, in Massachusetts, one hundred and eighty years later and we meet fourteen year old Katie Katz and her whole family.

Then we meet Orem, in the past and find out why Satan favored him with visions.

After reading the first two chapters, I had the impression that things were moving too slow. The story unfolds in alternating points of view. It's not the type of story one calls a page turner. It has a multitude of characters and back-stories I lost track of at some moment.  The reader must pay attention to all the details in order to keep track of everything. The main lead belongs to Mr. Green, aka Satan, who needs a soul for his son. He wants to prove God that he isn't as bad as everyone considers him to be, and that he also can create something good. But does Father love me in return?/Not in this world but maybe in the next/when He sees with pride/how I too can create something out/of toxic nothing. An interesting, manipulating and conniving character. Mr. Green was a true believer in the holy church of his plans.

I can't say I felt empathy for any of the characters, no matter how good or bad they were. I'd have liked more insight into them.

As for the ending, I have mixed feelings regarding the way everything was wrapped up. An odd combination of macabre and religious themes. Maybe I didn’t get the exact message of this book.

Disclosure: My copy was offered by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: Three stars.

Book Reviews (X)

Book Review: SHATTERED (Mind Shadows 1) by Patrick Royal

BOOK DESCRIPTION

The only thing that multi-published, award winning horror author, Tom Elliot, wanted was to move to the country for a change of scenery and relaxation, to a quiet part of southern Illinois. It seemed he'd picked out a wonderful spot, miles away from the closest neighbor and even further away from civilization.

Tom couldn't write to save his soul. Weird thoughts trampled through his head and left him wondering if he'd made a mistake moving from Chicago. Could it have been that he ripped himself from his element, like his best friend, Michael Gully, had predicted? That he couldn't answer yet.

Words came and flowed like wildfire, but at what price? Tom's imagination was getting the best of him and running rampant. The very characters that he created tormented him, driving him mad where he couldn't distinguish fiction from reality.

My Review

I've always been a big fan of horror fiction, and I was really looking forward to reading this book. The author, Patrick Royal, delivers a taut horror novel, with an imaginative premise, that moves with speed and agility.

With a fast moving plot that keeps you turning the pages and a marvelous ride of emotion, Patrick Royal's Shattered grabbed me from page one. There are many things I'd like to say, but I'll mention only the aspects which wouldn't give away the ending, as I don't want to spoil the other readers' experience. Shattered is a real spine-tingler. The type of novel where the reader asks breathlessly, "What next?"  It reveals the hidden, dangerous power of a highly creative mind, the mind of a successful horror writing novelist. Shattered tells the compelling and gritty story of Tom Elliot. I loved the chapters where we get to know Tom Elliot better.  Little by little, the fiction world he creates sneaks into his life, reality and illusion, past and present becoming one and leading him to wonder 'if his mind was right at that moment.'

           

Other characters - Michael, his long time friend, Susan a woman he meets at a supermarket, and he enjoys having around, “You’re a very smart person, Tom Elliot,” Susan said and grinned. Tom liked that. It had been a very long time since he had a woman look at him like that. - are believable and immediately evoke empathy from the reader. Not so much his grandmother.

           

The flow of the story was smooth. It wasn't too rushed and it didn't drag which is very nice. The mysteries were given out in a perfect timing. I like how the author built the tension.

           

It took me one session to read it end-to-end. I wholeheartedly recommend it to those who love horror novels, but not only. You will enjoy it and devour it, but beware don't read it during the night.                       

           

Shattered is an enormously gripping story, in my opinion a psychological horror, which fully deserves its five stars review.

Book Release - SHATTERED by Patrick Royal

Horror Author Patrick Royal

     The only thing that multi-published, award winning horror author, Tom Elliot, wanted was to move to the country for a change of scenery and relaxation, to a quiet part of southern Illinois. It seemed he'd picked out a wonderful spot, miles away from the closest neighbor and even further away from civilization.

     Tom couldn't write to save his soul. Weird thoughts trampled through his head and left him wondering if he'd made a mistake moving from Chicago. Could it have been that he ripped himself from his element, like his best friend, Michael Gully, had predicted? That he couldn't answer yet.

Words came and flowed like wildfire, but at what price? Tom's imagination was getting the best of him and running rampant. The very characters that he created tormented him, driving him mad where he couldn't distinguish fiction from reality.



Genre: Horror
Book Length: Novel
Word Count: 53, 387
Pages: 181
Price: $4.99
Formats: PDF, ePub, Mobi, HTML



WILD CHILD PUBLISHING 

Reviews (XI)

 May 15, 2013  by Lori Zalewski

Shadows of the past

Review Requested by Author
By: Carmen Stefanescu
Publisher: Wild Child Publishing
Format: eBook
Pages: 231
Publication Date: December 4, 2012
ASIN: B00AK2D9I8
Genre: Paranormal Romance


 

The Review

Shadows of the Past is an entertaining paranormal romance that also perfectly blends in elements of horror and mystery. Original and intricate, this story with its many thrilling plot twists keeps readers at the edge of their seats. Alternating viewpoints between Genevieve, a nun living during medieval times, and Anne, living in the 1990s, Carmen Stefanescu creatively tells Genevieve’s story from childhood to adulthood as well as Anne’s attempt to reconcile with her lover, Neil.  Genevieve’s life is a difficult one filled with fear and loss, but it’s her amazing ability to overcome these horrible events that makes her such a compelling character. While haunted by ghosts, Anne shows great strength in sharing her fears with Neil, which endeared her character to me.

But, the most stunning part of this story is intensely creepy cursed forest and its connection to Genevieve and Anne. Advancing the plot, well-developed secondary characters complement Anne and her need to know what happened to Genevieve in the cursed forest. The introduction of these characters makes the reader wonder how they are connected to the people in Genevieve’s life, which adds depth to this story.

Complete with hair-raising moments, two captivating stories, and a shocking cliffhanger ending, Shadows of the Past is a well-crafted novel that leaves the reader wanting more.

 

Liebster Blog Award

Wow! This came as a great and pleasant surprise. Oana from All Fantasy Worlds and Cassie - Rafia from Fiction Fairies , nominated me for the Liebster Award.  

Thank you!

If you don’t know: Liebster Blog Award is given to upcoming bloggers that have less than 200 followers and the purpose is to get to know them since we think that they deserve it. The word “Liebster” is German and means favorite. So, basically, I’m nominated for favorite blog award.

The steps are:
1. Tell 11 things about yourself.
2. Answer 11 questions from the bloger who nominated you.
3. Post 11 questions for those who will be nominated by you.
4. Nominate 11 bloggers who have less than 200 followers.
5. Get in contact with those 11 bloggers in order to inform them that you nominated them

11 things about myself

1. I live in Romania, known to many as Dracula's country.

2. I am a teacher of English and German in my native town.

3. I've been reading and writing since I went to nursery.

4. My life-long dream to become a published writer has become reality.

5. I love Louis de Funes's movies.

6. I have two grown-up daughters and a three year-old grandson.

7. I have pets: several cats and a dog; a permanent source of both amusements and annoyance.

8.  I am fascinated by computers. If I'd been twenty years younger I'd have changed my job and become an IT engineer.

9. I am suspicious of people who don't read.

10. The words that characterize me: forgiving and perseverant.

11. My favorite places - libraries and bookstores; favorite color - purple.

Now the answers for the questions I received from Oana:

1. What other hobbies/ obsessions do you have besides reading and writing?

            Playing computer games. Mostly, role-playing games.

2. Do you lend your books to friends?

I do, even if, sometimes they tend to forget returning them. I like other people to read books I found interesting, captivating.

3. Have you ever convinced someone who hasn’t read a book in their life to start reading? How?

As I am a teacher I had this opportunity more than once. I asked the pupils to make comments on certain books and in the end they had to read them.

4. What book did you hate despite everyone saying it was awesome?

I will never hate a book. Or, anyway I've never had the opportunity to read something and hate it. I don't deny there may be books that urge people to hate their fellow-beings, that are full of hatred, prejudice, intolerance. I will absolutely hate such books.

5. Which book character would you like to date and why?

Edmond Dantes, from The Count of Monte Cristo. I found him fascinatingly courageous, honest and determined.

6. If your life would be turned into a movie, which actress/ actor would you like to play you and why?

Meryl Streep. Although she's not the glamorous type she is charismatic and friendly looking. I'd like to be acted by her.

7. Which is your favorite villain?

"Don" Vito Corleone from Mario Puzo's Godfather trilogy.

8. Is there a genre you would never read?

Non-fiction. Only if absolutely necessary, that is, something linked to my PC's management.

9. Which is your favorite classic novel?

Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Like Hardy I believe in fate and the predestined path of our existence.

10. What magic power would you like to have and why?

I'd like to be one of the characters in role-play games: a wizard having the power to make all bad things disappear from my country and from the whole world.

11. Who is your favorite author and what question would you ask him/ her if you had the chance.

I have more favorite authors. Let's choose one who's still alive: Stephen King. I'd ask him if he'd ever experienced any of the strange events going on in his books: It, The Shining.

My questions for the nominees:

1. Why did you get into blogging?

2. How did you come up with the name of your blog?

3. Do you have a favorite classical author?

 4. If you could swap the place with a famous author who would this be?

5. If you are a writer, too, which do you prefer best: writing on the blog or writing your book?

6. How do you feel when rejecting a review request from an author who asks you nicely?

7. How do you decide which book to review?

8. If you could choose a famous author to cooperate with you for a project who would this be?

9. What's your favorite book turned into movie?

10. What character in a book you've reviewed so far do you hate/love most?

11. If your life would become subject in a book what genre would it be: romance, thriller, horror, sci-fi and why?

I nominate the following bloggers for the Liebster Blog Award:

1. Shawn from http://srhowen1.blogspot.ro/

2. Liliana from http://lilianasoare.blogspot.ro/

3. Terri from http://territalleyventers.blogspot.ro/

4. Estefania from http://bookaholiccorner.blogspot.ro

5. Julia from http://asyouwishreviews.blogspot.ro/

6. Natali from http://bookcupid.blogspot.ca/

7. Marcia from http://bookmusterdownunder.blogspot.com.au/

8. Amy from http://abluemillionbooks.blogspot.ro/

9. Josie from http://josies-haven.blogspot.ro/

10. Sonia from http://soniafogal.blogspot.ro/

11. Lily from http://lilypondreads.blogspot.ro/