Guest post by Majanka Verstraete

First of all, I would like to thank Brenda for letting me post this guest post on her blog. So, I’ve written a supernatural horror novel. Two, actually. The first one, The Blood That Defines Us, dealt with family and the cruel things family can do to each other. It dealt with loss, tragedy, the feeling of being forgotten, abuse, confinement and prisons built by misplaced love. It also dealt with guilt, and how the mistakes of our ancestors can affect us, even today.

My second novel, Mirror, Mirror, deals with guilt as well, but another form of guilt. It focuses on those of us who are unable to deal with our guilt, which they hide away in the darkest corners of their mind because they can’t cope with it. Additionally, Mirror, Mirror talks about friendship, and about how important friendship truly is, and how messed up it can get when something goes wrong. But it also deals with letting go, forgiving yourself and moving on. On the other hand, there is also a strong theme of vengeance going on in my second novel.

I write supernatural horror novels because I enjoy writing them. But I don’t just write about ghosts, mirrors, hauntings, demons, curses and the likes. Contrary to what some people believe horror is all about, in my opinion, horror focuses on people. More even, it focuses on people at their worst. When we are being threatened by invisible opponents, when we are being banished out of our own home, when we are being terrorized by forces of the supernatural. And that's why I  enjoy writing horror so much. Because it looks at humanity in general, and one single human (or a group of humans) in particular, and judges us by how we behave at our worst. Some go crazy, others try to run, and some of us are brave enough to stay and fight.

If I were to write a story about a house being haunted for no particular reason, by a ghost of whom we know absolutely nothing, I wouldn’t enjoy that story myself. I want to know reasons. I want to know the deep, dark secrets that caused spirits to be stuck on this plane, unable to move on. I want to know how they behave and interact with us, humans. And when the reason of the haunting lies in the evil of humanity, I find that all the scarier.

For me, blood and gore movies don’t cut it. I laugh at them. Saw doesn’t even make me remotely scared, nor does Texas Chainsaw Massacre or From Dusk Till Dawn. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t be scared if I were in such a situation myself, but I don’t consider that terrifying. What I do find terrifying is the more subtle kind of horror, gothic horror if you want, that drips into the story from page one, but by the time you very well realize it, it’s already too late. Take the movie The Others with Nicole Kidman for example. Although you might not exactly be terrified by the ending of it, I certainly felt uneasy. Why? Because it told a story. A story about suffering, regret and guilt. And those are the kind of stories that make us both uneasy and scared, but intrigue us beyond belief.

What do you think makes a good horror story? Should it focus on the horror only, or should it provide a backstory as well? What elements do you think are necessary to make something really scary? Do you believe in ghosts or hauntings? If so, do you think guilt and regret might be a possible factor to keep spirits glued to this plane? Please let me know. 

Synopsis ------Genre: Supernatural Horror, Thriller, Young Adult

Piper is nearly as obsessed with antiquities and century-old houses as her mother is. It's no surprise that she immediately falls in love with the old mirror she discovers on the attic of their new home. Despite the warnings of her best friend Alison, who senses something isn't quite right about Piper's newest discovery, she puts the mirror in her bedroom. 

Tormented by nightmares and haunted by eerie voices in the middle of the night, Piper realizes she has made a terrible mistake. But is it really the fault of that antique mirror, or is her imagination playing tricks on her? Maybe the truth is even more terrifying...

You can find the book cover as a separate file included in this email.

Author Bio

Majanka Verstraete is a twenty-one year old female from Belgium. She’s currently studying law at university. Her greatest passions in life are writing and reading. She especially enjoys writing books in the young adult genre, ranging from young adult horror novels to epic fantasy and paranormal romance. She has currently published two books, The Blood That Defines Us and Mirror, Mirror. She’s working on a collection of horror short stories, The Thirteenth Hour, which is due for release on June 1^st 2012. Her current writing project is a paranormal romance series under the working title “The Angel of Death Series”. Volume one will be entitled “Soul Thief”.

Important Links

Author website:

http://writings.eternalised.net/

Buy Kindle:

http://www.amazon.com/Mirror-ebook/dp/B0060O7AP8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324462386&sr=8-1

Buy EPUB from Lulu:

http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/mirror-mirror/18490911

Buy Paperback:

http://www.lulu.com/product/pocketboek/mirror-mirror-%28print%29/18495969

Buy Mirror, Mirror from Smashwords:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/99771

Guest post by

Anna's website is http://www.annapatraticio.blogspot.com and her publisher's site is http://www.imajinbooks.com


THE WONDERS OF RESEARCH
by Anna Patricio

My debut novel 'Asenath' is about the wife of Joseph of the coat of many colours. Many people do not know about Asenath, for she is mentioned only in passing. So when I wrote my book, I was at great ease to take as many liberties as possible.In fact, all we are told about Asenath is that she was a priest's daughter who married Joseph after he interpreted Pharaoh's dreams. So in filling the gaps before and after that event, I stretched my
imagination to no end.

I did, however, write the novel in such a way that her life was intertwined with Joseph's even before he became a ruler. In doing this, I stayed close to the Genesis account. However, there are other accounts of Joseph outside the Bible which I had previously come across, and which I thought to draw from as well, as they seemed
pretty interesting. Some of these tales even centre on Asenath, which astonished me seeing as she is so obscured in Genesis.

Such a tale would be 'Joseph and Asenath,' which apparently dates to 1st century Alexandria. The background of this story is that some early rabbis didn't think it feasible for one of the patriarchs to marry a pagan priestess, and thus wove a story which had Asenath convert to Joseph's faith. This is a rather fantastical tale - indeed
nearly like a fantasy - as it involves Asenath seeing an angel who ooks like Joseph as well as some bees which feed her "sacred" honey, thus marking her conversion. Because this seems to be the most famous tale of Asenath, I wanted to give a nod to it in my novel but wasn't sure how. When going through the final draft with my editor, she suggested that in a garden scene with butterflies, I replace the butterflies with the bees. I really
liked the butterflies, as they were beautiful not to mention butterflies are my second favourite animal after dogs. But I also thought it would be cool to acknowledge the 'Joseph and Asenath' story, plus I like the way my editor wove it in. So I wholeheartedly agreed.

There is also a part in the novel in which, during a banquet at Potiphar's house, a female guest is so entranced by Joseph's good looks that she accidentally cuts her hands instead of her fruit. This was derived from one of the Islamic accounts of Joseph - if I recall correctly, it is even in the Quran (there are many poems and songs
recalling this event as well). As we know, Potiphar's wife sought Joseph. In the Islamic tales, her
friends, upon hearing of her desire for her steward, mock her for it. So one day, Mrs Potiphar holds a banquet and orchestrates things in such a way that Joseph will enter the room for everyone to see him - and to see the "torture" she has been going through, of wanting something she cannot have. She then serves her friends fruits, along with knives to peel the fruit. When Joseph appears, her friends are so caught up in his good
looks, they slice their hands instead of the fruits! Mrs Potiphar then says, "This is what I've had to endure every day!"

Also, the name which I used for Potiphar's wife - Zalikha - is a variant of the Islamic stories' "Zuleika."

I also took liberties with Asenath's parentage as well. It's probably best I don't elaborate here, though this has already been echoed in some reviews of my novel. But I got the idea from a Jewish folktale which has Asenath as Dinah's daughter. Again, some folks didn't likethe idea of Joseph marrying a pagan, so they rewrote Asenath's life in such a way that she was secretly a Hebrew. In this story, Asenath was born as a result of the unfortunate events of Dinah at Shechem. Dinah's brothers then abandoned the infant Asenath in the wilderness, where she was rescued by an eagle and taken to Egypt. Many years later, Joseph would recognise his "niece" from a special medallion she wore, inscripted with Hebrew letters.

I did not realise that there were so many interesting stories of Joseph out there. But I am glad I came across them, especially as they greatly aided me in the writing of 'Asenath.'


SYNOPSIS OF 'ASENATH:'

Two Destinies...One Journey of Love

In a humble fishing village on the shores of the Nile lives Asenath, a fisherman's daughter who has everything she could want. Until her perfect world is shattered.

When a warring jungle tribe ransacks the village and kidnaps her, separating her from her parents, she is forced to live as a slave. And she begins a journey that will culminate in the meeting of a handsome and kind steward named Joseph.

Like her, Joseph was taken away from his home, and it is in him that Asenath comes to find solace…and love. But just as they are beginning to form a bond, Joseph is betrayed by his master’s wife and thrown into prison.

Is Asenath doomed to a lifetime of losing everything and everyone she loves?

AUTHOR BIO:

Anna Patricio is a lover of ancient history, with a particular interest in Egypt, Israel, Greece, and Rome. She is also intrigued by the Ancient Near East, though she has not delved too much into it but hopes to one day.

She undertook formal studies in Ancient History at Macquarie University. She focused mostly on Egyptology and Jewish-Christian Studies, alongside a couple of Greco-Roman units, and one on Archaeology. Though she knew there were very limited job openings forancient history graduates, she pursued her degree anyway as it was
something she had always been passionate about.

Then, about a year after her graduation, the idea to tackle historical fiction appeared in her head, and she began happily pounding away on her laptop. ASENATH is her first novel.

Recently, she traveled to Lower Egypt (specifically Cairo and the Sinai), Israel, and Jordan. She plans to return to Egypt soon, and see more of it. In the past, she has also been to Athens and Rome.


Anna is currently working on a second novel, which still takes place
in Ancient Egypt, but hundreds of years after ASENATH.