Rogue's Angels Present: The Ghost Hunter's Daughter by Caroline Flarity

Please welcome Caroline Flarity author of The Ghost Hunter's Daughter.

Caroline Flarity will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

The Ghost Hunter's Daughter

by Caroline Flarity

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GENRE:   YA Supernatural/Paranormal

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INTERVIEW:

What or who inspired you to start writing?My family lived overseas when I was a child, and we had limited access to TV and movies. Books were the main source of entertainment in our house. I was drawn to tales of the paranormal, and writing my own creepy stories was the natural next step. My grandfather was a playwright and artist, and he also encouraged me to write.

Can you give us a sneak peek into this book?

Mean Girls meets Supernatural in this dark paranormal mystery for teens. The Ghost Hunter’s Daughter follows Anna Fagan, a teen who is bullied at school due to her father’s occupation and further humiliated by his out of control hoarding. She wants little to do with him or his line of work, but it turns out that she has a knack for the family business.

How did you come up with your idea for your novel?I knew I wanted to write a metaphysical coming of age story about a teenage girl. The supernatural entities in the book, Tricksters, demons and object-bound spirits, were inspired by my research in accounts of the paranormal. The societal issues tackled in the storyline, such as bullying and victim-shaming, reflect what I saw happening in the world while I wrote the book. 

What expertise did you bring to your writing?
Since I was a child, I’ve been fascinated by the paranormal. Whether it’s hauntings, out-of-body and near-death experiences, psychic phenomena, UFOs, reincarnation---I love it all and have researched these subjects for many years.

As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans?My work in progress is a psychological thriller with a sci-fi element. I’d also love to return to YA and write a sequel to the Ghost Hunter’s Daughter.

If you could be one of the characters from this book, who would it be and why?I think I’d be Geneva. She brilliant and invented an E.M.I – a machine that reveals 3-D images of electromagnetic fields (EMFs). EMFs can signify the presence of a spirit or entity, so this invention is a historic game changer in the world of ghost investigations. She’s a scientist, but she’s also deeply spiritual. I admire people who are both open minded and logical.

Do you belong to a critique group? If so how does this help or hinder your writing?I’m in a writing group and it benefits me significantly. The group provides me with deadlines to submit pages. It’s also helpful to receive feedback from writers who are familiar with my storyline.

Do you outline your books or just start writing?I’m a plotter. I start with a basic outline and then spend time making it as detailed as possible before adding scenes, notes, or just snippets of dialogue. Once the scenes are somewhat fleshed out, I remove the outline so the chapters flow together. I’ve found this structure frees me up creatively, whereas sitting down in front of a blank screen has the opposite effect.

How do you maintain your creativity?I think of creativity as a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets. I don’t believe a writer has to write every day, that’s not feasible for a lot of people. I recommend scheduling writing time into your week that you can stick to and then committing yourself to that schedule. Good ideas can come at any time, not just during “writing time”. Don’t tell yourself you’ll remember these ideas later. Send yourself a text or an email in the moment so you don’t forget. The more you listen to your creativity, the more it speaks to you.

Who is your favorite character in the book. Can you tell us why?
I have a soft spot for main character Anna because her arc is the most dramatic and meaningful. She’s flawed, but stick with her! Her transformation is empowering.

BLURB:

Sixteen-year-old Anna sees things from another world, the spiritual world, a skill that isn’t exactly useful in high school. It’s bad enough that her mother, possessed by a demon, took her own life when Anna was a child, a loss she remains tortured by. Now her father makes his living “clearing” haunted objects, and Anna’s job as his assistant makes her a social misfit. Most kids in her suburban New Jersey town refer to her just as “Goblin Girl.”

Only Freddy and Dor remain loyal friends. But Anna’s so focused on her own problems, she’s missed that her connection with Freddy is moving beyond the friend zone.

As junior year approaches, a rare solar storm lights up the night skies and the citizens of Bloomtown begin to act strangely: Anna’s teachers lash out, her best friends withdraw, and the school bullies go from mean to murderous. When Anna realizes she can harness this evil power, she sets out to save Bloomtown and the only family she has left.

But to do so, she must keep her own increasingly dark urges at bay.

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EXCERPT:

Anna continued the staring contest with herself until the current of connection became so strong that she couldn’t look away from the mirror even if she wanted to. And then the details of the yellow flecks around her pupil—the golden starbursts in the hazel of her irises—suddenly grew sharper in the glass, crystallizing. Every muscle in her body tightened. Something was going to happen. 

At first Anna thought she was shaking with fear, and then she was sure that a bee had flown into her mouth. Her jaw clenched instinctually, biting down. She braced for the soft crunch and searing sting that was sure to follow, but her teeth met without resistance. There wasn’t a bee, but her teeth continued to rattle as an electric thrumming spread throughout her body. Was this another portal attack? Anna wasn’t sure, but it was a vastly different sensation from the river rage—a much faster and higher-pitched vibration. She waited with dread for the shaking to slow and deepen, for the waves of hatred and misery to roll through her. But the vibration inside her increased in tempo, intensity and pressure. 

It was like being in an airplane right before the wheels lifted off the ground—all that power. She was vibrating at a body-numbing, incredibly high rate, but was somehow still at the same time, like a tuning fork. It had been a mistake to try this in her room. What if the mirror gazing had opened her up even more to the destructive power of the portal spew? There was something familiar about it, the growing roar in her ears, but she braced herself and resisted with all her strength. No.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Caroline Flarity is a web content producer living in NYC. Her fascination with fringe topics and love of scary movies led her to begin her writing journey penning creepy screenplays. Her debut novel THE GHOST HUNTER'S DAUGHTER started life as a feature script, placing in the finals of the StoryPros Awards and as a semifinalist in Slamdance Film Festival's writing competition. She enjoys pitting her characters against both supernatural and cultural evils.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CarolineCooney

Author website: www.CarolineFlarity.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolineflarity/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Author-Caroline-Flarity-2228648867183413

Buy The Ghost Hunter’s Daughter here:  amzn.to/2VJ9S31

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE:

Caroline Flarity will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f3050