NBTM Virtual Book Tour + #Giveaway: The Ghost Hunter’s Daughter by Caroline Flarity @CarolineCooney @GoddessFish

The Ghost Hunter's Daughter

by Caroline Flarity

GENRE: YA Supernatural, Paranormal

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.

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.

Interview with Caroline Flarity

As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?

I love the book Animal Speak by Ted Andrews. It allows you to look up whatever animal draws your attention, maybe an animal that you dream about or notice in nature, and then learn what their “totem” symbolizes. I live in NYC, and recently a Cardinal landed on my windowsill. According to Animal Speak, seeing a Cardinal means “it’s your time to sing.” That was my long way of answering “Cardinal”.

How many hours a day do you put into your writing?

I don’t write every day, but I try to write in 3-4 hours spurts. I’m in a writing group, and in the days before my submission is due I’ll write for much longer (one benefit to being in a writing group!). I’m usually editing or researching if I’m not writing.

Do you read your book reviews? If yes, do they affect what you write in the future?

I’ve learned not to read all of them. Attempting to please everyone would be paralyzing and take all the joy out of writing.

Do you leave hidden messages in your books that only a few people will find?

No, but that sounds like fun!

Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in The Ghost Hunter’s Daughter?

When the book opens, main character Anna is a disgruntled, grieving teen who is bullied at school because her father, Jack, is a paranormal investigator. Anna doesn’t find peace at home, either. Due to his own grief, Jack has developed a hoarding problem. She wants nothing to do with his line of work, but it turns out that she has a knack for the family business.

Instead of relying on her two loyal best friends, Freddy and Dor, for solace, Anna escapes into her infatuation with an untrustworthy guitarist at school.

Freddy, a lanky space-geek, has always loved Anna. He’s frustrated by Anna’s crush on the vapid guitarist, and he dreams of leaving Bloomtown to attend an elite school in Florida. Dor, like Anna, has only one parent. Her friendship with Anna and Freddy means everything to her, even though she never gets to ride shotgun. But she has trouble asking for help when she needs it.

Unfortunately for Anna, Jack, Freddy and Dor, a parasitic evil invades their town, magnifying the ugliness inside everyone in Bloomtown. Anna is consumed by her growing frustrations and doesn’t notice that the lives of her father and friends are spiraling until it’s almost too late. 

When Geneva, a brilliant inventor and scientist, arrives from California to work with Jack, Anna isn’t sure how she feels about the chemistry between the two. But when Geneva’s invention, a machine that reveals 3-D images of electromagnetic fields, unveils something hideous in Jack’s office, Anna and Geneva form a bond, one that leads them to a confrontation with the entity behind the elevating chaos.

Can you tell us a little bit about your next books or what you have planned for the future?

I’m currently writing an adult psychological thriller with a sci-fi element.  

Do you allow yourself a certain number of hours to write or do you write as long as the words come?

If I’m in a good flow, I’ll write until that well runs dry. I edit, revise or do some research when I feel stuck and can’t write.

Do you have a certain number of words or pages you write per day?

No.

What inspires you to write?

I’m inspired by real-life accounts of supernatural phenomena such as hauntings, psychic phenomena, near death experiences, UFOs, etc.

Would you rather

Read fiction or non-fiction?

Fiction

Read series or stand-alone?

Tough one. I’ll go with stand-alone.

Read Science fiction or horror?

Another tough one. I just came off a long horror-reading spree. So, for now, science fiction.

Read Stephen King or Dean Koontz

Stephen King

Read the book or watch the movie?

Read it.

Read an ebook or paperback?

I’d have to say ebook. I still love the feel of a book in my hands, but for the lasts several years I’ve read mostly on my kindle.

Be trapped alone for one month in a library with no computer or a room with a computer and Wi-Fi only?

No contest. I’d choose the computer with wi-fi. I’d be terrified trapped alone in a library for that long. I could still read on the computer, chat with friends, listen to music and get news about the outside world. Order food, too, if that’s allowed!

Do a cross-country book store tour or blog tour online?

Blog tour online. Perfect for introverts.

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 ~ Website ~ Instagram ~ Facebook

Buy Link:

Amazon

Giveaway:

$50 Amazon/BN GC

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning.