Saturday, March 31, 2012

The Withering World of Amelia Gray. Guest post by author Amanda Stevens.

Today I'm thrilled to be able to give this blog over in the capable hands of Amanda Stevens, author of the spine chilling paranormal romance series called the Graveyard Queen. If you haven't read the first books yet you're in for a real treat!


The Withering World of Amelia Gray

When I was little, cemetery exploration was a favorite pastime. My house was situated between two graveyards and I spent many a Sunday afternoon wandering through the maze of headstones and statuary. One of the cemeteries was abandoned and I wasn’t allowed to visit there alone. Naturally, it became a favorite escape. Nestled in a deep forest and shrouded by shade, the forgotten graveyard was a place of enchantment, a mysterious necropolis of sunken graves, crumbling headstones and fallen angels. The burials were old—pre-Civil war—and the symbols carved into the headstones intrigued me. I could daydream there for hours.

There’s a term for graveyard fascination—taphophilia.  From the Greek words taphos, meaning tomb and philia, meaning love or obsession.  A love of tombstones and cemeteries.

When I decided to write a paranormal series, I knew I wanted the protagonist to have an unusual skill or occupation. So I did an Internet search for strange jobs and up popped cemetery restorer—the perfect vocation for a character that would share my passion for graveyards. She would be Southern (also like me) and a loner because her ability to see ghosts had isolated her from human companionship. Her first name would be Amelia because it’s Southern and old-fashioned, and her surname would be Gray to symbolize the twilight world of ghosts.

Amelia became so real to me that I knew I had to create a worthy love interest, someone dark and mysterious and charismatic to lure her from the safety of her graveyard kingdom and tempt her into breaking one of her father’s cardinal rules: never associate with those who are haunted.

Papa’s rules are broken in The Restorer; the past is revealed in The Kingdom; and the future is foreshadowed in The Prophet. Set against the withering backdrop of abandoned and forgotten cemeteries, The Graveyard Queen series offers peeks into the lush dreamscape of restless souls, deranged killers and doomed lovers.

I’ve just been given the go-ahead for three more books in the series and I would like to invite you along on Amelia’s journey as her graveyard kingdom becomes ever darker and more mysterious.

…………..

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Book Trailer:



Check out the first three novels in Amanda's Graveyard Queen series!


The third novel, The Prophet, releases this April!










14 comments:

  1. I haven't started this series yet but it does sound really intriguing. I like that it has cemeteries and ghosts, I can't wait to get my hands on these books.

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  2. Great post :) I so like that angel, there is something about old cemeteries

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  3. Really nice post! Love the photos. I can't wait to start in on The Restorer and then The Prophet (already read the Kingdom)!

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  4. Even this guest post enchants me with its words. I cannot wait to read books two and three. :) I've been intrigued by cemeteries before, but never walked through them - some weird feelings creep me out, but perhaps now I will finally walk through them and take the ever lovely photos of the stone angels that I adore. :)

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  5. I always found cemeteries peaceful in a way... I don't know but I never thought pf them as scary.
    Thank you for the really interesting guest post.

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  6. I love cemeteries as well Amanda! I found the history fascinating, how when you look at those gravestones you can try to imagine the life of the people who lie there and their families, loved ones. Wherever I go in my world travels I like to tour some of the local cemeteries as well. My favourite ones are the Pere Lachaise Cimetiere in Paris and the tiny cemeteries in Edinburgh and the Necropolis in Glasgow were just as stunning!

    Than you for the interesting guest post!

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  7. Great post....I thought I was the only one out there that really like old cemetery's.

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  8. I only ever read one book about cemetery and I hope this book is not going to suck like the other one.

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  9. Graveyards are fascinating. On my travels I love to visit the oldest graves. The history is amazing.

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  10. I love old cemetery's too. I love looking at all the inscriptions on the headstones and seeing the dates. I guess it's my morbid curiosity. Looking forward to reading the books.

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  11. I love to visit old cemeteries. I grew up walking in one almost every Sunday with my grandmother. This sounds like an interesting series of books. Congrats on its success!

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  12. Graveyards have always intrigued me. I don't know what it is, but I could walk around them for hours. I like to look at the dates of birth and death and wonder about those peoples' lives.

    Wonderful guest post!

    Emily
    Ed and Em's Reviews

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  13. graveyards r rather spooky lol
    i was never interested in this books but now i am

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  14. Hi Amanda, your books sound great and I love the cover. The books cover are amazing.

    That's why you chose a cemetery restorer for your character. You know about the graveyard because your house when you were little near of it. I love this kind of genre. Can't wait to read your book.

    Thank u for sharing Amanda :)

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Thank you for sharing your thoughts =)