Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Guest Post and Giveaway - Marie Treanor - Smoke and Mirrors




Secret Psychics by Marie Treanor
Because human beings only use a very small percentage of their brains, the possibilities of what we could do with the unused portion, provide fantastic inspiration for imaginative fiction, especially paranormal fiction.

Of course there are people in the real world who claim to have paranormal abilities – powers of spiritualism, telepathy, second sight, extra-sensory perception and so on –, and I like to believe some of those must be genuine to a greater or lesser degree. However, I suspect the number of genuine psychics in the word is extremely small, and when I’ve written stories about such people in the past, I’ve portrayed them as a little isolated by their gifts because they must, after all, be very conscious of their sheer differentness to the “normal “ people around them.

In Smoke and Mirrors, the first of my new series, The Gifted, I have a slightly different set-up. My psychics in this series, all come from a poor, little-known country – the totally imaginary ex-Soviet republic of Zavrekestan.  But although Zavrekestan is isolated, the psychics in this story are not, for here it’s no rarity to have paranormal abilities. They don’t talk much about it, and never to outsiders, but the people of the country are aware the Gifted exist. Here, telepathy, foresight, talking to ghosts etc is regarded as quite normal. Even slightly more bizarre gifts like starting fires with your eyes, is accepted without a blink.

For their own safety, the Gifted have kept themselves hidden for centuries. But in the age of globalization, is this really possible? In my series, vague rumours spread into hard facts known by an increasing number of people. It was fun to consider how privacy conscious psychics might regard that; even more fun to consider how ordinary people might regard the Gifted. In real life we’d want to test them, carry out extensive research, discover how their brains came to be wired so differently. And others, of course, would be bound  to try to make use of them to obtain power or money – which is exactly what begins to happen in my story.

So what do you think? If you had a paranormal ability, would you regard it as a gift or a curse? If you could choose such an ability, what would it be? And would you keep it secret or tell the world? 



Smoke and Mirrors
The Gifted, Book 1
Marie Treanor
                             
Genre: Paranormal Romance/Suspense

ISBN: 978-0-9573016-4-1

Number of pages: 241 (epub)
Word Count: 87,000

Cover Artist: Kimberly Killion (Hot Damn Designs)


Book Description:

Deceit and desire, and a treasure beyond price...

When struggling Scottish writer Nell Black accepts a one-off job with the police, translating for an arson suspect from the isolated ex-Soviet republic of Zavrekestan, she stumbles into a terrifying world of organized crime and paranormal abilities that turns her whole belief system upside down. Faced with an incomparable thief, hit men who spontaneously combust, gangsters, drug dealers, British Intelligence and a fiery goddess, Nell no longer knows who to trust. The man who saves her life is a criminal to whom deceit is second nature. He has more smoke screens and more plans in motion than anyone else can keep track of. He is, moreover, probably insane. Even his fellow gangsters are afraid of him. So why is he the one man Nell wants to touch her?

Rodion Kosar is in trouble. His convoluted plans all lead to one goal - the retrieval of his treasure - and to achieve that, he needs Nell to believe he isn't the bad guy. He has many reasons beyond his own desires to make love to her. Especially when a plan goes wrong and he has to play dead before someone really kills him - either the police, the menacing Russian crime lord known as the Bear, or the powerful Guardian of the Gifted whom he's defied once too often. Nell's burgeoning gift of second sight could be his best route to the treasure, and yet keeping her with him spells danger. For Nell has her own agenda, her own mission, and she could just as easily cause his final downfall.

Author Bio:

Marie Treanor lives in Scotland with her eccentric husband and three much-too-smart children. Having grown bored with city life, she resides these days in a picturesque village by the sea where she is lucky enough to enjoy herself avoiding housework and writing sensual stories of paranormal romance and fantasy.

Marie Treanor has published more than twenty ebooks with small presses, (Samhain Publishing, Ellora’s Cave, Changeling Press and The Wild Rose Press), including a former Kindle bestseller, Killing JoeBlood on Silk: an Awakened by Blood novel, was her New York debut with NAL.


Website: www.MarieTreanor.com  



Blog: Marie Treanor's Romantic Theme Party: 

Giveaway:


 

6 comments:

  1. the book looks really intersting. would love to win it!

    parisfan_ca@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Marie Treanor is on my TBR list and I can't wait to read this book! Thanks for the chance to win!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Laurie and Elizabeth! Thanks for the kind words and enthusiasm :).
    Marie

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've been wanting to read this book as it is on my TBR list. Thanks for hosting this giveaway! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. A picturesque village by the sea in Scotland? Sounds like heaven. Sign me up!

    If I had a paranormal ability, I'd probably consider it a curse and keep it from people. If it was something I could ue to help people, I would.

    catherinelee100 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Good to hear, Krystal - thank you!

    Hi Catherine! It might sound nicer in my bio than it actually is - I didn't mention the wind or the haar (east coast mist) or the horizontal rain :). But it has its moments! Thanks for your answer - I think I might feel the same...

    Marie

    ReplyDelete