Wednesday 2 November 2011

Guest Post: Dana Michelle Burnett


Dana Michelle Burnett is the author of a new YA Paranormal Romance called 'Spiritus'
 A love that refuses to die…

“As I watched him vanish into a soft mist that faded away, I knew that he was no ordinary spirit…I knew that he was a dangerous entity that could be in some corner of another realm planning his revenge, but I also knew that I was hopelessly in love with him.”

When Becca moves into her ancestral home in Corydon, Indiana, her life takes a puzzling and thrilling turn when she meets the ghost haunting the halls. As the seductive spirit lures her closer and closer, she learns about her own past and starts to understand that some mistakes are meant to last.

Becca McAllister has always been different from other girls her age. Never part of the "in crowd", Becca never really fit in anywhere. When her mother dies and her father moves them to the small town of Corydon, Indiana, Becca didn't expect things to change.

But things do change when Becca accidentally makes contact with a one hundred and sixty year old ghost, Alastor Sinclair, that haunts the halls of her new home.

To Becca, Alastor is a seductive spirit that seems to see straight into her soul. To Alastor, Becca is what he was waited a century for--A second chance.

But the closer they get, the more Becca realizes that this isn't the first time she and Alastor have known each other. Worse still, is she the one responsible for his death so long ago? And if so, did he come back for love or revenge?


Why I love Paranormal Romance
By Dana Michelle Burnett
            Many people think that paranormal romances are something for teenagers or the Twilight crowd, but here I am as an adult and a mother, and I can’t get enough of them.  So what is the attraction that makes me read and write paranormal romances?
            I have to admit, as a reader, the answer is easy.  The stories are just awesome!  It’s so refreshing to move beyond the tired plots of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl again, and they all live happily ever after.  Give me a challenge!  Give me creatures that roam the night!  Give me a hero with a supernatural secret or a heroine that can see the future!
            Thanks to the paranormal romances out there, people are reading again.  Where once only reality shows ruled, now books are sneaking back into everyday conversations of young and old alike. No matter which side of the Twilight argument you are on, it is so refreshing to see teenagers arguing the thematic elements of the novels and to hear adults contemplating the sexual undertones of the books.
            That being said, the next question is why would I write in the paranormal genre.  Seriously?  You have to ask?
            As a writer, what is better than having no limits?  Remember all those unbelievable stories you acted out with your dolls?  Mine were fairies, secret witches, keepers of unicorns, and everything else.  How many story lines did I just name?
            In the genre of the paranormal there are so many possibilities.  Anything that I can imagine is possible.  In some ways it’s like a being a kid all over again!
            There are people that say that these books aren’t “real literature”, but my question is, what makes “real literature”?  Is it a literary novel that is assigned to high school kids that they dread reading or is it a story that moves an entire generation? 
            I’ve read “real literature” and I’ve lied about liking “real literature”, but the truth is I prefer Harry Potter or The Vampire Diaries.  I think if more people were honest, they would admit that too.
Okay, maybe these books are not the technical definition of “real literature”, but who cares?  If people, especially young people, are reading, can’t we just be satisfied? 
About Dana Michelle Burnett
Dana Michelle Burnett spent most of her life writing short stories and sharing them with family and friends. Over the years, her work was published in numerous commercial and literary magazines including Just Labs, Mindprints: A Literary Journal, Foliate Oak, and many more.  Her short story John Lennon and the Chicken Holocaust was included in The Best of Foliate Oak in 2006.  Her literary novel, Ghost Country, was published in 2010.  The romance novel, Two Out of Three, followed in 2011.  Spiritus is the first book in her new paranormal romance series by the same name.


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