I’m happy to introduce you to our first
Featured YA Author, Mardi Orlando. A woman of many talents, Mardi has written several
YA fantasies, wrote and illustrated children’s books, and a book of poetry.
She studied psychology and teaching,
and teaches art and music to children of all ages. Mardi recently received an
Arts and Literature Grant from the East Gippsland Shire Council for her
contribution to the Arts. She has also
travelled extensively and found that an open mind is essential in all walks of
life. Mardi lives in Lakes Entrance in Victoria, Australia with her
husband of 15 years. Her newly published novel Secrets of Ghosts is a haunting fantasy for young adults.
What’s Secrets of Ghosts
All About?
‘Something is trying to disappear me
and I do not like it. It feels like I am being slowly undone.’
In
1917, at the age of 14, OSCAR ghosted at the frontlines of Passchendaele Ridge
where he fled to escape the loss of his entire family. Now, trapped in limbo,
he is hiding in an abandoned church with his gathering of ghosted orphans
trying desperately to find a way to save their souls. He is more powerful than
they know but his determination is more damaging than he realizes. Through
Static Recordings they call for help but slowly they are forgetting everything.
Sixteen-year-old
DAFFODIL uses crystal to change her spirit and has escaped the Institution
where she was sent after both her parents died. The abuse may have been
difficult but it just may have prepared her for her first mission with The Secret
Society Of Gifted Teens – a task that MADAME GLISZNORT has carefully
orchestrated to save her Lost Children (the ghosted orphans responsible for the
mysterious sightings in Blackwater that threw the town into an irrecoverable
contest so long ago). Even death cannot release her from her obsession; after
all, she has more than a vested interest in the outcome. And now she has
located the most gifted teenagers, and trapped them in this lost place where
she must manipulate their fears so that they can access their gifts and do what
she has been unable to. Their survival is unlikely – for that would mean they
would have to destroy the Shadow – a teeming whirlpool of hatred borne from a
place of such human darkness that it turned Blackwater into a ghost-town so
many decades ago.
Now,
stranded in the icy wasteland of no-time and encirled by a dense mist, with six
other gifted strangers Daffodil must figure out a way to free these ghosts’
souls and to do that she will have to get her companions to expose the secrets
that have tragically haunted their own lives. It is the only way they will
source their gifts. It is the only way they will survive. But first they have
to destroy the Shadow. It feeds off misery and shame – and there is plenty of
that here. When JAKE finds the old radiola VIII in the church attic and
realizes he can hear the ghost’s recordings in the static, the group is thrown
into a battle for survival – for the lost souls, for themselves, and for the
future. And time is running out.
Motivation to Write
Secrets of Ghosts
Mardi
heard some strange stories about the WWI era, and when she began to investigate,
she was amazed by the unbelievable devastation (approximately 20 million deaths
due to war, illness, starvation etc.). She knew she just had to write something
about it. There were so many mysterious tales, which had her looking up old
newspapers, and that is what gave her the idea to relay the past via the front
pages of a newspaper.
The
story is told in three parts: The present day where seven gifted teens are
stranded in no-time; The front pages of the Blackwater
Herald Moon Tribune, which tells Madame Glizsnort’s trials with the
‘mysterious sightings’ that become her Lost Children; and Static Recordings,
which reveal the ghosts’ cries for help.
What Made You
Self-Publish?
She
has now self-published several books. At first she did it because all she heard
was about how hard it was to find a traditional publisher, and was really
worried about how her creativity would cope with rejections—so she never tried.
In fact, she had so much fun being an Indie author that she just kept going. Mardi
has total control and can make her own covers, add her own illustrations and
design the book the way she wants it to look. Now she has really taken to social
media, especially Linkedin, and is having a ball with all the great groups. She
has met so many lovely and supportive people that she feels like a part of a
team. Mardi can’t believe how many great self-published authors are out there (She
has read so many) and she wonders… maybe this way is even better.
Links to Purchase Secrets of Ghosts:
Website: http://mardiorlando.com
Blog – Mysteries and Curiosities: http://bit.ly/LMUwPy
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/O76GIC
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/mardi_moi
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/QBBSQY
It
was a pleasure having Mardi Orlando as a Featured Author. I want to first
congratulate her on her art grant, and second, thank her for being a part of Pay
It Forward. Now help me tell the world about Mardi Orlando - http://bit.ly/QRjHGa
Young
Adults and Secrets,
Bea
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