Shadows of Ghosts by Stefan Haucke Book Tour, Author Interview, & $50 Amazon/BN GC Giveaway

Shadows of Ghosts by Stefan Haucke

Shadows of Ghosts carries readers to Enara, a kingdom at war with itself, where for centuries centaurs have been treated like animals because of their horse-like lower bodies; they’ve been forced to work as slaves in the southern agricultural provinces, and have been bought and sold like livestock.

But a strong abolitionist faction has convinced many that centaurs’ human torsos, heads, and intellectual abilities make them humans, who should be liberated from slavery and granted the same rights as any other person.

After four years of being forced to live in a remote village and having to keep his real identity a secret, Cal Lanshire, days away from his thirteenth birthday, is given the best birthday present he can imagine. He is told the war is almost over and he will soon be allowed to return home.

But then an old acquaintance unexpectedly arrives with news that changes everything. Cal’s father, the king, has been assassinated.

 

Suddenly the outcome of the war and the very fate of the kingdom depend upon Cal being able to reach the capital where he will take his father’s place.

With only his crafty best friend by his side and an escaped centaur slave to guide him, can Cal make it through an enchanted, hostile wilderness, past the assassins sent to kill him, and back to the capital before it’s too late?

Excerpt:

After they had been walking for a while, Cal began to hear an occasional high-pitched noise, but he couldn’t tell which direction the noise was coming from. The noise echoed and seemed to be coming from every direction. Kozal started muttering unhappily to himself. The hard ground now felt soft, as if they were walking on a thin carpet. The high-pitched noise was becoming more frequent and seemed to overlap as if it was coming from different sources.

“What is that?” Cal asked.

“They make such a nasty mess,” Kozal grumbled. “We’re stepping in filth.”

“What are they?” Cal asked. “Where are they?”

“They’re above us,” Kozal said. “Many of them. We’re in their home, and they’re not happy.

They’re not used to visitors.”

Cal was about to ask Kozal if the creatures he was talking about were dangerous when there was an explosion that sounded as if the top of the cave was coming down. Cal let go of Kozal’s shoulders and instinctively threw his arms over his head and crouched low to protect himself from whatever was falling from above. The high-pitched noises were incredibly loud now, but the high-pitched noises were being drowned out by what sounded like hundreds of leather coats flapping in the wind. Cal felt something briefly touch the side of his face, and then something slapped the top of his head. He tried to crouch lower and fell forward, and when he thrust his hands out to break his fall his hands slid because the ground was covered with a thick, slimy substance.

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Author Interview

1. Do you ever wish you were someone else? Who?

No, I’ve never wanted to be someone else. If I had to be someone else, I think the journalist William L. Shirer would have been an interesting person to be. He’s most famous for writing the book The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. However, the reason I picked Mr. Shirer is because he led an adventurous life, he witnessed many important historical events, and met many famous and infamous people during the first half of the twentieth century. For instance, he was in Paris and witnessed Charles Lindberg’s historic arrival from New York as the first solo transatlantic flight. He met Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, James Joyce, and Sherwood Anderson in Paris in the 1920s. He traveled to India and interviewed Gandhi.

2. What was the most exciting thing you’ve done on your birthday?

One year I was visiting the Galapagos Islands, and on my birthday I celebrated by jumping in the ocean and swimming with a group of sea lions. It was an amazing experience. As an added bonus, a small penguin swam by while I was in the water.

3. Do you have any tattoos?

I do not have any tattoos. But I know of a great story about a tattoo that I’d like to recommend. It’s called “Skin” and it was written by Roald Dahl, author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It’s about a man who has a very detailed tattoo on his back. The person who created the tattoo later becomes a famous artists and dies during World War II. Now the tattoo on the man’s back is worth millions. A wealthy art lover wants to buy the tattoo, but how do you buy a tattoo from a living person’s back? The story has a great ending that I won’t spoil.

4. What are you working on right now?

I’m working on a novel that takes place on the east coast of the United States sixty years after a virus has wiped out most of the human population. The story weaves elements from Romeo and Juliet with elements from the ancient Greek plays by Aeschylus. The title of the book is North by Night.

 

 

Stefan Haucke, driven by the desire to learn about other cultures and the need for adventure, has traveled to over twenty nations. He rode a camel near the pyramids in Egypt, swam with sea lions in the waters of the Galapagos Islands, climbed the Great Wall of China, hiked near the Acropolis in Athens, went dog sledding in northern Michigan, and photographed polar bears in Canada.

Along his many travels, Stefan has successfully worked as a deckhand, a shepherd, a dispatcher for an emergency services unit, an electric meter reader, and an office manger.

He has also found the time to study the literature and history of ancient Greece, Russia, and the United States, and loves reading folktales, fairytales, and urban legends. He also enjoys astronomy, and on clear nights can be found gazing at the stars and planets with his telescope.

* Website * Goodreads *

 

Stefan will award a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card to a randomly drawn randomly drawn commenters during the tour.

Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found by clicking the Goddess Fish Promotions banner you will find below:
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This promotion was brought to by both the author, Stefan Haucke, and Goddess Fish Promotions. If you are interested in Goddess Fish Promotions, you can contact them via website, Twitter, Facebook, Blog, or Google+.