Title: Eleanor’s Gift
Author: Isis Sousa
Genre: Gothic/Dark
Fantasy/Horror/Paranormal
Publisher: Tragic
Books
Release Date: Oct 30 2015
Edition/Formats Available In: eBook & Print
Illustrations: Characters and Ornaments Pencil Sketches
Blurb/Synopsis:
Eleanor’s Gift is a Gothic short story, adorned with black
and white illustrations and an atmosphere of darkness.
During the last days of autumn, a wave of strange happenings
creeps into Lord Welton’s life. It all starts when he brings the sole survivor
of a mysterious accident into his household. Soon people close to Lord Welton
begin to disappear and a tenebrous danger falls upon the one he loves the most.
Lord Welton’s country house was situated on top of a hill.
It was old and simple in style, with walls made of stone; not too big yet
well-maintained. The garden at the front was small, arranged with sparse bushes
of flowers and berries, and a couple of benches. At the back was a pen filled
with chickens and roosters, a kennel that housed several foxhounds, a stable
for the horses and the carriage, and a roofed area for domestic activities.
That early morning it was cold, almost freezing, and strangely silent on the
hill. The air was heavy and still.
Inside the house, however, it was warm and pleasing. The
housekeeper, Ms. Swan, was boiling water on the big metal oven of the
well-stocked kitchen, for the breakfasts and morning toilets of the household.
The fireplace was lit in the living room and the flames danced. Upstairs,
little Ellwyn, Lord Welton’s daughter and only family, slept like an angel in
her room. In the room to the right was the stranger.
The young woman slept deeply, although her features
contorted as if she were wandering through some kind of nightmare. She was
sweaty and her breathing shallow. All of a sudden she raised her back and sat
up on the bed, holding the sheets tightly.
She stared around the room, agitated, trying to recollect
the place. But her efforts were in vain, it all looked terribly
unfamiliar. She touched her neck,
acknowledging the pain of the blue marks there. When she heard footsteps
approaching her door, the stranger lay down on her side, covered herself up to
her shoulders and hid her nose in the pillows.
The door handle twisted and squealed, and the heavy wooden
door opened with a long creaking sound from the hinges. Heavy footsteps came
slowly closer to the bed and the stranger heard a grave female voice.
“Madame… Lady?”
Ms. Swan moved closer and closer; she didn’t want to scare
the guest. She bent to reach out for the stranger’s shoulder and, when her
fingers were almost touching her, she noticed the sudden, deep stare. Ms. Swan
gasped and almost let go of the lamp in her left hand. She closed her eyes for
a moment and rested her right hand on her chest.
“Oh, for the morning birds! I came here to check on you…”
Ms. Swan backed off to make both herself and the guest feel
more comfortable.
“I am Swan, and you must be…?”
The inquisitive woman in the bed sat up, resting her back on
the carved headboard. Her emerald eyes had a faint, peculiar brightness. The
silence had become quite awkward by the time she finally decided to speak.
and more on the way.
Inspiration behind the book
Hi Steven! First of all, I am
very grateful for the support and for your participating on the tour for
Eleanor’s Gift :D It is very nice to have the opportunity to talk to your
visitors about the inspiration for this short story. So let’s go!
In
the beginning… there was no story
I am an artist and work with
digital painting illustration. As such I am part of different art communities,
and one of them is John Howe’s forum*, which I visit and participate from times
to times. During May earlier this year, I had a gap in my schedule and used the
time between assignments to participate on the “Flavour of the Month”, a
session of Howe’s forum where artists can create a work based on briefing he
gives to us. The goal with such activity is to take artists from doing client
work to doing something for fun, for themselves, while it helps sharpening
their skills. That month, the theme was “Underworlds” – and I created the
illustration of the cover for Eleanor’s Gift.
(I will not explain the concept,
as I don’t want to spoil the read!)
*
John Howe is the famous artist, more known for the book covers and
illustrations he created for J.R.R. Tolkien’s universe. He also worked on Lord
of the Rings and Hobbit movies, doing part of the concept art.
Months
later… Eleanor came to life
So, months have passed, when in
the beginning of October I caught myself with a delayed book release (A Cold-Hearted
Phoenix 2), a remarkable autumn season with very beautiful colors and mood in
the area where I live, and the Halloween holiday approaching, So I asked
myself, “what if?”. What if I manage to write a short story within the lovely
mood of the season and publish it around Halloween? If that worked, I would
have a small book release to compensate for the delay of my other title, and at
the same time would have something fun for both myself and readers who enjoy
dark stories. It was a gamble, I tried without any
certainty that it could be done, because I depended on other people to edit the
book, free time between client assignments and so on.
Luckily, I wrote whenever I could
in the first week of October, and counted with the amazing help and dedication
of Clare Diston, my editor, to have the project edited in time to set up a few
days of pre-order and release the ebook format by 30th October.
As for the story itself, I had
much influence and inspiration of classic Gothic stories, three in particular:
Dracula, The Picture of Dorian Gray and Frankenstein, books I have been
revisiting this year.
Yeapp! I know… It sounds like a
weird story, but that pretty much sums up my chaotic writing process, how I get
inspired and how I put that inspiration to work :)
Thank you so much for reading!
Writing sucks. Period.
That's why I am an artist;
illustrator and graphic designer who writes in a hobby basis. Oh, wait...
That's not the "why"... I was born artist, and there is nothing I can
do to change it. But with all the imagination I have running lose, there came
some stories... And there came some books!
When I'm not doing artwork
and illustration for authors and bands, I'm doing woodcarving, painting
ornaments, painting artworks for myself, collaborating with other artists and
so on. Love Arts, History and Metal.
Oh, and summer is a bitch!
Always. Anywhere in the world.
Hi Steven! Thank you for having my book at your lovely blog :) Big cheers and enjoy this weekend's holidays! :)
ReplyDeleteSorry for such a late reply, it was such an honor to host you and your book here!!!
DeleteThank You for Hosting Eleanor's Gift by Isis Sousa with your readers.
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