photo home_zpspjo8kmb0.png photo about us_zpsarf3yetn.png photo reviews_zpshqab7na7.png photo book recs_zpsdmrlfetg.png



.

April 02, 2015

Natale Ghent's Dark Company Blog Tour: Q&A and Giveaway!







Hello guys! welcome to the blog tour for Dark Company by Natale Ghent! In today's stop, we have an interview with the lovely Natale as well as a giveaway hosted by the generous Random House Canada for a signed copy of her book, Dark Company! Here's a brief bio of the author as well as a synopsis of her lovely book


Natale Ghent has been writing stories since she was six. Her first books, written and illustrated, revolved around a family of circles: a momma circle, a papa circle and two baby circles. The momma circle wore a fur stole, distinguishing herself from the papa circle, who wore a fedora, naturally. 

Natale graduated from writing about circles to writing and illustrating stories about a small fairy, and later, to stories about talking guinea pigs and eventually humans.

When Natale was very young, she wanted to be an archeologist, a ballerina, a veterinarian, a singer and a magician, but not necessarily in that order. Later in life, she realized she could be all these things and more through her writing. She says, "I never set out to be a novelist in the way that so many do these days. All I knew was that I had a voracious curiosity about life and that I loved telling stories. I simply stumbled along until writing took me by the hand and refused to let go, though I recognize now that there were many signposts guiding me along the way. I come from a long line of consummate story tellers. It just never occurred to me that I could tell stories for a living. And now I can’t imagine doing anything else."



Seventeen-year old Caddy is haunted by visions of global destruction. They come on like seizures, taking her to a desolate place where dispossessed souls struggle to be heard. It is one possible future--one she feels she must prevent. But in a world where food and money are scarce, and the struggle over resources between the continents is escalating toward war, Caddy has little hope.  
When her father goes missing, she searches for him and is abducted into a cabalistic society called The Dreamers--visionaries who "dream" to sustain the light against the dark energies that threaten to take over the planet. Caddy is shepherded into the society by a high school classmate called Poe, and through him, uncovers long-hidden truths about herself and her father.  
The situation darkens when Caddy learns that the dreamers are hunted and killed by an ancient order known as the Grey Men--a cult dedicated to eradicating the light to assist a demonic entity they call The Speaker. By killing the dreamers, the grey men open rifts in the light that allow The Speaker to seed evil and darkness on the earth plane with the ultimate goal of destroying the planet. Things become more complicated when Meg, a girl from Caddy's high school, who has been ushered into this other reality, clashes with Caddy to supress the forces of light and to try to win back Poe's heart. 
As she falls deeper and deeper into the world of the dreamers, Caddy discovers layers of deceit and treachery realizes it's up to her to find a way to overcome the dark and prevent the light from being extinguished forever. . .
1. Describe your novel in a tweet (140 words)   
Two girls and two worlds collide in the battle of good and evil.
2. How did you come up with the idea? 
There’s a long answer and a short answer. Here’s the condensed version: I was visited by one of the characters while driving home from up north. She just got in the car and rode with me for hours. She had two very distinct aspects to her personality that eventually morphed into two different characters in the book: Caddy and Skylark. The story unfolded naturally from there.
 
3. It looks like Dark Company is a mix of genres, what are they and how is Dark Company unique from the other books with the same genres?
  
Dark Company is a paranormal fantasy set in a near-future dystopia. It’s unique from other books with the same genres because it was written by me. No two authors tell the same story—even when given the same starting point. I like to think of it as decorating Christmas trees: we all start with the same green tree (or tinsel one or plastic) and somehow we all manage to come up with something different.
The other reason Dark Company is unique is because I came at the book from a position of personal experience. I used to work as a hypnotherapist, and part of my practice and research involved spirit and entity release. It’s a fascinating field and can uncover some pretty dark and wild stuff. It gave me lots to chew on, and informed a lot of the writing in the book. 
 
4. Did you have any global issues you wanted to raise awareness about through Dark Company?
 
Yes, very much. You may be sorry you asked this question! ;))
 
I am concerned about the disenfranchising of individuals and governments by corporate entities. Money is power—so much so that governments are deferring to the demands of big companies regardless of how it impacts the earth and the people.
 
I’m also deeply concerned about the development and marketing of GMO’s. I understand that many genetically modified seeds are developed to increase crop yields. But some are also rendered sterile so they can only produce one year. When they are not rendered sterile, the seeds are prohibited from being saved and shared—a centuries-old farming practice. This is a method of controlling the market and the production of food—and ultimately, the people.
 
There is a serious problem with the unintentional crosspollination of GMO’s and unmodified seeds, and the consequent penalties for farmers whose crops are affected. Some have even been accused of stealing patents and growing restricted seeds. Farmers also suffer the financial blow when their crops are rejected by foreign markets refusing shipments due to GMO contamination.
 
We do not yet know the outcome of eating GMO’s. We may discover something detrimental down the road—something we could have never imagined. What if companies who develop GMO’s have a hidden agenda? What if they are trying to suppress a certain ability in people with the intention of gaining further control?  These musings were the inspiration for the idea put forward in Dark Company: the genetically modified seeds marketed by the Company contain a code designed to suppress people’s ability to dream, leaving the world vulnerable to dark energy.  
 
 
5. Will Dark Company be the first book in a series or a standalone?
 
I hope there will be at least one other book, maybe two.
 
6. Any other books that are in the works right now?
 
I have several books in the works but have yet to decide which one to give my attention. I have yet to write the third in the No Small Thing series as well, and fans of the book are starting to lose patience with me.

??????????????????????
Thank you so much for the great questions! If anyone would like to know more about Dark Company, please visit my new website, www.darkcompanybook.com.


Randomhouse Canada is giving away ONE (1) signed copy of Dark Company to a lucky winner. This giveaway however is for Canadian residents only. Just use the rafflecopter below and if you win, you'll have 48 hours to reply back to our email! 
Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway


1 comment:

  1. This sounds really interesting! Thanks for sharing it and great interview!!

    ReplyDelete