The Clairvoyant’s Glasses by Helen Goltz
Published by: Atlas Productions
Publication date: September 28th 2015
Genres: New Adult, Paranormal, Romance
Synopsis:
When Sophie Carell was eight-years-old, her eccentric, clairvoyant great aunt, Daphne, predicted Sophie would be one of the greatest clairvoyants of her time. Sophie wanted to be a movie star. Her mother said not to worry about it—Aunt Daphne was daffy.
When Sophie is called to the reading of Daphne’s Will, she is given a pair of glasses that will change her life. But that’s not all she acquires. Along with the glasses, Sophie ‘inherits’ a protector—the handsome and powerful Lukas Lens; plus brooding Detective Murdoch Ashcroft who is keen for Sophie to fill her aunt’s shoes and put her talents to work for him.
Sophie has to decide if she will focus on her acting career or explore her new-found clairvoyant skills. But danger lurks around the corner…
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Excerpt
Sophie studied Lukas.
“You
have more questions?” he asked.
“A
thousand—like do you age normally, do you change at all when you are doing
witch stuff and many more, but not for now, I need to take it all in.”
Lukas
ran his hand through his light brown hair. “Good idea, enough for now. But in a
nutshell… yes, I do age normally… look at Alfred. No, I don’t change into the
Incredible Hulk and I’m on your side.”
Sophie
smiled as she stood and walked to the window to look out on the street. “A
month ago none of this world existed, now I’m hanging with a witch, it’s
surreal,” she said.
Lukas
rose behind her. “I imagine it is a bit daunting.”
“That
would be the understatement of the year,” she said, turning to face him. “Can I
ask you one more question today?”
“Of
course.” Lukas leaned against the counter watching her, his hands flat on the
counter top.
“Don’t
be offended, but you’re not the most masculine guy—in your suit, you look like
you’ve just stepped off a Calvin Klein fragrance shoot. How exactly does your
line of the family protect us?”
“Mind
power,” he answered.
“Is
that enough?” Sophie lifted a glass paperweight that was reflecting prisms of
light from the window and held it up in her palm.
Lukas
glared at the glass prism, his pale blue eyes went amber; it shattered into
pieces.
Sophie
screamed and dropped the remaining shards from her hand. His eyes returned to a
pale blue colour.
“I’ll
do my best,” he assured her.
Guest
post
Naming
a Character and Other Tough Decisions by Helen Goltz
Okay, it’s not like you are naming your first-born, but it
might as well be. That name you choose for your characters must reflect the
character through thick and thin; they have to live up to it or down to it; it
might have to be sexy or tough or mysterious.
When choosing a name for my masculine stars
in The Clairvoyant’s Glasses, I chose
the name Lukas for my male witch because it was sexy, interesting and
old-world. It didn’t lend itself to nicknames. For the street-smart police
officer I picked the name Murdoch. I worked with a Murdoch once and the name
says ‘reliable, strong, solid’ to me. Everything my Murdoch is. I looked up
popular Irish names to select Daniel for my cute and trouble-making Irish
journalist.
For the girls in The Clairvoyant’s Glasses, I took into account the era and the genre.
I found some great ‘witch’ sites with witch names and their meanings.
I selected Orli as the name for my
ethereal, white-hair spiritual female. Orli means ‘my light’. Sophie and Lucy
were popular names in the year that those characters were born—I estimated
their age and looked online for the ten most popular female names that year.
So, where do you source your names from? Here’s some of my
sources:
1) Popular names lists for the year in question
Depending on the genre and when your book is set, there are
plenty of lists online that can help. For example when I was writing the 1940s historical
romance Autumn Manor, I Googled most
popular boy and girls names in the 1920s, because my characters were now about
20 years old.
2) The cemetery
Yes, I get that it sounds a bit morbid, but I’ve found lots
of great names from cemetery headstones. Lovely names like Matilda but most
importantly, plenty of surnames, because they can be harder to ‘create’ than first
names.
3) The newspaper or online
Who hasn’t done it? Been searching quickly for a surname
that you are probably only going to use once (e.g. like a witness giving a
report in your story) and glanced at the local paper or stories online and
grabbed a name.
4) Work
Have you ever glanced down that work phone list, or been
searching for a quick name and ‘borrowed’ a first or last name from the office?
Mm, me either :)
5) Friends and family
Both handy sources for first and last names … just make sure
you mix them up and you don’t insult anyone.
So share your inspiration. Where do you
get your characters’ names from?
AUTHOR BIO:
After studying English Literature and Communications at universities in Queensland, Australia, Helen Goltz has worked as a journalist and marketer in print, TV, radio and public relations. Helen is the author of seven books and is published by Clan Destine Press and Atlas Productions.
Author links:
Publisher – Atlas Productions:
Website: www.atlasproductions.com.au
Twitter: @atlasloveswords
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