#MFRWauthor Carmen Stefanescu resides in Romania, the native country of the infamous vampire Count Dracula.
High-school teacher of
English and German in her native country, and mother of two daughters, Carmen
Stefanescu survived the grim years of communist oppression by escaping in a parallel world, that of the
books. Reading was, is and will always be her greatest hobby..
She likes to blend
genres and thus she writes paranormal stories with a smidgen of mystery,
history and romance. The reader will find suspense, dark themes, adventure,
danger as well as sweet revenge. She calls her stories “Gothic” romance. Her
writing focuses on rebirth, past life regression, karmic retribution.
Dracula’s Mistress
Publisher - City Lights Press
Genre - Paranormal historical/light romance/light horror
Blurb
Evil
grips the town of Targoviste, capital residence of Walachia. The secrets behind
the stone walls of the palace are as dark and violent as a winter’s night, as
terrifying as the prince’s deeds. Dead bodies, drained of blood and missing
their little finger keep appearing in the streets at night.
Lovely,
smart, determined, Angela Oltenescu ignores all the aggressive rumors and her
mother’s warning regarding Vlad. Will she suffer the consequences of falling in
love with a man nicknamed Dracula by his enemies—an infamous creature of the
night?
Rich,
sly, treacherous, Marin Craioveanu, a
powerful landlord, craves the same woman loved by Vlad. Marin's hatred toward
the prince will make him an ally to Handsome Radu, Vlad’s brother and Sultan’s
friend, ready to sell the country to the Ottomans to get rid of his rival.
Dracula’s
Mistress will awe legions of fans of Gothic literature, paranormal and
historical fiction.
Video Teaser
13 Things about Vlad the Impaler aka Dracula
1. Vlad Tepes was
a medieval prince with a figurative thirst for blood.
2. Vlad had two nicknames, the Impaler
and Dracula.
3. The name Tepes is the Romanian for
“the Impaler.” It was a title given to him posthumously as he had a penchant
for brutally punishing his enemies.
4. Vlad was known in his heyday as
Dracula — or Drăculea, in old Romanian.
6. During his childhood, Vlad is believed
to have studied all of the academic disciplines. He was also educated in
warfare and close combat.
7. When Vlad’s father was called to a
diplomatic meeting in 1442 with Sultan Murad II, he brought his young sons Vlad
III and Radu along, having no idea that they fell in a trap. All three were
arrested and held hostage. The elder Vlad was released but he had to leave his
sons behind.
8. According to historical accounts, Vlad
suffered much at the hands of the Ottomans. He was tortured for part of that
time, and was locked up in an underground prison. Vlad spent 12 years in prison while his
brother Radu became the Ottoman puppet leader in Walachia.
9. When Ottoman diplomatic envoys had an
audience with Vlad in 1459, the diplomats declined to remove their hats, citing
a religious custom. Commending them on their religious devotion, Vlad ensured
that their hats would forever remain on their heads by having the hats nailed
to the diplomats' skulls.
10. Vlad tested whether his technique for
dissuading theft or dishonesty worked.
He had a valuable gold bowl placed in a public square, on the rim of a
well. The rule was that anybody could
drink out of it, but it could not leave the square under any
circumstances. The bowl stayed put!
11. Reports state that Dracula’s body was
buried at a cemetery in the Snagov Monastery, outside Bucharest, where one of
his brothers was a monk.
12. It is believed that the
archaeologists searching in Snagov, (a commune outside Bucharest), in 1931,
found Dracula’s remains. The contents were transferred to the History Museum in
Bucharest, but they later disappeared without a trace, leaving the mysteries of
the real Prince Dracula unanswered.
13. Stoker's bloodsucking tale may have
been influenced in part by the Balkans’ folklore, however, these tales have
nothing at all to do with the historical figure, Vlad the Impaler.
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