The Missing Fairy Princess by Walter Salvadore Pereira
~ Book Tour~
11th to 17th August
About the Book:
“The Missing Fairy Princess” is the story of a 16-year-old fairy princess pitted against a powerful witch. The witch has stolen a potent new mantra developed by a colleague, ruthlessly snuffing out a brilliantly innovative mind. She then hatches an elaborate plot to frame an adversary for her misdeed. Her intention is to exact sweet revenge from her foe and at the same time, get away with the theft. The victim, caught in her vicious web, is doomed to disgrace and a life sentence on a harsh penal colony. Meanwhile, the witch learns from her crystal ball, about an imminent threat from a fairy princess wearing a pink tiara. To ward off that threat she kidnaps the fairy princess, wipes her memory clean and then turns her into a two-year-old girl.
Unfortunately for the culprit, she has goofed up by kidnapping the wrong fairy princess, Merlyn, instead of Ashlyn, her twin. The mistake turns out to be the undoing of the witch because Ashlyn proves to be her nemesis. The brilliant fairy princess exposes the cobweb of misleading evidence fabricated by the witch, ultimately unmasking her.
If you love mystery, whodunit, with a dash of magical realism and sci-fi, this book is for you.
Book Links:
Author Interview
I read “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” by Harriet Beecher Stowe in my early teens and became aware that the written words stirred up emotions within one as much as the actual events one witnessed occurring around. That book was followed by “The Count of Monte Cristo” by Alexandre Dumas. Those two books, although of entirely different genres, had a profound impact on me and set me on my journey as an avid book lover. At the same time, they did ignite an urge within me to emulate their authors.
(2) What are your ambitions for your writing career?
To strive to achieve the recognition as an author of stories which inspire the reader, especially the young minds and spur them to emulate.
(3) Give us an insight into your main character. What does he/she do that is so special?
The protagonist of my story is 16-year-old fairy princess Ashlyn. Her brilliance is what sets her apart from the rest. Even when the experienced senior witches find themselves running in circles due to the intricate maze fabricated by the crafty antagonist, Ashlyn manages to find clues to pierce the intricate cobweb woven by the culprit. In the end, she unearths a vital piece in the puzzle to unmask the master criminal and leads the investigators to her hideout.
(4) Do you have a special time to write or how is your day structured?
Being a retired person, I am able to devote much more time for my passion of writing, but I am rarely at my computer till evening. That is except for those times when an idea strikes me and I cannot wait to record it. Normally though my most productive time, as far as writing is concerned, is the period between 7 p.m. to midnight or thereabouts. Maybe the lessening of the noises around and the tranquility has something to do with it and my mind is at its receptive best then.
(5) Where do the ideas come from?
I would say there is a definite trigger, although at times it is difficult to pinpoint it precisely. It could be an item I read in the newspaper or heard on the TV, or even overheard from a conversation, not necessarily involving self. Most of the time though, it is serendipitous and you may not make a connection at that moment and it percolates after some time, maybe even hours later.
(6) Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer just see where an idea takes you?
I have come across a few articles by some experts that an author has to chalked out a sketch of the plot and then expand on it. I am certainly not contesting it; maybe it is a better way going about it. With me, however, writing a story mainly begins with finding a strong protagonist and then an antagonist. Once I have found a satisfactory duo, it constitutes half the idea. The rest flows in gradually with the antagonist having an upper hand initially and the tide slowly but surely turning in favour of the protagonist. That is the formula that I have adopted in writing all my four books and fortunately, it has worked fine.
(7) Any tips on how to get through the dreaded writer’s block?
I don’t there is a time-tested and guaranteed method to tackle it. As the name implies, it entirely pertains to one’s mental faculty and the solution may vary from individual to individual. The mind, at times, can be naïve and misled. For example, a famous singer-cum-actor of Hindi movies was misled into believing that the quality of his singing improved when he imbibed alcohol. While initially, it could have been the case, given that some of the lyrics related to drinking his singing actually went downhill when he gradually became an alcoholic. All said and done, in the final analysis gaining full control over one’s mind is a very difficult achievement indeed. From my own experience, I would say that if you follow a regular routine of meditation, a part of it reciting of ‘Aum’ or ‘Om’, it may help to a great extent.
(8) What can we expect from you down the line?
My next book relates to the problem faced by India over the past several years – terrorism from across the border. Whether it was Kargil or the attack on the Taj Hotel in Mumbai or countless other instances of sabotage, it has been proven beyond doubt that a neighbhouring country was responsible, carrying out those dastardly acts through terrorists trained on its soil. In the recent times, the head of a terrorist sect has been heard exhorting his followers to take to nuclear technology to teach the “enemy” a lesson. I have picked up that thread and expounded it into an incursion by agents of the enemy armed by miniature nuclear arms. It is an edge-of-the-seat thriller where the bravery of a Military Intelligence officer foils the elaborately planned offensive although at a great personal cost, aptly titled “The Carnivore has a Heart”. I plan to publish it some time on Kindle during August 2019, may be to coincide with the Independence Day.
About the Author:
After spending over 25 years in the Middle East, the author, aged 75, now leads a retired life. He lives with his wife and son in Thane, near Mumbai. He has been passionate about writing from his early days. His first book was a fast-paced sci-fi novel titled “This Nightmare is for Real”, was self-published. That was followed by a historical fiction titled “Bheem – The Sage of Madhavpur”, again a self-publication. A third book, a fairy tale titled “The Missing Fairy Princess” which was published on Kindle Select during the first week of June 2019, while a fourth on the oft-discussed topic of cross-border terrorism titled “The Carnivore has a Heart” is slated for publication shortly thereafter again on Kindle Select.
Contact the Author:
