Pub Day Spotlight and Interview | Sacred by M. C. Beeler

Title: Sacred: Eslura’s Calling (Sacred, #1)
Author: M.C. Beeler
Pages: 336
Buy Link: amazon

Synopsis: An orphaned girl. A mysterious new world. One connected fate.

When Beatrice Tidal is shipped off to summer camp by her foster parents, she expects the worst, but she does not expect to find herself pursued by a shadowy demon through a strange magical land where she must uncover the mystery of her past and rise to the challenges of her future.

Worse, Obellius Kalaar, usurper to the throne of Eslura, will stop at nothing to find Beatrice and prevent her from gathering the Sacred Rulers to reunite the kingdom. Now Obellius has escaped from his island prison confinements and is determined to regain his throne.

Can Beatrice help these powerful Rulers and save Eslura from Obellius, or will the shadow of darkness fall forever over this sacred land?

Eslura’s Calling is the first book in the Sacred series, a young adult portal fantasy. Steeped in friendship, adventure, and furry creatures, Eslura’s Calling is a thrilling beginning to a fantastic new series.

Perfect for fans of The Chronicles of Narnia, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and Studio Ghibli!

INTERVIEW

1.What can readers expect from Sacred?

Sacred is a very unique story, but fans of Narnia and Alice in Wonderland (yup, you guessed it, it is a portal fantasy) can expect to feel a bit of nostalgia as they journey through the pages. It is a lighthearted and charming story centered around friendship and full of witty dialogue, talking animals, and giant, floating, elemental Books (yes, Books with a capital B…you’ll understand…I promise).

2. If your MC was to be friends with characters from another YA book, where would they fit best?

If my MC (Beatrice Tidal) was to be friends with characters from another YA book, she would most likely fit in with the Inkheart crew! Bea has a journal where she draws “escapes” (her way to sort of pour herself into her art and forget about the real world…boy does she not know what is coming…Eslura is about the biggest escape she can hope for…anyways). If she were to meet the Inkheart crew, she’d be able to draw her “escapes” to life!!! How cool??? She’d love that.

3. What’s up next? What can we expect from you in the future?

The next book! Ha! Well, to be honest, I am actually working on another short story that takes place before Eslura’s Calling. It follows one of the characters (Tabitha Glowdish) who is in that book, so readers will likely appreciate the bonus tale after they read through the first book as it gives a lot of background on who she is and how she grew up (plus her relationship, which will tie into the next book…no spoilers though!). This short story is currently titled “The Way Shadows Love” and will be part of my spin off series of shorts (A Sacred Tale).

4. Growing up, what kind of books did you enjoy reading? What are your current favorites?

So, growing up I was MEGA into the Theodore Boone books, which is consistent with my current love for thrillers (literally any book by Dan Brown I will devour in .5 seconds). Weird because I write fantasy, right? Though I do love fantasy too, I am quite picky (huge mood reader talking….). I have enjoyed Narnia, Lord of the Rings, Maze Runner, the Legend series, and my personal favorite fantasy The Walled City.

5. What was your favorite bit of interesting research you never ended up using?

Hmmm, this is a good question. To be completely honest I didn’t really do much research while I was writing–I’m fantasy, so I get the luxury of making up whatever I want as long as it is logical hehe. I did, however, do a bit of research on how long it takes a city to be taken over by nature though, which, if you’re wondering, is 5 years (according to Alan Weisman in his book The World Without Us).

6. What is your favorite quote, scene, or moment from Sacred?

Well, this is certainly a hard question, isn’t it?? I absolutely love every single scene, but if I had to pick my favorite scene from Sacred, without spoiling too much, of course, it would be either the camp scenes with Bea–it was so much fun being able to use my own camp experience in contrast to hers, because for me, camp was the best part of my summer, but for Bea, it is something she dreads–or really any scene where Tab and Reagan just go at it with each other (they have some really witty dialogue and I love it).

About the Author

M.C. Beeler, raised in northern Indiana, lives in a small city just close enough to be considered part of the Chicago-land area. A student at Marquette University, she is studying business with a concentration in Marketing and Entrepreneurship in hopes to use her skills to not only help herself, but other authors pursue their writing careers.

On the off chance that she isn’t stationed at her writing desk, she can be found glued to whatever Nintendo console she can get her hands on working to sustain her self-proclaimed title of “Pokémon Master”. You might also find her snuggling with her golden doodle or hitting the slopes during the winter season (aka her favorite season) either snowboarding or skiing.