Free Food for Millionaires

 

My love-affair with Egyptology began in the summer of 1998 on an archaeological dig in Israel. While our team was working to unearth an ancient trading post, we came across a scarab, proof that the Egyptians had traveled north, perhaps selling cloth, incense, or Nubian gold. Looking at the mysterious lapis stone in the dirt, untouched for who knew how many years, I was hooked. It wasn't long before I found myself wandering through Egyptian exhibits in Los Angeles, London and finally Berlin, where the stunning bust of Nefertiti rests behind a case of polished glass. Thousands of years later it still fills the viewer with the same awe that citizens of Amarna must have felt when they saw her. I wondered who she was, what her story must have been, and as I began researching into Nefertiti's life I was surprised to discover that there were no fictional biographies exclusively about her reign, one of the most enigmatic of any Egyptian Pharaoh-Queen. Spurred on by Nefertiti's untold past, I visited Egypt on an historical tour two years later, gathering books and writing down impressions of what had once been the most powerful kingdom in the East. When I returned to America I began writing about Nefertiti's life, a fascinating account which had been buried by her enemies for more than three thousand years.

 

For three thousand years Nefertiti was lost to history. Her story was erased by enemies so incensed by her power over Egypt that they obliterated her statues and destroyed the city she built with her husband. For the first time in history, Nefertiti's story has been resurrected, and readers can turn back the clock more than three thousand years to witness the reign of history's most fascinating queen.

 

Michelle is available to meet with book clubs in the Los angeles Area and to call-in to clubs by speakerphone. Request a call-in or appearance at your book club

 

It would be fun to claim that some earth-shattering event inspired me to write MURDER ON NOB HILL, the first book in the series. But the truth is I just wanted to write the kind of book I most enjoy reading: historical murder mysteries. Beyond that, I was eager to explore what it would have been like for a bright, determined young woman to go against the rigid mores of the day and actually succeed in achieving her dream in such a male-dominated world. I felt sure that was a goal most of us could relate to, even today.

 

Happily, I discovered that a great many readers agree. It seems I'm not the only one who enjoys fast-paced historical mysteries featuring a strong, intelligent heroine.

Shirley is available to meet with book clubs in Oregon.  She's also available to call in to clubs.  Request a call-in or appearance at your next book club

 

BRIDE ISLAND is about a woman, Polly, who does not trust herself as a mother, who believes in fact that her daughter would be better off without her. At the same time, she is fiercely, unequivocally devoted to a piece of land, Bride Island. The paradox of these two coexisting states of mind interested me-the idea of the "bad" or "un-maternal" mother who is yet a true steward of land. And when the island comes under threat of developers just as she decides to push for custody, Polly is forced to both confront her past and accept that some things can never truly be owned. BRIDE ISLAND is about love, motherhood, and the haunting and sometimes conflicting pulls of family and the places that shape us. Like most of my work it has a dark heart, but it also explores the redemptive possibilities of forgiveness.

 

 

Then the character of Bailey Khane sprouted from that seed. The answer, if you will, to those questions. As I delved deeper into Bailey it turned out that she was haunted by more than ghosts. She was haunted by her past, by misunderstandings and pain. Her fight became the fight most of us face every day throughout our lives and so her story will continue in Windigo.

 

I truly hope reading Apparitions is fun and entertaining for you. If you manage to take something from it - please take the knowledge that the human spirit is capable of anything we set our will to. There is hope and light everywhere even if we have to make it ourselves.

 

Some years ago, I met a man whose mother had locked him and his little brother in the house, set it on fire, and left them to die. Talk about crazy!

 

I thought about his story, and two years later BAD GIRLS CLUB was born. It's the story of two sisters, their crazy mother, and their ineffective father. After a horrifying incident on a cliff overlooking Crater Lake, Destiny is responsible for her little sister and her mentally ill mother who has been in a mental hospital four times. After years of believing a lie-that she's a bad girl-she has to save herself and her little sister and face the truth about her family. She has to do it before it's too late. And she has to do it before her mother kills again.

 

I love stories about families on the edge of danger and the survivors who escape them. There's something fascinating about the human spirit and the fact that it can overcome, even when faced with great odds.

 

 

Judy is available to meet with clubs in the Oregon and Washington state area and is available to call-in via speakerphone to book clubs.  Request an appearance of call-in at your next book club

Barbara, we will be mailing 13 books to the address in your account info. If you have more/less  members, please email me

 

 

Once Upon a Day

 

Lauren Markezich and the She Needs a Good Read Book Club of Mandeville, LA! (8 members)

 

Lauren, we will be mailing 8 books to the address in your account info.

If you have more/less members, please email me