(I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.)
With the fire at Sagamore Road behind them, Tess still strongly feels like something is up and their problems are nowhere near over. While everyone else feigns ignorance, Tess is determined to find the origin of their story and what they need to know in order to protect themselves. Will it be enough when their family ties seem presently fragile? Will they find their way back to each other in time to stop the past from repeating itself?
Before I get into my review, I would like to warn you guys that there will be polyamorous and erotic elements within the story. The polyamory caught me a bit off guard but that’s because I’ve never really read a book with that kind of relationship before. I will mention though that without these relationships, it most likely wouldn’t stay true to the myth and the world that he is portraying. I loved that we got to see more through Tess’s point of view in this one and I felt like I really connected with her. I had so many questions in the first book while I was trying to connect the dots and she was definitely one to seek the truth so I truly enjoyed following her point of view the most so far. When it comes to the illusions and how time doesn’t necessarily exist at the house on Sagamore Road, you would think it would be complicated after a while with so many past memories coming to play and seeing a lot of different time fragments but the author does wonderfully in the sense that I don’t recall ever feeling lost. Even though there were quite some creepy and gory moments, I was fascinated every time they made a discovery involving the origin of the Viracocha. Everything about the Egyptian legends and how it ties with astronomy was nothing short of fascinating. It’s all an elaborate puzzle that they have to figure out.
I give this book a 4.5 out of 5 feathers and to celebrate its release, I’ve included a short interview with the author along with an eBook giveaway where you have a chance to win yourself a copy of Chopin’s Ghost!
1. What was the initial moment where everything clicked and you simply knew writing was what you wanted to do?
It was sometime during the writing of my first book, Chopin’s Ghost. I was thirty-eight and reading had been my favorite pastime for years and years, but I’d never written anything. I had no previous writing experience, and I knew that a novel was the equivalent of climbing Everest, but I knew I had a good idea for a book and didn’t have the patience for anything except diving right in and learning as I went. I knew it would take a long time, but the one advantage I had was having read enough great books to know a good one when I saw one. It took me ten years, as reading a novel and writing one are very different things, but it was very early on that I became addicted to it. Once I was finished with Ghost, I knew I had to find another story to tell right away. I’d gotten used to my fix and needed another one immediately.
2. Astronomy and Egyptian legends are such fascinating topics. How long do you spend researching before writing your book?
I’d been into astronomy ever since I was in my late twenties, and saw Carl Sagan’s Cosmos series. Got myself a small refractor scope, saw the rings on a tiny image of Saturn, and that was that. I was about the same age when I read Fingerprints of the Gods, by Graham Hancock. I’d always been fascinated with the pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx, and Hancock’s book was a summary of the most groundbreaking research of Egyptian monuments, and other wondrous sites. So I already had a good knowledge of those subjects when I realized that they’d fit wonderfully into Chopin’s Ghost and its sequel, The House on Sagamore Road. I do the rest of my research as I go along. I always fly blind when I write—no synopsis beforehand, so I research as I go. In the case of Chopin, however, I did extensive research. I’d always loved his music, so it was a joy to learn about him. But I had years to work with, as it took almost a decade to finish the book.
3. I find every writer has his or her own writing process. Do you write your drafts mostly on paper or do you type it out on the computer?
I work mostly on the computer, as it’s just so much easier to edit—it still stuns me that people like Thomas Wolfe wrote such massive, epic works as Look Homeward, Angel Longhand. I’ll sometimes work longhand if I’m away from the computer, or if I get tunnel-vision and just need a change. But it’s so much easier to change things on computer, move them around, put them aside and bring them back later. I’m too spoiled!
4. If you could pick one of your own characters, in any of your books, who would you say you relate to the most?
I relate to all my major characters, both male and female. Robin, Suze, Angie, and Tess from the Chopin’s Ghost trilogy, and Benjamin Scream and Honey Clarke from Honey. They’ve all had their lives pulled out from under them in some way, and spend years trying to deal with it. My own life has crashed several times and each time I’ve had to pick up and start over from scratch. This happens to many people, and I enjoy exploring it in my books. Some people are resilient and can stand up and move on. Others are more sensitive and wear the scars more visibly. Many people are damaged in some way, but the human spirit is an amazing thing. We find a way to keep going.
5. What is a book you would highly recommend to all of your fans?
For fiction, anything by John Irving or Graham Joyce. I saw Some Kind of Fairy Tale in the library one afternoon, and by the end of the first page said to myself, “I have to read everything this man’s ever written.” Sadly, we lost Graham Joyce. But I have read everything he’s written.
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