Monday 26 November 2012

Tutankhamen's Tomb

Ninety years ago today, on November 26th, 1922, Howard Carter and Lord Caernarvon stood outside the doorway of tomb KV62 in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. At the beginning of the month, Carter had discovered a set of 16 steps, leading to a doorway. Although it was sealed and plastered, there was evidence it had been penetrated by grave robbers. Beyond the door was a descending passage to a second sealed door.

Carter had to await his sponsor’s arrival in Egypt before he opened the second door. Lord Caernarvon arrived in Egypt on November 23rd, and three days later he watched as Carter made a hole in the door.

What a tense moment that must have been! Would the tomb have been stripped by the grave robbers?


Carter leaned in, holding a candle. In his own words: "At first I could see nothing, the hot air escaping from the chamber causing the candle flames to flicker, but presently, as my eyes grew accustomed to the light, details of the room within emerged slowly from the mist, strange animals, statues and gold - everywhere the glint of gold.

For the moment - an eternity it must have seemed to the others standing by - I was dumb with amazement, and when Lord Carnarvon, unable to stand the suspense any longer, inquired anxiously, 'Can you see anything?' it was all I could do to get out the words, "Yes, wonderful things."
 
The tomb of Tutankhamen, as we know, was intact, and contained an amazing amount of treasures, not least the three gold coffins, one inside the other, and then the mummified body of the boy king, with its wonderful gold mask.
 
The discovery of the tomb has fascinated me ever since I first learnt about it when I was at school, and later, as a history teacher, I used to tell my classes about the discovery, in the hope that they would share my fascination with this amazing discovery.
 
Twenty years ago, I visited Cairo, and saw the treasures in the Egyptian Museum, but I still longed to see the tomb itself.
 

Two years ago, I fulfilled that long-held dream. On the first day of our tour, which began in Luxor, we went (very early in the morning) to the Valley of the Kings on the west bank of the Nile. Our Egyptian tour guide was eager for us to see the beautifully decorated tombs of the other pharaohs but there was only one tomb I really wanted to see. We had to pay extra for this (I guess the Tourist Authority recognises the extra interest in Tut’s tomb!) – but I didn’t care. As we walked down the steps and then the sloping passageway, I could hardly believe I was finally about to enter Tutankhamen’s tomb.
 
Was it what I’d imagined? No, it was much smaller. I could hardly believe that all those treasures had been piled up in a relatively small antechamber. Did it live up to my expectations? Yes, I stood in that room, pictured all those treasures, and imagined Carter's excitment. Then I leant on the wooden rail to peer into the burial chamber where the sarcophagus had been found intact.
 
I remembered Howard Carter’s words when, having cleared the antechamber, he finally saw the burial chamber. Again, using his own words: “After about ten minutes' work, I had made a hole large enough to enable me to [peer inside]. I inserted an electric torch. An astonishing sight its light revealed, for there, within a yard of the doorway, stretching as far as one could see and blocking the entrance to the chamber, stood what to all appearances was a solid wall of gold.”
 
This visit to Tutankhamen's tomb was one of the highlights of my visit to Egypt (the other main one was seeing the Abu Simbel temples), and that visit inspired my novel, ‘Her Only Option’. Although it’s a romance between a cruise ship tour guide and an archaeologist working in the Valley of the Kings, I hope it captures some of the wonders of Ancient Egypt.
 
Here’s an excerpt from ‘Her Only Option’ when Ross calls Neve (who’s on a brief visit to London) to tell her what he’s found in the tunnel he’s been excavating, leading from the burial chamber of one of the Pharaohs:
 
“Hi, Ross. Is everything okay?”
 
“Yes, everything’s fine. In fact, it’s more than fine. Ask me what we’ve found.”
 
She heard a tinge of controlled excitement in his voice. “Go on then. What have you found?”
 
“A doorway with the seals intact.”
 
“Ross, that’s fantastic!”
 
“It’s about twenty yards further along the passage from where we got to when you came into the tunnel. We found the broken remains of a couple of gilded statues in the rubble yesterday, but I didn’t raise my hopes until they cleared some more stuff and uncovered the top of the doorway early this morning. I thought there’d probably be signs of it being broken into by tomb robbers, so when I realised it seemed to be intact—oh, God, I wish you were here, Neve.”
 
“I’ll be back in two days. When are you going to open the door?”
 
“Not sure yet. The engineers will work overnight to put up more supports in the last section of the passage where the ceiling is very fragile, and I’ll have to call Malik too. He’ll want his photographers to get some shots of the doorway before we break the seal. We may be able to open it later tomorrow or early Sunday.”
 
“I think I’m as excited as you sound. Ross, you could be hitting the world headlines by Monday morning.”
 
“I’m trying not to get too excited. It might still turn out to be a dead-end with nothing behind the door. Sometimes it’s better to be pessimistic rather than over-optimistic.”
 
“If I were there with you, I’d be cracking open a bottle of champagne tonight.”
 
Ross laughed. “Maybe we can do that on Sunday evening when you get back, either to celebrate or drown our sorrows.”
 
“Think positive—and I’ll keep everything crossed for you. I’ll be on pins tomorrow, waiting to hear what you’ve found.”
 
'Her Only Option' is available from Amazon
 
Neve Dalton loves her job as a tour guide on a River Nile cruise ship as much as she values her independence. She isn’t ready to settle down with her Egyptian boyfriend, despite his repeated proposals and his father’s desire to see him married.
Nor is she ready to meet Ross McAllister, a compelling and fascinating archaeologist.She struggles against her growing attraction to him until she can no longer ignore what her heart is telling her. This is the man who sets her soul on fire.
When she starts receiving cryptic messages, and Ross’s work in the famous Valley of the Kings is threatened, Neve has to make a heart-breaking and life-changing decision which she feels is her only option.
Can they discover whose enmity is forcing them apart before it’s too late?

Sunday 25 November 2012

Six Sentence Sunday


Another excerpt from my recent release, ‘Her Only Option’.
 
After telling her tour group about Professor McAllister’s excavations in Senhotep’s tomb, Neve is alarmed when the annoying man she’d met the previous day says ‘we’ reported the news the previous week. Then he goes on:
 
“I didn’t introduce myself yesterday, did I? I’m Ross McAllister.”
 
Her jaw dropped but she gave a short laugh. “No, you’re kidding me. Professor McAllister’s much older than you, and anyway, he has a beard and…”
 
She tailed off as she visualised the photos she’d seen of Professor McAllister, and realised there was something familiar about his eyes which returned her startled look with an amused smile.
 
Oops, so now she’ll have to backtrack…
 
Blurb: Neve Dalton loves her job as a tour guide on a River Nile cruise ship as much as she values her independence. She isn’t ready to settle down with her Egyptian boyfriend, despite his repeated proposals and his father’s desire to see him married.
 
Nor is she ready to meet Ross McAllister, a compelling and fascinating archaeologist.She struggles against her growing attraction to him until she can no longer ignore what her heart is telling her. This is the man who sets her soul on fire.
 
When she starts receiving cryptic messages, and Ross’s work in the famous Valley of the Kings is threatened, Neve has to make a heart-breaking and life-changing decision which she feels is her only option.
 
Can they discover whose enmity is forcing them apart before it’s too late?
 
‘Her Only Option’ is available from Whiskey Creek Press and from Amazon.
 
One of my readers sent me this message earlier this week: "Her Only Option" is a wonderful book! It has everything one desires in a love story: Romance, mystery/intrigue, history, set in an exotic location.”
 
Read more 6 sentence excerpts from the other Six Sentence Sunday authors here.
 

Sunday 18 November 2012

Six Sentence Sunday


Another excerpt from my recent release, ‘Her Only Option’.
 
Prompted by a question from the annoying man she’d met the previous day, Neve tells her tour group about the recent finds made by Professor McAllister’s team in Senhotep’s tomb. Now he catches up with her as she returns to the ticket office (but of course she doesn't know his name yet!)
 
“We meet again,” the man said with a smile, “and I’m impressed.”
 
“Oh?” She maintained her coolness, even though the sight of him in knee-length khaki shorts and a close-fitting white polo-shirt, which emphasised his broad chest, created an unexpected flutter somewhere in her midriff.
 
“You’re up to date with your information, since we only reported the news of the stairs last week.”
 
“We?” Some raw intuition triggered a bolt of alarm through her.
 
How is Neve going to react when she discovers who the annoying man actually is?
 
‘Her Only Option’ was released this month by Whiskey Creek Press and is available on Amazon.
 

Blurb: Neve Dalton loves her job as a tour guide on a River Nile cruise ship as much as she values her independence. She isn’t ready to settle down with her Egyptian boyfriend, despite his repeated proposals and his father’s desire to see him married.
 
Nor is she ready to meet Ross McAllister, a compelling and fascinating archaeologist.She struggles against her growing attraction to him until she can no longer ignore what her heart is telling her. This is the man who sets her soul on fire.
 
When she starts receiving cryptic messages, and Ross’s work in the famous Valley of the Kings is threatened, Neve has to make a heart-breaking and life-changing decision which she feels is her only option.
 
Can they discover whose enmity is forcing them apart before it’s too late?
 
One of my reviewers says: If you like romances set in exotic locations, if you revel in a touch of mystery, Her Only Option is a must read for you.
 
Read more 6 sentence excerpts from the other Six Sentence Sunday authors here.

Tuesday 13 November 2012

You've got the 'LOOK'


Thanks to a fellow author, Francine Howarth, for tagging me with the ziggy zig zag tag—“You've got the LOOK!"

As part of this tag, I have to take my most recent work in progress or my current manuscript and search for the word "look," then post the surrounding paragraphs/text.

My current ‘work in progress’ is ‘Different Worlds’. I’m about two-thirds of the way through the first draft, but I know there’ll be a lot of revision to do!

Provisional Blurb:
They live in different worlds. Beth is a successful actress based in London, Luke is a veterinary surgeon in the Lake District. She’s still grieving for her beloved husband, killed two years earlier. He’s facing a bitter custody battle for his two children.
Mutual attraction draws them together even though there seems to be more to keep them apart. The advice of an aging actress may come too late to bring them together, but will they have the courage to admit their love for each other, and find a way to reconcile their different worlds?

This excerpt comes from the first chapter. Beth has driven up to the Lake District for a week’s film shoot there, and stops off at the local supermarket.

As she turned to put the ham in her shopping trolley, she bumped against someone who was also surveying the meat.
 
“Oh, I’m sorry.” She glanced quickly round at the tall man in a thick sheepskin jacket before she started to push her trolley to the cash desk.
 
“No problem,” he said, and then, “Hey, I know you, don’t I?”
 
With a small grimace of resignation, she half-turned back to him. Probably he’d seen her on television. It had happened before. Either that, or it was the worst chat-up line ever.
 
“I don’t think so.” She gave him a perfunctory smile as her eyes took in his rugged face and his dark wavy hair, not exactly tousled, but certainly untamed. It was actually more attractive than the exquisitely styled men’s hair she usually saw.
 
The man frowned momentarily before his face cleared. “You look a bit like my mother-in-law.”
 
Beth’s eyes widened. “Really?” She suppressed a sudden grin. That was definitely a different kind of chat-up comment.
 
“No, not really. She has short straight hair, not long like yours. And her face is rounder.”
 
She couldn’t help but laugh. “So I’m nothing like her?”
 
“Well, you’re much younger, of course, but it’s your eyes, I think. The same colour. Unusual.”
 
“Brown eyes are unusual?”
 
“Sort of coppery. I’m useless with colours but that’s what she said hers were.”
 
“Oh, I see.”
 
She glanced at his dark chocolate eyes which twinkled as he smiled. For some reason, the glint of amusement made her heart beat faster.
 
Last but not least, I'm supposed to tag 5 more ziggy zig zag writers and let them know they've been tagged so that they too can share their current work in progress with the rest of the blogging community!
 
Jennifer Wilck - Fried Oreos
 
 
 
Glynis Smy - Scribbles by Glynis
 
Lynette Sofras - Manic Scribbler

Sunday 11 November 2012

Six Sentence Sunday

Another six from my recently released 'Her Only Option'. Today we're jumping forward into Chapter 2. After their fraught conversation on the sundeck, Neve puts the annoying self-styled archaeologist out of her mind. The next day she's with her group in the Valley of the Kings, giving them a brief introduction to the tombs there.

“Is anyone excavating anything today?” one of the her group asked.

“The tomb of Rameses the Second is currently undergoing restoration, and Professor McAllister’s team is investigating a tunnel leading from the burial chamber of Senhotep the First.”

“What are they hoping to find?”

She turned in the direction of the new voice but knew who it was, even before she spotted him. The man she’d met the previous day was standing at the back of her group.

Okay, now she’d show him she knew her facts.


 
Her Only Option’ was released at the beginning of November by Whiskey Creek Press, and is available on Amazon.

My first reviewer says “(Paula) has penned a wonderful tale incorporating a unique story line, romance and just the right amount of conflict for her characters. This is definitely a must read by the brilliant author Paula Martin.”

Blurb: Neve Dalton loves her job as a tour guide on a River Nile cruise ship as much as she values her independence. She isn’t ready to settle down with her Egyptian boyfriend, despite his repeated proposals and his father’s desire to see him married.
Nor is she ready to meet Ross McAllister, a compelling and fascinating archaeologist.She struggles against her growing attraction to him until she can no longer ignore what her heart is telling her. This is the man who sets her soul on fire.
When she starts receiving cryptic messages, and Ross’s work in the famous Valley of the Kings is threatened, Neve has to make a heart-breaking and life-changing decision which she feels is her only option.
Can they discover whose enmity is forcing them apart before it’s too late?

Read more 6 sentence excerpts from the other Six Sentence Sunday authors here.

Sunday 4 November 2012

Six Sentence Sunday


Another excerpt from my November release, ‘Her Only Option’.
 
Neve is irritated by the man on the neighbouring ship’s sundeck, who has just made a derogatory comment about cruise ship tour guides.
 
“So what do you do?” she asked with sugar-coated politeness.
 
“I’m an archaeologist.”
 
“Oh, one of those.” She couldn’t stop herself from repeating his earlier words but wished she hadn’t when she saw the lift of his eyebrows followed by an amused glint in his eyes.
 
“I asked for that, didn’t I?” His grin, showing even white teeth, was disarming and infuriating at the same time.
 
Her Only Option’ was released by Whiskey Creek Press last Thursday, and is available on Amazon.

My first reviewer says “(Paula) has penned a wonderful tale incorporating a unique story line, romance and just the right amount of conflict for her characters. This is definitely a must read by the brilliant author Paula Martin.”

Blurb: Neve Dalton loves her job as a tour guide on a River Nile cruise ship as much as she values her independence. She isn’t ready to settle down with her Egyptian boyfriend, despite his repeated proposals and his father’s desire to see him married.

Nor is she ready to meet Ross McAllister, a compelling and fascinating archaeologist.She struggles against her growing attraction to him until she can no longer ignore what her heart is telling her. This is the man who sets her soul on fire.

When she starts receiving cryptic messages, and Ross’s work in the famous Valley of the Kings is threatened, Neve has to make a heart-breaking and life-changing decision which she feels is her only option.

Can they discover whose enmity is forcing them apart before it’s too late?

 
Read more 6 sentence excerpts from the other Six Sentence Sunday authors here.

 

Thursday 1 November 2012

Release Day for 'Her Only Option'

 'Her Only Option' is released today by Whiskey Creek Press, and should also be available very soon on Amazon and Nook.
 
It was inspired by my visit to Egypt two years ago and here's a link to a post from about a year ago which tells you more about how this story was first conceived http://paulamartinpotpourri.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/third-novel-accepted.html 

Here's the introduction:
Neve Dalton loves her job as a tour guide on a River Nile cruise ship as much as she values her independence. She isn’t ready to settle down with her Egyptian boyfriend, despite his repeated proposals and his father’s desire to see him married.
Nor is she ready to meet Ross McAllister, a compelling and fascinating archaeologist.She struggles against her growing attraction to him until she can no longer ignore what her heart is telling her. This is the man who sets her soul on fire.
When she starts receiving cryptic messages, and Ross’s work in the famous Valley of the Kings is threatened, Neve has to make a heart-breaking and life-changing decision which she feels is her only option.
Can they discover whose enmity is forcing them apart before it’s too late?
 
And now for the first review - by K-Trina Meador, book reviewer for the Cross Plains Examiner in Texas:
 
Her Only Option takes you upon a cruise ship and onto Egyptian lands where archaeologist Ross McAllister and cruise ship host Neve Dalton explore more than historical finds.
Neve has a long term boyfriend who is expecting her yes from his marriage proposal any day and Ross has just endured the disillusionment of a relationship he thought was solid. Neither expected the sparks that flew between them.
When jealousy, control tactics and vindictiveness invade, Neve and Ross have to decide just how far they are willing to go for their new found love.
And when old flames, with their own agenda in mind, reenter Neve and Ross’s lives….how far can trust be stretched?
With mystery and intrigue interwoven with blackmail and secrecy, life took on a whole new dimension for Neve and Ross; one that almost led them down the wrong aisle.
Author Paula Martin has done intensive research into the Egyptian history, art and archaeological matters that brings this book to life with its details, complexity and humor. Once again, she has penned a wonderful tale incorporating a unique story line, romance and just the right amount of conflict for her characters. This is definitely a must read by the brilliant author Paula Martin.