Readers, I read this
book last week, and I loved it. As with many series, the last book is the best,
but it’s always best if you read the other two in order. You learn the depth of
the other two sets of main characters that way. Book one is Forsaken Dreams, the second Elusive Hope.
I’ve loved every
MaryLu Tyndall book. She writes exciting stories with lots of twists and turns,
then plays them out across an tapestry of vivid setting that is authentic to
the time period and place. Her characters are multi-dimensional and always grab
my heart.
Welcome back, MaryLu.
How did you come up with the idea for this story?
Actually, this is the third and final book in my Escape to
Paradise Series, so the storyline flows along from the first two books. The
entire series I pitched as LOST meets Gone with the Wind. It’s the story of a
group of Southerners who flee after they lost the Civil War and sail for Brazil in the
hopes of starting a new Southern Utopia. The overall arching theme is that God
predestined each one of them to come to Brazil for a specific task. Each of
the six main character’s lives are intertwined in ways they could never have
predicted but ways which led them to Brazil at a certain time and place for a
certain purpose.
Each book follows the romance of two of the characters, and
in Abandoned
Memories we watch how the Doctor who is terrified of blood falls for
the woman with a sordid past. We also find out why God drew the colonists to Brazil and what
does it have to do with gold and an evil temple and visions which haunt them. Exciting
stuff!
Yes, it is. A book
that is hard to put down. If you were planning a party with Christian authors
of contemporary fiction, what six people would you invite and why?
Irene Hannon because I recently discovered her great suspense
books
Ronie Kendig. Love love love her military suspense!
Francine Rivers because I haven’t met a Francine Rivers book
I didn’t like
Joel Rosenberg because I’d like to hear his perspective on
End Times and Israel
Ted Dekker because he’d definitely add an entertaining
element to the party
Camy Tang because she’s just plain cool
Now let’s do that for
a party for Christian authors of historical fiction, what six people would you
invite and why?
Laurie Alice Eakes because she’s one of the best writers I
know
Michelle Gripe because she promised me a sword fight
You because you’re such a sweet encourager!
Julie Lessman because we are twin sisters separated at birth
Laura Frantz because I love her heart for the Lord
Lori Benton because she’s one of my new favorite authors
Thank you for
including me in that list with authors I also admire. Many times, people (and
other authors) think you have it made with so many books published. What is
your most difficult problem with writing at this time in your career?
Many people may not know this but Abandoned Memories is my
last contracted book with a traditional publisher. I’ve started self-publishing
my books and already have one out, The
Ransom, and another in the works. This is a very exciting time for authors
because we have so many more choices now than we used to have and a lot more
freedom. My most difficult problem I struggle with now is learning the ropes of
managing my own career. But, honestly, I’m having fun doing it!
My readers are
familiar with The Ransom, because we’ve
featured it on the blog already. I loved it as well. Tell us about the featured
book.
As I said above, Abandoned Memories is book 3 in my
Escape to Paradise series. It isn’t necessary
that you read the first two, but I recommend it because all the main characters
flow through the three stories. However, I don’t think it would be too hard to
catch up with what’s happening. Here’s the back cover blurb.
It is 1866 and the fledgling Confederate colony of New Hope is Angeline
Moore’s last chance at a normal life. Running from the law, she longs to make a
fresh start in this new Southern Utopia. But a series of strange disasters
threaten to destroy everything the colonists have worked for, and strange
visions threaten to reveal a past Angeline is desperate to hide.
James Callaway failed at both doctoring and preaching, but
he hopes that his move to Brazil
will give him another chance to become the spiritual leader he so desires. He
longs to create a world free from the immorality that plagued every street
corner back home and ruined his life. And he believes Angeline is just the sort
of refined woman he needs to keep him on the right track.
But something is amiss in New Hope : haunting visions, the discovery of
crypts beneath an ancient temple, and an archaic Hebrew book, set the
colonists’ fears on edge. When one of their own is murdered, a series of
disasters leads them to believe God has brought them to Brazil to
defeat an evil that, if unleashed, could wreak havoc on the entire world.
I especially loved
the spiritual warfare aspect of this series. Please give us the first page of
the book.
October 18th, 1866
The jungles of Brazil
The ground shook like a ship in a sea squall. Dirt and rocks
pelted Angeline ... striking ... stinging. Her heart seized. Covering her head,
she spun and staggered back the way she’d come—up toward the tunnel entrance
and into the temple, where at least she wouldn’t be buried alive. Unless the
roof of the ancient shrine caved in. A violent jolt struck, launching her
against the rock wall as if she were made of paper. Pain radiated up her arm.
Her legs quivered like the ground beneath them, and she fell onto the shifting
dirt.
The hand that engulfed hers was rough like old rope,
powerful, yet warm. An equally powerful arm swung around her waist as tremors
wracked the tunnels. “Hang on. You’re safe,” James spoke in her ear, covering
her head with his own. Pebbles rained down on them. Coughing, Angeline flung a
hand to her mouth when the quaking finally stopped.
She drew a deep breath, her lungs filling with dust scented
with spice and man and James. And standing there, ensconced in his embrace,
fears that had risen so quickly when the ground had begun to shake suddenly
vanished. She hated herself for it. She pushed from him. The stench of sulfur
and mold instantly swept away his masculine aroma and resurrected her terror.
James stared at her oddly while he said to the men, “I told
you we should not have brought the women.”
Brushing dirt from her skirts, Eliza, who stood in front of
them with her husband, Blake, turned to face him. “You had no say in it,
Doctor. We insisted. Did we not?” She smiled at Angeline. “There’s nothing to
fear from a little shaking.”
Angeline wasn’t so sure. But then again, she didn’t possess
Eliza’s courage and strength. Few women did. Those qualities, along with a
multitude of others, were the reason Angeline admired her friend so much—the
reason she’d cast aside her fears and agreed to venture into the eerie temple
they’d found in the middle of the Brazilian jungle.
And then down into the tunnels beneath.
Yet at the moment, Eliza looked as if someone had dumped a
bucket of chalk powder on her head. If Angeline weren’t so frightened, she’d giggle
at the sight. But her alarm at being so far below ground during an earthquake
stifled any laughter. She never should have come along. The men had insisted on
investigating a loud explosion they’d heard last night that had shaken the
ground all the way to their settlement of New
Hope . When they feared it came from the temple,
Eliza’s concern for Mr. Graves mounted, but now that Angeline had seen the ancient
ruin and experienced the stink and heat of the narrow tunnels that spanned
beneath it, she wondered why anyone would want to return. Or live here, as Mr.
Graves had done since they’d arrived in Brazil .
Mr. Graves was one of the reasons Angeline had joined them
today—to witness for herself the madman “digging his way to hell,” according to
some of the colonists’ reports. Exaggerated reports, she was sure, but after
Eliza had regaled her with further tales of gruesome obelisks, prison alcoves
hewn in rock, strange Latin and Hebrew inscriptions, and Graves’s obsession
with releasing powerful, invisible creatures, Angeline’s curiosity had gotten
the best of her—regardless of James’s insistence that she remain in town. Or
maybe because of it. Angeline grew tired of men dictating her. Telling her how
to live and what to do and how to behave.
And using her like a dried-up commodity.
So, she’d come. And now, despite the heat and the terror and
the pain, the look of approval in Eliza’s eyes made it all worth it. Almost.
How can readers find
you on the Internet?
Website/Blog: http://marylutyndall.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaryLuTyndall
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/mltyndall/Thank you, MaryLu, for sharing this new book with us.
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Abandoned Memories - Christianbook.com
Abandoned Memories: (Escape to Paradise) - Amazon
Abandoned Memories (Escape to Paradise) - Kindle
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