Monday, March 31, 2014

The Forgotten Pharaoh - Fact vs. Fiction




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Julie Gerber isn't thrilled to be pulled out of school her senior year to follow her parents halfway around the world to unearth a lost pyramid. However, when the cute British guy and the mysterious financier of their project both fight for her attention, things start to get interesting.

The pharaoh known as Djedefre was cursed for the murder of his eldest brother. The work of the archaeologists brings new secrets to light, ones that prove the fallen god-king wasn't the villain history had painted him to be. Can they prove his innocence?

As the team digs deeper into the mystery, members of the party vanish or end up dead. Someone is determined to keep the truth hidden at all costs, even 4,500 years later.


 Be sure to add The Forgotten Pharaoh to your to-read list on Goodreads and check it out on Manic Readers!


While The Forgotten Pharaoh is primarily a work of my twisted imagination, there is some truth to it.  Djedefre was a real pharaoh of the Forth Dynasty. Hearing his story on a documentary on the History Channel is what spurred the idea for this novel. I took some real facts and explained away some of the holes in history. Some of my explanations are paranormal in origin, but not all of them. Occasionally, I took some liberties for the sake of the story.  Today I will separate fact from fiction, and tell you some of the truths of Djedefre’s story. 

Djedefre - The tomb of Djedefre was first discovered in the early twentieth century by French archaeologist Emile Chassinat. Because the pyramid had been destroyed as well as all the statues, it was believed for years that Djedefre had committed some horrible crime, possibly even murdering his older brother to steal his crown.  The fact that he chose to build away from Giza, the location of the Great Pyramid built by his father Khufu, also led credence to the assumption there was a rift in the family.  Because the site had already been robbed and no valuables were found, it was abandoned for decades and for all those years, Djedefre was vilified without any solid facts. Later, the area became a military zone and was off limits until only a few years ago. Then Egyptologists revisited the site to prove once and for all whether Djedefre really did murder his brother.  This is what my story is based on, but I did elaborate quite a bit about the condition of the tomb. The real tomb is destroyed inside and out, so the Egyptologists could only work with the rubble left on the site and other clues they found throughout Egypt.  They now believe Djedefre is innocent of his brother’s murder and only moved his pyramid to Abu Rawash because the location on the hill allowed it to stand taller than even the Great Pyramid.  It is thought it was once the most beautiful pyramid in all of Egypt, until the Romans invaded and repurposed the polished granite and limestone.  No one is sure how long Djedefre reigned. Some hieroglyphs suggest it was only a few years while others feel it was decades, and while there is no solid evidence as to the kind of ruler he was, they have discovered hieroglyphs  in the tomb of his niece, Meresankh (daughter of Kawab), that praised him. They also found a large boat in the tomb of his father Khufu that they now believe dispels the theory of a family spat. 

Hetepheres – Hetepheres was the sister and wife of Djedefre and she added a whole new element to my story.  Initially she was only supposed to be briefly mentioned, but her tale was so intriguing I had to work it in.  First of all, she really did wear a blond wig—the only Egyptian queen we know of who did so.  This alone makes her stand out. It’s also a fact that she is the longest living queen on record for ancient Egypt and there is absolutely no record of her death. No tomb has ever been found and to date no one has any idea what happened to her. She simply vanished from the timeline. I explained her disappearance in the book, but it is purely fancy.  It is completely true that she married all three of her brothers in turn and had a daughter named Meresankh by Prince Kawab. They were indeed very close and when Meresankh died before her mother, Heterpheres gave up her tomb to her daughter. This was a great sacrifice for an Ancient Egyptian, who believed their tomb was passage to the afterlife. Much of the information we know about Heterpheres was discovered in the tomb of Meresankh which plays a huge role in The Forgotten Pharaoh.  The tomb is also one of the most well-preserved ever to be discovered and was only recently opened back up to tourism.  Inside is a lovely portrait of the fair-haired queen. 

Kawab – Prince Kawab was indeed the crown prince of Egypt and first in line to succeed Khufu. He died before his father, and thus never took the crown. There is still speculation as to how he died and talk of foul play, but there is no proof that he was murdered. No one knows much about him at all, and all my speculations are purely fictional. 

Khufu – Khufu is the pharaoh who built the Great Pyramid.  By some accounts, he was believed to be a tyrant who sold his own daughters into prostitution in order to raise the money to outdo his father’s pyramid.  This theory played in well with my storyline, so I went with it. 

Khafre - Again, there are more questions than answers, but Khafre did succeed Djedefre to the thrown and even married Hetepheres. Some think he may have murdered Djedefre or killed him in retribution, but many of these theories have been debunked by the recent revelations at Djedefre’s tomb.   

The Sphinx – No one knows for certain who built the Sphinx, but in the documentary about Djedefre, it was suggested he may have built it to honor his father Khufu. I went with this theory, but it is only a theory.

These are just a few of the things I learned in while I was studying Djedefre.  I encourage everyone to do their own fact-finding. A great place to start is the HISTORY CHANNEL'S "The Lost Pyramid" of Djedefre. The details I presented here are to the best of my knowledge, based on months of research. However, one of the exciting things about Egyptology is that new evidence comes to light all the time, so new information may be discovered. Who knows, my version may turn out to be closer to the truth than even I imagined.

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Win a Signed Copy of The Forgotten Pharaoh on Goodreads!


Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Forgotten Pharaoh by Laura DeLuca

The Forgotten Pharaoh

by Laura DeLuca

Giveaway ends April 29, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
Enter to win

Friday, March 28, 2014

A Little Teaser from The Forgotten Pharaoh




Purchase


Julie Gerber isn't thrilled to be pulled out of school her senior year to follow her parents halfway around the world to unearth a lost pyramid. However, when the cute British guy and the mysterious financier of their project both fight for her attention, things start to get interesting.

The pharaoh known as Djedefre was cursed for the murder of his eldest brother. The work of the archaeologists brings new secrets to light, ones that prove the fallen god-king wasn't the villain history had painted him to be. Can they prove his innocence?

As the team digs deeper into the mystery, members of the party vanish or end up dead. Someone is determined to keep the truth hidden at all costs, even 4,500 years later.



Teaser

With the utmost gentleness, he brushed away the loose strands of hair that clung to her sweaty neck. Even in the air conditioning, she felt flushed, but his skin was like a refreshing ice cube against her throat. When he made contact, Julie could feel her veins throbbing in time with her accelerated heartbeat. She watched him lean down, his lips parting, before she finally shut her eyes, afraid the sight of the protruding fangs would prove too much for her resolve. Even with her lids pressed firmly closed, she could still sense his nearness. His breath, cold as a winter breeze, stroked her cheek in time with his fingers and she knew the moment was close.


Also be sure to join us on face book for the release party! We are giving away prizes every hour todau and tomorrow!

Thursday, March 27, 2014

The Forgotten Pharaoh Release Day #Giveaway



Purchase


Julie Gerber isn't thrilled to be pulled out of school her senior year to follow her parents halfway around the world to unearth a lost pyramid. However, when the cute British guy and the mysterious financier of their project both fight for her attention, things start to get interesting.

The pharaoh known as Djedefre was cursed for the murder of his eldest brother. The work of the archaeologists brings new secrets to light, ones that prove the fallen god-king wasn't the villain history had painted him to be. Can they prove his innocence?

As the team digs deeper into the mystery, members of the party vanish or end up dead. Someone is determined to keep the truth hidden at all costs, even 4,500 years later.


 Be sure to add The Forgotten Pharaoh to your to-read list on Goodreads and check it out on Manic Readers!



 About the Author


Laura “Luna” DeLuca lives at the beautiful Jersey shore with her husband and four children.  In addition to writing fiction, Laura is also the editor of a popular review blog called New Age Mama.  Her works include romantic thrillers, paranormal fiction, contemporary romance, and young adult.

  Follow the author Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads | Pinterest




The Giveaway

Author Laura DeLuca has put together a selection of prizes that go along with the story. All the prizes are Egyptian themed. Prize pack includes a decorative wall plague, oil diffuser, incense, book mark, collectible pens, necklace, scarab bead, real papyrus bookmark, pin, and ankh charms. ACV is around $100.





Our friends from Magical Monk Bags have also created a one-of-a-kind Egyptian style handbag depicting a scene of the Great Pyramids. The bag was hand-embroidered and is absolutely beautiful. AVC - $40.


Finally, The Whimsical Pixie has contributed a handmade dowsing board complete with blood stone pendulum valued at $45.99.



One lucky winner will walk away with all these prizes! Total value is over $180. To enter, simply fill out the rafflecopter form below. Giveaway will end on 4/29/14 and is open to the US only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Disclosure: Host blogs are not  responsible for prize delivery. Face book, pinterest, and twitter are in no way associated with this giveaway.

Book Blast & Giveaway - Unlocking the Social Potential

Unlocking the Social Potential
To your dismay, your child has received a diagnosis of autism. Along with this alarming news comes the barrage of emotions that suffocates you like an avalanche— denial—confusion—depression—guilt. You want to fix your child; you have a million questions; and you want answers immediately. Autism is a journey in which the child and her family navigate challenges and experience achievements along the way. To guide you in this rewarding journey, Dr. Karina Poirier offers her expertise in this book that parents will find incredibly useful. In this book, you will find the answers you’ve desperately been seeking. Dr. Poirier has provided in simple, easy to comprehend language, an overview of child development, a descriptive explanation of how autism affects each developmental area, and guidelines for advancing your child’s functioning in all developmental domains. You will appreciate the multitude of hands-on, full-color sample lessons for teaching social and emotional skills, language, problem-solving and decision making, and play skills to children with autism. Publisher: Social Cognition Publications | Irvine, CA Color: Full-color illustrations Pages: 300 ISBN (Print): 9780988798205 ISBN (Digital): 9780988798212 Available: March 2014
Unlocking the Social Potential_Final_Shadows
Available at: http://www.socialcognitionpublications.com/

Improving social and communication skills in children with autism

Dr. Karina Poirier, author of Unlocking the Social Potential in Autism, says that understanding a child’s unique needs is the key step to dealing with concerns and developing their strengths. “Bring everything into the light. The worst thing you can do,” she said, “is to ignore the issue. Parents can help their children learn how to communicate better and develop social skills that will help them thrive later in life. Get help early, identify the specific issues you are facing, ask questions, learn everything you can, and devise a concrete and detailed strategy for engaging your child so key skills are developed and strengthened”.

Here are her answers to some key concerns that parents of a child with autism are faced with.

Q: My child can sit through a learning task on the iPad or television; however, he becomes restless and fidgety when working with a teacher. Why? A: Your child’s attention system is reactive. Consider how much children learn from viewing television. Teachers struggle to get children’s attention when an activity does not include the sensory kaleidoscope children are used to receiving when sitting in front of the television. Key Action: Children must be taught at an early age how to develop the mental tools (attend, remember, think) to engage in deliberate and self-directed learning experiences with an adult’s guidance. Q: My child does not respond appropriately to mood changes in others (e.g., when a peer’s mood changes from happiness to distress). Why? A: Your child may be lacking the ability to read nonverbal cues. Children with autism often have impaired ability to read, interpret, and process social and emotional messages. Children who are unaware of others’ thoughts and feelings risk not developing the sense of self. Key Action: Treatment to teach the child the emotional codes that are part of the social experience. The child needs to develop the ability to understand other peoples’ emotions from their facial expression, tone of voice, and body posture. The child should be taught to recognize and interpret how people around him think and feel. Q: My child has difficulty with describing his/her day at school, recounting an experience, or relaying a message. Why? A: Delayed recall skills utilize episodic memory. Episodic memory allows us to remember past events and share these events with others. In other words, it is how we engage in reciprocal conversations with others. Episodic memory produces a conscious awareness of events that have occurred at any one time; it enables people to remember what happened to them in the past or to conceive the future. Key Action: Effective treatment is required for the child to learn about memory strategies and to practice remembering. Through repetition, the child develops not only better recall of past events, but also the skills to communicate the memory of the event to peers or adults during a conversation. Q: My child is verbal and has good command of language; however, he has trouble initiating conversation with others and taking turns during a conversation. Why? A: Children with autism have difficulties in social initiation and social-emotional understanding. Engaging in a reciprocal conversation with others requires the development and interaction of memory, information processing, and expressive communication skills—all of which are pervasive deficits of children with autism. It is not that these children do not desire involvement with their peers. On the contrary, they do have the desire to be socially engaged with others; however, the dilemma lies in the fact that these children lack knowledge of social norms. Key Action: Effective treatment that emphasizes social norms and rules, and teaches children how to process social information by distinguishing between relevant and irrelevant information in a social situation. Initiating and maintaining a conversation requires a person to have social knowledge, which is knowledge of event schemas. Q: How much play time is appropriate to include in my child’s learning routine? A: For a young child, teaching through play is extremely important. Play gives children something to do with their ample free time; it also serves the important purpose of honing children’s physical, social and emotional development. Play does not occur spontaneously in children with autism the way it does for typical children. Key Action: Investing significant time teaching through play focuses the child on developing fine and gross motor skills, interpreting the social cues of other children and adults, and responding to those social cues appropriately. Play can be used to develop the ability to interact with, explore, and, ultimately master their surroundings. Play is an essential part of the learning process, and its ability to mimic real-life scenarios makes it an ideal way to stimulate overall development.

About the author:

Karina Poirier, Psy.D., BCBA-D Dr. Karina Poirier is the Director of the Center for Social Cognition , a board certified behavior analyst at the doc-toral level (BCBA-D), and a certified cognitive educational therapist. Her clinical practice is devoted to providing outstanding individuals and group therapy that improves social and cognitive outcomes for individuals with autism, ADHD, Traumatic Brain Injury, and related disorders. Learn more at www.drkarinapoirier.com.

ONLINE RESOURCES

http://www.drkarinapoirier.com http://www.facebook.com/CenterforSocialCognition http://www.twitter.com/SocialCognition https://plus.google.com/+Centerforsocialcognition/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2hZCpP_TDdGzWxrREAbJ4w Win a $75 Amazon gift card Fill out the form below to Enter a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Cover Reveal - The Forgotten Pharaoh by Laura DeLuca - Coming March 28th!




 This brand new release is coming on March 28th, but for now you can enjoy a little teaser by checking out the blurb and excerpt below. Also be sure to add The Forgotten Pharaoh to your shelf on Goodreads and join us over on face book for the release party where we'll be hosting tons of mini giveaways as we count down the hours until the release!



Some secrets are meant to be buried.

Julie Gerber isn't thrilled to be pulled out of school her senior year to follow her parents halfway around the world to unearth a lost pyramid. However, when the cute British guy and the mysterious financier of th
eir project both fight for her attention, things start to get interesting.

The pharaoh known as Djedefre was cursed for the murder of his eldest brother. The work of the archaeologists brings new secrets to light, ones that prove the fallen god-king wasn't the villain history had painted him to be. Can they prove his innocence?
As the team digs deeper into the mystery, members of the party vanish or end up dead. Someone is determined to keep the truth hidden at all costs, even 4,500 years later.




Excerpt 


True fear unlike any other suddenly gripped Djedefre’s heart. It overshadowed even the horrendous pain and drove him to his knees. At last he realized where they’d taken him for this unfair trial. Djedefre recognized the hieroglyphics etched into the walls and the face on the many sculptures he’d commissioned. Each one of the effigies bore his likeness. This was his tomb, one of the many chambers within the confines of his great pyramid—the place where his body was supposed to rest so his soul could be reborn. Only it was obvious his well-laid plans were about to be upheaved, as well as the magnificent structure he’d spent the whole of his reign creating. 

One by one, the priests of Ra seized each of his statues and smashed them against the walls, shattering them to fragments. Other officials chiseled away at his visage on the paintings upon the wall. Each strike was an assault far more painful than the gaping wound on his side, for this was an attack upon his very soul. To destroy his image was the greatest offense that could be done to any man. Every blow erased part of his spirit and robbed him of an afterlife in paradise. Only Khafre cast his eyes away from the destruction of his brother’s sacred burial grounds. The young prince recoiled each time he heard the granite shatter while their sister Hetapheres wailed her grief with her arms outstretched to the heavens, as though begging the gods to intercede. Still no divine aid came for the fallen pharaoh.

“No,” Djedefre pleaded. “No, you cannot do this. Leave me here to die, but leave my soul to the mercy of the gods!”

The priests ignored his pleas and beside him the newly awakened Manetho appeared to have lost what was left of his mind. He cackled at each new strike through bruised and swollen lips while Djedefre and his family wept at the heartless defilement. As if to prove madness had claimed him completely, the lay priest went so far as to use his tongue to lap up the blood pooling upon the limestone floor. 

“Djedefre, you are disgraced. Since you are unable to prove your innocence, you are henceforth stripped of the title of Pharaoh.” Djedefre flinched at the new wave of pain that washed over him when the priest yanked the golden ankh from around his neck and discarded it amongst the piles of fragmented effigies. “You have no right to bear the sacred symbols of Egypt. You are no son of Ra. Stone by stone, your pyramid shall be torn to the ground, but your body will remain imprisoned, left here to wallow in the blood you have spilled, trapped between life and death for all eternity.”

“Bound to this earth until all wounds are set right. Forbidden to walk in Ra’s holy light,” the other priests chanted along with their leader. “Soiled blood has sealed your fate, until your heart relinquishes hate.”

“Your name and your tomb will be lost to the world,” the ancient leader intoned even as his subordinates continued to chant.  “Henceforth, you will be known only as the Forgotten Pharaoh.”



 About the Author



Laura “Luna” DeLuca lives at the beautiful Jersey shore with her husband and four children.  In addition to writing fiction, Laura is also the editor of a popular review blog called New Age Mama.  Her works include romantic thrillers, paranormal fiction, contemporary romance, and young adult.

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