Book 1 of Meredith Pink’s Adventures in Egypt
Here’s a link to an interview Jessica Elliott, living in Kansas USA, asked me to do. She read Carter’s Conundrums and found me on Facebook. She’s also a writer. Her book about how to become Prince Charming, called Charming Academy, sounds like great fun. I’ve downloaded it to read over Easter.
Here’s the interview
Egypt’s history spans an amount of time so immense it’s head-spinning. I remember as a sixteen year old, on my first visit to Cairo, looking up at the Great Pyramid of Giza and finding it impossible to get my brain to compute a passage of something like four-and-a-half thousand years.
Frankly, I have the same problem today. On a Nile cruise, it’s typical to see monuments spanning at least fifteen centuries, from the ‘old timers’ like Karnak through to the relative ‘newbies’ such as Philae.
Trying to sort them into some sort of chronology is no easy task. As an author (of the series following Meredith Pink’ Adventures in Egypt) it’s important I’m accurate about the age of the ancient monuments relative to each other. So, primarily to keep it all straight in my own head, but also to help travellers to the land of the pharaohs, and those with an interest in Egypt but – like me – no scholarly background … I’ve had a go at producing a timeline. Here’s the result …
Just to let you know, the latest mystery of modern and ancient Egypt is underway. Chapter 1 is in the bag, and chapter 2 in draft. Usually it takes me 6 – 8 weeks to get a book written – so it’s on target for a late spring publication date.
There are many wonderful places to visit along the Nile. The standard Nile cruise itineraries take visitors to the sites on both banks of the Nile at Luxor, then head south towards Aswan.
I’ve put together a short video showing my favourites on the journey between Luxor and Aswan: Efdu, Kom Ombo, Philae – all of which date from the Greaco-Roman period. Also the Unfinished Obelisk still lying in its granite quarry in Aswan where Queen-Pharaoh Hatshepsut’s workmen were forced to leave it when a huge crack appeared in the rock. If it had been finished it would have stood one third taller than any other obelisk in Egypt. And, of course, the magnificent Abu Simbel on Lake Nasser. This is a feat of both ancient and modern engineering. UNESCO re-sited it in the 1960s to rescue it from the rising waters of Lake Nasser. Most cruises give the option to either drive or fly down to see it – and it’s not to be missed – despite the early start!
Merry and Adam go on a Nile cruise in the third book in my series following Meredith Pink’s Adventures in Egypt – Hatshepsut’s Hideaway. They visit Edfu and Kom Ombo – with incidents in both of course! It wouldn’t be a story otherwise!
If you’re interested in seeing a similar video on the sites of Luxor, check out my link: On Location in Luxor.
Fiona Deal
Luxor in Egypt provides the setting for my books following Meredith Pink’s Adventures in Egypt. I’ve stayed many times in Luxor. It’s a kind of open air museum. All the key sites are within easy travelling distance, on either the East Bank (where most of the modern hotels are located) or the West Bank of the Nile.
Some of those who’ve been kind enough to write reviews of my books – and have obviously travelled to Egypt themselves – have said the books bring back great memories for them. Egypt really is a place once visited, never forgotten.
For those of you who may not have been lucky enough (yet ?!) to travel to the magical land of the pharaohs, here’s a short video I put together. It’s my take on some of the most impressive historical sites Luxor has to offer.
I haven’t yet used all these archaeological sites as settings for scenes in my books. And there are a few locations I haven’t included in this video. The Ramesseum for one, and the Temple of Seti I – both located on the West Bank.
That’s the whole thing about Egypt … there’s so much to see … so much history. It’s hard to know what to include and what to leave for another time …
And it keeps drawing me back.
Fiona Deal
Fiona Deal 