Sons of Sphinx Interview & Giveaway

 

Sons of the Sphinx by: Cheryl Carpinello

Genres: Pre-Teen/Tween/YA: Paranormal; Coming of Age; Adventure; Historical Fiction

126 Pages

Release date: October 10, 2014

Two souls
Separated by three millennium
One with a gift that is more like a curse
One on an almost impossible quest
Destinies entwined; one seeks to find herself while the other seeks his lost queen. To succeed, the pair must right the injustices 3,000 years in the past.
Only together can they fulfill The Prophecy, but in the process they must defeat the Pharaoh Horemheb.
Dishonor and death are the fate of the defeated.

Armed with what she considers her grandmother’s curse, 15-year-old Rosa agrees to help the ghost of King Tut find his lost queen Hesena. Though Hesena’s ba inhabits part of Rosa, finding the whole spirit of Hesena so that she and Tut can be together for the first time in over 3500 years proves to be a harder task than Rosa first thinks. Thrust back into Ancient Egypt with Tut, Rosa discovers that finding Hesena is not all she must do. She must keep out of the reach of the living Horemheb – who crosses mortal boundaries using Seth’s evil magic – if she is to stay alive to make it back home.

2014 Literary Classics Silver Medal Winner for PreTeen/Tween

Literary Classics 2014 Seal of Approval

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Interview

What’s your story? How did you get into writing?

I’ve been writing for a long as I can remember. My writing most likely stems from my love of books. When I’m not writing, I’m reading and usually 4 or 5 books at a time! As a high school English teacher for 25 years, I spent all my time editing and grading my students’ papers. That didn’t leave any time for my writing although I did manage to put together a few outlines. It wasn’t until about 2 years before I retired that I started working on the manuscript that became my first published story: Guinevere: On the Eve of Legend.

What advice do you have for aspiring authors?

Keep writing even if you think that the idea you have isn’t working or isn’t good. It’s so important to get that first draft done, to actually say you’ve completed a book! I said that so many times to my students; eventually they would tell me the same thing when I would introduce a new writing assignment.

What are you working on now?

I’m working on the sequel to Guinevere. It’s my goal for NaNoWriMo. In the first book, readers encounter 12-year-old Guinevere who finds that her childhood has to end and, while expected, it comes too soon for her. The second book is titled Guinevere: At the Dawn of Legend—Cedwyn’s Story. While the focus is on her friend Cedwyn, readers will see remarkable growth in both Cedwyn and Guinevere.

Several readers over the years have asked what happened to Cedwyn, Guinevere’s younger friend from Guinevere: On the Eve of Legend. One of Cedwyn’s dreams is to be a knight of King Arthur. The last year or so, he has been asking me when that will happen. Once I finished Sons of the Sphinx, I gave in to his pleas and started his story.

What has been the most challenging part of publishing or marketing your book?

I’ve been both traditionally published and self-published. I enjoy the control I have over my work with publishing it myself, but it does have drawbacks. I’ve needed to learn formatting for both print and electronic platforms. That isn’t so bad, but by the time my next book is ready for publication, I have to relearn the formatting all over again. Many times the frustration has almost been too much. That’s when I take a break even though I’m anxious to see the finished product. As for marketing, there isn’t any part of it that isn’t challenging. It has been and continues to be a steep learning curve.

What has been your favorite part?

As far as writing, I enjoy the research and putting together my ideas into a coherent format. I just wish that I could write faster; I have so many stories floating around in my head.

As for the publishing and marketing aspects, I enjoy meeting young readers and talking about writing and the pull that Arthurian Legend and Tales from the Ancient Worlds have for them and me.

Who are your favorite authors?

I love the writing duo of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Childs. The action adventures of David Baldacci are favorites also. I also read a number of MG/YA authors.

What gave you the idea for your current work?

Egypt has always fascinated me, but it wasn’t until we visited there in 2008 that it stole part of my soul. I can’t describe what it felt like to touch a stone of Khufu’s pyramid and realize that my hand might be in the same place as one of the builders of this magnificent monument thousands of years ago. However, it was the US tour of Tut’s exhibit that sealed the idea of writing about this pharaoh. I visited that exhibit three times!

As it turned out, two stories came out of Egypt. The first one Tutankhamen Speaks lets Tut tell his own story. When I finished that short historical, I knew that I still hadn’t told the story that I wanted. After several months of planning, I began writing Sons of the Sphinx.

If you could be any character in the book, which one would you be?

I would be Rosa. She embodies my secret desire of going on an unbelievable journey back in time to Ancient Egypt. Imagine visiting places like the Valley of the Kings before any of the explorers sent out in later times!

What other books have you written and/or are working on for the future?

My Arthurian Legend stories introduce young readers to the exciting times of King Arthur in medieval Britain. Guinevere: On the Eve of Legend gives readers a look at the Princess Guinevere at age 12 when her father informed her that she would be betrothed to King Arthur on her 13th birthday. Young Knights of the Round Table: The King’s Ransom is the story of three friends who take the Knight’s Vow when their mentor is accused of murder and theft. They vow to prove him innocent or die trying. Some interesting curves are in this one.

Coming up in the future is my Feather of the Phoenix trilogy. Readers will travel, in a manner of speaking, to the ancient worlds of Atlantis, Pompeii, and the Norse seeking to find and return the Feathers of the Phoenix. The books of the trilogy are, for now, The Atlantean Horse, The Ashes of Pompeii, and The Norse Star. Hoping for the first book to be completed in 2016.

What’s your favorite quote?

Sic volvere Parcas. It’s Latin from the ancient Greek and Roman worlds and means: So spin the Fates.

What’s your favorite supernatural creature?

Not sure if this qualifies as supernatural, but I have to choose the Unicorn. It is such a beautiful animal and has been written about its magical qualities for centuries.

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Cheryl Carpinello is a retired high school English teacher who loves the ancient and medieval worlds. It is because of her teaching career that she has chosen to write stories to encourage reluctant young readers to pick up a book more often. She found that in the classroom, students would read the Arthurian Legend literature when they would read nothing else. This experience led to her Arthurian tales that have now expanded into the ancient worlds.

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