A Curse for Egypt - The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam?

The monster dam is set to open "sometime in 2017" along the Blue Nile in Ethiopia, the largest hydroelectric project not only in that country but in the whole of Africa.

 (Photo: Ghetty Images)

Its conflict with Egypt over water rights forms the basis of

The Nile Conspiracy.

Egypt receives 80% of its water. Will the filling of this monster reservoir threatens to strangle the Blue Nile?

Needless to say, the Egyptians are very worried - especially as it will take 5 to 15 years to fill the huge catch basin from the Blue Nile flowing out of Lake Tana.

Cover Reveal: The Nile Conspiracy

The Nile Conspiracy
Book 5 - Legends of the Winged Scarab

What is this new novel about - other than the obvious?

    Imagine the mighty Nile running dry. Not because of climate change, but due to human interference. Impossible? One day soon, this very threat will become a devastating reality.

Riveting adventure and international intrigue find Naunet and Jonathan Wilkins back in Egypt where the construction of The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam portends a catastrophe of biblical proportions.

    Amidst their archaeological struggle to save ancient artifacts, the couple is caught up in a dangerous conspiracy. Along with Jabari El-Masri, their scientific research becomes a death trap when the desperate Egyptians decide to turn a secret underground maze into an emergency reservoir and further, to eliminate the source of their threatening nightmare.

    If the Ethiopian monster dam is allowed to be brought online, Egypt may cease to exist. Will a daring conspiracy save these ancient lands from another of Man’s folly? Or will it explode in warfare and annihilation?

* * * *

Cover Image Excerpted from an Original Photograph by

Jim Bennett
(with Permission from the Photographer)
* * * * *

I always had my eye on Jim Bennett's fabulous photo and
dreamed of using it for one of my covers.
Check out the original photo on his website -
because I may not be doing it justice.
http://jim-bennett.ca/

Jim Bennett is the Author of a thought-provoking five-book Poetry Series.
The depth and visualizations in his poems are awe inspiring.

Jim Bennett Poetry

Watch my Author Pages for the Publication of
The Nile Conspiracy:
Amazon-US and Amazon-UK

This announcement should give you time to read the preceding volumes.
(While each novel can stand alone, you'd be missing a lot of the story though.)

Loving our Bad Boys

In the midst of a multi-author blog hop:

#ShiningLightOnOurLadies

where I highlighted my leading lady

Nefret, from Khamsin, The Devil Wind of The Nile,

I started thinking about some of the Bad Boys in my novels.

What fascinates us so about them? What makes us even root for them? More often than not, they aren’t the main protagonist but his nemesis.

It keeps happening to me. These sideliners weasel themselves into the action when I simply needed someone for a scene. Then, later on—holla!--there they are again, sprouting up like a weed.

Of course, Ebu al-Saqqara, the vile vizier in Khamsin is – well, vile without redemption. I didn’t like him one bit.

However, I did take to Saad, King Aha’s royal steward (see him, on the left, all humble and servile) until he turned on me and my sweet girl, the Princess Nefret.
I was so mad I wanted to kill him. Oh, yeah…

Five-thousand years later, there is the ubiquitous Edward, the dapper conman—destined for a mere dalliance with Naunet in Sirocco, Storm over Land and Sea.
Suddenly, he turns kidnapper and an accomplice to murder. Still, I couldn't quite bring myself to killing him off, so he remains my leading lady’s nemesis throughout the series.
He was one charming devil. While I don’t like him any longer, his ability to “go with the flow” still astounds me.

-- A small history of him in Edward, Con Extraordinaire, is free for the next five days; just saying … http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009BQZ1JY

And then, there is Vergil, Jonathan’s seemingly dimwitted guard on the M/S Bucanero in
After the Cataclysm. 

To my surprise (!), Vergil turns out to be a wily modern-day pirate who’s also rather handy with a handheld rocket launcher in

The Crystal Curse.

I wonder what mischief he’ll be up to in Book 5?

Take a guess...

The subject of Bad Boys begs the question (perhaps evoking long-buried memories?): Why are real women drawn to them?
Nope, not going there...

Instead, I’ll concentrate on Book 5 of the Legends of the Winged Scarab to be published later this fall. It's got a great cover and I am planning to reveal it soon.

THE CRYSTAL CURSE

Cover Reveal:

The Crystal Curse

Book 4 - Legends of the Winged Scarab

(scheduled for publication in June)

Prologue

Deep beneath Hawara, a site near the Fayum Oasis, there sleeps an enormous complex known as The Lost Labyrinth of Egypt. While the mysterious compound is said to have once been comprised of over three thousand rooms, the origins of this ancient palace are shrouded in the mist of time. Some believe its builders came from an ancient civilization and those ruins predate Egypt’s earliest cultural awakening by several millennia.

     Swirling on the winds of the khamsin are the legends about a mythical beast living deep within these tunnels. As the dunes shift under the capricious updrafts, the remnants of a chamber might be laid bare only to be reburied by yet another layer of sand.

     A few even tell of wondrous crystals growing within this complex, insisting that gold and precious stones await those who brave the stifling maze. For a brief moment, awestruck whispers turn into speculation. But thoughts of plunder are quickly doused as the legends warn:

No one escapes the crushing coils

of El-Hanash, the Crystal Snake.

For such is The Crystal Curse.

* * *

And the Winner Is ...

Brian Braden, author of BLACK SEA GODS and TEARS OF THE DEAD, and organizer of his great Book Launch, just informed me of the WINNER of my event offering.

Congratulations! 

But as I am a rather discreet person, I am not going to bandy someones name about without their permission. All I can say is that a knowledgeable lady in the UK answered my trivia question correctly and won the print copy of SIROCCO, Storm over Land and Sea (to arrive at her house by approx. August 12, Amazon-UK promised).

Brian also told me that my little riddle took the longest time to be solved--geesh, someone needs to read more Historical Fiction or love maps as much as I do.

I had asked the Name of the best-known ancient caravanserai located in present-day Mali?

Answer: Timbuktu - (also correct are Timbuctoo or Tombouctou).

If someone ever told you to "go to Timbuktu," it was a sure indication that your presence wasn't quite appreciated.

Anyway, the event is still in full swing on FB through tomorrow. So check it out and answer a few question to win some great books:

https://www.facebook.com/events/870116096349702/

Guest at BigAl's Books and Pals

BigAl's Books and Pals do an outstanding job of reading and reviewing Indie books, all to introduce Indie writings to a wide audience.

This morning, BigAl featured my guest post about my own experience of researching historical fiction - notably for KHAMSIN, The Devil Wind of the Nile.

If you like, you can read the entire blog post here - and laugh at my silly hat to boot.

BigAl's Books and Pals: The Minefield of Writing Ancient Egyptian Fiction, a guest post by Inge H. Borg