What could be better than two boys and an adventure in Egypt? It’s hard to think of anything! So, join me today with Fiona Ingram while she visits my blog on her WOW! Women On Writing blog tour to talk about her middle-grade novel, The Secret of the Sacred Scarab.
**BOOK GIVEAWAY CONTEST: Please leave a comment or question for Fiona about her book, Egypt, or any of the resources she has for us here. If you are a teacher, home school parent, or librarian, you can use all of Fiona’s information and her book to teach your students and children about Egypt.
The Secret of the Sacred Scarab:
A thrilling adventure for two young boys whose fun trip to Egypt turns into a dangerously exciting quest to uncover an ancient and mysterious secret. A 5000-year-old mystery comes to life when a scruffy peddler gives Adam and Justin Sinclair an old Egyptian scarab on their very first day in Egypt. Justin and Adam embark upon the adventure of a lifetime, taking them down the Nile and across the harsh desert in their search for the legendary tomb of the Scarab King, an ancient Egyptian ruler. With just their wits, courage, and each other, the boys manage to survive. . .only to find that the end of one journey is the beginning of another!
A special treat! An interview with the author:
Margo: Hi Fiona! Welcome to Read These Books and Use Them! Where did you get the idea for The Secret of the Sacred Scarab?
Fiona: Believe it or not, but a family trip to Egypt with my mom and my two nephews inspired the book. We had a wonderful time, filled with exciting and memorable events. And on our return, I decided to do something different. I decided to write my nephews a short story to keep as a souvenir of our holiday. Pretty soon, that short story just ran away with me and turned into a book; and by the end of the book, I knew there was still a lot of story to complete. So, here I am with a book series facing me.
Margo: But how exciting that you have so much to say! How long did you research this book since it is set in Egypt? What are a couple of your favorite research methods?
Fiona: I am a journalist so I tend to “collect” things on any trip—souvenirs, postcards, museum tickets, air tickets, post cards, book marks, and guide books. These act as triggers for my memory. I also scribbled down things on the Egypt trip. Then of course, the real experiences of the place are important—the heat, the people, the customs, the different clothes, the monuments, the endless waves of desert sand, the blinding sunlight. . . Back home, I structured my story and then did solid book research on the places and historical things that would play a part in the unfolding of the plot. I tend to plot the whole story, then create my chapter points, then look up all the information I will need in each chapter. I always do a final “fact check” before completing a chapter. The entire project took about three years from start to finish, from starting the manuscript to finally getting it published.
Margo: Thank you for sharing your process with us. If anyone reading this post is a children’s writer or aspiring to be one, your answer could help them on their journey! What are some challenges of writing a mystery for kids
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