CHAPTER THIRTEEN by Maria A Palace-Review & Guest Post

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date April 12, 2021

Chapter Thirteen is a paranormal suspense/thriller about an old woman who will do everything in her power to reclaim the life that was taken from her and the young journalist who holds the key to her success or failure.

On April 13, 1936, in Morganville, Pennsylvania, a fire occurs at the well-known Brewer mansion, resulting in a mysterious death. Fast-forward to August 28, 2005: After attending school in New York for six years, Katy Barton returns to her hometown of Morganville, when she lands a job as a reporter for the local news station. The antiquated mansion is scheduled to be demolished and Katy is assigned to get a story from the reclusive old woman who still lives there.

Katy is a “survivor” or so she’s been told, although years of therapy have not reconciled her with her own tragic past, to which she has long since been plagued by nightmares. Each time she goes out to the estate, her nightmares are amplified by unexplained visions. When she finally meets the eccentric recluse, Evelyn, she finds that her early portrait bears an uncanny resemblance to her own high school graduation picture–and the more she learns of Evelyn’s past, the more she finds that it is eerily similar to hers. As Katy is lured deeper and deeper into the old woman’s mysterious world, she begins to question her sanity, to the point where she seeks out a hypnotherapist.

In an odd twist of fate, a handsome firefighter comes to her emotional rescue, spiraling her into a whirlwind romance that appears too good to be true. Hoping to resolve her issues, both past and present, Katy reluctantly undergoes hypnosis, where she is confronted with the truth from her past and ultimately, what could be her future. But is the life she sees her own, or is it Evelyn’s?

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REVIEW: Possible spoilers…..

The story starts with a little snippet explaining about a fire…..

We then jump to the beginning of Katy’s story, after celebrating her 21st birthday with friends, she gets the devastating news that her mother passed away!!Then the unthinkable happens, she loses the love of her life in a car accident!

The story then begins five years later…..

Finally becoming a journalist, Katy is given an assignment, to interview a reclusive old lady that lives in a mansion that’s about to be demolished!

Wow! Just wow!

That really drew me and kept me reading till the early hours of the morning. Ever since the car accident that took her boyfriend, Katy has had terrible nightmares, she’s had therapeutic help and medication, but nothing works. So she’s hoping that moving back home to be near her dad will finally help her resolve some of her anxieties.

Deciding on a new course of therapy, she meets up with a hypnotherapist. They go through her traumatic account of the night Mark died. Visibly shaken she thinks it’s over, but that night her nightmares return!!

Meeting Evelyn opens up so many memories for Katy.

More meetings bring strange occurrences to the forefront. And poor Katy is left feeling a little lost and confused….Meeting an obnoxious firefighter brings about an array of forgotten feelings, but mainly annoyance at the start……But after a rocky start, the two soon fall into a pleasant routine. I think Katy needed someone like Mike, he seems like a pretty good guy.

A Paranormal story that had romance, mystery and a few goosebumps thrown in for good measure.

You do have a to feel sorry for both Katy and Evelyn, but mainly at how much loss that both Evelyn and Katy have had to endure. A few chuckle moments, but mainly a sad and enthralling read.

It’s a new author for me, and a new style of writing, which was rather refreshing. We don’t get all the details, some things are left to our imagination, do we really need to sit through dates and phone calls? Well we didn’t in this one.

The ending had me in tears. It’s beautifully written and very cleverly thought out.

I think this book will linger in my mind for a while.

Copy supplied for review

? Reviewed by Julie B

Making My Debut

by Maria A. Palace

 

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I was born in the tiny independent Republic of San Marino. At the age of five, I immigrated to the United States with my parents and my brother.

            After getting married and raising three children (all of whom were born and raised in the U.S.), by the time they reached high school age, I felt I needed to remind them of their heritage. I wanted to leave them a legacy, so I began writing my memoir.

            I derived so much satisfaction from the process of writing, that I started reading everything I could related to the craft. I attended writer’s conferences and joined a writing group. I thought it might be nice to get the memoir published, but after a few failed attempts, I decided to set it aside and focus on my newfound passion: the art of fiction writing.

            My mother was devoutly religious, yet extremely superstitious (as were many country folk from whence she came from). Naturally, as I was growing up, many of those old superstitions carried over to me. And that’s how Chapter Thirteen was born.

            In my research, I became enthralled with the many different religions and their beliefs, particularly Eastern religions. So much so, that I began asking myself, “what if?” That’s how Chapter Thirteen began to evolve. Then I visited The Winchester Mansion in San Jose, California. The purportedly haunted landmark, complete with séance room, instantly became the focal point in the back of my mind of what the Brewer mansion would look like.

            As far as the characters in Chapter Thirteen are concerned, Katy (my protagonist) is basically an extension of me in her thinking. She is skeptical and remains guarded in her beliefs. Evelyn (the antagonist), on the other hand, is clearly an amplification of my mother. She is devoutly religious and believes anything is possible.

            If I were to cast these characters in a movie, Blake Lively immediately comes to mind as Katy. She is tall, has/had long blond hair, and is the perfect personification of the “girl next door.” As for Evelyn, no one stands out like the great Helen Mirren. Coincidentally, she played the heiress, Sara Winchester, in the 2018 movie, Winchester.

            Having no platform to stand on, getting my book published was a feat in itself. After 30+ rejections, I entered my manuscript in a contest sponsored by my writing group. To my thrill, I won! This lent credence to my writing ability and was the first step toward building a platform, which ultimately led me to my first publishing deal.

            My advice to writers just starting out: If you are serious of becoming a published author  (1) Develop your craft. Read all you can and write all you can; (2) Attend writer’s conferences; (3) Enter writing contests; and (4) Most of all, don’t give up.