Behind the Scenes of AWAKENING MACBETH

AWAKENING MACBETH is my newest novel: a romantic suspense story with a paranormal twist. I'll be posting snippets on Wattpad, and chapters on my blog at carmenamato.net.

Synopsis:
When University of Virginia professor Brodie Macbeth’s father takes his own life, she is left with a startling legacy and a vow to understand his actions. Brodie must first abide by the strange terms of the inheritance, however, even as her grief manifests itself as terrifying nightmares set in locations described in her father’s history books.

A trip to Scotland, to deliver part of the inheritance to her aunt, reveals long-lost clues to her father’s remote nature; behavior that Brodie has mirrored as an adult. She also meets Joe Birnam, an Iraq War veteran dealing with his own demons. He’s very different from the pampered academics she’s dated in the past, yet the Macbeth family habit of emotional distance is hard to break.

Brodie grapples with her late father’s secrets, the increasingly disturbing nightmares, and growing attraction to Joe. The three converge into a deadly game of cat and mouse in which Joe’s immortal soul is the prize. But Brodie has no idea how to play, let alone win.

Behind the scenes:
Although AWAKENING MACBETH takes place in Virginia, the concept for the novel evolved while I was living in Athens, Greece. Dear friend and writer/artist extraordinaire Amalia Melis helped me brainstorm the concept over lattes in a Paleo Psychico bakery and my son proved to be an able sounding board over fried calamari in Monastiraki. It took me about a year to write a draft which I entitled SOUL MATE.

But the novel was a distraction from really, really, finishing THE HIDDEN LIGHT OF MEXICO CITY. I put it away.

Fast forward: HIDDEN LIGHT has been in print for 3 years and the Detective Emilia Cruz series set in Acapulco is 3 books strong, with the 4th in progress. I’ve sold the film right to the Emilia Cruz series.

Time to move beyond Mexico.