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| photo by Martha Xucunostli |
Cora Ramos is an award-winning author of short stories and of
mystery and suspense that straddle the edge--whether that edge is the
paranormal, a deadly decision or the place where science ends and magic
resides. A collection of her stories can be found in the anthology Valley Fever, Where Murder is Contagious.
Learn more about Cora and her books at her website.
It is so nice visiting here today.
Art and crafts are dear to my heart. In earlier years I explored many different
crafts, moving on to becoming a visual artist until finally settling on
writing. As a result, many crafts from Mexico are sprinkled throughout my novel
(textile arts of the Huichole Indians and artifacts of Meso-America which you
can view on Pinterest on my board, Dancethe Dream Awake Novel.
If Dance the Dream Awake were a stew, you would throw into the pot a
bit of Joseph Campbell, a fairy tale, Meso-American history (especially Mayan
history) and a few amorous men, then stir it all together with suspense and
intrigue. What do you get? A present day woman who takes the hero’s journey
into the unknown, her dark side—a hidden, repressed past needing to be healed.
Out of desperation to get rid of the
nightmares that have been driving her crazy for months, Tessa Harper travels to
the pyramids of Teotihuacan outside Mexico City before moving on to the complex
at Coba in the Yucatan, in the hope of finding answers to her nightmares, but
if nothing else at least to relax and rest at the coast. But there is no rest
for Tessa. She has no idea of the troubles she will uncover. The men she meets will
pry open past-life doors one by one, until the source of her nightmare is
uncovered.
Sometimes she moves forward
willingly, sometimes tentatively, and sometimes dragged kicking and screaming.
Most of Dance the Dream Awake takes place in Riviera Maya, Yucatan. You can find more images of the area here.
Dance the Dream Awake
Tessa Harper throws herself into a trip to Mexico as a last ditch effort to stem the nightmares of a Mayan sacrifice that have plagued her for months. She reasons that by going to ‘the belly of the beast,’ to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico where the Mayans lived, she might find answers that will make them stop. She meets unfulfilled loves from the distant past; dark, mysterious Porfirio and archaeologist Nick Richardson, who uncovers recent artifacts at his dig beneath the ruins of the Coba pyramid that coincide with what might have happened to Tessa in a previous life. Three curanderas have been waiting for Tessa at Tulum and she must decide whether they are there to help her or, as her neighbor Jack believes, are up to something more nefarious.
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3 comments:
Cora, though I know Dance the Dream Awake from cover to cover having designed it;), and being lucky enough to be in your critique group, your terrific description, blurb above, is so clever, I want to 're-read the book. Love the way you turn a phrase, girl!
You did a lot of research for Dance the Dream Awake which added a rich texture to a story that you "crafted" so well.
Kudos my friend!
Much appreciated. Direct travel to the area certainly helped with atmosphere.
Cora -
Loved your comments and I know exactly how Kris feels. I, too, will go back and reread Dance the Dream Awake but this time take time to smell the roses and appreciate the arts and cultural pieces. The first time I read I tanked my way through because of the suspense, I didn't want to stop and savor.
JoAnne Lucas
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