Omens, Romans and romance! (archaeological mystery/romance)

[jennifermalin]

New for November 2011, The Five-Day Dig is a contemporary mystery/romance that revolves around an archaeological excavation. Quick description:

A chance to translate inscriptions near Pompeii is a dream for classics prof Winnie Price, except the dig is for a cheesy TV show. The host is more sensationalist than scientist, Winnie’s boss horns his way in on the project, and her cocky teaching assistant keeps flirting with her—and getting harder to resist.

The other issue is that on her last trip to Italy, her father died there. A spiritual cynic since losing him, she resists reading into the goddess symbols that keep popping up in her life. What concerns her more are a looter’s hole at the dig site and an unexplained collapse in the ruins. Then it turns out the referral letter that got her the gig was forged, and the prime suspect is her—or her assistant.

Add to the mix a reenactment of pagan rites spiced up with a psychoactive homebrew, and Winnie has more to interpret than Latin.

Read a sample chapter on my blog here: http://www.jenmalin.com/fivedaydig
Thanks so much for checking out my book! Please also consider "liking" my blog or the BN page for the book. Every bit of support helps!

Jen

[jennifermalin]

For those who may still like physical books, if you're on Goodreads (or willing to register with them) you can enter to win a copy of The Five-Day-Dig at http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...e-five-day-dig

If you're all digital now (like my hubby, though not me), the good news is that the Nook version is now $3.99.

Meanwhile, on my blog this week, I posted a review of the strange, sexy, ancient Roman novel, The Golden Ass. (I recommend it!) http://www.jenmalin.com/archives/742

Happy reading!

Jen

[jennifermalin]

Happy harvest festival and a big thanks to all of you who support books (and me!) by reading, "liking," retweeting and buying!

For those of you who read my pedantic blog posts, I'm especially grateful! On my blog today, the ancient origins of the Thanksgiving symbol, the cornucopia:
http://www.jenmalin.com/archives/748

Here's wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving with the people you love and/or doing the things you love.

Jen

[jennifermalin]

So excited that the University of Pennsylvania Museum retweeted my book tweet this morning!

Meanwhile, this week on the blog, I wonder, "What books are in the only ancient library to survive the Dark Ages?"

In The Five-Day Dig, TV host Dunk Mortill, determined to save his archaeology show from being cancelled, hopes to find ancient scrolls during an excavation outside Pompeii. At the same time, he suspects a local priest of trying to get to the texts first and suppress them.

In reality, the only ancient library known to have survived the destruction of two millennia as well as the anti-intellectual climate of the Dark Ages is one found at Herculaneum, a town destroyed in the same eruption that buried Pompeii ...

More here: http://www.jenmalin.com/archives/769

Thank you for indulging me!
Jen

[jennifermalin]

The Five-Day Dig is also a love letter to Italy, and my latest blog post is about my slow, ongoing journey learning Italian. More here: http://www.jenmalin.com/archives/784

Also, there are less than 3 days left to enter the giveaway on Goodreads (link a few posts back), so it's now or never.

Have a great weekend!

Jen

[jennifermalin]

As you may know, the ancient Roman holiday celebrating the god Saturn (or Kronos to the Greeks) may be the source for some of our own winter-holiday traditions, like gift-giving, feasting, lights (candles, back in the day) and general hustle and bustle. More on my blog here: http://www.jenmalin.com/archives/814

If you’re interested in Roman archaeology and/or pagan religion and rites, please check out my contemporary romance/mystery The Five-Day Dig, described in earlier posts and on my blog (from any page on the blog, click on the Five-Day Dig tab near the top).

Now $2.99 on Nook!

Happy holidays—whichever ones you celebrate!

Jen

[jennifermalin]

Can't make it to Pompeii or Herculaneum this year? No worries! There are fabulous full-scale replicas of Roman villas in Malibu, CA; Saratoga Springs, NY; and Aschaffenburg, Germany. More on my blog here:
http://www.jenmalin.com/archives/848

There’s also a full-size recreation of the Parthenon in Nashville, TN. If anyone knows of other similar places, I’d love to hear about them (and visit)!

Jen

[jennifermalin]

Just dropping in to mention that after a 90-day break, The Five Day Dig is available on Nook again!

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-five-day-dig-jennifer-malin/1107033719?ean=2940013252004

Have a great weekend! Thank you for considering my books.

[jennifermalin]

The fabulous multi-paneled fresco in Pompeii's Villa of the Mysteries has to be the most evocative depiction of pagan religious rites ever. Please stop by my blog to read about it -- and, of course, how it ties in with The Five Day Dig.

Link here:
http://www.jenmalin.com/archives/996

Thanks, as always, for your indulgence!
Jen

[jennifermalin]

The ruins in my archaeological mystery/romance The Five-Day-Dig date to the same era as Pompeii, but at Paestum, Italy — an hour farther south by train (€10 or US $13.20 roundtrip) — the ancient ruins are even older, and the lizards are even bigger.


Sound like your kinda place? Please stop by my blog to read more: http://www.jenmalin.com/archives/1008

Ciao!
Jen