Follow Darlene's book nook Follow Darlene's Book Nook Follow Darlene's book nookFollow Darlene's book nookFollow Darlene's book nookFollow Darlene's book nookFollow Darlene's book nookFollow Darlene's book nookFollow Darlene's book nookFollow Darlene's book nookFollow Darlene's book nook

OPEN GIVEAWAYS

None at this time. Check back soon!

Friday, August 24, 2012

Guest Post and Giveaway with Kfir Luzzatto, author of The Evelyn Project

Hi, everyone!



I am pleased to participate in Kfir Luzzatto's The Evelyn Project Virtual Blog Tour hosted by Pump Up Your Book.


About Kfir:

Kfir Luzzatto was born and raised in Italy, and moved to Israel as a teenager. He acquired the love for the English language from his father, a former U.S. soldier, a voracious reader and a prolific writer. Kfir has a PhD in chemical engineering and works as a patent attorney.

He lives in Omer, Israel, with his full-time partner, Esther, their four children, Michal, Lilach, Tamar and Yonatan, and the dog Elvis. He has won numerous awards for his writing.

CONNECT WITH KFIR ONLINE: 

Welcome to Darlene's Book Nook, Kfir!

Kfir has written a guest post, so I will now turn the floor over to him.




What Inspired Me to Write "The Evelyn Project"
By Kfir Luzzatto


I am always taken by surprise when a story line somehow finds its way into my consciousness and, once settled there, demands to be written. Then I'm stuck with it, whether I like it or not. And, unfortunately, those story ideas don't come equipped with a well thought-out plot; instead, you get this rather fuzzy but nagging image that won't go away until the story is fully developed. This is what happened to me with The Evelyn Project.

Photo provided courtesy of
Kfir Luzzatto

Evelyn (or, rather Evelina, as she was named in my native Italy) was my great aunt. She died of tuberculosis in 1894. She was only 26 years old. My great-grandfather was an influential politician who left no stone unturned to try to save his daughter and got her the best medical care that was available at the turn-of-the-century, among which praying was probably the most effective measure.

Evelyn's studio portrait, which I used in the book cover, hangs on the wall beside my writing desk. My second daughter, Lilach, is her living image and her 26th birthday is approaching fast. That might have been a catalyst for me to write the book, although the sad story of Evelyn's death was always a part of my family's ethos; I must've sucked it in with my milk because I can't remember the first time her name was mentioned. When my parents died I was left with the responsibility to make sure that my family history would not be forgotten. That entailed a lot of reading in books, documents and letters, which brought Evelyn's figure increasingly to life for me. I learned of her warm relation with her father through letters she had written to him, and I discovered more than I already knew about my great-grandfather's devotion to her.

Throughout my reading and learning one persistent thought kept popping up in my head: today her death would have been an unnecessary tragedy; with readily-available antibiotics an otherwise healthy young woman would not have succumbed to her illness. So what if it was possible to go back in time and save her using medical technology commonly available today? It is probable that saving Evelyn's life would not have changed the course of history (contrary to what many science fiction books would predict), but even if it did, preventing her father's private hell would have been well worth the price.

Having got emotionally involved in her story I realized that I had to do more than just sit there and shake my head in sorrow. I couldn't just let Evelyn fade away in those yellowing papers. I had to do right by her (whatever that meant). My investigation of Evelyn's misfortune allowed me to put myself in my great-grandfather's shoes, to feel the emotions that he must have felt (he was approximately my age when Evelyn died) and to test the length to which a father would go in an attempt, no matter how futile, to save his child.

Overall, writing this book turned out to be an exceptionally emotional journey for me. Sometimes I felt ashamed that I was enjoying writing it. Instead of dishing out a uniformly gloomy piece I was writing a fast-paced thriller that, beside the suspense, also has its hilarious moments.

This is not the first time that inspiration has come to me like an assignment from above without any real control from my side. I have learned not to fight the impulse and, instead, to embrace it and to allow myself to be taken on an emotional roller coaster ride without a clear vision of where the journey is likely to end.

I don't believe in stereotyping ghosts, so I won't say that I recognize Evelyn's hand or my great-grandfather's stick behind my urge to write the story. It is true, however, that now I feel much closer to them than I did before; they have assumed characters and a presence so real that at times it feels as if we had actually met. I often wondered whether they would have grudged me the use I made of their characters in a commercial book, but something tells me that if they can see us they understand that this is my way to give Evelyn some of the life she has been denied, even if only on paper.

But this is not only about Evelyn. My great-grandfather was no less of a victim to her disease than she was. The Evelyn Project is my tribute to them both.

Thanks so much for joining us today, Kfir!


One lucky winner will win a paperback copy of Kfir's latest paranormal suspense novel, The Evelyn Project.








Evelyn's father did everything in his power to save his dying daughter, black magic included. But when a century later his plea for help gets into the wrong hands, all hell breaks loose.


Caught in the slippery battlefield between the Vatican and a cult that wants to change the past, a young Italian professor and a beautiful French actress are too busy running away from murder and conspiracy to let physical attraction develop into love.

And it further complicates things when Her Majesty's Secret Service decides to take an interest in what everyone else is doing to pull some strings of its own.

Love that lasts through the veils of time, a mystery, and a race to end a conspiracy, The Evelyn Project is a story that will stir both your heart and your intellect.
To enter the giveaway, please fill out the Rafflecopter entry form below.

This giveaway is open to Canada/US addresses only until 12:01 AM EST on August 31, 2012.

 
Tour Participants

Monday, July 2nd
Spotlight & Giveaway at Blood Hounds
Thursday, July 5th
Interview at The Writer’s Life
Friday, July 6th
Interview at Literarily Speaking
Tuesday, July 10th
Guest Post at Writing Daze
Wednesday, July 11th
Review at Far From Reality
Thursday, July 12th
Tuesday, July 17th
Wednesday, July 18th
Review & Giveaway at Rivers I Have Known
Thursday, July 19th
Interview at Reviews and Interviews
Friday, July 20th
Sunday, July 22nd
Review & Giveaway at A Bookish Libraria
Monday, July 23rd
Guest Post at The Housework Can Wait
Tuesday, July 24th
Guest Post and Giveaway at The Bookish Babe
Wednesday, July 25th
Guest Post at Review From Here
Tuesday, July 31st
Guest Post & Giveaway at Reading Lark

August Tours
Thursday, August 2nd
Friday, August 3rd
Interview and Giveaway at The Book Loving Busy Mom’s Daily
Tuesday, August 7th
Interview at Literarily Speaking
Friday, August 10th
Guest Post and Giveaway at The Book Faery Reviews
Monday, August 13th
Review, Giveaway, Spotlight and Guest Post at Babs Book Bistro
Spotlight Review at Paperback Writer
Tuesday, August 14th
Review and Giveaway at Mary Tenarri
Wednesday, August 15th
Review and Interview at MK McClintock
Thursday, August 16th
Guest Post and Giveaway at Little Library Muse
Friday, August 17th
Spotlight w/review, Interview and Giveaway at Dana On the Broomstick
Monday, August 20th
Tuesday, August 21st
Review and Giveaway at Lovey Dovey Books
Wednesday, August 22nd
Review, Guest Post and Giveaway at Hazel the Witch
Friday, August 24th
Guest Post and Giveaway at Darlene’s Book Nook
Monday, August 27th
Review and Giveaway at Popcorn Reads
Wednesday, August 29th
Review and Giveaway at The Red Headed Bookworm
Thursday, August 30th
Review at Laurie Here
Friday, August 31st
Review and Giveaway at Celtic Lady’s Reviews
Guest Post at Book Luvrs Haven

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Copyright 2012 Darlene's Book Blog Design by Parajunkee Design