I will finish the book today. Finally! Thirty pages of edits left to work through and then it will be done. After that, I’ll do a quick proofread. I’m hoping to have the book cover today, too.

So, what does that mean? I could be submitting The Forgotten Tomb to Amazon this weekend. That means next week I’ll do a detailed read of a print proof and then publish!

I’ve been working this morning on writing the back cover synopsis/blurb. Those are usually difficult for writers, believe it or not. I would greatly appreciation your feedback on these, to help me come up with something that will intrigue and make people want to read the book. The back cover synopsis needs to be short, but the description I put on Amazon’s website can be different and longer.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Okay, here they are:

Pitch/General synopsis:

Seventy-nine-year-old Fabienne Laurent’s biggest fear is that her family will notice her memory problems are getting worse. If they do, she’s sure they’ll send her to live in a nursing home, away from everyone and everything she loves. That’s what she and her husband did when her own mother’s dementia caused them too much grief. Not taking care of her mother the way a daughter should is one of her biggest regrets, but she can’t undo the past. At best, she can keep her own family from making the same mistake, at least until they have no choice.

With that decision made, she’ll have to cover up her illness as long as possible. Maybe that won’t be a problem. They haven’t noticed, so far . . . . But, she soon discovers it might not be as easy as she’d hoped. While helping her daughter and son-in-law renovate their new hotel in the small French village of Reynier, she finds mysterious journals that lead them to the unearthing of an old tomb deep inside the town’s caves—and also to the remains of a woman who was murdered twenty years ago. That discovery turns her world upside down, because Fabienne not only knew the victim, but also had a motive to kill her. She must find a way to recover lost memories and convince herself and everyone else that she didn’t do it.

The Forgotten Tomb is a story about family bonds, aging, regrets, trust, and forgiveness.

 General synopsis:

Seventy-nine-year-old Fabienne Laurent fears that her family will discover she’s having severe memory problems and send her away to a nursing home. They can’t find out, that’s all there is to it. She tells herself she’ll hide it the way she’s been doing for months. But, while helping her daughter and son-in-law renovate their new hotel in the cave-riddled small French village of Reynier, she uncovers mysterious journals that lead them to the startling discovery of an old tomb inside the town’s caves—and also to the remains of a woman who was murdered twenty years ago. That discovery turns her world upside down.  When the gendarmes discover Fabienne knew the victim and had a motive to kill her, she must find a way to recover lost memories and convince herself and everyone else that she didn’t do it.

The Forgotten Tomb is a story about family bonds, aging, regrets, trust, and forgiveness.

Long Version Synopsis:

Seventy-nine-year-old Fabienne Laurent is thrilled that her daughter and son-in-law are moving to Reynier, France, to run the chateau/hotel they’ve recently bought jointly with Edward’s two brothers. She’s always wanted her family nearby, and now that she’s getting old and possibly developing Alzheimer’s, she needs them more than ever, though she can’t let them know that. They’ll send her away to a nursing home in the nearby town of Belvidere-sur-Loire.

While renovating the hotel building, they stumble upon journals telling of horrific murders in the cave chambers beneath the building. At first they think it’s someone’s attempt at novel-writing, but other clues lead them to believe it’s the real thing. Soon, they and others in the village search for a way into the underground to find out what is hidden there.

Not only do they discover skeletons, but also a riveting story of the history of Reynier, its cave system, and the old chateau.

Fabienne is excited and quickly dives into the journals, reading about how the caves were inhabited by troglodytes for long periods more than one hundred years ago. Troglodytes were uncivilized people who for one reason or another didn’t fit into society—they were technically ‘outsiders’. Sometimes, the people killed each other over disputes or cheating spouses or out of fear. Sometimes, they killed each other over power struggles. All fascinating, but not earth-shattering for her; that is, until the body of a woman who disappeared twenty years ago is found near the tomb.

Fabienne’s world is quickly turned upside down.  When the gendarmes discover she knew the victim and had a motive to kill her, she must find a way to recover lost memories and convince herself and everyone else that she didn’t do it.

The Forgotten Tomb is a story about family bonds, aging, regrets, trust, and forgiveness.