Carpinello's Writing Pages: The Temple of the Crystal Timekeeper Blog Tour

Carpinello's Writing Pages is excited to be a stop on Fiona Ingram's Blog Tour for her exciting Middle Grade adventure story The Temple of the Crystal Timekeeper. It is the third book in The Chronicles of the Stone series.

About the Book:

Title: THE TEMPLE OF THE CRYSTAL TIMEKEEPER:

CHRONICLES OF THE STONE BOOK 3 

Author: Fiona Ingram 

Publisher: Bublish Inc. 

Pages: 318

 Genre: Juvenile (preteen) / Action / Adventure 

BOOK BLURB:

A plane crash! Lost in the jungle! Hunted by their old enemy, will Adam, Justin, and Kim survive long enough to find the Third Stone of Power? With only a young boy, Tukum, as their guide, the kids make their way through the dense and dangerous jungle to find the lost city of stone gods, where the Stone of Power might be located. River rafting on a crocodile-infested river and evading predators are just part of this hazardous task. Of course, their old adversary Dr. Khalid is close behind as the kids press on. But he is not the worst of their problems. This time Adam will clash with a terrible enemy who adopts the persona of an evil Aztec god, Tezcatlipoca, and is keen to revive the ancient tradition of human sacrifice. Adam, Justin, and Tukum must play a dreadful ball game of life and death and maybe survive. Will they emerge alive from the jungle? Will Dr. Khalid find the third Stone of Power before they do?

About the Author:

Fiona Ingram is a children’s author, but up until a few years ago, she was a journalist and editor. Something rather unexpected sparked her new career as an author—a family trip to Egypt with her mother and two young nephews. They had a great time and she thought she’d write them a short story as a different kind of souvenir…. Well, one book and a planned book series later, she had changed careers. She has now published Book 3 (The Temple of the Crystal Timekeeper) in her middle grade adventure series Chronicles of the Stone, with many awards for the first book, The Secret of the Sacred Scarab, a few for Book 2, The Search for the Stone of Excalibur, and several for Book 3! She also teaches online novel writing for aspiring authors and she finds that very satisfying. Fiona’s experience with raising an adopted, disadvantaged African child struggling with literacy got her interested in the subject and she has written numerous articles on child literacy. Relaxation time finds her enjoying something creative or artistic, music, books, going to the theater or ballet. She enjoys doing research for her book series. Fiona loves animals and has written two animal rescue stories. She has two adorable (naughty) little rescue dogs called Stanley and Pumpkin, and a beautiful black cat called Bertie.

Praise:
“Action, danger, and excitement are the key words for the riveting adventure novel, The Temple of the Crystal Timekeeper ... Its spellbinding storyline explores the history of the Aztec and Maya gods and their cities with exceptional accuracy; this is one of those books you can’t put down. With authentic historical facts expertly woven into this spectacular action-packed fiction series, no one of any age can resist its magnetism. This is a fascinating and exciting fiction story created with expertise and finesse, which educates while entertaining the reader.”
— Susan Williams, for Readers Favorite

USA Book Awards:

• Winner Pre-teen Readers’ Favorite Book Awards 2017
• Winner Book Excellence Awards 2018
• NYC Big Book Awards Distinguished Favorite 2018

Read the first chapter and receive a free download of The Young Explorer’s Companion Guide, a nonfiction guide to the journey and cover history, geography, mythology and subject kids will love to learn more about. In this guide, your child will discover the story behind The Temple of the Crystal Timekeeper and experience the history of the Maya and Aztecs as well as ind out who was the ancient priest-king Topiltzin and why he is important.

Click here to read the first chapter and download your free copy of The Young Explorer’s Companion Guide!

Book Excerpt:

A guard turned Adam round to face Smoking Mirror again. It was horrible being so close to this evil man. He seemed like a giant, and his gaze bored into Adam as he leaned down from his throne to stare at Adam. His eyes were cold, hard, and utterly pitiless.

“Oh, but he is very … very special. In fact, quite extraordinary. I did not realize the true significance before, but now I see it.” Smoking Mirror spoke in a silky whisper as he stared fixedly at Adam. “You see, this boy has the fire hair and the pale skin of the god Quetzalcoatl who came to my land from far across the sea. This boy also bears the mark of an ancient civilization, yes?”

“Er … yes,” said Dr. Khalid in a sulky tone, shooting a quick, angry glance at Adam that seemed to say, “Now look what you’ve done!”

“In fact, the mark is from your civilization, no?”

“No … er, I mean, yes,” Dr. Khalid gabbled. “It is the ankh, the sign of life.”

“The sign of life?” Smoking Mirror shouted. “Then we will extinguish that life!”

He leaped up and screamed an announcement in the people’s language. The crowd remained silent except for a few women who began crying. But not a minute later, a deep collective groan arose from the gathering. Smoking Mirror’s warriors cheered and clattered their weapons against their shields as he continued with his speech.

Adam turned his head a little to one side, trying to catch Tukum’s eye. “What’s he saying?” he whispered, although he sensed already that it was bad.

Tukum’s head drooped. “He says this is the ultimate battle, because you represent the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, or Kukulkan to the Maya. He says the game will prove who is the ultimate winner.”

Adam could hardly speak. His heart had begun pounding so hard it felt like a hammer against his ribs. He was breathless for a moment. This was the confrontation Kotz had spoken of, but it would be impossible to defeat Tezcatlipoca.

“So he thinks we’ll lose?” Adam asked.

“Yes,” said Tukum.

“What if we win?” asked Justin. “It’s possible.”

Tukum gave him a despairing look. “How can we win?”

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