Growing up, I didn’t want to be a writer; I wanted to be an artist. We lived a block away from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and I started taking Saturday morning art classes there when I was just seven years old.
I’ve often felt art is my religion and that museums in general, but the Met specifically, are my temples of choice. That’s where I go to be renewed, refreshed and inspired. I don’t think I’ve ever gone longer than a month without visiting there.
So it’s not all that surprising that sooner or later I’d write a novel with a museum as one of my main characters and that I’d pick the museum that was in my backyard when I was a kid.
But how I got the idea for The Hypnotist is surprising, at least to me. Sometimes I find it reassuring. Other times frightening. See what you think.
One day about three and a half years ago, on one of my regular pilgrimages to the Met, I headed straight for one of my favorite spots. The Mastaba Tomb of Perneb is a tiny bit of Fifth Dynasty Egypt transplanted to Manhattan, a gift from Edward S. Harkness to the museum in 1913.
You can enter the limestone tomb from the left or the right. One doorway leads to the main offering chapel. I took the other, which leads to a second ritual chamber. The space is very small and only three or four people can fit at the same time. I was lucky to be in the intimate ritual chamber alone and looking through the slot in the wall at a wooden statue of Perneb in the room beyond known as a serdab. In ancient times this passageway allowed for family and priests to offer up incense and chants to the deceased.
I heard footsteps. A little girl about seven or eight had entered and came up beside me to look through the slot. She had long blonde hair and was wearing a school uniform. I watched her examine the space, giving every section careful attention.
“It hasn’t changed much at all,” she said finally in a wistful voice.
I asked her what she meant.
“Since the last time I was here,” she said.
Something about the way she said it made me curious. “When was that?” I asked.
“When I lived in Egypt.”
“You know this tomb has been on display in this museum since 1916.” I said.
“I lived in Egypt way before that,” she said and smiled. She was about to say something else when from outside the chamber an older woman’s voice called out.
“Veronica, it’s time to go. Now. Please.”
The little girl ran off, quickly, without looking back, without giving me a chance to ask her anything else.
Even though I write about reincarnation, I haven’t had any meaningful reincarnation episodes of my own. I don’t get visitations. I’ve never seen a ghost. But I’m not sure what happened that afternoon.
I can picture Veronica in her navy jumper and white blouse that had a dark smudge on the collar. She had a one-inch scratch on her left hand. Her hair was pulled off her face with a silver barrette. A lot of curls had escaped. She had a child’s voice but it was so charged with adult emotion.
It was that emotion which sparked the idea for my novel, The Hypnotist. And the paintings and sculpture at the Metropolitan Museum that fueled it.
If you go the Met, please go visit Perneb’s tomb. And if you see a little girl there with long blonde hair and a blue school uniform… ask her if her name is Veronica… and if it is, thank her for me.
About The Hypnotist:
Haunted by his inability to stop the murder of a beautiful young painter twenty years ago, Lucian Glass keeps his demons at bay through his fascinating work with the FBI's Art Crime Team. Investigating a crazed collector who's begun destroying prized masterworks, Glass is thrust into a bizarre hostage negotiation that takes him undercover at the Phoenix Foundation—dedicated to the science of past-life study. There, to maintain his cover, he submits to the treatment of a hypnotist.
Under hypnosis, Glass travels from ancient Greece to nineteenth-century Persia, while the case takes him from New York to Paris and the movie while the case takes him from New York to Paris and the movie capital of the world. These journeys will change his very understanding of reality, lead him to question his own sanity and land him at the center of perhaps the most audacious art heist in history: a fifteen-hundred-year-old sculpture the nation of Iran will do anything to recover.
The Hypnotist Virtual Book Tour Schedule
M.J. Rose's Website
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M.J. Rose's Website
Twitter Event Hashtag: #TheHypnotistVirtualBookTour
GIVEAWAY: A copy of The Hypnotist is being given away to ONE lucky winner in the U.S./Canada. To enter, leave an answer to this question in the comments, "Do you believe in reincarnation?" Question must be answered to be eligible to win. Gain an extra entry for tweeting or sharing on Facebook (use the easy share buttons at the end of the post). Please leave a link to your share with your comment and include a way for me to contact you, if you win. This giveaway will end on Tuesday, December 20 at 11:59pm CST. Good luck!
I do believe in reincarnation. Many thanks for this wonderful book giveaway which I would cherish. A facinating and memorable book which interests me greatly. elliotbencan(at)hotmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteGreat giveaway!! And I don't think that I believe in Reincarnation..but...who knows...lol
ReplyDeleteI also tweeted: http://twitter.com/#!/myeclecticbooks/status/144081669236867072
melissaseclecticbooksahelf at gmail dot com
I don't believe in reincarnation although when I read about M.J. and her story it was amazing. Thanks for this special giveaway. elliotbencan(at)hotmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteThis is a tough question. I'm a christian so I don't believe it but a part of me is open minded enough that I can't say that is not possible. Many civilizations throughout history have also had this belief and of course still some religions today so....
ReplyDeleteMargaret
singitm@hotmail.com
Yes I believe in incarceration. I believe believe have come back. Its like you get this feeling you have been here before. Please enter me in contest. Tore923@aol.com
ReplyDeleteReincarnation is a great question to ponder. I do not believe in it although many individuals have experiences with it. Would enjoy this book since it is intriguing. Thanks. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteI believe in reincarnation even though I have never encountered it. I think some people are senstive to spirits just because I haven't seen it, I'm not prepared to rule it out either.
ReplyDeleteI tweeted: https://twitter.com/#!/FieryNa/status/144313928783118336
Cambonified(at)yahoo(dot)com
Great responses so far! Thanks for commenting! I do believe in reincarnation (I have a fervent hope that it does exist). I was a child who had an imaginary friend and I firmly believe that children with imaginary friends are being reminded of their past life and that is why they have these imaginary friends. I would love to hear what your opinion is on my theory. =O)
ReplyDeleteI do believe in reincarnation. Please enter me in contest. I would love to read this book. Tore923@aol.com
ReplyDeleteIt don't believe in reincarnation.."it is given unto man once to die, and then the judgement." But, I do love to read novels about that sort of thing, just as I love to read about time-travel and other fantasies. I would love to have a copy of this book. I've been to the exhibit she's speaking of in the post here and it is beautiful and eerie. Haven't seen a little girl there, but I've felt the presence of something, absolutely; as if all hasn't left those objects and sarcophagus's.
ReplyDeletePlease throw my Christmas bonnet into the mix for a copy of this novel! :] Love your blog as always..
Deborah/TheBookishDame
PS: Thank you for the Christmas greeting, too.
Sorry, I didn't leave a contact:
ReplyDeletethebookishdame@aol.com
Deb/TheBookishDame