Friday, February 22, 2013

Accidently Inspired... CRUMPLE ZONE...

It is my pleasure to have Edith Parzefall tell us more about her new release. 
It is time to break open the champagne and celebrate the birth of her latest novel from Museitup, CRUMPLE ZONE.


For free review copies contact the author via
email.



Hi, I'm Edith. Often people forget the 'h' when they address me via email. Edit, that's what I do a lot.

My last name is Parzefall, the name of a famous fictional character since at least the middle ages.

Chrétien de Troyes called him Perceval, Wolfram von Eschenbach Parzival, and Richard Wagner Parsifal. In English he's commonly known as Percival.

Storyline: A simpleton becomes King of the Holy Grail. Sounds quite promising, doesn't it? :-)

Find out more about me at: EDITH PARZEFALL flickr pics and EDITH PARZEFALL's blog

When my partner and I visited Chile in 2008, we actually made the front page in a local newspaper, only they gave my name a new twist: Parceball. Well, the real star of this adventure was my knight, the rented X-Trail.


On a wonderful road trip, we explored this long, narrow country, squeezed between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean, mostly the Atacama Desert. 

If I'd seen our trip in a movie, I'd have commented a few times on the symbols and foreshadowing along the road, as in the face as a blood-red moon rising over a forest where a bunch of college kids just got lost...

  

It started on the return trip from San Pedro de Atacama to Santiago. Symbols of death and danger everywhere. A deserted mining village with a looted cemetery. 

The police stopped us to check our papers, told us to switch on the light and drive safely. 

When we crossed from Region II to III, a giant sandstone hand rising from the desert warned us to go no further. Not to mention the little altars along the road commemorating accident victims.

  
Next, a huge truck transporting mining equipment needed both lines of the highway and forced us onto the dirt shoulder quite unexpectedly at a crest. We saw it just in time to get out of harm's way.  Not for long though...


Unfazed, we drove on toward La Serena, where the most amazing thing happened. We were squashed between a tomato truck and a liquid gas truck. Battered but uninjured, we stepped from the wreck into the open arms of caring Chilenos. 

  
At the hospital, exams and x-rays confirmed that we really were uninjured. Unbelievable. Since we didn't get a replacement car, we found ourselves stranded, but the Carabineros gave us a ride searching for accommodation.

So we stayed the last few days, nurtured our seat belt bruises, lurched about town, picked up a newspaper featuring the accident, and booked a flight straight to Santiago de Chile, arriving just before we had to fly back home. Of course I had to turn these experiences into a novel.

Part of Crumple Zone follows pretty much in our tire tracks, except I needed more interesting characters than me (bookworm) and my partner (math nerd) and I had to invent the trucker causing the accident as well as motivate his lapse in attention. 

The beautifully symbolic model name of the X-Trail made it clear that my main protagonists needed to be at a crossroads in life, taking either the right or wrong turn, but no more going straight ahead and ignoring the important things in life. Okay, no spoilers... the result turned into psychological suspense.

Here's a teaser:

When Chilean trucker Enrique bumps into jobless workaholic Lara, he thwarts her flight from life and his escape from reality.

Back Cover:
Lara, a workaholic from Seattle, loses her job, drowns her frustrations in scotch, and books a trip to Chile. Instead of facing her messed up life, she escapes to South America and hooks up with a backpacker, whose bag of tricks conveniently distracts her.

Hauling freight along the same route, trucker Enrique battles the loneliness of the Atacama Desert, imagining his wife by his side. If only she'd stop urging him to come home. 

With growing unease, he sets off on the return trip. When his path crosses Lara's, the impact knocks them both off their errant tracks to face unpleasant realities.

If you like, check out the book and read an excerpt at MuseItUp Publishing: CRUMPLE ZONE

For a short time you can get 20% off this new release. Be quick the special won't last long.

For free review copies

 contact the author via



So raise your glasses and join us in celebrating the release of Crumple Zone. Congratulations Edith!

8 comments:

Fire Mummy said...

Congratulations on your new release, Edith! Wishing you great success. :)

Edith Parzefall said...

Thanks so much for hosting me, Rosalie, and for the good wishes, Raw Fruity Mummy!

Wendy said...

This certainly is exciting news, Edith. Congratulations on this new release. Wow you have opened the flood gates with new publications since Strays in Rio. What a successful and prolific writer you are. Good on you!!

Rosalie Skinner said...

Congratulations Edith,
Hope Crumple Zone hits the shelves with a bang.. hehe.. not an accident type of bang, of course, but the sort that encourages lots of sales. :)

Cindy Dwyer said...

What a great way to turn what could have been a disaster into an opportunity. Glad you were ok.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! Real life often inspires the best stories.

Silvia Writes said...

Big congrats, Edith. You're amazing, turning a bad experience into such a great novel. Love the little background on your name you give (hilarious). Talent and wit, now that's a great combo for a writer.

Edith Parzefall said...

The accident really was an amazing experience. I couldn't stop grinning, feeling simply euphoric because we were unharmed and surrounded by people who took care of us.

Thanks for dropping by and commenting, everyone. Much appreciated.