If I told you that my adventures recently included seeing a shriveled-up brain, heart, and liver, you might think I was out doing research for the next novel in my Brandon Fisher FBI Series. My real reason for visiting the Royal Ontario Museum, however was to see the Galleries of Africa: Egypt exhibit. It’s also the where Robyn Garcia, a supporting character from my Matthew Connor series, works.

The ROM’s website calls the collection “the most important Egyptian collection in Canada.” But the Ancient Egyptians have left their mark around the world. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to find a modern-day society that hasn’t been molded by them in some way.

The Museum itself is a piece of architectural beauty. Reading about the museum online gives you an adequate overview, but it’s nothing like being there in person. The exhibits not only span the world, but they are well thought out so that you feel like you’ve truly been to the various times and places.

Comprised of nearly 5,000 years’ worth of history, from 4,000 BC to AD 400, the Egypt exhibit contains about 25,000 artifacts – although only about one-tenth of these are on display. Something else on display during my visit was a copy of The Secret of the Lost Pharaoh!  (To view all the pictures from this trip, view the album on my Facebook page by clicking here.)

It was exciting to be face-to-face with the elements from my book, including hieroglyphs, a tomb relief, and a scribe’s drafts of an inscription to be carved on a canopic jar. As you’ll see in the photos, the book found its way into the real-life backdrops that inspired Matthew Connor’s latest adventure, which took him and his two best friends to the northwest corner of the continent of Africa. You may be interested to know that during Ptolemaic times, the country went along the continent’s north shore and northeast along the Mediterranean’s southeastern coast. While time changes some things, as Matthew Connor and his companions learn, it preserves others—like the remains of an ancient pharaoh.

If you’re on Facebook, be sure to RSVP for The Secret of the Lost Pharaoh – Official Release Day Event (https://www.facebook.com/events/565160067165064). Each day leading up to the event, I’m posting something related to the book whether it’s a fun fact or piece of trivia, an interactive puzzle, or a special giveaway to celebrate the book’s release.

On the day of the release the fun will culminate into a party that includes having me around to text with LIVE! from 11 AM – 12 PM Eastern, and I’m sure there will be some other surprises exclusive to attendees!

While it’s not required for attending the event, I hope you’ll grab yourself a copy of The Secret of the Lost Pharaoh. And if this is your first time being introduced to Matthew Connor and his friends, there’s still time to adventure to South America with them in City of Gold, the first book in the series.

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