Book Details:
Book Title: The Clock Flower by Barbara Casey (Book 3 of The F.I.G. Mysteries)
Category: YA Fiction, 208 pages
Genre: Mystery / Fantasy
Publisher: Gauthier Publications, The Hungry Goat Press Imprint
Release date: February 2018
Tour dates: Feb 26 to March 30, 2017
Content Rating: PG-13 (There is light profanity and some threat of violence.)
Book Description:
Dara Roux, abandoned when she was seven years old by her mother. Exceptionally gifted in foreign languages. Orphan. Accepted to Yale University.
Mackenzie Yarborough, no record of her parents or where she was born. Exceptionally gifted in math and problem-solving. Orphan. Accepted to MIT.
Jennifer Torres, both parents killed in an automobile accident when she was sixteen. Exceptionally gifted in music and art. Orphan. Accepted to Juilliard.
The three FIGs—Females of Intellectual Genius—as they are called, have graduated from Wood Rose Orphanage and Academy for Young Women after returning from New York City where Dara learned why her mother abandoned her all those years ago, and they are now attending universities where they can further their special talents. This means they will be separated from each other and from Carolina, their much-loved mentor and teacher who is “one of them,” for the first time in their young lives. They vow to try living apart for one semester, in the so-called real world that doesn’t include the orphanage; but if things don’t work out, they will come up with another plan—a plan where they can be together once again.
Dara is invited through Yale University to take part in an exciting archeological project in China. Jennifer, once again visualizing black and white images and the unusual sounds of another cadence that seem to be connected to Mackenzie, is engrossed in creating her next symphony at Juilliard. Mackenzie, because of her genius at problem-solving, is personally chosen by a US Senator to get involved in a mysterious, secret research project involving immortality that is being conducted in a small village in China—not too far from where Dara is involved with the archeological site. Once there, however, she finds herself facing a terrifying death from the blood-dripping teeth of an ancient evil dragon. Her best friends, the FIGs and Carolina, rely on their own unique genius and special talents to save her as she discovers the truth of her birth parents.
To read reviews, please visit Barbara Casey's page on iRead Book Tours.
Buy the Book:
Although THE CLOCK FLOWER is the 3rd book in the F.I.G. Mystery series, it is a stand-alone novel. If you want to read the previous two books in the series, they are:
The Cadence of Gypsies: Book 1 of the F.I.G. Mysteries
Book Details:
Book Title: The Cadence of Gypsies (Book 1 of The F.I.G. Mysteries)by Barbara Casey
Category: YA fiction, 272 pages
Genre: Literary/Mystery
Publisher: Gauthier Publications/Hungry Goat Press
Release date: April 2015 (e-Book)
Content Rating: PG-13 (A few expletives, mild sexual innuendo)
Book Description:
On her 18th birthday Carolina Lovel learned that she was adopted and was given a letter written by her birth mother in an unknown language. After years of research she travels to Italy on a mission to find the truth about her past. Carolina is accompanied by three extremely gifted but mischievous students the FIGs from Wood Rose Orphanage and Academy for Young Women. In an effort to help their favorite teacher, the FIGs will have to use their special abilities to decipher the Voynich Manuscript, the most mysterious document in the world, and the one thing that is strangely similar to what Carolina was given. Their search will take them into the mystical world of gypsy tradition and magic, more exciting and dangerous than any of them could have imagined.
The Wish Rider: Book 2 of the F.I.G. Mysteries
Book Details:
Book Title: The Wish Rider (Book 2 of The F.I.G. Mysteries) by Barbara Casey
Category: YA Fiction, 160 pages
Genre: Literary / Mystery
Publisher: Gauthier Publications
Release date: May 10, 2016
Content Rating: PG-13
Book Description:
Seventeen-year-old Dara Roux and her two best friends, Mackenzie Yarborough and Jennifer Torres, the three collectively referred to as the F.I.G.'s (Females of Intellectual Genius) because each has an intelligence quotient in the genius range, have just returned from Frascati, Italy. It was there that their much loved teacher and mentor, Carolina Lovel, discovered that her birth parents were gypsies, and that she had a connection to the Voynich Manuscript, the most mysterious document in the world.
Now, with graduation from Wood Rose Orphanage and Academy for Young Women behind them, Dara asks her friends to help her locate her birth mother when she learns that she might be living in New York City. Relying on Dara’s gift for speaking and understanding foreign languages, the black and white images that stir musical cadences in Jennifer’s mind, and Mackenzie’s mathematical calculations that normally provide numerical solutions and answers to life’s most difficult questions, the determined young women tirelessly go from one address to another in search of Dara’s mother.
Their determination turns to desperation, however, as they encounter a dark hidden society more dangerous and terrifying than they could have imagined. It is there that
Dara hopes to find out why she was abandoned in a candy store all those years ago.
Barbara Casey is the author of several award-winning novels for both adults and young adults, as well as book-length works of nonfiction true crime and numerous articles, poems, and short stories. Her nonfiction true crime book, Kathryn Kelly: The Moll Behind Machine Gun Kelly, has been optioned for a major film and television series. In addition to her own writing, she is an editorial consultant and president of the Barbara Casey Agency. Established in 1995, she represents authors throughout the United States, Great Britain, Canada, and Japan. Barbara is also a partner in Strategic Media Books Publishing, an independent publishing house that specializes in cutting-edge adult nonfiction. Barbara lives on a mountain in Georgia with her husband, and three dogs who adopted her: Benton, a hound-mix; Fitz, a miniature dachshund; and Gert, a Jack Russel terrier of sorts.
Connect with the author: Website
Interview with Barbara Casey
In your book The Clock Flower, most of the story takes place in China. What made you
decide to send the FIGs to China?
Thank you for inviting me to visit with you, Teresa.
One of the main themes running through the FIG Mystery Series is how and where Dara,
Mackenzie, and Jennifer (Females of Intellectual Genius) discover the truth about their
parents and why they were placed in an orphanage to begin with. In Book 1, The
Cadence of Gypsies, it was their teacher, Carolina, who was searching for answers to her
own past. Her search took them to a small village in Italy. In the second book, The Wish
Rider, Dara, who was abandoned as a very young child, searches for her own truth, and
discovers it in New York City with the help of the other two FIGs and Carolina. Book 3,
The Clock Flower, is Mackenzie’s story. She had been in an orphanage since she was
born, and it was only through the assistance of Carolina’s boyfriend, the son of a gypsy
king, that she was able to discover her connection to China.
There is an element of terror in The Clock Flower. How much of that is based on
research or just fantasy?
In the Western culture, it would be considered fantasy. However, there are many in China
who still believe in the dragon I portray in The Clock Flower. Mackenzie is the FIG who
was always inhibited and somewhat shy. She mispronounced words and sometimes
stuttered when she became anxious or afraid. In her search, she not only learns the truth
about her background, the search itself takes her to a level of self-confidence she has
never known.
How much time do you spend on researching your books?
I believe that accuracy is critical in making a story believable. I pay a great deal of
attention to small details because I don’t want to insult my readers by just throwing in
information that isn’t correct. Therefore, I spend months researching the things I want to
include in my story before I actually start writing it.
Do you have plans to write another mystery series?
Not at this time. The FIGs have a special place in my heart. They have grown from
young girls into young women in my imagination. We have experienced a great deal
together. So I will wait before I start thinking about another series. In the meantime, I
have several projects going on, the most exciting of which are my two adult nonfiction
books have both been optioned for major films. I will be involved with those projects,
and I am also under contract to write another adult nonfiction book. So I will be busy.
Thank you again for inviting me to be your guest. I wish you and your bloggers all my
best.
Barbara
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