Victoria Zackheim's novel realizes a dream -- literally

 

HALLIE EPHRON: Today it's my great pleasure to introduce you all to Victoria Zackheim. Her new book, The Curtain Falls in Paris, is just out after (mumble mumble) decades of gestation during which she was anything but idle and unpublished.

Her blurbs are the kind that are worth waiting for. Here's a rave from Robert Dugoni:

“I loved The Curtain Falls in Paris. From the enigmatic Chief Inspector Noah Roche and his nemesis, American journalist Aria Nevins, to the rich descriptions of Paris, a glorious old theater and a grisly murder backstage, reading this novel was like the joy of watching a play unfold. Zackheim’s writing is vivid, passionate and always entertaining.” Robert Dugoni, New York Times Best Selling Author of The Tracy Crosswhite Series

Victoria's is an inspiring story of perseverance and determination which began in an almost other-worldly fashion..

I'll let her tell you how it happened...

VICTORIA ZACKHEIM: The journey leading to The Curtain Falls in Paris began in 1996.

I had moved back to the States after nearly five years in Paris. (It was supposed to be three months, but that’s another story.) I was a freelance tech-marketing writer for such companies as Apple, HP, SunMicro, and my primary challenge was understanding the technology. (Yes, you can write about something in a voice of great authority while having NO comprehension whatsoever.) 

I awoke one morning, turned on the PC, and got to work.

And then a little thought arrived: Had I dreamed something? If so, what was it?

I continued working, and then another thought: Did I get up in the middle of the night, turn on the PC, and write it down?

To my amazement, there it was, a file on my computer: mystery. I opened it and found three single-spaced pages describing a murder that takes place in a Paris theater.

And so began an exercise in patience, tenacity, and hope.

Over the next twenty-eight years, I wrote, revised, tore apart, and then revised again… and again.

During that time, I created several anthologies, all under the guidance of a patient and supportive agent who loved my anthologies, but not my Paris mystery.

Nevertheless, I plowed on, trying to implement her editing suggestions. When she finally admitted that getting the novel published would require that I seek another agent, I was heartbroken. It felt like a divorce.

I was so pleased when I signed with Darlene Chan, from the Linda Chester Literary Agency. After more revisions, Darlene sent out the manuscript… and it sold!

The editor came back with that one suggestion that changed everything. Why hadn’t I thought of that? Of course, Chapter Four should be the first chapter. Who couldn’t see that?

Well, for starters, me.

On May 13, The Curtain Falls in Paris was published. Nearly thirty years after I had dreamed the story.

My mother often suggested that I was a late bloomer, but I was around fifty when she said that. I wonder what she would say today, now that I’m eighty… and working on the first sequel to the Paris novel, with the second sequel a jumble of ideas racing through my head. (Perhaps not exactly racing… age slows down more than just the body.)

So, Jungle Red Writers and readers, my story is about never giving up, never pushing a dream aside, and how we need to shut out those discouraging thoughts (and comments we hear from others) about not having the time, the energy, the heart or the skill.

Tell me, what is on your wish list? And what obstacles are you discovering along the way? I’d love to hear about that project, trip, adventure on your hope-to list!

ABOUT THE CURTAIN FALLS IN PARIS: It's a one-night-only performance of a glamorous play in a Paris theater, and the drama is onstage... and off... when an unscripted murder stops the performance. In this suspenseful mystery, Aria Nevins, formerly a respected American journalist with her reputation ruined by a serious lapse in judgment leading to a woman’s death, has fled to a questionable job in Paris, where she’s embedded with top French homicide detective Noah Roche and his team for one week, her task to follow them and write about their work. When Roche suspects her motives, she finds herself fighting for credibility, while trying to gain access to every aspect of the murder investigation. Each member of the play’s star-filled cast and crew is a suspect in this shocking and grisly crime. When the case is marred by false leads, an attempted murder at the theater, old loyalties, and obstacles placed in their path by entitled theater luminaries, it’s a race against time to find the murderer.