Theresa Danley, Author of Effigy, Brings Historical Accuracy, Thrill and Adventure to the 2012 Legend

From Theresa Danley comes the exciting new novel, Effigy, an adventure/thriller sure to satisfy readers intrigued with archaelogy, history, and the mysticism surrounding the Mayan culture. Here on Literary Magic today is a special feature post coming to you directly from this innovative and talented writer, as she describes her inside thought process for developing the concept behind her novel. Effigy emerges heads above the plethora of 2012 related literature with a fresh approach, that is both engaging and tangible through Danley's very real application of her research on Mesoamerican culture, history and science to the fiction form.

So without further ado, I'm proud to present to you Theresa Danley and her novel, Effigy:

Written by Theresa Danley :

A serial killer is on the loose, a priceless Mesoamerican artifact suddenly disappears and a team of archaeologists must decipher a web of historical clues before a solar eclipse destroys the current world age.

Thus begins the south-of-the-border adventure in my archaeological thriller, Effigy. In keeping with history and science, the story mingles ancient Toltec cosmology and mythology while sweeping the reader from the pyramids of Teotihuacan to the Aztec sunstone and beyond.

This is my first attempt at an adventure/thriller and I’m very pleased with how the story fell into place. It all came about when I was researching for a different story set in the American southwest. My research led me to the ancient Toltec civilization of central Mexico. I was immediately intrigued with the calendars of the Mesoamericans, so I began digging deeper into their complex cosmology from which the plot for Effigy began to take shape.

As this idea evolved in my head, I knew the story couldn’t be as effective without a 2012 setting, but I didn’t want Effigy to be just another doomsday story. My first step was to turn away from the Mayan phenomenon that has made 2012 so popular and focus on other cultures that may have had an earlier influence on the Mayans. I wanted to structure the story on an archaeological framework while highlighting the mythology and astronomy behind all the 2012 hype.

When I began this project in 2005, I knew nothing about the cultures of Mexico. Almost every angle of the story had to be researched, right down to the details of each scene set in Mexico. Over time, Effigy slowly evolved as I devoured every tidbit of information I could pull from books, the internet and anything else I could get my hands on. Luckily, I love history so the research was only one piece of the exciting ride Effigy led me on.

I find history to be a wealth of inspiration and I love finding little known or unknown gems that are just waiting to be polished into a story. I also like a good adventure. If I can entertain my readers with an exciting adventure, that’s great. But if I can somehow enlighten them with a little science and history along the journey, then I know I’ve done my job!

Title: Effigy

Author: Theresa Danley

ISBN: 978-1-60313-785-0

Format: E-book for now (hopefully will go into print at a later date)

No. of Pages: 457

Available at:

Whiskey Creek Press http://www.whiskeycreekpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=805&zenid=87a293e8186d99a99e6b5f558e7dff7f

Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003MGL9CW/?tag=eb_ca-20

Fictionwise http://www.fictionwise.com/servlet/mw?t=book&bi=110619&si=0