New Release Feature-The Collector of Dying Breaths-M J Rose Author Interview- Review

I'm so happy to bring to The Reading Frenzy another "MUST READ" author for me. She's here today talking about her just released novel The Collector of Dying Breaths that I had the privilege to review for LibraryJournal which you can read below courtesy of LibraryJournal.
Enjoy!

       

• ISBN-13: 9781451621532
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Publication date: 4/8/2014
• Pages: 384

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Of One Finished Print Copy
US ONLY now thru 4-21
of The Collector Of Dying Breaths
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Overview

From the internationally bestselling author, a lush and imaginative novel that crisscrosses time as passion and obsessions collide

Florence, Italy—1533:

An orphan named René le Florentin is plucked from poverty to become Catherine de Medici’s perfumer. Traveling with the young duchessina from Italy to France, René brings with him a cache of secret documents from the monastery where he was trained: recipes for exotic fra­grances and potent medicines—and a formula for an alchemic process said to have the poten­tial to reanimate the dead.

Paris, France—The Present:

A renowned mythologist, Jac L’Etoile—trying to recover from personal heartache by throw­ing herself into her work—learns of the sixteenth-century perfumer who may have been working on an elixir that would unlock the secret to immortality. She becomes obsessed with René le Florentin’s work—particularly when she discovers the dying breaths he had collected during his lifetime. 

I’m so excited to welcome a go-to author for me, one who’s the best kind of storyteller, a storyteller that gives you interesting and sometimes arcane historical facts with your fiction.

MJ Welcome to The Reading Frenzy!
Tell my readers a bit about The Collector of Dying Breaths.
Thanks so much for hosting me!

Here’s the basis of the novel – a time shift novel of fragrance and suspense.

Florence, Italy—1533:

An orphan named René le Florentin is plucked from poverty to become Catherine de Medici’s perfumer. Traveling with the young duchessina from Italy to France, René brings with him a cache of secret documents from the monastery where he was trained: recipes for exotic fra­grances and potent medicines—and a formula for an alchemic process said to have the poten­tial to reanimate the dead.

In France, René becomes not only the greatest perfumer in the country, but also the most dangerous, creating deadly poisons for his Queen to use against her rivals. But while mixing herbs and essences under the light of flickering candles, René doesn’t begin to imag­ine the tragic and personal consequences for which his lethal potions will be responsible.

Paris, France—The Present:

A renowned mythologist, Jac L’Etoile—trying to recover from personal heartache by throw­ing herself into her work—learns of the sixteenth-century perfumer who may have been working on an elixir that would unlock the secret to immortality. She becomes obsessed with René le Florentin’s work—particularly when she discovers the dying breaths he had collected during his lifetime.

Jac’s efforts put her in the path of her estranged lover, Griffin North, a linguist who has already begun translating René le Flo­rentin’s mysterious formula. Together they confront an eccentric heiress in possession of a world-class art collection, a woman who has her own dark purpose for the elixir . . . for which she believes the ends will justify her deadly means.

This mesmerizing gothic tale zigzags from the violent days of Catherine de Medici’s court to twenty-first-century France. Fiery and lush, set against deep, wild forests and dimly lit cha­teaus, The Collector of Dying Breaths illuminates the true path to immortality: the legacies we leave behind.

This is part of your loosely connected series that started with The Reincarnationist and part of the more cohesive trio of novels staring Jac L’Etoile and her brother Robbie.

Where does your interest in past lives stem from?

When I was three, I was at a family Seder, presided over by my great-grandfather, a Russian Jew who studied the Kabala. At some point I started telling a story about when my great-grandfather and I threw apples at his house and broke a window. I was only a toddler -- I'd clearly done no such thing. But my great-grandfather got very excited and told everyone that when he was a boy, he and a cousin had done just that and been seriously punished for it. He declared I was his cousin reincarnated.

My mother thought it was pretty silly, but my great-grandfather was so adamant she did some research including reading the bestseller The Search for Bridey Murphy. She wound up becoming fascinated with subject of reincarnation and passed her interest on to me. Other mothers and daughters cooked together. We talked about past lives.

When I was older I realized that believe in it or not – the concept of past lives is a perfect metaphor for the concept of our past influencing our present – from both a literarl and from a psychological point of view.

There is one returning character from all these novels, Malachai Samuels and his Phoenix Foundation.

What about him keeps you bringing him back?
My fascination with him… here’s a man who has spent his whole life in search of proof of reincarnation and yet has never had a single past life memory. He has such a dark soul… he’s lodged in my imagination and won’t depart.

Will we ever be privy to his complete story?
Yes, I’m working on it… slowly. I won’t write it for some time.

I did write a short story with him in that will be coming out in May in a book called FaceOff. Two dozen thriller/suspense writers paired off and wrote stories where our characters literally face off. In the one I co-wrote, Malachai comes up against Lisa Gardner’s famous Detective D.D. Warren.


And staying with Jac’s books.
Why did you choose perfume or scents for the focus of these novels?
Perfume chose me. It’s been a lifelong passion. I actually made my fist perfume from macerated eucalyptus leaves and rose petals when I was 8. It didn’t smell very good though.

And then very early on – doing the research for the first book in the series - I found the link between perfume in ancient cultures and the search for past lives. The very word perfume –means ‘through smoke ‘– and refers to the ancient Egyptian belief that the soul left the body and traveled to the afterlife on the smoke of incense the priests burned.

I personally loved roaming the ruins of France with your characters.
Where did you roam for novel research?

A lot of old books, Google maps, I hire tour guides in foreign lands to take pictures for me along routes I plan out and as often as I can I visit the places I write about.



Now let’s talk about two other passions of yours;

The International Thriller Writers and AuthorBuzz.

What is so special to you about these organizations?

I’m one of the founding members of ITW and, along with Lee Child, it’s current co-president. We started it in 2004 because we wanted to create a different kind of writers organization – one that would honor and celebrate thrillers and help authors get more attention for their books.

Our mission statement is “when we imitate we fail, when we innovate we succeed.” And we have.

We don’t require dues, we have over 2000 members, we just started an online Thriller Writing School and we have a special debut author program that helps our debuts navigate that first tough year. We’re also the only writers organization with an active monthly newsletter/magazine for readers- The Big Thrill – where we actively promote our authors books to fans. And then there is ThrillerFest every July – a fan/author convention in NYC that gets bigger every year.


AuthorBuzz.com

My background was working in a big NYC ad agency – so it was a natural outgrowth of what I discovered when I first got published and realized just how little marketing was being done for so many books and how at sea authors were when it came to marketing.

I started it in 2005 to help authors who wanted professional help marketing their books and it wound up being the first marketing company created for authors (though now publishers use us too.)

I’m so proud of our roster of clients – from the biggest NYT bestsellers to some of the most exciting independent authors breaking new groud. Writing is an art – but publishing is a business and not every author want to spend the time learning every aspect of that business well enough to go it alone. We’re here to take on that burden.

MJ will Jac be back in your next book?
Can you tell us a little about what you’re working on?

No, Jac is taking a short break while I write a stand alone called The Secret Witch of Rue Dragon which takes place in Paris in 1894.

MJ, I really enjoyed meeting you when you were part of the Atria’s Great Mystery Bus Tour.
What kind of events will you be attending for this release?
Nothing so exotic I’m afraid.:) I’ll be at The Mysterious Bookstore on April 22 at 6:30 and R.J. Julia on April 26th during the day. We’re still formulating the rest of the tour.

MJ its been my great pleasure having you on my blog. Good luck with the new novel and the ones still in your head.

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MEET THE AUTHOR:

M.J. Rose is the international bestselling author of fourteen novels, one of which (The Reincarnationist) was the basis of the television series Past Lives. She is a the co-president and founding board member of International Thriller Writers and the founder of the first marketing company for authors: AuthorBuzz.com. She lives in Greenwich, Connecticut. Visit her online at MJRose.com.

MJ's other novels

My **Starred** Review of The Collector Of Dying Breaths courtesy LibraryJournal

The Collector Of Dying Breaths

Rose, M.J. The Collector of Dying Breaths. Atria. Apr. 2014. 384p. ISBN 9781451621532. $25; ebk. ISBN 9781451621556. F
When her brother suddenly and mysteriously dies, perfumer Jac L’Etoile (The Book of Lost Fragrances; Seduction), along with her former lover Griffin North and their unconventional benefactress, decides to continue her brother’s research into finding the secret to immortality. This revolves around an arcane recipe for reanimating souls by collecting dying breaths, which had been discovered by René le Florentin, the 16th-century alchemist/perfumer to Catherine de Medici. He is also the man responsible for bringing perfume to Paris and to whom Jac feels an almost otherworldly connection. Jac and Griffin delve deep into the potions and poisons of the past, venture into dangerous and deadly waters where the lines between past and present blur, and Jac wonders if one of the dying breaths collected will be hers.
Verdict Rose’s latest venture into myth and reality is a page-turning, alluring concoction of fiction infused with fantastical yet actual history. Readers will be charmed by her well-drawn and memorable characters, and they will be mesmerized by her enchanting narrative, which takes them on a mystical and magical journey. [See Prepub Alert, 10/20/13.]—Debbie Haupt, St. Charles City–Cty. Lib. Dist., St, Peters, MO