 |
| Artist and Author, Mary Montague Sikes |
For as long as she remembers, Mary Montague Sikes has been
both an artist and an author. As a child, she usually had a scrap of paper and
a pencil nearby so she could draw and write a little note about her picture. As
an author, she's been most satisfied when she could create the art that appears
on her covers. For many of Sikes' books, her publisher has used one of her
paintings as the basis for the cover. For Jungle Jeopardy, since she no longer
owns the painting on the cover, Sikes created two new paintings, one of a
jungle parrot and one of a black jaguar from the story. She takes these
paintings with her to book signings.
Although I enjoy romance, I also like stories with mystery
and adventure and stories with exotic destinations. My publisher created the
“Passenger to Paradise” series for those books.
Do you use the same
protagonist in each book?
No. Each book has a different protagonist—except for Secrets
by the Sea and Jungle Jeopardy. Those books have
the same protagonist and other characters. In Jungle Jeopardy I fell in
love with Tyler who was supposed to be my villain but turned out to be a good
guy instead. That was not my intention at the outset. That’s the way characters
take over and lead the story in an unexpected direction.
The main element that ties the “Passenger to Paradise” books
together is the exotic setting each book has. As I mentioned earlier, Secrets
by the Sea is set in Antigua. The sequel, Jungle Jeopardy, starts
out in Antigua then goes to Costa Rica and on to Nicaragua and Guatemala.
How did the story of
Jungle Jeopardy come about?
My latest book in the "Passenger to Paradise"
series grew out of my fascination with jungles. An artist as well as a writer,
several years ago I created a series of large, jungle-related paintings.
"Jungle Beat" on the cover of my novel is a
painting from that series of work.
An adventure story, Jungle Jeopardy is set in Central America where a multitude of Maya ruins remain
hidden beneath giant overgrowths of jungle foliage. An unplanned trip to the
ruins uncovered at Palenque in southern Mexico inspired part of the story.
While vacationing in Huatulco on the Pacific coast of Mexico, my husband and I
and a friend chartered a small airplane to fly into a grass air field located
near the Palenque ruins two flight hours away. Climbing among the rocky remains
and entering the ancient buildings once hidden by the jungle, I gazed across
the wild dense tropical rain forests of Guatemala and wondered about the lost
history of the ruins. While there I took dozens of photographs and turned many
of them into a series of large Maya ruins paintings.
Later, I researched the Maya and was shocked to learn that
although the Guatemalan Highlands were home to the Maya from pre-classic times,
little is known today about their culture because books and records of their
civilization were destroyed by the Spanish conquerors. I also found out that of
the more than 100 archeological sites in Guatemala, only a few have been
uncovered. That started me thinking about “what if” Dana, my heroine from Secrets
by the Sea, and Clifton, the hero from that book, wound up in Central
America and found several of those lost ruins. The resulting story is a quest
to uncover a treasure with some “Indiana Jones” type exploits cover along the way.
What's next in the
"Passenger to Paradise" series?
Probably I will finish up a book I've started that's set in
the Bahamas. It's called Necklace in the Rain. The artist in
me is already dreaming about the cover art!
Title: Jungle Jeopardy
Descriptive Blurb:
When Dana Sinclair realizes Clifton Wilder is missing, she takes off for Costa
Rica to search for him. An apparent
kidnapping turns into a jungle adventure that leads Dana and Clifton into the
wilds of Guatemala where they discover an unexplored Maya cave and find pottery
and walls covered with glyphs. Tyler Hunter wants to save Dana’s sister,
Rebecca, from prison, and to do so, he needs for them to find her grandfather’s
hidden treasure. An archaeologist on sabbatical in the Caribbean, Tyler
intrigues Dana with his knowledge of the Maya. Clifton grows jealous of the
friendship that creates tension in the group of four which includes Tyler’s
sidekick, Mick. Dana has never doubted her sister’s guilt in the murder of
their grandfather on the island of Antigua, but now an element of uncertainty
creeps in. Will they escape from the drug lords who are looking for Americans
in the jungle? What is the meaning of the black jaguar that follows them night
and day?
Jungle Jeopardy is available through the Amazon and Barnes and Noble websites.
______________________
To connect and find out more about the amazing Mary Montague Sikes, please visit her website at marymontaguesikes.blogspot.com or www.marymontaguesikes.com.
