Bio: Christy Raedeke
Name
Christy Raedeke
'10 Book Title
Prophecy of Days, Book One: The Daykeeper's Grimoire
Publisher
Flux (May 1, 2010)
Favorite Bit of Writing Advice
The hardest part is getting your butt in the chair - once you open the document you’re 90% there.
Favorite and least favorite part of writing:
My favorite part of writing is getting so involved that I lose all sense of time. After showing up late one too many times, I now set my oven alarm to ding when I need to go pick up my kids from school - once I start writing I tune the world out. My least favorite part of writing is revising, especially with vague editorial direction.
Outline or Let it fly?
I’m definitely a let-it-fly kind of writer. I’ve tried to outline but then it feels like work.
5 things about me
1. I am aboslutely, positively terrified of seeing my book in print.
2. If I had unlimited funds I’d do nothing but travel. I’ve trekked in the Himalayas, floated down the Ganges, slept in a haunted Scottish castle on Halloween, explored caves in the Yucatan, stood atop the Jungfrau in Switzerland, climbed Mayan pyramids in Chiapas, and body surfed in the Libyan sea, but there is so much more to do and see!
3. When I worked in PR at Microsoft I used to have to prep Bill Gates for photo shoots. I still have his comb in an envelope in my desk drawer.
4. Best job: Reporting on the World Cup Mountain Biking circuit in Europe. Worst job: Working at Victoria’s Secret right out of college. Believe me, most people do not keep their own underwear on while trying things on. I learned how to use hangers like chopsticks to pick up stuff from the dressing room floor.
5. I absolutely positively love the smell of the inside of corn husks.
The Last Daykeeper Synopsis
More than 2000 years ago, when Paris and London were nothing but shoddy villages, the Maya were building immense cities and practicing advanced math and astronomy. After their great culture was destroyed, one cryptic legacy was left: a set of 20 prophetic calendars. The most important of these, the “Long Count” calendar, ends mysteriously on Dec. 21, 2012. For thousands of years the surviving Maya have had their Daykeepers tracking the Long Count daily, all leading up to this end date. What is meant to happen between now and December 21, 2012? This is where Prophecy of Days picks up.
Prophecy of Days is the story of Caity Mac Fireland, a funny, tech-savvy girl from San Francisco whose parents drag her to an isle off the coast of Scotland to manage some family property. Caity finds that a Mayan relic is concealed there, intentionally left centuries ago by Mayan Daykeepers. After seeing Cortez land on their shores, burn their books, and destroy their culture, the Maya secreted this relic away in an attempt to keep their profound knowledge alive into the current era.
As she delves into this world of secret knowledge, Caity is helped along by a visiting family friend and Feng Shui master, Uncle Li; the castle groundskeeper, Thomas; a Mayan elder named Bolon; and Mr. Papers, a pet monkey that communicates through origami. A handsome Scottish lad gets pulled into the intrigue, as do several other people with questionable motives and loyalties.
Caity must weave together a tapestry of information in order to make her radical discovery, a mystery protected by an elite coterie of power-brokers who influence world events and world economy. Caity’s twenty-first century mind is put to the test as she tries to uncover the answer to an ancient riddle while trying to outwit this powerful group that will stop at nothing to control the secret, and her.
Book one of a two-book series, Prophecy of Days is a story rooted in science, myth, and ancient knowledge.
Christy Raedeke
'10 Book Title
Prophecy of Days, Book One: The Daykeeper's Grimoire
Publisher
Flux (May 1, 2010)
Favorite Bit of Writing Advice
The hardest part is getting your butt in the chair - once you open the document you’re 90% there.
Favorite and least favorite part of writing:
My favorite part of writing is getting so involved that I lose all sense of time. After showing up late one too many times, I now set my oven alarm to ding when I need to go pick up my kids from school - once I start writing I tune the world out. My least favorite part of writing is revising, especially with vague editorial direction.
Outline or Let it fly?
I’m definitely a let-it-fly kind of writer. I’ve tried to outline but then it feels like work.
5 things about me
1. I am aboslutely, positively terrified of seeing my book in print.
2. If I had unlimited funds I’d do nothing but travel. I’ve trekked in the Himalayas, floated down the Ganges, slept in a haunted Scottish castle on Halloween, explored caves in the Yucatan, stood atop the Jungfrau in Switzerland, climbed Mayan pyramids in Chiapas, and body surfed in the Libyan sea, but there is so much more to do and see!
3. When I worked in PR at Microsoft I used to have to prep Bill Gates for photo shoots. I still have his comb in an envelope in my desk drawer.
4. Best job: Reporting on the World Cup Mountain Biking circuit in Europe. Worst job: Working at Victoria’s Secret right out of college. Believe me, most people do not keep their own underwear on while trying things on. I learned how to use hangers like chopsticks to pick up stuff from the dressing room floor.
5. I absolutely positively love the smell of the inside of corn husks.
The Last Daykeeper Synopsis
More than 2000 years ago, when Paris and London were nothing but shoddy villages, the Maya were building immense cities and practicing advanced math and astronomy. After their great culture was destroyed, one cryptic legacy was left: a set of 20 prophetic calendars. The most important of these, the “Long Count” calendar, ends mysteriously on Dec. 21, 2012. For thousands of years the surviving Maya have had their Daykeepers tracking the Long Count daily, all leading up to this end date. What is meant to happen between now and December 21, 2012? This is where Prophecy of Days picks up.
Prophecy of Days is the story of Caity Mac Fireland, a funny, tech-savvy girl from San Francisco whose parents drag her to an isle off the coast of Scotland to manage some family property. Caity finds that a Mayan relic is concealed there, intentionally left centuries ago by Mayan Daykeepers. After seeing Cortez land on their shores, burn their books, and destroy their culture, the Maya secreted this relic away in an attempt to keep their profound knowledge alive into the current era.
As she delves into this world of secret knowledge, Caity is helped along by a visiting family friend and Feng Shui master, Uncle Li; the castle groundskeeper, Thomas; a Mayan elder named Bolon; and Mr. Papers, a pet monkey that communicates through origami. A handsome Scottish lad gets pulled into the intrigue, as do several other people with questionable motives and loyalties.
Caity must weave together a tapestry of information in order to make her radical discovery, a mystery protected by an elite coterie of power-brokers who influence world events and world economy. Caity’s twenty-first century mind is put to the test as she tries to uncover the answer to an ancient riddle while trying to outwit this powerful group that will stop at nothing to control the secret, and her.
Book one of a two-book series, Prophecy of Days is a story rooted in science, myth, and ancient knowledge.