Detective Anthony Mathers Jr toke one last picture of the dead womens ankle tattoo. He didn’t want murder associated with the ladies. Elenor and the other women of the Bastile were regional icons. They were very generous with their family money to different charity causes. Anthony had never met anyone who disliked any of the Emerson family for the past hundred years. Janet worked for the Dept. of Forests and Parks. Lynn was the therapist at the Meadows a psychiatric hospital. Abby was a patient there who was just starting to get her memory back but Abbu was being released and going back home with her aunts to the Bastile. Lynn thought Abby should stay longer and Abby wanted to until she was shown a trinket by her Aunt Elanor then Abby became okay with leaving quickly. Then Abby’s aunts are trying to get Abby to quickly remember so the tapestry can be fixed that holds

This was a pretty good story. It did take me a while to be able to start to understand this story. This story did have alot to it: villians, time travel, dead “old” bodies, murder, mystery, insanity, some history, a broken tapestry, amnesia, action, magic, trechery, and alot more. The ending seemed a little rushed but did seem to leave an opening for another book but by doing so did leave some things unansweredand I didn’t really care for that. But I did enjoy the ins and outs.

The guild of immortal women reads like the first book in a series or trilogy.

I liked a lot of the characters, Abbey, Matt, Ruth and Boo were some of my favorites.

Robert and The Doctor were interesting characters too, not that I can say I liked them. But they kept me guessing.

The book was not what I'd expected, and that's probably a good thing, because I think the cover lends itself to a very traditional fantasy story, where as this story has loads of modern ties, magical ties and even a small sprinkle of humour.

The humour wasn't as pronounced as the book synopsis makes out, a fair number of the jokes were in poor taste or repeated too frequently to be funny after the first time.

I got distracted by the paragraph breaks and lack of paragraph breaks littered throughout the book. Minor things really, but they do make it harder for the reader to enjoy the story.

The ending felt like it was purposely left open for another book, but there's nothing forecast on Goodreads about another book. It just leaves too much unsaid and unfinished as far as I'm concerned.

**Note: I was provided an electronic copy of this book in return for an honest review.**

A group of somewhat different women, a mysterious tapestry, two dead bodies and Abbey who's lost her memory make for a nice fantasy mystery.

After her 'Aunts' take her home from the mental hospital in which she was hospitalized early so she can continue her treatment in their home, the Bastille, it's immediately clear that there is more to it. Much more. It's very important that she remembers, but what?

It was definitely a read that kept me interested all along (but it was only a relatively short novel). I liked the story about the time travel and the tapestry. I was a bit less taken in with the story that took place in the mental hospital, all the patients there seemed like slapstick characters made for a quick laugh (that wasn't there). The same goes with the numerous lesbian jokes, it could have been a bit less.

But the story in itself was quite interesting and it kept me guessing for some time. The ending felt a bit rushed and not everything is explained by the end of the story. I think there will probably be a sequel...

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Q: What is the story of how you came up with the idea for GUILD OF IMMORTAL WOMEN.

In 2007 my father died. We had been estranged for most of my life and we had just spent the last couple of years rebuilding a relationship. I went to my best friend’s house to do some healing and she reminded me of the book idea she had told me about years before.  She convinced me to write it as a way of grieving.

Q: How did you pick the women who would be Immortal?

Holly wanted Joan of Arc to be Amelia Airhardt and had always been set on Eleanor as the head of the Guild.  As for the others, we literally sat on the phone - me in Seattle and she in southern California - and searched the internet for the most interesting women we could find.  I was surprised at the lack of information on famous females of ancient times!  

Q: What was the hardest part of writing your books?

Editing! That answer is easy - it's always the editing.  As writers we put so much of our life and soul into these written pages! Many of us slave over specific words or phrases for hours. None of that matters in editing.  If it doesn't work for the story or pacing, out it goes.  Books are so much like turkey at Thanksgiving - one knows about the preparation of an eloquent meal, but when you have to face the heat of the kitchen yourself....oy! Another story.

Q: What project are you working on now?

Once TRAVELS WITH PENNY and GUILD are out into the world, I'd like to take a short break first.  I feel pretty ragged about now...signings, book festivals and so forth take a lot out of you.  When I'm back at the keyboard, I have another work, ANGAKOK, with Booktrope, that needs some attention.  Tick tock!

Q: What is the most interesting part of your daily life?

Wow.  Good question.  I never saw myself as having a particularly interesting life.  But, then again, "interesting" is relative, isn't it?  My day jobs are a sign language interpreter, instructor at a community college and theatre director.  I like to think that just by showing up I get a full plate of drama and entertainment.  

Q:  What is your writing process like?

I've always been one of those people who sees entire scenes in my head.  As soon as a scene appears, I try to rush over to the keyboard and get it down.  The problem is that the scenes don't always appear in the correct order. I see the end of a book (or play, as I'm also a playwright) first, or the dramatic climax first.  Every so often I write down the scenes on index cards and lay them on the floor to see what piece of the story is missing.  Maybe this is why editing is so difficult.

Q: So you don't pre-plan your work?

Not usually, no.  I follow the age-old advice of "write with the end in mind" as well as my characters, but not much else.  I've found this syle has pros and cons - like anything - but for me it works.  I set out with my characters' having a goal, some personality quirks and things they are afraid of.  Then, I just throw obstacles at them.  It easier with something like TRAVELS, as it was a memoir and I didn't have to invent anything.  If you knew my family, you'd understand.  Once I got over my anger at them, I learned to see them as an entire lifetime of entertainment value.

Q: What advice do you give new writers?

Write. Write what you see.  Write what you feel.  Somewhere, somehow, someone is going to love your stuff.  But always remember - someone is going to hate it as well.  Ultimately, you need to be satisfied with what you're doing.

Q: Any last words?

Yes.  Make sure to have a life.    Let your art flow from your observations of the everyday; don't lock yourself away in some dark, dank place with a bottle of Jack Daniels and a laptop.   We are on this Earth to engage with our surroundings; to love and experience this great thing called LIFE.