2006 was a funny old year. Tony Blair was still prime minister. It was the year that I returned to school and began to study my degree. (I got a first). And it was the year that Mitzi Szereto and I first discussed the idea of collaborating on a novel.
It really was a funny year. The superb Deadwood was just coming to a conclusion. The incredible Dexter was just launching. And Mitzi and I were trying to decide if we could write a novel that would work as a follow up to Gaston Leroux’s 1910 novel, The Phantom of the Opera.
2006 was the year when Marcus Zusak published The Book Thief. It was the year when David Mitchell released Black Swan Green. And it was the same year when Lemony Snicket concluded his series of unfortunate events with the thirteenth book in the series (appropriately named, The End). But, more importantly, it was the year when Mitzi and I were discussing The Phantom of the Opera.
The story is timeless. The idea seemed to fall naturally into place. And the unresolved conclusion of the first story was begging for a follow up. And so we wrote.
Studies, travel, other books and life interrupted our plans occasionally. There were even periods where it felt as though we’d put the story aside and were never going to get back to it. But our phantom remained with us over the decade. Not only did the phantom remain with us but, we also spent time tweaking, adding and developing the story.
Why am I mentioning this now? I’m glad you asked. If you fancy a really good read, please check out the link below: http://www.amazon.com/Phantom-Immortal-Mitzi-Szereto-ebook/dp/B01BN4G0RI/ or http://www.amazon.co.uk/Phantom-Immortal-Mitzi-Szereto-ebook/dp/B01BN4G0RI/.
To read more about the book, check out Mitzi’s website: http://mitziszereto.com/phantomtheimmortal/
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