The Devil and The Devil’s Pawn

The Devil and The Devil’s Pawn by Debra H. Goldstein

What happens when you’re excitedly preparing for the launch of your Young Adult horror book, The Devil’s Pawn, and your doctor calls to tell you your test results were bad?  You’ve been so tired that you’ve occasionally wondered how you were going to cram in the public appearances, blogs, interviews, and emails necessary to promote your new book, but this crazy schedule is part of being a writer so forget the fatigue and keep on moving. Or, at least you tell yourself that until your doctor adds the words “lymphoma” and “heavy chemo protocol” and your world, as Marilyn Levinson’s did, stops.

Stops except for the drip, drip, drip…..and knowing that the doctor added “treatable” and “curable.”

But wait, what about The Devil’s Pawn?  Fifteen year old Simon Porte is depending upon you to publicize his story and you want to.  You worked hard on this book and you need people to know: after fifteen-year-old Simon Porte’s family is killed in an automobile crash, his father’s brother, whom he’s never met, brings Simon to live with him and his wife in upstate New York. Simon doesn’t trust Uncle Raymond, and for good reason. Raymond is dying and using his powers to take over Simon’s body. Simon and his allies—his dotty great-aunt Lucinda, his sister whom he finds living with another relative, and a pair of odd twins—wage war against the evil Raymond and his cronies.

Drip, drip, drip …. So many days in the hospital, so many days at home.  Try to minimize public contact during the treatments.

The book is getting great reviews, but you’re fretting because your plans to promote it are in disarray. Frustrated, you tell a few of your friends (Guppies – members of The Guppy Chapter of Sisters in Crime) who you’ve met at conferences and online and a wonderful thing happens.  Your friends tell

you to work on getting better and let them help out with telling people about The Devil’s Pawn.  Not a problem they say, it’s a good book so it is easy to talk about.

Drip, drip, drip … will this stuff make you need to buy a wig? Blonde, brunette, or maybe red?  That and getting well should be your biggest worries because your fellow mystery writers have closed ranks around Simon and you.

Marilyn Levinson