Monday Moments with M. G. #31 New Books, Antiquities & Reader Updates

Happy Monday, friends, and welcome back to another edition of Monday Moments with M. G. The past few weeks have been full, fast-moving, and exciting in M. G.’s corner of the world, and I am delighted to sit down with you for a moment and share a few updates from this publishing journey. I hope your week is beginning with a little peace, a little purpose, and maybe even a fresh cup of something warm nearby.

If you are new to M. G. Lorraine, welcome! M. G. Lorraine is the pen name I use for fiction. It gives us a fresh place to meet as readers and storyteller, away from the noise of opinions, preferences, lifestyles, or backgrounds. Here, we get to gather on even ground and simply enjoy great literature together.

#TeamMGL has been hard at work on all the important details that help bring books from an idea into readers’ hands. We have been polishing author copies, checking final files, making corrections where needed, preparing the kids’ website, and building out the merch store on Shopify so everything will be ready when we open the doors. It may not always look glamorous from the outside, but this steady behind-the-scenes work helps each launch feel real, organized, and ready for the readers who have been cheering us on.

There is so much happening right now, and we want you to feel included in every part of the journey. The first five kids’ books are now live on Lulu and are beginning to appear on other platforms, including Amazon. Since August is back-to-school month, these books make wonderful gifts for young readers ages 6-11 as they begin a new school year, and they are also a great fit for classroom libraries, birthday surprises, and family reading time.

My first work in adult romantic suspense, Fossils: A Dorchester Sisters Novel, is out now. The second book, Antiquities, is currently going live and is already out on Lulu, and the third book, Sequins: A Dorchester Sisters Novel, is my current writing project. Sequins has been such a meaningful story to develop, and I am excited to continue shaping the heart, depth, and family legacy woven throughout the Dorchester world.

Once Sequins is complete, I will move into the first two books in our tween mystery series with my teen co-authors, a project I am especially excited about because it gives young voices a place at the creative table. After that, we will begin the next five kids’ chapter books, and I will also start the Dorchester Family Legacy series. There is so much storytelling ahead, and each project has its own special purpose.

Some stories are meant to make children laugh. Some are meant to help them feel brave. Some are meant to remind families of where they come from and what they carry forward. I am grateful every day that I get to create these stories, and even more grateful that you are along for the journey with us.

Antiquities is also starting to go live, and we are so excited to see it making its way out into the world. Please be patient with us as the rollout continues. It can take time for a new title to appear across all platforms, retailers, and listing pages, so if you do not see it everywhere right away, know that it is on its way. Every new release brings its own mix of excitement, nerves, celebration, and gratitude, and each step gets us closer to placing another finished story into the hands of readers.

We would also love to hear from you. If there is a city, bookstore, festival, school, library, conference, homeschool group, classroom, or special event where you would love to see us, please let us know. From book updates and website news to future appearances, events, school visits, and reader opportunities, this season is about connection as much as it is about publishing. We are building more than a book list. We are building a community of readers, families, educators, librarians, and friends who believe in stories that encourage imagination, courage, curiosity, and joy.

Thank you so much for your support, encouragement, patience, and kindness while these next books continue making their way into the world. We have had a few bumps along this great publishing journey, but every kind word, every share, every purchase, every message, and every bit of encouragement has reminded us why this work matters. We truly hope you love all the books that are coming your way, and we cannot wait to keep growing this community with you one Monday Moment at a time.

Here is an excerpt from Antiquities A Dorchester Sisters Novel

Chapter One

As she waited for the call, Jennifer Dorchester stared out of the full-length windows of her office building in Denver, Colorado, gazing at the Rockies and their snow-capped peaks. Finally, she could breathe. The Stevenson and Keller Belzoni Shabti were picked up yesterday and should arrive today by special courier in Luxor, Egypt, at the Funerary and Mummification Museum. She anticipated confirmation shortly, and until then, she silently prayed that it had gone smoothly.

Her clients, Parker Stevenson and his sister, Claudia Keller, had been approached nearly 18 months earlier by the museum, which sought their permission to exhibit their family-owned, closely guarded set of funerary shabti. These eight are very unique. Not any ordinary shabti, but these were Belzoni Shabti. Their lineage is old, well-documented, and of exceptional and impeccable quality. And until the call of confirmation arrived, she would be distracted… waiting.

Found in 1928, six years after the discovery of King Tutankhamen (Tut’s tomb was still being inventoried and cataloged when they were found), the tomb was resealed and found again in 1921 by Giovanni Belzoni, the flamboyant Italian Egyptologist. In his career, he had been a hydrologist, a barber, and a circus performer. And he had found unbelievable things. He had come to Egypt in hopes of finding treasure, and he did.

His discovery stayed there until the Tomb of Seti-I, and he sent the slab coffin to the Egyptian Halls in Piccadilly, where

it was housed until 1924. Then, according to sources including World Archaeology, Issue 54, the British Museum, which had it on exhibition, “scoffed at paying 2000 lire for it, and so the coffin was bought by architect John Soave for his private collection. His collection of Egyptian artifacts was housed at the Lincoln Field Inn in London. Fearing his sons only wanted money, Soave donated all his possessions, including the Seti-I sarcophagus and the rest of his ancient Egyptian possessions, to the British nation to protect them from his sons. The slab sarcophagus can still be seen in the basement of the Museum, along with the rest of his collection.”

Belzoni willed the eight shabti to his friend, the American explorer and traveler Harold Stevenson. Parker and Claudia were his great-great-grandchildren. This set of boxed funerary statues had been found in a niche in the Seti-I tomb; in a cut cleft of a wall filled with hieroglyphics explaining their purpose in the afterlife.

Nothing like this set has ever been found before or since. Hundreds of thousands of shabti have been found in Egyptian tombs. Royal tombs often hold more than 400 shabti, which were placed there to perform tasks in the afterlife. Most royal tombs contained 365 shabti, one for every day of the year; 36 overseers for every Egyptian week (10 days long); and 12 monthly overseers. Even in the tomb of Tutankhamen, only 29 had the shabti spell written on them in hieroglyphics.

These eight were magnificent and very special. These were jewel-encrusted, gold, silver, and rare stones. Each shabti has the entire slave’s agreement from chapter six of the Book of the Dead written on it. These were elaborate and much larger than usual. They were 20 inches tall, unbelievably well carved, either in solid

gold, silver, or other fine materials, and encrusted with Lapis Lazuli, emerald, carnelian, turquoise, and other fine jewels. It was then boxed in an ornately painted, gold-covered, jeweled, and carved chest that protected them and had a domed top and painted panels.

When negotiations began nearly 18 months ago, concerns about the safety of the shabti were valid. With all the repatriation of artifacts, Parker and Claudia’s concerns had been legitimate that if the funerary statuettes were seen on display, they would be stolen by the Egyptian government, either under the UNESCO agreement, which dictates which antiquities and artifacts can be moved globally, or designated as immovable because of their place in the historical record. The 1906 Antiquities Act was established to prevent the global looting of antiquities, and was further complicated by the 1996 Antiquities Act, which mandated the protection and preservation of antiquities worldwide. The safety and care of these shabti were integral to the historical image of the Stevenson family. This was Jennifer Dorchester’s legal area of specialty.

During nearly a century and a half of ownership, they had allowed the study and documentation of the shabti, but the release of the chest had been their primary concern. These family treasures would need to travel to Egypt to be exhibited to the world by the Funnery Museum, which had led to Jennifer's involvement.

Parker and Claudia had made an appointment for legal counsel nearly 18 months ago. Then the legal agreements, preservation and travel arrangements, the photographic sessions required by the insurers, and finally, the curator himself had come to inspect the shabti. All in preparation and under her strict guidance. When they had been approved to make the final high-security shipping arrangements. She had been in charge of that, too!

Parker and Claudia had carried out the family tradition of meticulous preservation and storage, along with meticulous record-keeping, to ensure that the documents, research, study, and future maintenance would be preserved with the shabti.

So, when the museum couriers had finally arrived to tag, pack, and crate the chest and shabti, she believed the major work was over, except for the plans to attend the exhibit's opening in Luxor, Egypt.

Until her phone rang this morning – 48 hours after shipping: “Good morning, this is Jennifer Dorchester.” Parker had called to say that he couldn't locate the tag IDs by phone, and the couriers had vanished. Panic, deep-set in his voice, was obvious. His only question to Jennifer was, “What now?”

She had started today, looking forward to a set of meetings with two local curators at the Denver Museum about their attempt to bring a showing of early 18th-century paintings to exhibit. She often worked for clients on both sides, helping both the client and a museum or other interested party in the exhibition of artifacts and antiquities.

She loved law, especially the law that protects the archaeological record. She knew too well that things went missing and that the users and looters took more every year. It was a lucrative opportunity if you could remain anonymous and free, but preserving it was as important to her as the artifact itself. She suddenly relished being lost in thought, and not productive thought, just reflection. If she were to find, locate, and retrieve the shabti, she must get moving. They could not be lost forever.

“Mr. Stephenson, how do you know that they are

missing?” she asked.

“I went to check with the courier service to make sure that they had arrived and were undamaged," Parker responded. “I contacted the courier service early this morning because it was such a long trip, with the compressions and decompression of the cabin, the changes in humidity and temperature, I needed to confirm that they had flown well and transferred immediately into the appropriate environment.” He paused momentarily then continued, “the museum said that although the appropriate temperature cabinet had been waiting at the Airport, the shabti never arrived.”

“Can you tell me exactly what they said, please?” Jennifer needed to be sure she had the details exact, and a moment of silence followed as she patiently waited.

Finally, Parker answered, “Neither the courier nor the shabti arrived, and the geo-location tags have gone silent. They have no idea where to start because, shortly after landing, the tags went silent at the Cairo Airport. They should have transitioned through customs there and then to the Luxor Airport, and the Museum staff were together. When the courier didn't make contact, as agreed in the contract, the museum began its search, but found nothing.”

Parker continued on his list of what had been completed already, “The museum had begun a computer search for the tag IDs and found nothing. They have vanished!”

Jennifer was considering all of the information at hand.

“So, did the museum contact the courier service or did you?”

“The museum contacted them. They said it was their usual service, the same one that we agreed to in the contract.”

“So, no changes?” Parker checked his notes and continued. “The museum always uses this service for national and international transfers.”

“Yes, they requested that the courier company run a full background and security check, including officers at the airport, and sent an additional team to go to the Airport and see what was going on.”

“Did you get a response from both the security officers and the museum?” Jennifer asked, feverishly making notes.

“Yes,” both have responded. “Neither has any idea what has happened, where these shabti are, or how to locate the couriers. They had just all disappeared!” The desperation in Parker’s voice was obvious as Jennifer fought to stay calm.

I hope you have enjoyed this small preview.

Until Next Time,