Who am I? I’m not really sure.
During the day, people call me Tennyson. When I’m asleep, I hear voices calling me Marissa.
You may have heard of Tennyson Olivia Claxton. I’m supposed to be an heiress, a party girl, a wild child. Fodder for tabloid newspapers. Yes, your basic nightmare.
I don’t remember most of that life. I remember things that aren’t true. In my memories, my eyes are always green. But these days the mirror tells me my eyes are not green. They are brown. As brown as leaves that die in the fall. It is disorienting and I find looking into mirrors difficult.
My memory is greatly impaired from a terrible accident I had in January. Much of the time since then, I’ve been in a fog, but I’m coming out it now. I’ve been living at a research facility called the Campus, near Middleburg, Virginia. During the days, I partake in various therapies in an attempt to regain my memories. My brain is stimulated and scanned and found wanting.
I seem to be a piece on a chessboard playing a game with rules I don’t know, engaged to a man I don’t recognize, a man who makes my skin crawl. His name is Giles Embry.
I’m writing down these words because I don’t know if tomorrow I will remember what I know today. I have too many memories. Like the memory of my eyes. But I also have memory losses. Great chunks of time are missing. Frankly, I’m terrified of losing more pieces of myself, no matter how small.
I have started a journal where I pray no one will ever find it. Writing in an old book in a corner of my suite, between the bed and the wall, where the camera lens doesn’t see. At least I hope it doesn’t. I write in tiny print between the lines, and sometimes in the margins, of an ancient book that looks as if no one ever cracked it open. This book. I found it on the bookshelf in my room, placed there as a decoration. Many of the gold-tipped pages have to be carefully pried apart for the first time.
Jotting words down here where no one else will ever read them, makes me feel safe. This is The Odyssey that only I will know. My Odyssey.
You can read more about Tennyson in The Dollhouse in the Crawlspace, published by Lethal Black Dress Press.
GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment by 12 a.m. eastern on August 28 for the chance to win a kindle version of The Dollhouse in the Crawlspace. The giveaway is open to everyone. Winner will be notified within 48 hours after giveaway closes and you will have three days to respond after being contacted or another winner will be selected.
About the Author
Ellen Byerrum is a novelist, playwright, reporter, former Washington D.C. journalist, and a graduate of private investigator school in Virginia. The Dollhouse in the Crawlspace is her first suspense thriller, which introduces Tennyson Claxton, a woman with two sets of memories.
Ellen also writes the Crime of Fashion mysteries, which star a savvy, stylish female sleuth named Lacey Smithsonian, a reluctant fashion reporter in Washington D.C. (“The City Fashion Forgot”). Two of the COF books, Killer Hair and Hostile Makeover, were filmed for the Lifetime Movie Network and can occasionally be seen on odd dates in the middle of the night. The latest book in that series is Lethal Black Dress, but there will be more to come. She occasionally writes a newsletter that contains her latest publishing information.
You can find more about Ellen on her website at www.ellenbyerrum.com, on Twitter, on Facebook, and on her Facebook Author Page
This one sounds very interesting.
Thanks, Mary Jane! Please check it out.
Wow, sounds very different and quite interesting, sounds like a real page turner
I just put the first in her other series on my library list. This book wasn’t there. Don’t put me in the contest. Thanks.
Hi Gram. I hope you give this book a try after you check out my Crime of Fashion series. And Betty, thanks for your comment.
Ellen Byerrum is a new author for me. This book sounds quite interesting. Thank you for this opportunity. 🙂
Sounds fantastic and I love something new. Thanks for the giveaway..
Marilyn ewatvess@yahoo.com
This book sounds really interesting.
I love the Crime of Fashion series and have them all. This newest book certainly is a huge step in a different direction! 😮 I am looking forward to reading it. Thanks Dru and Ellen for today’s chance to win a copy, and for the introduction to Tennyson. 🙂
I’m having a little trouble posting replies, but I hope this one goes through. Thanks for your lovely comments and for giving my book featuring Tennyson Claxton a chance. It is a departure from my Crime of Fashion mysteries, but one I hope you find rewarding.
Wow! What a suspenseful excerpt. I have to read this. New author to me. Have put this on my TBR. Thanks for the giveaway.
A mystery by another new author to me with a plot that is not a normal plot line drew me to add it to my to be read list. Thanks for the introduction and sharing the book. robeader53@yahoo.com
Intriguing story and Tennyson has a great voice.
Wow. What a creepy and intriguing concept.
I look forward to reading this different kind of mystery!
Would love this book! Thanks for the opportunity to win
I am definitely putting this at the top of my TBR list. Thanks for the chance to win.
This book sounds so different and interesting. Thanks for the give away.
Dollhouse is a very different story for me. Thanks to everyone who has commented on it. I’m glad you’re giving Tennyson and her journey a chance!
Sounds like a great read. Hope i win.
I loved the other series, and think this sounds like a very different and interesting read.
This looks a little more chilling that Lacey’s tales! Thanks for the chance to win!
Oh! This one gave me goosebumps. I’m definitely adding this to my reading list!
Eerily intriguing. Going on my wish list.
Adding this to my to read list. Thanks, Dru.
I love the crimes of fashion series so this one sounds good.
Thanks
Thanks Ellen for commenting.
Contest is closed.