Author Spotlight Post - Linda Cadose - Interview

The Hidden Chamber in the Great Sphinx, by Linda A. Cadose, 

is a YA mystery adventure novel set in Giza, Egypt. 

The book follows archaeologist Dr. Cliff Post and his friend Dr. Abdul Saad who discover a hidden chamber in the Great Sphinx. Inside of the right paw they find ancient scrolls and 13 crystal skulls that form a supercomputer.  This great discovery soon takes a dangerous turn when Drs. Saad and Post are followed, spied on and eventually kidnapped. On this extraordinary adventure, readers learn information about not only the Great Sphinx but also about Egypt, its mysteries, and the study of archaeology. 

The Hidden Chamber in the Great Sphinx is the first book in a series featuring the tales of American archaeologist  Dr. Cliff Post. Follow him in later books as he visits underwater pyramids and goes to Jerusalem. 

You can purchase your own copy on

AMAZON

Linda Cadose is a retired respiratory therapist who is now a children's book author. She likes to travel, enjoys reading, and loves history. She has been to Egypt and has visited all of the historical sites she discusses in her book. Linda currently resides in Carver, MA. For more information, visit HER WEBSITE.

Hello Linda! It so great to have you here! Can you tell us your main inspiration behind this novel?

My main inspiration for The Hidden Chamber in the Great Sphinx was my trip to Egypt. I have always been interested in Egypt since a was a student in Mr. Sawyer's Social Studies Class. I vowed that when I grew up I would travel to Egypt.

Was self-publishing your first choice? What was the most nerve wracking part of the process?

Self-publishing was my first choice, but I found editing difficult.

As a self-published author, did you choose to edit your novel yourself? What was the biggest change you made to the story and/or characters?

I chose to hire a professional editor to edit my work because I wanted objectivity and accuracy. You can't be objective about your own work. The change we agreed to make was to change the villains from Islamic terrorists to one archaeologist who steals antiquities. We decided that using Islamic terrorists would make the book too violent.

Do you have any unusual writing habits that aide your process and/or character development?

I don't think that my habits are unusual but here are my writing habits: 1. I write a summary then 2. I write a description of each character and 3. finally I write a fluid outline.

Is there one passage or scene from your novel that you are most fond of?

The Hidden Chamber In The Great Sphinx 

Chapter 5

The rest of the school year crept by for Cliff. He hadn't realized how much he was

looking forward to his upcoming sabbatical until he got back from Cairo

and went back to work. Talking about Egypt and being in Egypt 

were a far cry from one another, and the short time he'd spent there made him want to be back immediately. He was in one of his afternoon classes giving a lecture, and he kept glancing at the clock. "The Giza plateau is a mile square and was leveled by human hands. The plateau is 130 feet above the Nile Valley. It is only half a degree off from being perfectly level. Any questions so far?" Cliff asked his students as he paused in his lecture to make sure he wasn't losing them. A student raised his arm, and Cliff pointed to him.

"Professor, I understand why the Egyptians made the pyramids, but what was the purpose of the Great Sphinx?" "That's a good question, Peter. The Great Sphinx guards the pyramids of Giza," Cliff told the student and pointed to another student who had her arm in the air. "Dr. Post, what exactly is a sphinx? I've always thought it was, like, a cat," the young lady wanted to know. Some of her classmates giggled. "Settle down, guys. That's a good question, too. Does anyone know the answer to Stephanie's question?" Cliff looked pointedly at some of the students who'd giggled when Stephanie asked her question. "You, there. Thomas. You seemed to be very amused by Stephanie's question. Should we take it that you know the answer?" "Well, isn't it, like, I mean, doesn't it have the body of a lion and the head of a man? I think it's something like that," Thomas said and the smile was gone from his face now that he found himself in the hot seat. "Correct," Cliff told Thomas. "The word sphinx comes from an Egyptian phrase which means 'living image' or statue. It is a sculpture carved out of a sandstone knoll. The Great Sphinx is 240 feet long, just a little under 14 feet wide and stands 66 feet high. It wears a Pharaoh's headdress, which is denoted by the cobra on the forehead. "The Sphinx's nose was shot off with a cannon by Napoleon's troops and is now housed in the British Museum. At one time, the Great Sphinx was painted dark red. The eyes were painted black, and the headdress was painted white. The Sphinx is situated so that it faces the rising sun on June 21st, the summer solstice. 

Thanks so much for sharing this with us Linda!

Look for my review of The Hidden Chamber in the Great Sphinx,

 coming soon!