Goodreads asked Leonide Martin:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Leonide Martin When I was living in Merida, Mexico several years ago, I learned about a mysterious royal burial at Palenque. Archeologists had uncovered the tomb of a woman whose skeleton was permeated with red pigment called cinnabar, used by ancient Mayas as a preservative. There is still controversy about who this high status woman was, though most experts now believe she was the wife of K'inich Janaab Pakal, most famous ruler of Palenque. I was intrigued by Mayan women rulers - we call them queens though the Mayan word was K'uhul Ahau (Holy Lord/Lady). I began research about the queens of Palenque and conceptualized a 4-ebook HF series covering the lives of Pakal's grandmother, mother, wife and daughter-in-law. The first two ebooks are published, on the grandmother Yohl Ik'nal and mother, Sak K'uk. Now I'm working on the third queen's story, the wife Tz'aakb'u Ahau.

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