Romantic Mystery
Date Published: 3-20-2018
Publisher: Ewephoric Publishing
People die, but legends live on.
New York antiquities appraiser Annalisse Drury recently lost her best friend to murder. The killer’s identity may be linked to her friend’s expensive missing bracelet—a 500-year-old artifact that carries an ancient curse, one that unleashes evil upon any who dare wear the jewelry created for the Persian royal family.
Weeks later, Annalisse sees a matching necklace at a Manhattan gallery opening. She begs the owner to destroy the cursed piece, but her pleas fall on deaf ears—despite the unnatural death that occurs during the opening. With two victims linked to the jewelry, Annalisse is certain she must act.
Desperate, Annalisse enlists the gallery owner’s son to help—even though she’s afraid he’ll break her heart. Wealthy and devastatingly handsome, with a string of bereft women in his wake, Greek playboy Alec Zavos dismisses Annalisse’s concerns—until his parents are ripped from the Zavos family yacht during their ocean voyage near Crete.
Annalisse and Alec race across two oceans to save his mother feared dead or kidnapped. When the killer changes tactics and goes after Alec, can Annalisse’s plan to save Alec’s mother save them all?
Interview with Marlene M.
Bell
Can you tell us a little bit about the
characters in Stolen Obsession?
Answer: My main character is Annalisse Drury, an
antiquities appraiser in NYC who would rather be on the farm helping her aunt.
She is single and very much alone since the deaths of her parents and only
sibling. She is more than ready for a romantic interlude with a man she can
trust.
Greek hunk, Alec Zavos isn’t
that man, but he makes himself too available— even though the tabloids paint
him as a womanizer and heartbreaker. Annalisse is drawn to him and must learn
to put rumors aside to get to know the real Alec.
Alec’s mother, Generosa, a
gallery owner, unwittingly becomes the lady with a curse hanging over her
because she owns a Persian necklace that was stolen hundreds of years ago from
a 16th century ruler who expected the return of his jewelry collection.
There are a large cast of
characters in Stolen Obsession to
move the story quickly from New York to the island of Crete and beyond.
Can you tell us a little bit about your next
books or what you have planned for the future?
Answer: My next book in the
series, Spent Identity, features
Annalisse and Alec who are having difficulties finding time for each other.
Annalisse enlists the help of her aunt to decide if Alec is the right man for
her. A homeless man is found dead in their main barn at the farm and the story
quickly unfolds into Aunt Kate’s disappearance. Lots of twists and turns!
Book three takes place in New
Zealand on a sheep station. I’m a sheep breeder, so I’ll leave the details for
this book to another time. New Zealand is beautifully scenic, and I plan to use
this as a constant backdrop to a story of jealousy, mayhem and murder.
How long would you say it takes you to write
a book?
Answer: Book One, Stolen Obsession doesn’t count in the
usual sense of writing books. This book took 8 years to complete because I was
learning the path to writing compelling fiction. My next book should take me
about a year to write, edit and put into print. If all goes well, I hope to
have Spent Identity out in spring of
2019.
What is your favorite childhood book?
Answer: Actually, it was a
long series of books that made the most impression on me. The Angelique Series,
a 13-book set of French historical romances with kings and queens. Authored by
a husband and wife team, Serge and Anne Golon. The author went by Sergeanne
Golon.
If you could spend the day with one of the
characters from Stolen Obsession who
would it be? Please tell us why you chose this particular character, where you
would go and what you would do.
Answer: I would have to choose
Generosa Zavos, Alec’s Italian mother. I wrote this character to closely
resemble my Italian matchmaker grandmother. Her mannerisms and quick wit remind
me of Grandma Virgilio. I would take the character back to Bari, Italy where
Generosa is from—since my actual grandfather also came from this fishing town
near the heel of the boot. I’ve never been to Italy and would love to have
Generosa show me the sights!
What was the hardest scene from Stolen Obsession to write?
Answer: By far, the scene on
the Zavos yacht while they are sailing on the Aegean Sea just outside of Crete.
A band of marauders board and attack. Action and lots of emotion made this
chapter extremely difficult to write. I had to put the reader in the middle, on
deck, vividly watching the details unfold while making all seem believable.
What made you want to become a writer?
Answer: in 2009 I published a
fun memoir about my life with sheep. I enjoyed the process so much, that I
decided writing fiction was my next logical step. Being artistic, I thought the
novel would be easy for me. I was soooo wrong! I loved learning the craft and
stuck with my first novel until completion. Now that I’ve invested time with
the characters, I can’t help myself!
Just for fun
(a Favorite song: “How to Save a Life” by
The Fray
(b Favorite book: The Hobbit—J.R.R Tolkien
(c Favorite movie: The Devil Wears Prada
(d Favorite tv show: “Wings” from the 1990’s
(e Favorite Food: Homemade pasta with lamb
sausage sauce
(f Favorite drink: Hot Coffee with lots of
Hazelnut cream
(g Favorite website: Mine! Texassheep.com
and marlenembell.com. Amazon is a close third.
Thanks so much for visiting with us today!
About the Author
Marlene M. Bell is an acclaimed artist and photographer as well as a writer. Her previous book, a memoir entitled Among the Sheep, offers a look into her life history, along with a selection of written works on the subject of care and breeding of sheep. She and her husband, Gregg, have raised breeding stock of nationally renowned, purebred Horned Dorset sheep for over thirty-five years. Marlene is considered one of the foremost experts in this field of livestock and writes on the subject often. Marlene’s art photographs of sheep landscapes grace the covers of publications such as, Sheep!, The Shepherd, Ranch & Rural Living and Sheep Industry News. Ewephoric, her mail order venture, began in 1985 out of a desire for realistic sheep stationery.
Marlene and her husband reside on a wooded ranch in East Texas with their Dorsets, a lovable Maremma guard dog named Tia, and 3 spoiled cats who rule the household.
Visit Marlene Bell’s website at www.marlenembell.com
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2 comments:
Thank you for posting
was interesting
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