THE ANGEL SCROLL
Penelope Holt
GENRE: Spiritual Romance, Mystery/Thriller
BLURB:
ONE ANCIENT PROPHECY, TWO HEARTBROKEN LOVERS, AND A WORLDWIDE SCAVENGER HUNT FOR THREE MIRACULOUS PAINTINGS.
After her husband’s death, New York artist Claire Lucas has baffling dreams and waking visions as she channels an enigmatic and healing painting of a holy man in India at the deathbed of a young woman. When widowed antiquarian Richard Markson announces that Claire’s canvas is one-third of three paintings prophesied by the Angel Scroll, a recently discovered Dead Sea parchment, she is pulled into an international scavenger hunt to find the stolen scroll and the paintings it predicts.
As she pursues the paintings with Richard across historic and holy sites in America, Israel, and Europe, Claire encounters a series of remarkable teachers. A Buddhist, a Benedictine monk, and a professor of early goddess worship all provide rich explanations for the artist’s compelling and perplexing psychic experiences — until she assembles the incredible triptych and deciphers its inspirational message for the modern world.
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Excerpt:
In Benares, India, the sweltering night dragged on. Moonlight slid through the bedroom window and bathed the young, Christlike figure who sat cross-legged on the floor. Only a loincloth covered his slender hips, and his long, coarse hair was coiled in a topknot on his crown. He’d been watching the young woman on the low bed for hours. She was feverish, her breathing shallow, as she squinted at him now through half- closed lids. Her husband held her hand and shot the young man a pleading look. “Please let her live. I’m a rich man. I can pay you. I can help the poor of Benares, the poor of India.”
“To thwart death is not to conquer it,” the young master said, and the husband buried his head in the bed’s embroidered cover. In a single, fluid movement, the holy man rose and stroked his host’s bent head, His long, graceful fingers raking the dark hair, slick with perfumed oil, revealing a channel of pale, moist scalp.
Beyond the bedroom, in the narrow hallway, the master found his three companions propped against a wall and dozing. He tapped the closest with a calloused foot, and one by one the sleeping men awoke. “Is she well now?” the tall one asked, stretching.
“She will be dead come dawn,” his master whispered, as the four men stepped into the dusty and deserted Indian night.
The phone rang. Claire woke up and realized her face was wet. She’d been crying again. She eyed the clock—9 a.m. She cleared her throat, picked up the phone, and tried to sound awake. “Hello?”
“You still sleeping?” Claire held the phone away from her ear to stop Deirdre Vetch’s whine from piercing her brain. “You’re coming to the gallery to talk about the painting, right? We must talk.” Deirdre’s verbal pummeling began.
Inspiration from Dreams, Conversations, and Cultures Near and Far
By Penelope Holt (approx. 1000 words)
Inspiration is often viewed as something elusive—a spark of brilliance that comes seemingly out of nowhere. But the truth is that inspiration is often found in everyday experiences, in the more mysterious dimension of the unconscious mind, in the natural world that surrounds us, and in exploring distant cultures and ancient history. From the depths of dreams to overheard conversations, from travel to everyday objects, I find inspiration in countless places.
Dreams and the Subconscious: A Gateway to the Imagination
Have you ever woken up with the remnants of a vivid dream still lingering in your mind? Dreams are not only fascinating but can also be a powerful source of creative material. The subconscious mind speaks in symbols, often weaving together bizarre, surreal, or even haunting images. While these may not make sense in the moment, they can be the foundation for something extraordinary.
Some of the greatest works of art and literature have been inspired by dreams. Salvador Dalí, the famous surrealist painter, drew much of his inspiration from his dream world. When she was only 18, the English writer Mary Shelley wrote “Frankenstein” based on a terrifying waking dream she had about an abominable creation a demented scientist creates by cobbling together the body parts he steals from the dead.
Keeping a dream journal allows me to capture fleeting images and ideas before they vanish with the morning light and use them as creative inspiration. I used my own vivid dreams to shape the experiences of my heroine Claire Lucas in “The Angel Scroll”. She is beset by strange dreams and visions that compel her to channel a mysterious and healing masterpiece.
Random Conversations: Finding Gems in Everyday Talk
The world around us is buzzing with ideas, and some of the most unexpected sources of inspiration can come from random conversations. My recent talk with a friend about AI led me down a rabbit hole of research. Exploring the power and growing impact that’s being ushered in by fast-moving AI inspired what I think is a great idea for a new thriller and murder mystery that employs AI as a central plot driver.
Travel and Foreign Cultures: Expanding Your Horizons
Growing up in England, I had the rich cultures of Europe on my doorstep. There’s something transformative about stepping into a new culture—experiencing different foods, languages, and traditions that challenge your existing worldview and trigger the imagination. Travel opens up new creative avenues, giving us access to art, architecture, and landscapes that are often very different from our everyday surroundings.
One of my favorite writers, Ernest Hemingway, lived in Paris, skied in the Alps, worked as a war correspondent during the Spanish Civil War, became a devotee of Spanish bullfighting, a passionate hunter in Africa, and a dedicated sailor and fisherman in Key West and Cuba. His love of travel and adventure inspired his greatest works, especially his last major work, “The Old Man and The Sea’, which resurrected his literary career and won him a Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
My travels through the UK, France, and Italy, especially to Rome, the eternal city, and the medieval city of Siena, inspired Claire’s travels to these same places in “The Angel Scroll”. I was able to recall and capture their distinct personality and atmospheres. I used them as inspiration and to add texture to Claire and Richard’s thrilling worldwide scavenger hunt for the three miraculous paintings that are prophesied by the Angel Scroll.
Historical Events: Unearthing Forgotten, Provocative, or Little-Known Stories
History, of course, is a treasure trove of inspiration for many writers, whether these ideas are drawn from well-known events or more obscure chapters from the past. Historical figures, ancient battles, or forgotten cultural movements can provide the perfect backdrop for an inspired writing project.
I am re-reading Ken Follet’s “Pillars of the Earth”, his masterpiece about a medieval English stone mason, and his family, whose life, work, and fortunes revolve around being just one in the army of workers who toiled across centuries to construct the massive, awe-inspiring cathedrals, of a super-human scale, that endow Europe with so much of its grandeur. The novel was inspired by Follet’s deep fascination with the history, science, and culture that shaped these towering architectural achievements.
In “The Angel Scroll”, I researched little-known claims about Jesus traveling to India during his “hidden years”. I also included the legend about the chalice used at the Last Supper being buried under England’s Glastonbury Tor, home to England’s Celtic Druids, who worshipped the great goddess and formed perpetual choirs to enchant the land.
A compelling story from the tragedy of the Second World War combined with a 21st-century literary hoax and pop culture scandal inspired my book “The Apple”, which is based on the Herman Rosenblat Holocaust love story hoax. “The Apple” tells the story of how a Polish Jew called Herman Rosenblat, along with his three brothers, survived the Holocaust, but later Herman contaminated his genuine survivor account with a fictional incident that was pulled from his imagination.
Herman appeared on Oprah and claimed that the woman he met and married, after he emigrated from Europe to Brooklyn, New York, had lived in Germany as a young girl and tossed apples to him over the fence of the work camp where he and his brothers were kept as slave laborers. What Oprah claimed was “the greatest love story ever told” was later mocked as “the greatest love story ever sold”, became a cause célèbres, and an inspiration for my work.
A Visit from a Muse
“Eat, Pray, Love” author, Elizabeth Gilbert writes eloquently about the creative muse that comes to us with inspiration, but moves on to another should we refuse to take the gift she offers. Maybe when we’re lost in thought, daydreaming, or thinking up new characters, and original story ideas, it’s then that the muse sees an opening and visits us.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Penelope Holt was born and educated in England and now lives in New York. She is a novelist, playwright, business writer, and marketing executive, whose work has been performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, York Arts Center, and New York’s American Folk Theater. In addition to writing fiction, The Angel Scroll, and The Apple, based on the controversial Herman Rosenblat Holocaust romance, Holt is a prolific writer, editor, and co-author of non-fiction, including Business Intelligence at Work A Personal Operating System for Career Success, Singing God’s Work, the story of the Harlem Gospel Choir, and many other works. She is married with two children.
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6 comments:
Thank you for featuring THE ANGEL SCROLL today.
This sounds like a good story.
This looks like a great read. Thanks for hosting
Sounds interesting.
The book sound really good.
looks like a fun one
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