Welcome, my friend. I am taking time each day to count all the wonderful things I have in my life, and one of those things is you.
Please welcome my guest poster, Joanne Guidoccio. I have read and enjoyed Between Land and Sea and many of her other books.
Between Land and Sea and The Coming of Arabella are on sale now through April 4 at Amazon, US and UK. Links below.
Side Note: Irish Magic is now available on Audible. Through Findaway Voices, I am making it free at Libraries. Check yours.
Stay safe and panic-free
Antagonist Interview - Arabella
When this new incarnation—Arabella—started to dominate many of my waking thoughts, I knew she would figure prominently in Book 2 of the Mediterranean Trilogy.
Here’s an interview I conducted shortly before starting the first draft of The Coming of Arabella:
Tell us about your origins.
I was born in the waters off the shores of Malta. As a Bella, I was entitled to all the privileges of that class. But I did not meet my grandmother’s exacting standards, so within hours of my birth I was sent to the island of Crete. There, I lived for twenty-four years until Stewart Tobin rescued me.
What were those exacting standards?
In the Mediterranean Kingdom, there is a definite hierarchy, based primarily on looks. Auburn-haired with green eyes and porcelain skin, the Bellas are treated like royalty. Next in line are the Annas with varying shades of light brown hair and green eyes. The Ettas are the party girls, blond and pretty with blue eyes. Close behind are the Inas, not as pretty as the Ettas but still attractive with their trademark blond hair and blue eyes. At the base of the pyramid are the Onas, Number Mermaids, and mermen. While their appearance varies, there is a greater probability of dark hair and dark eyes. Grandmother couldn’t wrap her mind around my dark eyes, so I was banished, while my perfect twin sister, Isabella (Barbara Davies) remained to enjoy all that Bella bounty.
How do you feel toward Isabella/Barbara?
For years, I didn’t even know she existed. While my life wasn’t pleasant, I hadn’t experienced anything else. All that changed when Aunt Sarabella (another imperfect Bella) hacked into the Kingdom’s mainframe computers and shared all the files. I spent weeks watching all the visuals depicting Isabella’s life. How could my sister lead such a privileged life while I had to suffer many indignities living among mermaids and mermen who disrespected me? I knew then that my only hope was to lure a human male and leave Crete.
How did you lure Stewart?
Each evening, I would rise from the depths and wait near the large rocks. Many men stopped to visit, but they weren’t interested in long-term commitments. To pass the time, I allowed them to play with my breasts and tail. Stewart’s arrival was serendipitous, and I took advantage of the situation. When he learned I was Barbara’s sister, he proposed.
Are you and Stewart plotting revenge?
As the scorned man, Stewart has his issues with Barbara. As for me, I’ve kept my youth and looks and secured five years of online mermaid support. Barbara can’t compete—she’s out of my league.
Yet, you struggle with being gracious. Will that ever change?
I honestly don’t know. It’s hard to undo twenty-four years of undeserved hardship. Part of me wants to watch her struggle and experience how it feels to be alone and discarded. Another part wants a relationship…
These ebooks are on sale for $0.99
– Now to April 4
Blurb –
Between Land and Sea
After
giving up her tail for an international banker, Isabella of the Mediterranean
kingdom is aged, weathered, and abandoned on the fog-drenched shores of
southwest England. She faces her human journey as a plain and practically
destitute fifty-three-year-old woman.
With the help of a magic tablet and online mermaid support, she reinvents herself as a career counselor, motivational speaker, and writer of self-help books. Along the way, she encounters a cast of unforgettable characters, among them former mermaids, supportive and not-so-supportive women, deserving and undeserving men, and several New Agers. As Isabella evolves into Barbara Davies, she embraces her middle-aged body, heals her bruised heart, and learns to love again.
This contemporary version of The Little Mermaid offers hope and inspiration to anyone who has been dumped, deceived, or demoted. It will also appeal to mermaid enthusiasts.
With the help of a magic tablet and online mermaid support, she reinvents herself as a career counselor, motivational speaker, and writer of self-help books. Along the way, she encounters a cast of unforgettable characters, among them former mermaids, supportive and not-so-supportive women, deserving and undeserving men, and several New Agers. As Isabella evolves into Barbara Davies, she embraces her middle-aged body, heals her bruised heart, and learns to love again.
This contemporary version of The Little Mermaid offers hope and inspiration to anyone who has been dumped, deceived, or demoted. It will also appeal to mermaid enthusiasts.
On sale for 99 cents
Blurb –
The Coming of Arabella
On the
day of her engagement party, an ex-mermaid’s life is disrupted by the
unexpected arrival of another mermaid—a sister she has never known. Under
normal circumstances, Barbara Davies would be overjoyed, but her special day is
already wrought with tension. While Barbara is not the first mermaid from the
Mediterranean kingdom to settle in small town Ontario, she has yet to reveal
her origins to her fiancé. So, when Arabella, the gorgeous sister whose
disturbing black eyes banished her to the island of Crete, saunters into her
life, clutching the arm of Barbara’s discarded lover, a powder keg of emotion
is released.
Relationships
falter and careers stall as envy stirs in the hearts of the sisters. On the
verge of meltdown after her fiancé leaves Canada for a teaching job in Vermont,
Barbara flees to Arizona hoping for a reprieve. There, she finds solace at a
retreat for ex-mermaids and a second chance at love with a charismatic
preacher. As she contemplates a new life in the desert paradise of Sedona, shocking
secrets emerge and tragedy strikes. A stronger and wiser Barbara rises up to
face these new challenges and embrace the best parts of her mermaid heritage.
Amazon (UK) - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Coming-Arabella-Mediterranean-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B0147VXEPU/
Bio
A member of
Crime Writers of Canada and Sisters in Crime, Joanne Guidoccio writes
paranormal romance, cozy mysteries, and inspirational literature from her home
base of Guelph, Ontario.
Thanks for hosting me, Sue :)
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