Interview with Author Rachael Stapleton

My guest today is Rachael Stapleton.  Hello!  Welcome to Writing in the Modern Age!  It’s such a pleasure to have you here.

Can you tell us a little bit about your latest book? When did it come out? Where can we get it?

 

http://bookgoodies.com/a/B00SNAF018

I had two books release this year, Curse of the Purple Delhi Sapphire which is part of the Temple of Indra Series and a short story Dinner in the Dark. 

The Temple of Indra Series revolves around a young librarian who inherits a sapphire and is bestowed with the gift of time travel only to discover she is now the object of a madman’s obsession. 

In the second book, Curse of the Purple Delhi Sapphire, Sophia has surfaced from the 1800’s and looks forward to a new life in Ireland with fiancĂ© Cullen O'Kelley, but her dreams are short-lived. Not only has the Purple Delhi Sapphire reemerged in the engagement ring Cullen presents her, but the villain who pursued her through past lives has returned, yet again, with the intent of reclaiming the jewel and destroying her forever. Before she is able to share her tortured secret with Cullen, she is whisked back to an old Victorian house where she finds, much to her astonishment, that she inhabits the body of her great aunt. The sapphire, mysteriously absent from her finger, compels Sophia to locate the jewel and return to the present before her killer can catch up to her. 

 

http://bookgoodies.com/a/B012OD8IHC

Dinner in the Dark, a short story released in July. is the delectable prequel to the Temple of Indra Series. A lighthearted romantic tale featuring Sophia Marcil, before she inherited the cursed stone and began her adventures in time.

It’s Valentine’s Day and Sophia Marcil has all but given up on love—until her best-friend tricks her into attending a Blind Dating Fundraiser Event sponsored by the O’Kelley’s of Dublin. Sophia feels guilty about going, and then she falls headfirst for the fiery green-eyed mystery man out front. When the man turns the corner instead of joining them inside the event, Sophia’s hopes are dashed but she is surprised to find her appointed date for the evening is also a charming man—especially when he twirls her around the dance floor and gives her the kiss of a lifetime. One problem—she hasn’t seen him. The event is a sensory dining experience like no other, complete with a blacked out room and blindfolds. But as the night moves to a close, Sophia’s date vanishes and the night is thrown into chaos when her ex-boyfriend appears, making it clear that her happy ever after may have to wait… Includes two recipes and a preview of the first Temple of Indra mystery, The Temple of Indra’s Jewel.  

 

That's great!

Is there anything specific that inspired you to write Curse of the Purple Delhi Sapphire?
As a child the library was a huge source of inspiration for me. It was my favourite place to go and reading was the ultimate adventure—mystery, danger and intrigue from the corner of my room. I think the catalyst to launching a book was probably Diana Gabbaldon’s Outlander. I had previously read everything I could find on time travel and reincarnation and decided to write something that I would enjoy reading. An idea from a snorkeling trip to Mexico was swirling in my head and so I let it out.  

All right. 
So, if this book was made into a film, who would you cast in it?
In the role of Ms. Sophia Marcil, herself, I would indeed cast the beautiful and always endearing, Minka Kelly. With a pair of blue contacts and some freckles, she’d do nicely.

  
Leslie was tough to cast because she is modeled after my girlfriend so I already have a specific image of her but Isla Fisher was a close second. She is petite and curvy and just enough of a quirky free spirit to bring the spontaneous best friend of Sophia to life.




As the Irish heartthrob Cullen, I would most certainly cast handsome and talented Australian actor Alex O'Loughlin. He would need some red highlights, fiery green contacts and an Irish accent, but my goodness, isn’t that just the most perfect nose.

Cullen’s rugged and mysterious brother Liam was a little trickier, I definitely see him as Collin Ferrell but I thought that might be the obvious choice, so what about Justin Theroux?  His role in Charlie’s Angels was definitely bad boy sexy and we know he can do an Irish accent.



As Penelope, the busty, flirtatious, blonde travel writer, I would without a doubt cast the buxom seductress of the moment Kate Upton.









And who else but dark and dashing Jesse Metcalfe to play spoiled, arrogant playboy extraordinaire, Nick Bexx Jr.

That just leaves Nick’s celebrity rich bitch girlfriend. So how about Margot Robbie—not that she’s anything like the character, but she has the looks and the acting chops to pull it off.


And that, my friends, rounds out the perfect star-studded cast for my novel, Curse of the Purple Delhi Sapphire. Now I just need to hear from Hollywood.  

Fascinating cast! :)
Let's tackle some general questions.
 
When reading, do you prefer traditional
printed books or ebooks?  And why?
I like both. Print books for the summer at the beach and e-books as a nightcap. 
  
So, what are you reading now? 

I am reading Secretive by Sara Rosett. I downloaded her first book from the series free on Amazon and really liked it so I bought the second and third.  The perfect example of why giveaways work.  :)

Great! Let's try another question.
 
When you get an idea for a book, what comes first usually? Dialogue, the characters, a specific scene?  Or do you plot it out before you write?


An overall idea usually hits me first and I write it out as a summary. After that scenes come to me randomly and I slowly fill in the outline. This can be a pain towards the end when I have filler chapters to write to bridge certain scenes.



Oh, I certainly know what that's like! 

 

So, what do you have planned next, Rachael? Or is that a secret?

 

I’m currently working on two books. One is the third and final book in the Temple of Indra Series and the other is a cozy mystery which started out as a short story but might just be the beginning of a new series.


Temple of Indra Series Book #3 

A bad omen looms over Sophia O’Kelley’s cozy bookshop and not just because a medium predicted her daughter would steal Sophia’s book of magic on her sixteenth birthday—no quite literally—a cryptic-looking-raven flew in with the latest shipment. When she discovers the five-hundred-year-old spell book she’s been guarding on Alana’s bed she wonders if maybe the psychic knew what she was talking about. Cue the migraine. Looking for answers and a way to stop the pain, Sophia agrees to a hypnotic regression. Unfortunately for Sophia, not everyone has the best of intentions and she suddenly finds herself in the past, manipulated, betrayed and imprisoned for witchcraft. Meanwhile, back in Ireland, Sophia’s husband and best friend uncover a painting, proving that Sophia could be alive. The answers lie in a sixteenth-century castle—all they have to do is navigate time to get there. Of course, they’re not the only ones searching; Sophia’s sixteen-year-old daughter is determined to tag along, and she’s leading the traitor right to them.

Cookies, Corsets & Murder

House flippers Jack & Juniper Young agree to lend and help prep their latest purchase—an old Victorian mansion to act as the eerie setting for the town’s Halloween bash. They’re expecting to find missing floor boards, and pesky bats, not dead bodies. 

Ooh! I'm definitely excited to find out more!

 

Is there anything you'd like to add? Any advice for new writers?

Writing is an investment. Just like no one becomes an athlete overnight, no one becomes a bestselling author overnight. It takes practice and determination. I’m not rolling in cash YET, but I see everything I’m doing as an investment in a long term career. The same way a doctor goes to school and does rotations for most of his young life, I write for peanuts because it’s improving my skill level, it’s flexing my brain muscle and I’m growing a fan base.

Also, I'd also like to run a contest! All Marie Lavender fans and anyone reading this blog post are eligible to win one copy of Curse of the Purple Delhi Sapphire. Please enter the rafflecopter below. 


In addition, if you’d like another chance to win one of my books, please follow me on Facebook and Amazon (Links are below and comment on my FB page once it’s done and you’ll be entered in a separate draw.)

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Rachael-Stapleton/137831156290570?fref=ts
http://www.amazon.com/Rachael-Stap…/…/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_2…



Sounds great! And thanks for the wonderful writing tip about patience, definitely a trait we should all take to heart. ;)


Readers, here is the blurb for Curse of the Purple Delhi Sapphire.

 

http://bookgoodies.com/a/B00SNAF018

 

Librarian Sophia Marcil loves reading, especially books about ancient curses and reincarnation. But she never imagined the legend of the Purple Delhi Sapphire was true until she inherited it and was wrenched back in time. Now having suffered deadly consequences, she knows and fears the sapphire’s irresistible charm, but before she can warn her boyfriend, he proposes with a ring made from the very jewel. No sooner is it on her finger, then she once again finds herself in the body of another, wandering the hallway of an old Victorian mansion circa 1920. Unfortunately, her nemesis has reincarnated too. Doomed to repeat past mistakes, Sophia struggles to prevent the deaths of those she loves, returning to her present-day life, with a deep understanding that her killer is not far behind.


Here is an excerpt.

 

Today I would tell Cullen the truth. I swirled the champagne in my glass in an agitated fashion. I would not allow myself to be distracted. I looked down in early defeat and noticed the dark limp waves cascading past my shoulders. Who was I kidding? I couldn’t even get ready for a dinner party without being distracted. All that work curling it, and then Cullen had walked in, glimpsing my lacy black bra, and poof, my hair was flat again. Twirling a strand around my index finger, I attempted to bring it back to life. If only the jewels could work their magic on my hair.


I spotted Cullen a couple of feet away, making his way over to me. He looked handsome in his sport jacket and tailored shirt. His hair, a coppery red with streaks of blond that looked almost golden in the sunlight, was slicked back so the ends curled at his neck.


I should be over-the-moon happy right now. I was sipping Dom PĂ©rignon in an elegant restaurant surrounded by rustic stone walls, as a soft and whimsical Irish fiddle played in the background in honor of our one-year anniversary. It wasn’t technically our anniversary. He had playfully called it that when he’d invited me out to dinner with his family, but what he’d meant was that it had been one year since we’d met. Since that ill-fated day on the Lerins Island, half a mile off shore from Cannes, when I’d rejected the marriage proposal of that egotistical lunatic Nicholas Bexx and endured his wrath. Lucky for me, Cullen had been looking up from the deck of his family’s yacht and had seen Nick push me off the cliff. Cullen dove in and pulled me to safety, and subsequently into his life.


It was hard to believe that in a full year I couldn’t bring myself to tell him the truth: that the fall had sent me to another time and place and into the body of a nineteenth-century princess. But what sane person would believe what had been only seconds underwater to them had been another lifetime to me? I was the owner of the Purple Delhi Sapphire. I had time traveled into my past life and uncovered my destiny—had done so repeatedly—and was always reborn, only to be murdered by the same obsessed spirit, again and again.


“Sophia, ye all right?” Cullen asked, appearing suddenly at my elbow.


“No,” I said automatically and pushed away the bothersome thoughts.


“Gah. It’s the restaurant. It’s too fancy, isn’t it? I said so, but ye know MĂłraĂ­.”


“What? I love this place.” The room buzzed with mixed conversation. “I just didn’t hear what you said.”


“Where the tongue slips, it speaks the truth. I asked if ye were all right and ye said no.”


“I’m fine. I’m just soaking in the atmosphere. It’s so romantic in here.”


That was the truth. The place was intimate. A combination of comfortable leather and floral high-backed chairs surrounded the long table, and almost all of them were now full with Cullen’s family.


“It is getting loud in here. I thought this was just dinner, but it looks like you rented out the whole restaurant. Will this place hold your entire family?”


“Like that’d matter. Loud-mouthed arses. Let’s skedaddle and we can celebrate alone.”


I laughed as Cullen pretended to boot one of his cousins in the rear.


His eyes met mine, and it was just like that first day in the hospital after I’d awoken from the fall. There was no denying the attraction and it wasn’t just pheromones. It was as if my soul recognized his, which was exactly why I needed to be honest about the curse. I was giving myself an ulcer and all for what? I knew he felt the same way. For heaven’s sake, I’d overheard him tell his brother of his dreams, and they sounded suspiciously familiar. There were other clues. He shared a birthmark with Graf Viktor Ferdinand of WĂĽrttemberg, who’d rescued me on three separate occasions when I was the princess, and of course his ancestor had been the one to sell the Purple Delhi Sapphire to my family.


Cullen bent his head toward me, his lips brushing mine, but at the last moment I turned my cheek.


“Cullen, your grandmother has arrived with your parents and she’s staring at us. It’s probably this dress.”


“Well now, she can be after findin’ her own frock, can’t she? ’Cause ye look bloody deadly in that one.”


He playfully tugged at the clasp centered between my breasts. He’d been the one to choose this low-slung, emerald-green dress. He said it reminded him of a shamrock, but I knew he really liked it because it provided a pretty little peek-a-boo if I moved just the right way. Truthfully, it was a little racy for this evening, but you only lived once. Well, maybe some people did.

 

Riveting! Thank you for visiting us on Writing in the Modern Age, Rachael! :)

 

Author Bio

 

Rachel Stapleton lives in a Second Empire Victorian with her husband and two children in Ontario, Canada and enjoys writing in the comforts of aged wood and arched dormers. She is the author of The Temple of Indra’s Jewel, Curse of the Purple Delhi Sapphire and is currently working on the third and most likely final book in the Temple of Indra series. 




Author Links:  







Rachael's Books:
http://www.amazon.com/Dinner-Dark-Rachael-Stapleton-ebook/dp/B012OD8IHC/ref=la_B00IE9W804_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1445886875&sr=1-3
 
http://www.amazon.com/Food-Love-Mya-OMalley-ebook/dp/B00T98IXR6/ref=la_B00IE9W804_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1445886875&sr=1-4
 
http://bookgoodies.com/a/B00SNAF018

http://www.amazon.com/Temple-Indras-Jewel-Rachael-Stapleton-ebook/dp/B00FGPCLWE/ref=la_B00IE9W804_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1445886875&sr=1-2

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