The Angel Scroll
by Penelope Holt
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GENRE: Spiritual Romance, Mystery/Thriller
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BOOK 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 TWO:
Richard looked at the beautiful young woman who strolled beside him, the sun picking up copper highlights in her rich dark curls and catching golden flecks in her green eyes. She had been through a lot. He wanted to put his arm around her shoulder and draw her close, hold her, and protect her. Instead, he pressed his hand for a moment on the small of her back, allowing himself to feel her warm skin through her white cotton artist’s blouse before he let his hand drop.
His touch caught Claire by surprise. The gentle pressure on her back felt so intimate and filled her with unanticipated pleasure that stirred sensations in her groin. She felt an aching need to lean into him. Instead, she wandered away from his side to regain her balance. Looking in a shop window, she let herself be distracted by the display of distinctive, hand-painted pottery.
Richard felt chastened. She was so light and free with me on that amazing afternoon we spent together in Jerusalem, he thought. She seemed to love exploring the old city and markets, but since London, she’s been cool. Whenever I get close, she tenses up. I should keep some distance and not crowd her. It’s a bad idea to push unwanted affection on her when she’s obviously still grieving for Jake. It’s too soon for her to think about being with another man. And then there’s the lie I told her about Hilde.
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AUTHOR INTERVIEW:
What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
Coffee
Which mythological creature are you most like?
The griffin, half lion, half eagle. Because the lion was traditionally considered the king of the beasts, and the eagle the king of the birds, by the Middle Ages, the griffin was thought to be an especially powerful and majestic creature. Since classical antiquity, griffins were known for guarding treasures and priceless possessions.
What is the first book you remember making an indelible impression on you?
The story of Peter Pan, read to me when I was small on my mother’s knee, where readers are born. She was warm and smelled of Oil of Olay.
How do you develop your plot and characters?
I like my characters to be at a crossroads in some aspect of life, practical or emotional: work, money, health, relationships, loss, migration, travel, transition, fame, betrayal, or disillusionment. Anything that makes them ripe for adventure and transformation to provide a strong character arc.
The reader joins the main character as they face a pivotal moment in their life and are pulled into some life-changing encounter or event. I want a rich plot in pursuit of an outward goal—new love, success, solving a puzzle or mystery, but the course of action also triggers inner transformation. I also like the adventure to go beyond the mundane into the dramatic and eventful, which sometimes might even be mystical, supernatural, or otherworldly.
Describe your writing space.
I don’t have a set space. I move from space to space in our house depending on whether I am seeking quiet, warmth, light, coziness, energy, novelty, or a view. I might sit in my egg chair to write, bathed in sunlight with my morning coffee. Or sit cross-legged on my bed in pajamas on a Sunday morning. Or on a chaise out on the deck under the shade of a tree. I seek out a space to suit my mood or satisfy my need for certain conditions or a specific vibe.
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AUTHOR BIO:
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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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