Every once in awhile, an author booked to do a guest
post disappears. Repeated email reminders go unanswered. Such was the case
with today’s scheduled guess. However, sometimes the universe works in
mysterious ways, and that, too, is the case today because it enables me to tell
you about the latest way author Lois Winston has put my life in danger.
When I discovered Lois had decided to have Zack
Barnes, my tenant-turned-lover, jet me off on a three-day romantic European
getaway, I figured it was her way of making up for all the crap she’s dumped on
me over three books and a novella.
Boy was I wrong! Within hours of arriving, Lois has
me staring down the barrel of a gun. I should have known I couldn’t trust her.
Parc Güell |
Mosaic
Mayhem is the second of the Anastasia
Pollack Crafting Mini-Mysteries and takes place in Barcelona, Spain. Here’s an
excerpt to whet your appetite:
Not again! I stared down the barrel of a big black bad-ass gun
pointed at my chest. Ever since last winter when Karl Pollack, my
not-so-dearly-departed husband, died suddenly, people have been trying to kill
me. First, Karl’s loan shark. Then a crazy co-worker. Most recently, a hired
assassin.
My
name is Anastasia Pollack. I’m a debt-ridden, pear-shaped, middle-aged single
mom, and crafts editor at a woman’s magazine. I’m also apparently a killer
magnet, not only in my home state of New Jersey but also across the Atlantic
Ocean in Spain.
Worst
of all, unlike my three previous run-ins with killers, I had no idea who this
guy was or why he wanted me dead. He apparently didn’t speak English, and my
Spanish is limited to a few words and phrases picked up from watching Sesame Street years ago with my kids. My
Catalan is non-existent.
So
much for a quick getaway to Barcelona.
After
the relief of finding that my passport hadn’t expired, I thought my biggest
problem would be arranging extra care for my semi-invalid mother-in-law during
my three-day absence. Silly me.
I
landed in this situation thanks to Zack. When Karl dropped dead, leaving me
with debt that rivaled the gross national product of an average third-world
country, I was forced to rent out the apartment over my garage and move my
studio to my dingy, unheated basement. Little did I know at the time that my
new tenant, award-winning photo-journalist and possible spy (although he
vehemently denies the latter) Zachary Barnes, would segue from renter to lover.
Zack
looks like his DNA cavorted in the gene pools of George Clooney, Pierce
Brosnan, Patrick Dempsey, and Antonio Bandares. What he sees in me, I’ll never
know, and yet here we are—a couple. I’m not complaining.
I’d
spent most of the summer working a second job every weekend, and I was beyond
exhausted. So when Zack invited me to tag along with him while he photographed
architect Antoni Gaudi’s Parc Güell for a National
Geographic spread, I cashed in some of my comp time and packed a bag.
Torre Rosa ceiling |
We
arrived in Barcelona early in the morning, dropped our luggage at a hotel off
Plaça de Catalunya, and headed to the park, a fairytale inspired masterpiece
that resembled a miniature city. While Zack took a meeting with the director in
Torre Rosa, the park’s museum and former Gaudi home, I wandered the enchanting
grounds and buildings, snapping photos of the whimsical Hansel and Gretel
gatehouses, the Sala Hipostila marketplace with its multi-domed ceiling, and
the main terrace, ringed with an intricately decorated serpentine bench—all
embellished with Gaudi’s trademark mosaics. I planned to use the photos as part
of a feature on mosaic art for a future issue of American Woman, the magazine where I worked.
Sala Hipostila mosaics |
Afterwards,
I set off on one of the many trails weaving through nearly forty acres of steep
hillside in order to enjoy some of the spectacular views of the city spread out
below. I was in a secluded area with no one else around when a bear of a man
with a short dark beard that did little to hide his acne scarred cheeks stepped
from the wooded area onto the path in front of me. Like so many other men on
the streets of Barcelona, he wore a red and gold soccer jersey, but unlike all
the others, this guy accessorized his outfit with a deadly weapon.
A
gasp froze in my throat.
He
might as well have been speaking Swahili for all the good my Sesame Street Spanish did me. Zack had
warned me that pickpockets trolled the streets of Barcelona, preying on hapless
tourists. He hadn’t mentioned anything about armed gunmen, but common sense
told me I was being robbed.
“Take it,” I said, dropping my handbag at his feet.
But this was no robbery. He didn’t scoop up my bag and run. Instead, he grabbed
both the bag and my arm.
Mosaic
Mayhem is a novelette, available as
an ebook.
Buy
Links
iBookstore
8 comments:
Great pictures! Especially the mosaic. Best wishes with your book.
Thanks, Angela!
Wonderful descriptions of Gaudi's whimsical architecture. You're writing put me right there in Barcelona. Really enjoyed the piece. Good luck with the novelette.
Thanks for stopping by, Rayne!
Read the post, admired the photos and bought the book. I will be traveling to Barcelona in the fall. Nothing like a good mystery to get me in the mood for travel!
Thanks, Kathy! Hope you enjoy it.
Nice photos and Mosaic is 2 books away from being read.
Thanks so much, Dru! Hope you enjoy the book!
Post a Comment