Jordan Bell is a bestselling
author of steamy romance novels and novellas. The Fortune Teller’s Daughter is her newest release, now on sale on Amazon and all other major retailers and will be available in paperback in
late March, 2013.
The Fortune Teller’s Daughter started with music.
Most of my stories, the novellas and the novels, begin with
a moment where something happens or someone says something to me and I go “oh
hey, wow, now THAT is a moment.” And then I write it down as fast as I can and
the story sort of unfurls around it like so many ribbons.
I’ll be minding my own business and I’ll see an ad or
overhear a bit of conversation or be caught up in a moment where all I can
think about is that I need to capture this moment in a story. I can feel that
there’s something there, something worth exploring. Because so much of my
inspiration comes from what happens around me, I end up becoming a bit of a
collector of things and an absolute kleptomaniac of other people’s
conversations.
With Billionaire
Bait: Breakfast with Mia, Ménage for Dessert, it started with a
particularly sinful dessert and the intense physical pleasure I experienced
eating it at a dinner with friends. I loved the idea of having a carefree character
look at a dessert and ascribe feelings of euphoria to having indulged in it. I
loved the idea of a man who is secretly inspired by her arrange to have
breakfast with her as often as possible so he can be there when she completely
lets go and a breakfast pastry isn’t just a breakfast pastry. It’s a metaphor
for indulging in life and embracing it with eyes wide open. All this because I
couldn’t say no to a dessert menu!
With the SECRETS
trilogy, I was in the proximity of a conversation about a girl who ran into a
man she was badly in love with years ago and it was clear there were still
sparks – like firework sized sparks complete with singing birds and music. She
lamented that both of them had moved on to be with other people, but what if he
was the one for her and she was the one for him and they’d gotten in their own
way of happily ever after? The thought broke my heart and I was like, OMG, I have to write that story. It
needs an ending. They need closure, one way or the other. So I created Kara and
Sean and threw them into a room together to see what happened.
Sparks. Lots and
lots of sparks.
With The
Fortune Teller’s Daughter, it began with a song.
I’d already been nursing an idea of writing a story set in a
fairy tale like carnival, but I wasn’t really sure who the characters were
going to be. I liked the idea of one of them being the stage magician, and I
spent a lot of time going back and forth on whether I wanted what he did to be
very good illusions or if I wanted him to be something other in the world where what he could do was as close to magic as
anything could be.
I was sitting in my car waiting for my husband and the radio
was on and my eyes were closed. I was having a hard time getting the novel
started and nothing had really brought me into the carnival I wanted to create.
When I wasn’t expecting it, after I’d heard the song a million times on the
radio, Paradise by Coldplay started playing and it sounded so much different
with my eyes closed and my brain too tired to do anything more than listen. And
it’s a beautiful song, a sort of magical hope and I realized I wanted to write
about magic. Not pretend magic, real
magic. I wanted to write a book that made me feel like that song did. I wanted
to take this girl who had nothing left to lose, who was alone and full of doubt
and reluctance and I wanted to give her a glimmer of hope that sets her on a
trail of breadcrumbs that lead her on an adventure. And I wanted her to fall in
love.
Like all obsessive compulsive neurotic writers, I went
straight home and started writing and I didn’t stop until I’d finished 5,000
words and an outline. It was like four in the morning and it felt exhilarating.
So with no further ado
(which is really sort of ridiculous considering I’ve never shown brevity in my
entire life) I’d like to present a short but enthusiastic playlist for my
latest novel.
Nox Arcana’s Labyrinth of Dreams and Coldplay’s Paradise
both sort of encapsulate the heart of the story. Nox Arcana’s Living Dolls
inspired the music that plays on the Harlequin Carousel . The Lumineer’s Ho Hey
both inspired a scene in the middle of the book where the characters are
playing cards and drinking after a long string of shows and they inspired the
Magician’s unofficial uniform of a white shirt and suspenders. I hope you enjoy
the music and the book!
Serafine Moreau grew up on the shiftless, grimy edges of
cities that were never home, raised at the capricious whims of her bohemian
mother. She learned young how to move unseen through crowds, acquire things
that didn’t belong to her, and disappear at the first sign of trouble. Together
they made a curious life beneath street market tents, plying tourists with
fortunes and new age voodoo. It wasn’t perfect, but it was theirs - until a
stranger appeared one unremarkable autumn morning to steal the fortune teller’s
life and leave Sera with nothing but questions.
Now alone, Sera wanders lost between days, strangled by the past and unable to pursue her future. Even the cards reveal nothing. So when an invitation addressed to her mother’s stage name Corazon arrives from an old carnival outfit looking to recruit the late fortune teller, Sera answers instead.
Beneath the labyrinthine tents she discovers enchantments that defy explanation and wonders that feel like magic. Bewitched by the carnival’s handsome illusionist and the dark whimsy of the Carnival Imaginaire, Sera finally feels like she’s home until the mystery of her mother’s death unravels with the secrets of the carnival’s past. At the center of the brewing storm hides Sera’s heart that can’t hope to survive another loss.
Now alone, Sera wanders lost between days, strangled by the past and unable to pursue her future. Even the cards reveal nothing. So when an invitation addressed to her mother’s stage name Corazon arrives from an old carnival outfit looking to recruit the late fortune teller, Sera answers instead.
Beneath the labyrinthine tents she discovers enchantments that defy explanation and wonders that feel like magic. Bewitched by the carnival’s handsome illusionist and the dark whimsy of the Carnival Imaginaire, Sera finally feels like she’s home until the mystery of her mother’s death unravels with the secrets of the carnival’s past. At the center of the brewing storm hides Sera’s heart that can’t hope to survive another loss.
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Jordan Bell is currently on virtual tour with 15 other
awesome romance authors as part of the Insatiable
Reads Book Tour. From March 4-31st, readers will be invited to enter for a
chance to win a Kindle Paperwhite, free books, and other fun goodies. Readers
will also be able to participate in author chats, get insights into writing and
publishing romance, and collect story swag.
This week, Jordan is touring with Erika Masten, Carré White, and Marina Maddix.
To enter giveaways and meet the other writers, follow us at:
Website: www.insatiablereads.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/insatiable.books
Twitter: www.twitter.com/insatiablereads/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/100902224798608127488/posts
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/selenakitt/insatiable-reads/
This week, Jordan is touring with Erika Masten, Carré White, and Marina Maddix.
To enter giveaways and meet the other writers, follow us at:
Website: www.insatiablereads.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/insatiable.books
Twitter: www.twitter.com/insatiablereads/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/100902224798608127488/posts
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/selenakitt/insatiable-reads/
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