Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Interview: Curse of the Purple Delhi Sapphire by Rachael Stapleton



In Rachael Stapleton’s novel, Curse of the Purple Delhi Sapphire, Sophia Marcil is given a family heirloom that pulls her into a past life, eventually opening the door to psychic dreams and a book full of magical spells.  Unfortunately, the heirloom comes with a madman hell-bent on possessing her and her gifted stone.

This makes us wonder do you think special powers like time travel, mind reading, and telekinesis are a gift or a curse and if you could choose one which would it be.

If I could choose one, it would most likely be time travel because much like Sophia I adore history. However, I can see the potentials danger involved. I would be nervous and reluctant to use such a power in real life—at least the first time—temptation would eventually win out. I think an even cooler power might be teleportation. Lunch in Paris? A play in New York? I love to travel and a gift like that would allow me to whisk myself off to a deserted Island for a much needed tan or hit up Japan for some fresh sashimi.  No airports, no line ups. Now there’s a gift I could get used to.

Do you prefer e-books or paperbacks? 

I read mostly on an ereader right now because I have children. The youngest being two—so I really only get the time to read in bed right before I crash. It’s actually my sleeping prescription. Take 10 pages and call me in the morning, otherwise I would probably lay awake like every other female in the country with an overactive brain.

What is your favourite thing about your ereader? 

When I finish a book, I can get another with the push of a button. Especially if it’s a series or an author I’m enjoying.

Do you think e-books have overtaken paperbacks? 

Right now I’d say it’s fairly even although we’ll see in a month when I get my most recent statement. I think some people are reluctant to let go of paperbacks. As a society, we spend so much time connected, looking at screens. Sometimes we all just want an isolated experience without the feeling of distraction.

What would your readers be surprised to learn about you? 

I think most people would be shocked to discover that I wanted to be a librarian at one time. Blame it on Ghostbusters, Buffy the Vampire Slayer or maybe even The Mummy for making the life of the librarian look so exciting. But truthfully, if my writing career hadn’t panned out then you can bet that’s where I would have went next. The few people I told laughed at me—not that working in a library is a joke—but I guess in there mind I wasn’t the stereotypical prim and proper spinster-in-the-making. Or maybe it was unfathomable that I would want to willingly navigate the dewy decimal system. Whatever it was, it was apparently hard to believe. That’s part of the reason why Sophia and Leslie are adventurous, sexual and quirky librarians. Of course it’s convenient to the plot that Sophia be a well-read individual who would have access and be knowledgeable when it came to history and ancient curses but I also just wanted to give the world some kick-ass librarians. Mission complete!


At times throughout your series, you write through the eyes of a killer. What is that like?

You know I’ve actually had this discussion with my writers group. Whether you’re writing a serial killer, a demon, an army of zombies or simply a bully, why is it so much fun to write from the villain’s perspective? Well I guess because sometimes it’s good to be bad. Villains are not boxed in or weighed down with pesky things like morals and values, the way the protagonist is, at least not usually. Rules—what are those? The law—why would I obey that? I feel as though there is a freedom to color outside of the lines. It’s the same reason I like writing fantasy—it’s a chance to experiment and get a little crazy. Although I will admit at times, being in the bad guys head can get downright creepy and I have had to research disturbing things like which knife would sufficiently gut a person—yeah true story. I once tried to write a scene late at night and I was hearing noises within 10 minutes which is why I now write during the day especially when I’m in the mind of my stalker.


What are you calling the next book in the series? Any details you can share?

The Keeper of the Book—it’s unique from the first two novels in the series because part of it is written from the perspective of Sophia’s Sixteen year old daughter Alanna who is crushed when her mother dies in a séance gone wrong. After three months of living with Cullen and her mother's best-friend Leslie, she begins to suspect that they're keeping a secret from her. The search for the truth becomes a dubious adventure, taking Alanna from curious libraries to the castles of Eastern Europe as she trails after her father in the hopes that her mother might still be alive. One question always lingering, if they find her, can they rescue her from the past? 

What book are you reading now? 

I’m in the midst of doing some reviewing. I just finished S.C Alban’s book, A Life without Living and I’m about to get into Francene Stanley’s, Shattered Shells. After that it will be Debauchery by Bernard Foong and then I plan to do another proofread of  G.L Morgan’s Cauldron Bearer for one of the members of my writing group. Her book hasn’t been picked up yet but it is very good and should be! Did you hear that agents and publishers. J

What is in your to-read pile? 

On standby I have, Cold As Ice by Ann Stuart and In Like Flynn by Rhys Bowen.

What is next for you? Do you have any scheduled upcoming releases or works in progress? 

Yes.  Tomorrow I’ll be featured on Books & Pearls. All stops are listed and linked on the media page of my website www.rachaelstapleton.com. Don’t forget to enter my Rafflecopter to win a free copy of the first book in the Temple of Indra Series.



Curse of the Purple Delhi Sapphire
Temple of Indra Series
Book Two
Rachael Stapleton

Genre: Mystery, Adventure, Romance

Publisher: Solstice Publishing
Date of Publication: February 3rd, 2015

Cover Artist: Rebecca Boyd

ASIN: B00SNAF018

Print Length: 215 pages
Word Count: 66, 400

Book Description:

As a librarian, Sophia Marcil loved 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 transported back to a past life where she was murdered. Now she knows that not only is reincarnation real, but so is the devil’s magic locked inside the precious gem. Just as she’s about to tell her boyfriend Cullen about it, he proposes with an engagement ring made from a piece of the very sapphire that’s cursed her. Reeling from the shock and surrounded by his family, she allows him to place it on her ring finger. As soon as it touches her skin, she feels herself being wrenched back in time.

Before she knows it, she’s wandering the hallway of an old Victorian house in the body of her great aunt. Unfortunately, her nemesis has also reincarnated in 1920—as one of her family members. Sophia struggles to locate the Purple Delhi Sapphire in time to prevent the deaths of those she loves, but she fails and returns to her present-day life, to the precise moment she left, with a deep understanding that her killer’s soul is also tied to the sapphire and every life she has, he is resurrected as someone close to her.

Her stalker ex-boyfriend Nick seems like a prime candidate this time but she’s convinced she’s a step ahead of him, thanks to a tip from a medium, she knows that if she uses the magic of the stone correctly she can trap Nick’s soul in the sapphire and save herself. But when Nick is murdered, she finds evidence that has her questioning everything she thought she knew.

Is Cullen husband material or is history doomed to repeat itself?


Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/VCeG9eA09Fg


Available at Amazon



Chapter One (Part of the end)

The laughter faded as Cullen pushed his chair back and stood, pulling me gently to stand with him.
“Not sure how to follow that up, but how about: to passionate people, beautiful futures, and lovely lasses who fall from the heavens,” he said, knocking glasses with me. Clinks echoed all around, and I smiled as he set his flute down.
Then he lowered to one knee.
He grinned up at me—so charming and gorgeous. His green eyes, as always, were mesmerizing. They had flecks of gold in them that clung to the edges and danced in the center, like they were on fire. My heart beat so loudly in my ears that it almost drowned out the “awws” and “oohs.”
“Ye’re already mine, lass, in every way possible and I am yers, but I want the world to know,” he said, taking my free hand. Someone took the glass of champagne from the other one, as I was shaking so badly. The black velvet box squeaked open, and his aunts gasped in unison, as if on cue.
“Will ye make me the happiest man in Ireland, Aevil, and join our O’Kelley Clan?” He kissed my fingers as I stared down at him.
The marble-sized rock in the box swirled, and doubled in front of my eyes. Deep purple amethyst with a thin frame of diamonds, set in pink gold and accentuated with a slender shank and crescent details.
I looked past the ring, into his eyes, and found him still staring directly at me. He’d removed the ring from the box and was holding it out, ready to place it on my finger.
He cleared his throat. “It was my great-great-great-grandmother’s and I thought ye might appreciate it, since ye were so intrigued with her portrait.”
I nodded, trying to smile through the confusion, but my head swam with random bursts of chatter, the fiddle, and all the thoughts flooding me at once, mostly that Cullen had just proposed to me with the missing Purple Delhi Sapphire ring. A bead of sweat ran down the side of my cheek as the ring touched the tip of my finger.
Cullen’s face began to distort. A shimmery haze had fallen over the room as if the desert were closing in. The vibration from the ring traveled up my arm, and the room began to shift and blur at the edges. Another room, a darker room, was coming into focus. I could still hear Cullen’s aunt ordering someone to get me a glass of water.
There was something I should remember. Water. Rochus said water was necessary to ease the pain of time travel. Maybe this was what it felt like without. I tried to blink away the heat, tried to stop myself from going, but I couldn’t. The edges of the room were burning away fast now, like a Polaroid scorched by flames. I could hear the trickling of the fountain in the corner. I ran for it, or at least I intended to, but it was too late.


About the Author:

Rachel Stapleton spent her youth cultivating a vivid imagination inside the book lined walls of an old Victorian library where she consumed everything from mystery to biography, creating magical worlds, hidden elevators, and secret spiral staircases. At sixteen, she penned a column for the local newspaper and in 2006, wrote her first book featuring an adventurous librarian.

She lives in a Second Empire Victorian with her husband and two children in Ontario and enjoys writing in the comforts of aged wood and arched dormers. She is the author of The Temple of Indra’s Jewel and is currently working on a third book in the Temple of Indra series.

Visit her website and follow her on social media or sign up at www.rachaelstapleton.com to receive email updates.






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1 comment:

Francene Stanley said...

Great interview. I like the idea of special powers. I'm sure many people have them, but they might not shout about it. People could take advantage of them. Looking forward to your next book.