Marlow Kelly

The Wranglers welcome Wild Rose Press author Marlow Kelly to the round corral today! She's visiting to celebrate the release of A Woman of Love. She granted us an interview, plus there's a great giveaway and some other good stuff at the end. Keep reading!

After being thrown out of England for refusing to drink tea, Marlow Kelly made her way to Canada where she found love, a home and a pug named Max. She also discovered her love of storytelling. Encouraged by her husband, children and let’s not forget Max, she started putting her ideas to paper. Her need to write about strong women in crisis drives her stories and her curiosity regarding the lives and loves of historical figures are the inspiration for her characters. You can visit Marlow at www.marlowkelly.com or find her at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marlowkelly?ref=hl Twitter: https://twitter.com/want2write or Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/Marlowkelly14/


What, in your opinion, are the most important elements of good writing?

The plot and characters. To me these two elements go hand in hand. You can’t have a good story without great characters, they don’t have to be likable but they need to capture the reader’s imagination.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I’m laughing at this question because I’m not a writer that’s someone else, someone who’s smarter than me. No, I’m just winging it. I’m learning and working, and maybe some day I’ll know enough to be a writer, but until then I’m just a woman who’s trying to figure out how to share the stories in her head.

What do you like to do when you are not writing?

Reading tops the list. I love it when an author takes me to another world where I can lose myself for a little while. Walking would be a close second. When I walk I listen to music and imagine stories, people and places. When I’m placing one foot in front of the other I’m at my most creative.

Where are you from and what do you love best about your hometown?

Originally, I’m from London, England and I love the two-thousand-year history of the place. I remember when they were building a sky rise close to my home. When the builders dug the foundation they unearthed the remains of a Roman fort that had been long forgotten. All sorts of everyday artifacts were discovered; coins, pins, and pots. These may not seem like treasure, but for me they bring the people of long ago to life, and make me realize that they weren’t that different from us. They had hopes and dreams just like we do, but they also, purchased food, cooked meals and cared for their children.

Do you have a favorite quote or saying?

“After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.” ― Philip Pullman

Tell us a little about yourself, including something people might be surprised to learn.

As a child I wanted to be a carpenter and make beautiful furniture. Of course back then women didn’t become carpenters. (I’m showing my age here.) I was devastated when I was told by my parents and teachers that I’d have to be a nurse or something like that. I could never have become a nurse. I just don’t have the personality for it, and so I wandered through life trying a myriad of different jobs, but nothing ever quite fit until I put pen to paper, or fingertips to keyboard and started telling stories.

If you could spend the afternoon with one writer, living or dead, who would it be and what would you talk about?

Linda Howard. (Great choice--we'd like to be there, too! - WW) No question. She was such a prolific and successful writer. Her stories would take me away from my world. Her characters are so believable. I would bombard her with questions. How did she write a story every six months? How did she manage to get so deeply into the heads of her characters? Does she plan her stories or wing it?

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 Blurb

When her dissolute husband insists that Lady Annabel Peters bed one of his villainous cohorts to
repay a gambling debt, she is scandalized. But she is forced to agree because he controls every aspect of her life.
A physically and emotionally crippled war hero, James Drake has retreated from society. At the request of his brother, he manipulates events so he can interrogate Annabel, a woman he thinks may be part of a ring of thieves.
Neither of them count on an instant and overwhelming attraction. James may now believe Annabel but she suspects her husband plans to kill her. As one of her husband’s friends, James is not to be trusted.
Yet how can she escape a man who has the ability to control her with a gentle kiss?

Excerpt 

Lady Annabel Peters sat in the open-top carriage and realized she had left it too late. She should have escaped yesterday.

“Really, Annabel, I don’t want you to give your left eye. All I’m asking is that you go in there and do what comes naturally.” Lord Elliott Peters, her husband of two months, sat opposite her, smoothing his waistcoat against his flat, toned abdomen. A lock of blond hair fell across his brow, accentuating his startling blue eyes. He claimed all he had to do was crook his finger, and besotted society women swooned, but she couldn’t imagine it. His grotesque personality obliterated any physical beauty he possessed.

The warm summer breeze touched her face. She inhaled the scent of grass and honeysuckle. Frogs sang somewhere in the distance, and crickets chirped, a sure sign it was going to be a warm night. She looked out at the passing Berkshire countryside, and wondered how anything this ugly could happen on such a perfect summer evening.

“It is not natural for a married woman to bed a man who is not her husband.” She struggled to breathe; a vise tightened around her chest.

“You must be joking. Women do it all the time. That’s how they entertain themselves. You didn’t believe we would be faithful to each other for the rest of our lives, did you? What a ridiculous notion.”

The thought of copulating with Elliott was horrific enough. Now he wanted her to sleep with his friends, too. Bile rose in her throat at the idea of having to endure another man like her husband. He was totally amoral, and thought nothing of sleeping with a friend’s wife. He undoubtedly took pleasure in it. He never controlled his lust. If he saw a woman he wanted, he took her by any means possible.

Buy links:


And...voila!...the giveaway

I will be awarding a $10 Amazon egift-card to a lucky winner via rafflecopter.

Please go to www.marlowkelly.com to get the tour dates and follow the tour. The more you comment, tweet and follow the more chances they have to win. Giveaway runs  until 31st March


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Comments

  1. Love your Pullman quote! Best of luck with this new release!

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  2. Thank goodness girls nowadays can be anything they want to be. I like the Pullman quote as well. Makes perfect sense!

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    1. I agree Jana, it's a great time to be a woman. Glad you liked the quote.

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  3. HI Marlow: What a lovely article. It's never too late to make furniture! So nice learning more about you.

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    1. Thanks Gini, I don't know I want to put in the work to make furniture now. I think I'd rather write. I guess the time has passed.

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  4. Thank you Liz for having me as a guest on your blog.

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  5. I think you'd be great at making furniture, and it's never too late to try...even if it's just for fun!

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    1. Actually, I did in m early thirties. I was fun and I enjoyed the artistry of it, and working with wood (Always remember to go with the grain.) It's one of the things I tried when I was roving. Then I moved, again. and went on to try something else.
      Now, writing is my thing. When I'm done with that I want to try my hand at art, mainly sketching. I love doing pencil sketches, but I need lessons. I have a hard time with perspective.

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