Tell us about Liz Arnold.
I started writing in grade school and loved it. Newspaper and magazine writing grabbed me and I have a journalism degree. My favorite things to read growing up were historical romances, adventures, and history textbooks!
Liz, we could be soul-sisters! I love these as well. Is there a book that changed your life?
The book that changed my life was SIDDHARTHA by Hermann Hesse. I’ve read it many times over the years and it’s the only book I can say that about. It combines history, romance, inner struggle, and spirituality in a wonderful, thought provoking way. I realized that everyone experiences the same things in life, the difference is how we each choose to engage in life.
Liz, you have a great outlook on life!! If you could go back in time, where would you go?
I would love to visit ancient Rome. I’m a huge fan of Latin. I think everyone should study Latin regardless of vocation because it answers so many questions about language and customs. People live day to day not knowing why they say or do something and that causes a careless attitude. Understanding the background of anything improves a person’s respect for it. Latin is one of the sources of how and why we speak, write, and live the way we do today.
When you go back to Rome, take me with you, okay? lol Liz, what inspired you to write MESSAGE TO LOVE?
A dream inspired me to write MESSAGE TO LOVE. It was a very vivid, intricate dream about a man on horseback racing through the night with a message in a pouch tied around his chest. It was his mission to deliver the message to someone, but the dream didn’t get that far. The images were very compelling and after some research, I discovered an incident known as “The Message To Garcia” that happened during the Spanish-American War in 1898. I took that event and fashioned my novel around it.
This is great, Liz! I'm glad I'm not the only one who has dreams that inspire me to write! So now, tell us about your story.
MESSAGE TO LOVE opens with Audra Wakely graduating from a girl’s finishing school in Richmond, Virginia in the spring of 1898. She receives news that her father, a tobacco farmer living in Cuba, has been jailed for sympathizing with rebels on the island who are fighting for freedom from Spain. She sells the Virginia tobacco plantation to the nasty neighbor Jasen Angler who has been wasting his own fortune but has enough money to pay Audra for Wakefield. She sets off for Santiago de Cuba where her father is imprisoned with money to bribe Spanish officials.
Things would progress smoothly if it weren’t for the involvement of a U.S. Naval Intelligence officer named Lt. Rollins McBride. He is ordered to find Audra’s father and bring him back to the States to be tried for treason because the government has decided to help the rebels in the freedom fight and they think Wakely is supplying the Spanish with guns and ammunition.
Even though Audra and Rollins share the goal of rescuing Greg Wakely, she wants him free and he wants him jailed in the U.S. They agree to work together to find Wakely but neither one knows that love will blossom between them along the way. When Rollins is away on the mission to help deliver the message to Cuban forces General Garcia, Audra finds her father but runs into trouble.
Excerpt:
“It was a dream, just a very bad dream.” She stepped back out of his hold. Clammy spots of moist heat lingered on her arms where his hands had been.
“I’m all right now.” Audra reached for the door and noticed the sickly sweet odor of liquor on his breath. “You can leave now. I want to go back to bed.” She pulled open the door and gestured into the hall.
“Sorry, but this time you’re going, too.” Rollins strode over to the dresser and pulled out a drawer. “Better pack. We have just under two hours.”
“I’m not in the mood for comedy, Rollins,” she sighed. “I’m really very, very tired. I’ve got to get some rest. Now---“
“Let me make myself clear.” He sounded gruff. “I said we’re leaving, and unless you want to get on a ship bound for Santiago with your shirttails hanging out, better change and get ready.” He made to leave the room. “I hope you have a shawl or something. It’s gotten cooler out, and we have half an hour in a wagon to get to port.” Then he vanished into his own room next door, leaving Audra gape-mouthed in the hallway.
“Who does he think he is?” She growled as she stamped her foot against the cold hard floor. “Infuriating! He is absolutely infuriating!” Audra heaved the door shut with gusto. “These are not my shirttails, either!”
Ohhh, this story sounds intriguing! Liz, where can readers contact you?
I would love to mail bookmarks to readers! They can send me an email at lizarnoldromance@yahoo.com Also, to purchase this story, here is the link - http://www.thewildrosepress.com/message-to-love-paperback-p-4088.html
Thanks for having me, Marie!
Liz
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