Marquel

A Romantic Thriller (Includes Adult Content)

By Emily W. Skinner

Published October 3rd 2011

Marquel is a fast ride from Florida to Hollywood California and back to Florida again. An emotionally broken yet rising star Marquel is struggling with haunting memories, a romance with her psychiatrist, a mystery man who is stalking her all while an aggressive tabloid journalist Mark Collins is trying to unveil her past. It's a race to see who will discover her secrets first and how that knowledge with effect her career and the men who love her.

EXCERPT

“That’s all it took,” she told People Magazine. “I did ‘My Fair Lady’ at the Burt Reynolds Theater and later did some work at MGM in Orlando.”

“Anyway, my first part, in ‘My Fair Lady’ was insignificant…A critic wrote that I looked like the saddest street person he’d ever seen.” She pouted, then paused to inhale a drag of the thin brown cigarette resting between two perfectly lacquered nails. Laughing, she tossed her head back, pitching platinum curls over one shoulder to reveal the now famous violet eyes. “One thing led to another,” she continued. “Guess I’d never have made it out of the boonies if not…”

Rehearsed. The story had been repeated more than twenty times at the media junket. Suburban Life, a contemporary drama series, was the network’s trump card in the fall lineup. Her role as Sharon had already secured an Emmy nomination.

“Who would’ve guessed I’d have a series of my own? I’m a stage actress,” she looked past the magazine writer to the next eager reporter. Impatiently she crushed out the cigarette in an amber glass ashtray and called out “Next.”

Marquel. A single name celebrity soon to join the ranks of Cher, Madonna and Bono.

Emily had a goal when she was 15, she would have a daughter named Marquel and write a novel titled "Marquel." She accomplished both and more. A member of The International Thriller Writers, Emily was a protege of the late master of the pulps or paperback originals, Harry Whittington. Emily interviewed Whittington during her days as a feature writer for the Clearwater Sun daily newspaper and its weekly division. They became friends and he taught her how to plot and gave her approval of the original outline and sample chapter for "Marquel" shortly before he died in 1989. After Whittington passed away, Emily challenged herself to write as her mentor did and wrote a chapter a day and finished the novel "Marquel" in 52 days. For more details on the novel's history read:http://www.thefilmmom.blogspot.com/20... Fast forward, a second daughter, Blair is born and Emily and husband Tom focus on raising their family. Both daughters are now grown and work in Hollywood. So this might be an example of art imitating life or the reverse? A devoted Catholic, Emily is rekindling her love for writing and has just completed the movie script for "Marquel" and a young adult paranormal appropriately named after her youngest child, "St. Blair: Children of the Night." She will begin the sequel to "Marquel" in the coming months, currently untitled. When Emily isn't working as a marketing consultant or writing, she enjoys antiquing/thrifting and producing short films. Emily is the proud Executive Producer of Blair Skinner's film "Relative Eternity," a 2012 LA Shorts Film Festival selection, Sunscreen Film Festival selection and Short Film Corner Festival de Cannes selection. Written, directed and edited by Blair Skinner, "Relative Eternity" is on snagfilms.com for your viewing pleasure. It is free to view.

Website: http://emilyskinnerbooks.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/emilyauthor

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emilyskinnerbooks

Blog: http://www.thefilmmom.blogspot.com

Fun Facts

1) When author Emily Skinner was 15 years old, she said she’d have a daughter Marquel and write a novel titled, Marquel. She accomplished both.

2) Emily wrote the novel Marquel in 52 days when her daughter Marquel was 4.

Like most children, Marquel didn’t have an interest in reading the novel that shared her name. It wasn’t until she was well into her 20s and began to dabble in acting, that Marquel Skinner finally asked her mother if she could have a copy of the novel Marquel. The main character in the novel is an actress named Marquel.

3) In 2012, Emily’s daughters, Marquel Skinner and Blair Skinner, who now live in Hollywood, California, made a booktrailer for the novel Marquel. Knowing that their mother had put her passion for writing aside to focus on family and earning a living, the girls wanted to help their mother finally market her work and return to writing.

They hired actor, Eric Roberts to play Zach Manning and Emily’s daughter,

Marquel played the lead character Marquel. The booktrailer is on Youtube.

Blair Skinner is Emily’s youngest daughter and she directed the booktrailer.

4) Emily wrote a YA novel to honor her youngest daughter Blair. That novel is titled

St. Blair: Children of the Night. Though her books share her daughters’ names, the books are not about her daughters.

5) Emily has completed the screenplay for Marquel and she is completing the novel’s sequel titled Marquel’s Dilemma and has 2 more books in the St. Blair: Children of the Night series that she hopes to release the end of 2014 and early 2015.