Just as I promised, the other half of the writing team from Monday's post ~ the lovely Patricia Rosemoor!
Sunken Treasure
~by Patricia Rosemoor~
Sunken treasure provided the perfect connection. Sherrill’s heroine wears a celestial girdle that is worth a fortune, and it’s on a ship that sinks in international waters off Florida. And my characters are in search of the motherlode of the sunken ship. That celestial girdle plays an important part in my story.
The late Mel Fisher was best known for finding the 1622 wreck of the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha. In 1985, he discovered "The Atocha Motherlode" worth $450 million. The motherlode included 40 tons of gold and silver, Colombian emeralds, gold and silver artifacts. And yet the wealthiest part of the ship, the stern castle, hasn’t yet been found. My late husband was a Mel Fisher fan. He wanted to volunteer to help him find more treasure – rather than money, it was the adventure that motivated Edward. Of course that remained but a nice dream, though we did see Mel Fisher’s Maritime Museum.
Mel’s discovery may have played a part in the protection of submerged archaeological sites. Basically, parties to this agreement consider sunken treasure an archaeological find rather than a means of profit. My heroine Cordelia is a marine archaeologist and believes the find should be in a museum for all to share. But The Celestine is in international waters and subject to the “law of find.” Makes for a great conflict.
My question to you: Do you feel it’s important that sunken treasure be considered an archaeological find, or if someone raises the money and spends his life hunting it, should he be able to profit even if the treasure is not in international waters?
About Written in the Stars ~
“A passionate tale of destiny, danger and dark magic—and a love so powerful that it conquers time.” Mary Jo Putney, New York Times Bestselling Author.
‘A love so deep that it can last through centuries?
In 1601, Lady Elizabeth York’s star-shaped
Searching for a treasure ship sunk long ago, present-day marine archeologist Cordelia Ward is pursued romantically by both salvager Innis Foley and treasure hunter Morgan Murphy. She is haunted by a murderous nightmare where one man is the killer and the other the victim, but which man is her enemy, which her soul’s mate? Can a journal that belonged to her ancestress, Lady Elizabeth York show her the answers…in time to save her true love?
Chased by evil, two women discover their own magic to fight the villain’s curse on the Posey rings that draw them to the men they are destined to love.
The Excerpt
{Patricia’s – Contemporary}
He leaned into her so close his breath laved her face. “How about I make you an honest offer—a partnership.”
She stuck her right hand against his chest and backed off. “I don’t think so. You and I have very different goals.”
“I thought we both wanted to find the motherlode of The Celestine.”
“I’m a marine archeologist and—”
He captured her hand before she could remove it. “And I’m a pirate?”
“I didn’t say that, but you are looking for treasure, while I am looking for artifacts.”
“Not that I see the difference, but how about I offer you this.” From his pocket, he pulled a diamond-studded gold chain from which hung a crescent moon set with sapphires.
Cordelia’s eyes widened.
“Exactly.” He took her right hand from where he’d trapped it and placed the artifact in her palm.
The touch of metal and jewels to her ring electrified Cordelia. Startled, she gasped at the power but wrapped her fingers around the jeweled moon so she wouldn’t drop it. Her heart beating too fast, she took a closer look and recognized its age. This was no modern copy of something old.
Fearing he’d found this on his earlier dive, would somehow beat her to the motherlode, she panicked. “All right, partners, then, but we need to work out details—”
Before she could finish, he curled his fingers over her hand with the crescent and kissed her.
Her wrist burned.
Her ring tightened.
Her head went light.
The chain trapped between their hands connected them like a live wire, kept them from pulling apart. The current spread to every pore of her body, to her head, to her toes, to her feminine center.
She had never felt so alive, so sure of herself.
Until the kiss ended.
About Patricia Rosemoor ~
With 90 novels and more than seven million books in print, Patricia Rosemoor is fascinated with “dangerous love” – combining romance with danger. She has written various forms of romantic and paranormal romantic thrillers, even romantic horror, bringing a different mix of thrills and chills to her stories.
Patricia has won a Golden Heart from Romance Writers of America and two Reviewers Choice and two Career Achievement Awards from RT BOOKreviews, and in her other life, she teaches Popular Fiction and Suspense-Thriller Writing, credit courses at Columbia College Chicago. Three of her Columbia grad students and two students from other venues are now published in novel-length fiction.
SKIN is her first original indie thriller. With 53 Harlequin Intrigues since 1985, she is now writing romantic suspense for Entangled Publishing.
You can find the authors here:
Patricia’s Website | Facebook | Goodreads
You can find WRITTEN IN THE STARS here:
Written in the Stars on Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo Books
Win the jewels!
Giveaway~
Good morning and welcome, Patricia! So nice to have you here on this beautiful Midwest morning!
ReplyDeleteHi, MJ -- thanks for inviting me :)
ReplyDeleteWow 90 written novels amazing! And I loved the excerpt.
ReplyDeleteHey ya! Thanks for stopping in, Andrea! I know, I just can't get over how much fun this book is, with it's cross between contemporary and historical. Both excerpts were great!
DeleteThanks, Andrea. Yes, I'm grateful that I've had a long career as an author.
ReplyDeleteLovely post, ladies. Patricia, to answer your question, I think the UK has a great solution for treasure hunters in that the government evaluates anything found and then decides whether it wishes to keep the treasure for its museums/research facilities. At that point, the UK gives the treasure hunters/land owners a fair market value payment for the finds. This keeps things legal and above board, and the country benefits by not losing archeological finds that are national treasures. And I enjoyed your excerpt! Your novel is now on my TBR list. May you have many sales and continued success!
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming by Deborah! Deborah is also a part of a writing duo known as Morgan O'Neill. They write excellent time travel stories!
ReplyDeletePersonally I think they should use the ol' finders keepers, losers weepers strategy with treasure. It's worked for centuries! (Just kidding!) It takes all of the fun out of it if everything is above board. ;)
Deborah -- I don't know about UK, but I think generally if the find is international waters -- which I said ours was -- it goes by the "law of find" -- yep, finders keepers. The problem comes at how far out international waters start. For most countries it's 12 nautical miles, but I read somewhere to cut down on crime, the US said it's 200. But the reference I found to sea claim was still 12 nautical miles.
ReplyDeleteThis is a tough question because I look at the finds as having historical worth that everyone should have access to, yet I appreciate the hard work and investments of the guys who do this for a living. The novel sounds exciting. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Brenna.
ReplyDeleteHey, Brenna! Thanks for stopping in! This question reminds me of the movie, "National Treasure" with Nicholas Cage. I love that movie! There both the treasure hunters and numerous museums benefited from the find. Have a great day!
ReplyDelete