Handbag & Book with author Zara West: The Bag that Turned me into a Writer #TWRP #MFRWorg #Mondayblog

Handbag & Book with

Zara West

You can tell from this photo that this is not a “handbag” in the traditional sense. This is a Greek tagari, or what shepherds use to carry their lunch, water, and other necessities when they are herding their sheep on the mountainsides.  

The amazing thing about the bag in the picture is that I wove it from wool I hand-spun and dyed while studying Greek weaving in Greece. I actually wove two, but my anthropologist husband, despite the fact a tagari is designed to take heavy wear-and-tear, wore his out lugging books in it for thirty years. I only use mine for “special” occasions so it still retains its original shape and color. The main reason I wanted to share this bag today it is because of this bag is why I wrote my first magazine article for Shuttle, Spindle, & Dyepot and because of that article I became a writer.

Zara, I am super impressed!!!

For many years I wrote non-fiction, but recently I have turned to writing fiction: romantic suspense, in particular. On June 17^th, my first novel Beneath the Skin, published by Wild Rose Press, will be released. 

 

Ex-Olympic wrestler and reclusive billionaire artist Aristides Stavros has one mission—to rescue his sister, a popular Williamsburg, Brooklyn tattoo artist from the old enemy who has kidnapped her. But at every turn he is confronted by anthropologist Melissa Dermot. Is she just an innocent girl in over her head or is she working for the international crime boss holding his sister? Only one thing is certain, when Ari holds the beautiful Asian-American in his arms questions of guilt and innocence fade against an undeniable fiery attraction. But can their wild passionate love survive the tangled web of long hidden secrets, intentional deceit, and murderous revenge that lie just beneath the surface?

 “You.” Aristides Stavros loomed over her. “What are you doing here?”


 She peered up at the artist’s twisted face and backed further down the steps. A doorknob poked her in the back. Panicked, she twisted it open and dashed into an unlit basement storeroom. 


 She stumbled forward into the dark, tripped over a metallic cylindrical object, and landed on her stomach. All the air whooshed out of her. Rectangular objects with sharp corners tumbled around her, jabbing her in the arms and neck. Rough cloth scrapped her skin.


 On the staircase above her, the beast hovered in the doorway like a predator scenting his prey. For a second, he hesitated, then he dashed down the steps and moved toward her, huffing as he shoved objects out of the way. She pushed herself up on hands and knees and scuttled further into the dark.

 “Sto diavólo. Where are you? If you destroy any of these paintings, I will have your hide or at least my lawyer will.” He came closer. “Busy man, my lawyer, and to think I almost didn’t hire one.” 


 She scrabbled back and touched torn canvas. Heavens, these were his paintings—the ones that sold for thousands of dollars. 


 She was in deep, deep trouble. 

Pre-Order Beneath the Skin at: Amazon

For more information, visit her at Website




So lovely to have you today, Zara!