Wednesday's Guest - Morgan Mandel

Please welcome Morgan Mandel to the blog today as she shares an excerpt from her latest book, as well as some background on the Fountain of Youth.Today is my day to post on The Blood Red Pencil, where I blogged about mystery book awards.

This excerpt is from Chapter Five – From the heroine, Dorrie Donato’s point of view, as she listens to Roman Remington’s spiel. 

“This time, ladies and gentlemen, I’ve discovered something far more valuable than anything I’ve offered in the past. What I have in my possession, which I’m willing to share, will make every health aid obsolete. Forget about growing old, with all its debilitations. From now on, you can possess the power to regain your lost youth and become whatever age you desire. Not only that, you’ll retain that age and never grow old.  

“You may ask, ‘How is that possible?”

He paused for effect, then whispered, “Because I’ve discovered an age-reversing drug, a veritable Fountain of Youth.”

As his words sank in, whispers began. Did the audience believe him or doubt his sanity? She’d not thought such a miracle possible either, but her own body proved otherwise. 

The Fountain of Youth Myth

The Fountain of Youth is such a popular concept I couldn’t help including it in my thriller, FOREVER YOUNG: Blessing or Curse. Although Wikipedia says such a fountain had been popular for thousands of years, I’d only heard of it in history class years ago, not quite a thousand, though sometimes it feels like it could have been.

It’s said that the Spanish explorer, Juan Ponce de Leon went in search of the fabled Fountain of Youth to partake of its restorative powers. In his travels, he ended up in St. Augustine, Florida, where now the Fountain of Youth National Archeological Park commemorates his landing. The park actually contains a fountain and tourists actually drink from it. Apparently nothing magical has happened there so far by way of turning back the participants’ aging clocks. Otherwise, I’d surmise bottles of such miracle water would have been on the market by now, selling for more than the highest priced prescription.    

Although my story takes place in Arizona and not Florida, the concept is the same: using a magical means to regain lost youth. The older I get, the more I wonder what it would be like to be young again, yet benefit from my past experience. Aging is such a universal dilemma, I can’t be the only one who envisions turning back the clock. My imagination has taken me far afield, so far I had to write a book about it.

I invite you to follow along with my heroine, Dorrie Donato, and see how she adjusts to life again at twenty-four, instead of her actual age of fifty-five.

We all know life isn’t perfect, even in the best of circumstances. Though Dorrie may have gotten her wish to be young again, she’s still haunted by past happenings, along with threats to her present survival.

If you’re curious about Dorrie’s adventures, FOREVER YOUNG: Blessing or Curse is available on Kindle, Nook, Smashwords, and other electronic venues. 

To see them all, visit http://morgansbooklinks.blogspot.com, where you can find every known link to this book, as well as those of my other three novels.

Look for print versions of all four books on Amazon soon.

Thanks for hosting me at your blog, Maryann.

Morgan Mandel

http://morganmandel.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com/morgan.mandel - Twitter: http://twitter.com/morganmandel