Title:

“The Passions of Roxanna – La Passione di Rossana”

Author:

Gail Michael

Market Focus:

Women's Fiction – Subset: multi-cultural (Greek, Italian and American), adventure, and romance.  International readers as well as the US (Europe, Australia, England, Greece and Italy)

Word Count:

129,200

Genre and Keywords:

Women’s fiction, adventure, passion, romance, first-person narrative, midlife crisis, freedom from reality, Italy, Capri, Greece, woman travels to Italy searching, dreams, past life, talking with spirit, American woman falls in love with Italian man, Florence, Venice, pirates

Sypnosis:

"…After covering me with a heavy blanket, Palo holds my head
and forces me to drink the Ouzo which makes me gag; then he motions
me to sleep.  The rain is pelting my face and the sea is tossing the
ship about as if it were made of paper mache.  I have been sea
sick for hours.  I am lost between the misery of retching and the
feeling of being comforted by the old pirate as I lay on the ship's
floorboards where I have been held captive for the past four days off
the coast of Santorini in the Cyclades Islands.  I start to fall asleep, and just before I do I think, “This must be what it is like to die at sea…"

This is only one of the many adventures Roxanna finds after she leaves
her home in the US to follow a dream that has led her half way across
the world to a small island in the Mediterranean.  A spirit has come to her in her dreams repeatedly, always taking her to the same place – the
cliffs of Capri on the Mediterranean.  Together they stand looking
toward Mount Vesuvio and he tells her this is where she belongs.  So
she leaves her life to follow the pull that has now overtaken her.

She barely gets settled into this romantic place with its impassioned
people before the spirit prods her to travel throughout Italy and
Greece from one amazing adventure to another.  She is searching for
her own passions that have been lost inside her dull life in the
States for an eternity.  Some whispered that she could paint like the
Italian masters but she has not had the desire or the passion to touch
a brush in years.  As Roxanna settles into life in Italy with her
Caprese friends and the loveable characters she meets, she starts to
feel that fire in her belly and the desire to paint again.

Join her as she embarks on one adventure after another.  First she
travels to Rome where she falls in love with Natale, the young and
handsome Roman.  They have a two-week heated affair where he professes
his love for her and asks Roxanna to marry him but she is prodded by
the spirit to move on to another adventure before she can think too
long about her answer.

So she travels from one magical place to another, experiencing
life-changing events in each one. She travels to Assisi where she
meets with St. Frances; Amalfi as she cruises the Mediterranean on a
superyacht owned by a famous Italian designer; Venice where she meets
the beautiful Elana twirling and singing amongst a thousand pigeons
with a champagne glass in her hand in San Marco's Piazza; and then on
to Florence where she meets the reincarnation of a past lover who
wants to sculpt her in marble.  He says he has to finish this gift to
her before the end of this lifetime because he did not keep this
promise to her in the last.

She is taken through the Basilicata and Compania regions by two
comical Italians who want to show her every church and basilica in the
south of Italy. Then she is off to Greece to visit Athens where she
belly-dances with the locals, to Mykonos where she swims naked in the
Aegean with Cristos, to Delos where Helios the Sun God comes to her, and to Santorini where she is kidnapped by modern day pirates.

When she is finally released, she returns to Capri, her new homeland, only to be nudged by the Great Spirit once again – this time to visit Pompeii where she finds herself in AD 79 when the city is burning as Vesuvio erupts. There are so many romantic, comical, and entertaining adventures to enjoy as you watch Roxanna unfold and find her passions.

And what happens to her passion for paint and her Italian lover in
Rome? You will have to read the book to find out!

Author Bio:

IIn 2002, "I Am a Thousand Winds That Blow, the Healing Power of a
Remarkable Death," Gail's first non-fiction work was published by
Cedar Fort Publishing and Bonneville Books in Springville Utah.  It is
the story of her tempestuous relationship with her mother and how it
all changed that last year of her life as she battled lung cancer.
This powerful and moving story is about forgiveness, love, compassion, and the reconciliation of their troubled relationship before her death.

In 2004, an e-book, "Looking Into the Eyes of the Snake, Facing
Immortality at Fifty" was published on her website
www.livealifeofpassion.com   It is a thought-provoking account of Gail's
mid-life crisis as she dealt with her own insanity and the changes to
her physicality as she battled illness.  The experience catapulted her
into a new phase of her life where she finally gave herself permission
to live her dreams.

In 2005, "Giving Gratitude" – Wake Up…Live the Life You Love" was
published by Steven E and Lee Beard and reached #6 on the Barnes &
Noble Bestsellers List.  The book is a compilation of inspirational
stories of life's challenges by successful leaders from around the
world who have triumphed over adversities in their own lives.  Gail
was a co-author with Deepak Chopra, Dr. Wayne Dyer and others.  Her
inspirational chapter tells why and how she found gratitude in the
life she had created based on her early childhood traumas.  From this
experience, she learned forgiveness, compassion, and self-love.

In 2006, Gail moved to the island of Capri, Italy to write her second
fiction novel which was published in September of 2008 by AEG Publishing Group and Eloquent Books.  "The Passions of Roxanna - La Passione di Rossana," is a venturous tale of a woman who awakens one day to realize that her life is dull and unfulfilling, so she travels to the island of Capri chasing a dream.  But before she has time to settle in to island life, she is led from one escapade to another, as she journeys throughout Italy and Greece.  Her story is filled with adventure, comedy, romance and passion.

In 2007, she released her latest e-book, "Depression – Floating
Through it Without Drugs, An Alternative to Antidepressants" on her
www.livealifeofpassion.com website.  This is a simple yet thought
provoking guidebook on how to identify the root cause of depression, and alternative methods to  healing it before turning to antidepressants.  The book is an insight into Gail's own battle with
depression as it showed up in many forms throughout her life.  She
shares the steps she took to overcome it once and for all.

Her first fiction novel is also waiting publication.  "Sacred Love,
The Story of Christina & Adoni."   It is about one woman's journey as
her soul mate comes to her from another dimension as she sleeps.  One
day, both worlds suddenly collide as he steps into her reality. 

Gail has lectured throughout California and New England on topics she has written about.

Other Information:

The Passions of Roxanna” is written in first person narrative, in English with Italian phrases throughout. It is written with a romantic flair… such lines as: “He was kissing my hands as if we were making love and they were the bare skin of my breasts. My face was flushed.” 

For a more intimate look at Gail’s works, please visit her website at: http://www.livealifeofpassion.com