The Past Came Hunting

It's release week party time!!!

Our own Donnell Ann Bell's debut novel, The Past Came Hunting releases this week!

Donnell and I were Golden Heart sisters twice and I couldn't be more thrilled that this book will now be available for readers to enjoy!


They Never Expected To Meet Again, But A Dangerous Past Haunts Them

Fifteen years ago a young Colorado Springs police officer arrested a teen runaway accused of aiding a convenience store robbery and attempted murder. She was innocent, but still served prison time briefly. Her testimony sent the real thief to jail for much longer. Now she’s a young widow raising a son, and the man she put in prison is free and seeking revenge. She moves to a home in a new neighborhood—then learns that her next-door neighbor is the by-the-book officer who arrested her. Now he’s a Colorado Springs P.D. Lieutenant. Like it or not, he may be the only one who can protect her and her son from the past he helped create.


(excerpt from The Past Came Hunting)

Standing in the presence of Matt’s never-stay-at-home dad, relief flooded her. “Oh, Mr. Crandall, thank heavens. My name’s Melanie. My son, Luke, is a friend of Matt’s. Call me a flake, but I’m out of gas.”

He reached across the seat and opened the passenger door. Light flooded the interior. “Happens to the best of us. There’s a gas station on the corner. Hop in.”

Even though his voice seemed kind, she hesitated. After all, taking rides from sweet-talking strangers had been her downfall. But that had been a lifetime ago, and she knew this man. Or at least his son. The decision made, she rounded the car. Sliding in beside him, the scent of coffee and his musky fragrance filled the air. “I can’t thank you enough. I wanted to start . . .dinner.”

That’s when she saw this was no ordinary vehicle. A laptop computer was bracketed to the console, and above it a radio. The world seemed to slow as she focused on every detail. The dash . . . the console . . . and finally the man behind the wheel.

Her gaze took in his long legs, the veins in his powerful-looking hands, his rolled-up sleeves and at last settled on the sizeable scar on his inner forearm.

Shock made her numb. It wasn’t possible. How had she missed the connection? She hadn’t thought of the man in years. The cop who’d arrested her, his name had been .. . Crandall.

Somehow Mel found the strength to look into his eyes. And when she did, she came face to face with what could only be a mutually shocked expression.

“You,” she whispered.

“You,” he replied.

GET TO KNOW DONNELL ANN BELL

MAUREEN: Which of your characters would you most/least to invite to dinner, and why?

DONNELL: I would invite Lt. Joe Crandall to dinner; don’t know that I’d eat much, but I’d sure enjoy the view. Least. Drake Maxwell. He’s angry at my protagonist, Melanie, and since I created her, he might just take it out on me.

MAUREEN: Ha! What’s in your refrigerator right now?

DONNELL: Three bottles of wine (unopened) every time someone comes to dinner or to play cards, they bring a bottle of wine. I like Berringer’s White Zinfandel; the others will remain their indefinitely. Leftover Chicken enchiladas that I made this evening, eggs, cheese, grapes and plums. I went shopping today ;)

MAUREEN: What is your favorite tradition from your childhood?

DONNELL: Christmas Eve, Midnight Mass, then hot chocolate and opening presents afterward, then sleeping in.

MAUREEN: What do you do to unwind and relax?

DONNELL: Soak in a hot tub with a glass of Berringer’s White Zinfandel.;)

MAUREEN: Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?

DONNELL: I go for a walk, or pick up the phone and brainstorm with a critique partner. I like to pace while I brainstorm… oh, and my hands take on a life of their own when we figure things out.

MAUREEN: Ah, there's nothing like those flying hands when they figure things out! What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

DONNELL: I can’t sit down at my computer and write from scratch. My process is to write the story in shorthand, either in my bedroom, living room or on my patio, then later print it out in longhand, and finally, I’ll type it out on the keyboard. By the time I get to the keyboard, I have a very well-defined book.

MAUREEN: How much money does it take to be happy?

DONNELL: Money doesn’t make me happy. I’m not material. I wouldn’t know a name brand from a generic anything ;) . But I do like having an emergency cushion. So how about: Enough money to give my family and me a feeling of security.

MAUREEN: What’s the most unusual thing you’ve learned while researching a novel.

DONNELL: I learned from a sergeant working narcotics that you can use spray starch to determine if someone’s cooked meth in a hotel room. He said if the wall turns black, he not only leaves that room, he leaves the entire establishment, after, of course, demanding his money back.

MAUREEN: I must remember to bring spray starch on my next road trip. :) What dreams have been realized as a result of your writing?

DONNELL: The friendships I’ve made along the way and seeing a story I believed in come to fruition.

DONNELL ASKS READERS: In The Past Came Hunting, my heroine makes a youthful mistake that she ends up paying for years and years later. Do you enjoy women in jeopardy stories, and, put yourself in the place of my heroine. Have you ever made a youthful mistake?

Comments will enter you in a drawing to win an Advanced Reader Copy of THE PAST CAME HUNTING.

Congratulations, Donnell!!!!