Edmond, Oklahoma – 4RV Publishing announces the novel Stolen by Vivian Gilbert Zabel will be officially released November 1. ARCs (Advance Reader Copies) were sent to reviewers the past two months, and the book’s debut will be in time for Christmas shopping.
The emotion, frustration, and helplessness she felt when two grandchildren were taken by their father led Zabel to write Stolen. She said, “I took the overpowering feelings that were drowning me and gave them to the main character in the book.” She added that the emotions remained, but they became manageable.
Zabel also stated that it took ten years for the novel to see print. “It took three years to write, four more to proof and edit (with six editors going over and through it time after time), and the last three to prepare for publication.” Most books take considerably less time, but according to the author, this one simply wouldn’t “finish” until after her grandchildren rejoined the family, twelve years after they were taken.
The novel will be available through any bookstore, the 4RV Publishing website book store, plus other online book providers such as Amazon. Pre-sales are open on the publishing website now.
http://4rvpublishingllc.com/Novels.html
Zabel has won several awards with her writing, including first place with her mystery/suspense Midnight Hours. She taught English and writing for nearly 30 years and edited newspapers, yearbooks, and literary magazines sporadically for 45. She had poetry, short stories, and articles published over the years, but while raising her family and teaching, she didn’t have time to write longer works. After retirement, she produced a collection of short stories with Holly Jahangiri, Hidden Lies and Other Stories; a collection of poetry with seven other poets located in the United States and Canada, Walking the Earth: Life’s Perspectives in Poetry; three young adult books, The Base Stealers, Case of the Missing Coach, Prairie Dog Cowboy; and two novels including Stolen.
A wife for nearly 49 years, the mother of three living children, grandmother of ten grandchildren, and great-grandmother of five, Zabel believes family and faith are most important, and that belief finds its way in most of her writing. Her characters come from people she observes or reads about mixed with her imagination. Plots take a gain of an idea and combine with a massive dosage of “what if.”
Vivian Zabel appears at book festivals and other book events around her home state of Oklahoma. Her most recent, October 30 at Tahlequah’s Author Fest, will be a pre-debut of Stolen.
December 8, 2010 at 10:01 am
Thank you, Dianne, for hosting me today. I hope many people visit and leave comments.
December 8, 2010 at 10:30 am
Writing is therapeutic. I tell people that all the time. Vivian Zabel endorses that theory with STOLEN. Great work. And thank for the interview.
December 8, 2010 at 10:48 am
Vivian sounds like an amazing person and her book probably is that way too. Thanks for sharing about it.
December 8, 2010 at 10:52 am
I’m looking forward to reading this book. I too, have had family members disappear from my life and had no clue where they were. It’s a tough thing to deal with.
December 8, 2010 at 10:58 am
Diane, Great job describing Vivian. Janet, Vivian is an amazing person and one worth getting to know through her books. STOLEN is worth taking time to read, it beats any of the movie of the week shows out there. I hope you have the opportunity to read it. ~Nita
December 8, 2010 at 11:25 am
Vivian, it’s amazing what inspiration we can take from real life. Stolen sounds like an edge of your seat suspense! It’s in my TBR pile.
Smiles
Steph
December 8, 2010 at 11:37 am
I clicked “Notify me of follow-up comments via email, but I didn’t get a notice that people were leaving comments, or I would have returned sooner.
I appreciate the nice comments about me and about Stolen. Yes, having people disappear is gut wrenching and life changing.
December 8, 2010 at 1:26 pm
I think Stolen is a marvelous story. I commend Vivian for having the courage to write it since it affect her own family. It’s the tragedy you hope you’ll never experience. Perhaps this book will help someone else cope. I know Vivian hopes so.
December 8, 2010 at 2:47 pm
8 December 2010
Hello, Dianne….Enjoyed meeting you last April. It’s nice to see Vivian’s Stolen receiving so much attention, as it is worthy of same. My review of the novel is at http://www.vehoae.com under the category “Reviews”.
Blessings….
vehoae
December 8, 2010 at 3:45 pm
Hi, Nancy and vehoae. Glad you came by.
Vehoae’s review is a good one, too. If you want to know about Stolen, please read.
December 8, 2010 at 7:45 pm
You read about bad things happening in the newspaper and see it on TV, but when it happens to you personally, you truly understand the heartache and the pain of the people involved. I haven’t read Stolen yet, but if the rest of the novel has as much emotion as the first chapter does I’ll need a box of tissues to finish it. Best of luck to you, Vivian.
December 8, 2010 at 7:59 pm
Everyone says to have tissues close by. I know I did every time I worked on the manuscript.
Thanks for stopping by, Beverly, and if you should read the novel, please let me know what you think.
December 8, 2010 at 8:00 pm
Dianne, thank you for hosting me today, and thanks for everyone who left a comment.
Merry Christmas to all.
December 9, 2010 at 7:22 am
My goodness, I need tissues just from reading this interview!
Vivian, you are such a strong woman and I’m so glad that Stolen could come to fruition after years of tears, writing and editing – because your grandchildren were FOUND. Praise God for His mercy in allowing you to be reunited.
Congrats on your book’s release.
December 9, 2010 at 7:45 am
Vivian what a heartbreaking experience but so good that as a writer you found a place to let out your pain and give everyone a good read. Glad all worked out in the end!
December 9, 2010 at 9:26 am
My comment is a bit late (so typical of me), but I also wanted to say that Vivian’s book STOLEN is on my TBR list.
December 9, 2010 at 1:04 pm
I’ve had the chance to read an excerpt from STOLEN and it brought tears to my eyes. I think when I get a chance to read this book, I’ll need to make sure I have a whole box of tissues.
Thank you for hosting Vivian and her book on your blog.
December 10, 2010 at 3:42 pm
Thanks for all the added comments. I enjoyed reading each one.
I’ve enjoyed the blog book tour more than writing the book.