Authorpreneur Dashboard – Amie OBrien
The Merchant’s Pearl
Romance
The opinionated daughter of a missionary is enslaved and gifted to a Muslim prince who has an inner vow to win her affection.
Book Bubbles from The Merchant’s Pearl
I Wouldn't Wish This Life on Another
I had very deep convictions when I wrote this story. I honestly believe the novel came out of my own questions about the great contradiction in life to the morals of love, freedom, and faithfulness. My characters created this dialogue that helped me express my anger toward the injustice of not only slavery, but how women are looked upon and treated. Hard convictions about how we're so often forced to find our worth in only the parts of ourselves that society tells us is valuable. Only those parts of us can never really satisfy others, right? Sexual desires often become heightened only to then plateau, even with the most enticing lovers of the world. Emre's character is not only a sounding board for those expressed convictions through Leila, he also creates a view of the other side. Through Emre we see how difficult it is to be a man living in a sexually-charged culture. How hard it is embody faithfulness or to challenge a system that has been in place since the beginning of time.
My Mother's Ring
Here’s a scene where Leila and the concubines she shares a room with each receive a gift from Emre. I won't speak of Leila's gift, and Aster's was merely an item I encountered in my research. But Dariya's gift was special to me—a ring that used to belong to my mother. We lived in a modest home, but my mother had a fondness of rings. She had six on her fingers on any given day. One ring fascinated me the most, an over-sized, pointy onyx ring she wore on her middle finger. I used to try it on as a child whenever she would take it off. It went far past my knuckle. When I was eleven, much of my mother's jewelry was "lifted" from her jewelry box by someone familiar with our family, going through a rough spell. My mother was sad and rarely collected any special pieces after that. When my mother passed away recently, my father presented me with her wedding ring, other rings, and just about every earring my mother had ever owned. He uncovered a bag of miscellaneous rings, too, and I began to hope the one I loved was in there. It wasn't. Though it remains missing, it's nice to know that I somehow preserved that memory of her here, within these pages.
Far too Easy to Taunt
I had so much fun writing this chapter. I can remember sitting in the front passenger seat of my husband's car, surrounded by miles and miles of mountains, him poking at me to lift my eyes from my laptop and see the beauty around me. (This is nothing unusual when we travel. I have learned to save my work now for flatter states like Ohio and Indiana.) But I think there is something truly playful about crafting your characters and seeing where their personalities lead you. I knew Leila's right from the bat. But Emre...I wanted Emre to come across as someone the reader couldn't make heads or tails of. That they would encounter him and, eventually, find themselves completely befuddled by him. Is he good? Is he just careless and selfish? Should she trust him? Why the heck do I suddenly want this girl to be with him??? I think this is a debate that Leila soon finds herself to be in.
The Truth About Emre
Leo Tolstoy once said, "The best stories don't come from good vs. bad, but good vs. good." I think that's one of the really special things about The Merchant's Pearl. The character that you are most inclined to pen as the villain is, in all actually, quite the victim himself. It is in this scene that Leila is starting to become aware of Emre's entrapment. For years, she has esteemed him as someone very powerful, yet now she is realizing that he may understand the subject of powerlessness better than most.
Why Should He Need More?
For centuries it was customary within the Ottoman Empire that a man could marry as many as four wives. But...one could also have concubines, as many as their harem could financially support. Only a small percentage of Ottoman men actually had more than one wife. However, within the palace, both luxury and beauty were abundant. My character, Leila, was enslaved after her missionary parents were murdered by an angry neighbor. She has been in the Imperial Harem since she was eleven years old. At age eighteen, she has been gifted to the sultan's son, Emre. Needless to say, she is not eagerly embracing this new life with him.
Dolmabahce Palace
I don't believe my eyes have ever beheld a more spectacular view than that of the Dolmabahce Palace. It was, without a doubt, the most surreal feeling to explore the same hallways, same ballrooms, and garden paths that Leila would have trod. But standing inside one of the grand living spaces and seeing the sunlight sparkle against the water in the daylight was breathtaking. I just stood there, moments on end, taking it all in. It was impossible to stay there overnight, so I conducted my research by renting a room for 3 nights in what used to be the grand vizier's mansion. Also located right on the water and only a small stretch down from the palace, it was everything I could have ever imagined and more.
