Belmond, C.A.

PERSONAL:

Female.

ADDRESSES:

E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Novelist, lyricist, poet, and screenwriter. Has taught writing at New York University, New York, NY. Writer, producer, and director of television dramas, documentaries, and children's series.

MEMBER:

Writers Guild of America, Authors Guild.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Pushcart Press Editors's Book Award finalist; Edward Albee Foundation fellowship; Silver Apple Award for television writing; Karolyi Foundation, France, writer-in-residence.

WRITINGS:

A Rather Lovely Inheritance (novel), New American Library (New York, NY), 2007.

Also author of screenplays. Contributor to the book Minutes of the Lead Pencil Club, edited by Bill Henderson, Pushcart, 1996. Contributor to periodicals, including Blue Light Red Light.

SIDELIGHTS:

The protagonist of C.A. Belmond's debut novel, A Rather Lovely Inheritance, is Penelope Nichols, called Penny, who is a New York freelance researcher working on set-design for movies about great women in history. Penny is summoned to London for the reading of the will of a great aunt who, upon her death, leaves her namesake an inheritance that includes a London apartment and the contents of the garage that adjoins a villa on the French Riviera. The prize in the garage is a valuable antique automobile. The villa is left to Penny's handsome but reserved cousin, Jeremy, a lawyer whose blood relationship to the family is questioned by greedy cousin Rollo. Penny and Jeremy team up to prove the validity of his inheritance, and in so doing, Penny finds that she must now put her professional research skills to work to uncover her family history as they travel to the most exciting of European destinations.

Shannon Bigham reviewed A Rather Lovely Inheritance for the Curled Up with a Good Book Web site, writing that it "is an interesting blend of mystery with a touch of romance and may appeal to mystery and romance readers alike." Booklist contributor Kristine Huntley called the book "an entertaining yarn with family drama and intrigue aplenty."

When asked who or what influences her writing, Belmond told CA: "My mentor [and author] Margaret Atwood, as well as [authors] Jean and Walter Kerr, Malachi Martin, Nora Johnson, and [writer, actor, and director] Woody Allen."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 15, 2006, Kristine Huntley, review of A Rather Lovely Inheritance, p. 23.

Kirkus Reviews, October 1, 2006, review of A Rather Lovely Inheritance, p. 975.

Publishers Weekly, October 23, 2006, review of A Rather Lovely Inheritance, p. 34.

Romantic Times, January, 2007, Sheri Melnick, review of A Rather Lovely Inheritance, p. 58.

ONLINE

Best Reviews,http://www.thebestreviews.com/ (June 22, 2007), Harriet Klausner, review of A Rather Lovely Inheritance.

Blogcritics,http://blogcritics.org/ (April 5, 2007), Katie McNeill, review of A Rather Lovely Inheritance.

C.A. Belmond Home Page,http://www.cabelmond.com (December 26, 2006)

Curled Up with a Good Book,http://www.curledup.com/ (April 15, 2007), Shannon Bigham, review of A Rather Lovely Inheritance.

Romance Reviews Today,http://www.romrevtoday.com/ (January 2, 2007), Jane Bowers, review of A Rather Lovely Inheritance.