Ed Protzel’s novel, The Lies that Bind, has been acquired by TouchPoint Press!

IRVING, Texas - March 4, 2015 - PRLog -- Ed Protzel’s novel, The Lies that Bind, a darkly ironic antebellum mystery/drama set in Turkle, Mississippi, 1859-61, has been acquired by TouchPoint Press!

Durksen Hurst, aka Dark Horse, a visionary charlatan on the run, encounters a dozen hungry slaves stranded in the Mississippi wilds. Two desperate peoples, both in need of one another, agree to build an egalitarian plantation, with Hurst acting as figurehead“master” to deceive the town after he “wins” the land from a Chickasaw chief, the actual deed holder.

On the adjacent property live the Frenches: a controlling matriarch who manipulates the region’s bankers and cotton brokers, and her frail, rebellious heir-apparent. They “legally” adopt a child from New Orleans to carry on their legacy. Now, Antoinette, the mother, has come for her son and gets much more than she expected.

No one is who they pretend to be and more than anyone can imagine.

The novel is based on Protzel’s screenplay which was recognized by the Missouri Playwrights Association. It had brief Hollywood exposure; was called “a great script” by 20^th Century Fox’s Murray Silverman, Paramount’s Sherry Lansing, and Chelsea Studiosproducer Stan Zuckerman.

The final two novels of the trilogy include the same major characters as the original: Honor Among Outcasts is set in Missouri during the transition from the Civil War to a violent reconstruction and Something in Madness is set in California as Durksen and Antoinette become the tumultuous state’s embattled first couple while others side with vested powerful interests.

Ed has written five original screenplays for feature film and worked developing film scripts/projects for 20^th Century Fox. He has a Master’s in English Literature/Creative Writing from the University of Missouri-St. Louis and a B.A. in English, with a minor in history, from the University of Hawaii. www.edprotzel.com

Published by TouchPoint Press www.touchpointpress.com

Represented by Loiacono Literary Agency www.loiaconoliteraryagency.com