Friday, September 20, 2013

Historical Romance Novel Kira, Daughter of the Moon on Super Sale!


Historical Romance Kira, Daughter of the Moon, cover by Rare Monet

Normally $5.69, Kira, Daughter of the Moon is .99 in  Kindle and NookbookBut only for two weeks, so get your copy now!
Can a beautiful Scots-Irish healer suspected of witchcraft and a renegade white warrior find love together and avoid the hangman’s noose in the colonial frontier?

If you enjoyed Through the Fire and want to know what happens next, Kira, Daughter of the Moon is the sequel. Although Kira, Daughter of the Moon is written to stand alone, it would be better to read Through the Fire first, a 2008 Golden Heart® Finalist and In the top ten Publisher’s Weekly BHB Reader’s Choice Best Books of 2009.

GH BannerThrough the Fire is full of interesting characters, beautifully described scenery, and vivid action sequences. It is a must read for any fan of historical romance.”~Poinsettia, for Long and Short Reviews

“I have been a fan of Ms. Trissel’s work for years. Kira, Daughter of the Moon completely lived up to every one of my expectations. I highly recommend this wonderfully written tale to anyone who loves historical romance.” ~Poinsettia for Long and Short Reviews

Through the Fire cover Resized Again

“This is one page turner you might read in record speed. Except when you get near the end. If it’s read slower the story will last longer. That’s when it’s time to savor the story for a while and when the story is really good it almost seems a shame to begin another book with the memory of the current book still fresh in your mind.” ~Martha Decker for Examiner.com for Kira, Daughter of the Moon
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beautiful dark haired woman with blue eyes twoStory Description:

With the terror of the French and Indian War fresh in her mind, can Kira love a white warrior?

Logan McCutcheon returns to colonial Virginia after seven years in the hands of Shawnee Indians. But was he really a captive, as everybody thinks? He looks and fights like a warrior, and seems eager to return to those he calls friends and family.

Kira McClure has waited for Logan all those years, passing herself off as odd to keep suitors at bay–and anyone else from getting too close. Now that he’s back, he seems to be the only person capable of protecting her from the advances of Josiah Campbell and accusations of witchcraft. And to defend the settlers against a well-organized band of murderous thieves.~
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handsome-man-beautiful-eyes-ruggedSet among the superstitious Scots in the rugged Alleghenies, Kira, Daughter of the Moon is an adventurous romance with a blend of Celtic and Native American flavors, and is Book Four in my Native American Warrior series.

The series loosely ties together based more on time and place and strong Native American characters than as a traditional series that follows the storyline, except for Kira, Daughter of the Moon and Through the FireIn addition to Native Americans, hardy Scots-Irish frontiersmen and women, colonial Englishmen and ladies, and even a few Frenchmen also play an important role in this series. So far, it spans the gamut from the dramatic era of the French and Indian War, through Pontiac’s War, The American Revolution and shortly thereafter. But that time period may broaden as more stories are added to this line, and there will be more sequels.~

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 ***Visit my Amazon Author Page

Kira, Daughter of the Moon is published by The Wild Rose Press, Cover by Rae Monet. Daughter Elise did the cover for Through the Fire, formerly published by The Wild Rose Press, now relaunched as an indie title.


Saturday, September 14, 2013

Supernatural Tales from Back in the Hollow


These excerpts are taken from Supernatural Tales,The Virginia and West Virginia Mountain and Valley Folklife Series by late Shenandoah Valley author and historian John Heatwole. Mr. Heatwole interviewed many inhabitants of Brock’s Gap and wrote up a wonderful collection of stories included in his series.
He said, “The Brocks Gap section of Rockingham county is rich in folklore of all kinds. It is an area in the northwest part of the county isolated by the North Mountain range.”
The following spooky stories are a great source of entertainment while snug inside next to a warm hearth, but not so much fun if you find yourself out on your own in the woods and hollows after dark.~
“Frank Caplinger lived across the road from the old Caplinger Chapel near the Criders Post Office in western Brocks Gap. In the evening Frank would sometimes hear pews scraping on the floor of the church on the other side of the road. Each time he walked over to check on things he would find the building empty with no signs that anyone had been there.
Once Frank was crossing the German River on the old suspension foot bridge; he was going to the post office on the opposite bank. As he entered the bridge he looked up and saw a strange man sitting on top of the cable frame, still and quiet. When Frank neared the other end of the bridge he looked back and the figure had vanished. It was impossible for the man to have scrambled down and run out of sight that quickly.”
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“Other folks remember strange lights on the mountains or in the cemeteries. Harrison May recalled: ‘We’d see lights up in the Caplinger Cemetery every so often. When we got there to check there’d be no lights anywhere.  Guess they were just spooks.’”
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“When Nelson Whetzel was a young man he had an interesting experience while walking home from work one evening. In Brocks Gap in earlier times the only things to light ones way were the stars or the glow from a lamp in a neighbor’s window.
As he walked Nelson heard a horse coming up the road behind him. Nelson stopped for a moment, thinking, ‘Good! I’ll have someone to talk to.’ But the sound of the horse’s hooves stopped when he did. He called out, asking who was there in the pitch-black.
No answer came and Nelson began uneasily walking again, this time a little faster. The sound of the horse picked up pace to match Nelson’s. He stopped a second time and the sound of the horse ceased to be heard.  Nelson started trotting and the sound horse’s hooves were heard at a trot behind him, close on his heels. He grew very frightened and began to run as fast as he could. The galloping horse seemed to be so close, Nelson thought he felt the breath on the back of his neck.
Up ahead Nelson saw the lighted windows of the cabin belonging to George and Mat Smith.   He was so terrified that he hit the Smith’s front door at full force. He knocked it down and went right through the structure, knocking down the back door as he exited. The Smiths blinked at each other in wonder and amazement.  They saw no phantom horse follow Nelson through their home.
Immediately after his encounter with the doors Nelson noticed the sound of the pursuing horse was gone, however, he ran on home as fast as his feet would carry him.”
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*That tale reminds me of the headless horseman from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Scary!
“The Roadcaps lived in a two-story log cabin just down the road from Gospel Hill Mennonite Church. All of the girls of the family shared a room upstairs. One night one of the sisters, Peggy by name,  went to the bedroom alone.  There she saw a woman sitting up on the iron headboard of one of the beds.
The woman didn’t say anything or move toward the frightened child, just sat there and looked at her. Peggy was rooted to the spot in fear but able to find her voice and call to her father to come to her aid. There was something in her voice that demanded immediate attention and she heard his heavy footfall as he hurried up the stairs.  As her father neared the room, the woman vanished into thin air. Peggy never entered that room alone again.
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The children of the Roadcap family loved to play on the banks of the little Shoemaker River near their home. Once they came running home and told their father they’d seen a woman all dressed in white walking along the opposite bank of the river from where they played. They’d never seen her before and being shy had not spoken to her but only observed her progress.
Their father listened thoughtfully and then told them they had seen the spirit of a young woman who had died years before of a broken heart. They were told they would probably see her again and that she would do them no harm. They were to behave as they had before and refrain from calling out to the spirit.
They believed their father. There were not that many people living in those parts and the children knew them all. They promised not to disturb the apparition if they encountered her again. During their childhoods they witnessed her strolling along the river on several more occasions.
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That story reminds me of the novel, The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, which was a very intriguing 1997 BBC mystery/thriller starring Tara Fitzgerald.   I rented the film on Netflix this summer and highly recommend it.
***If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy the one entitled:The Poltergeist in our Old Farm House