A Healer, Nature Lover, and Suspected Witch--Kira, Daughter of the Moon--Beth Trissel

Release Day was Nov 2nd! Now, more about my new historical romance and very unique heroine. 

A beautiful Scots-Irish healer in the rugged Alleghenies finds herself accused of witchcraft. With the terror of the French and Indian War fresh in her mind, can Kira love a white warrior?

1765––The recent Indian wars are over (for now) and an uneasy truce in place. Free-spirited Kira is at odds with the superstitious Scots-Irish in the settlement and rumor spreads that she may be a witch. Her imagination runs to fairy rings, the little people, and haints (something that’s there but ain’t). She's happiest out among the trees where she can hide from her painful past and any warriors who might again appear. A gifted healer with a menagerie of wild creatures, she's in the forest releasing a tame crow when her little beagle sounds the alarm. She peers warily from the leaves at the handsome young stranger. His buckskin breechclout and moccasins are more in keeping with a warrior's than any frontiersmen she knows and there's a stealth in his manner that reminds her of the way Indians pass through the trees. Yet he's not a warrior. Unless, he’s a renegade. This is the set up for the story, but there’s a great deal more behind it, and especially, Kira, the most unique heroine I’ve ever written.

Not only does Kira have a tame crow she’s nursed back to health, but a number of wild animals under her care in what she calls her nursery, a protected nook in the woods close to the homestead where she lives with the Houston family who took her in after her parent’s death (relatives of the hero, Logan McCutcheon). Some of her Kira’s babies ride in pockets she’s sewn inside her cloak for that purpose. Her guardian, particularly his wife, aren’t happy about hosting her creatures and banish the talkative crow, the reason she’s in the woods releasing him when she spots the potential threat.

Besides my love of animals, two books influenced this aspect of Kira’s character, one was a children’s book my youngest daughter brought home from the school library in fifth grade. I wish I could recall the title and maybe a helpful reader will because I’d love to locate a copy. I only remember it’s a true story about a family who took in injured and orphaned animals and I was much impressed by their talking crows. The second book, The Singing Creek Where the Willows Grow, The Mystical Nature Diary of Opal Whiteley, is a remarkable journal first written in crayon by an amazing girl, and later laboriously pierced back together after her sister shredded the pages. Sadly, Opal suffered from schizophrenia in an era when little was known about treatment, but her relationship with nature is the most outstanding I’ve ever come across.

When I first wrote Kira, Daughter of the Moon, I simply entitled the novel Kira, because she’s very much her own person. But she evolves into a much stronger young woman as a result of Logan’s return to her life, and that aspect of Kira is influenced by the Native Americans he counts as friends who give her the name, Daughter of the Moon.

***Kira, Daughter of the Moon is available in print and various ebook formats from The Wild Rose Press, from Amazon, Barnes & Noble’s Nookbook, All Romance eBooks, and other online booksellers.

New Historical Romance Novel Kira, Daughter of the Moon and Giveaway--Beth Trissel

‘A beautiful Scots-Irish healer in the rugged Alleghenies finds herself accused of witchcraft. With the terror of the French and Indian War fresh in her mind, can Kira love a white warrior?’

Kira, Daughter of the Moon, the third in my colonial frontier series, follows Through the Fire and Red Bird’s Song. Though written to stand alone, Kira, Daughter of the Moon is the long-awaited sequel to Through the Fire and features strong secondary characters introduced in that novel, with the addition of the very unique heroine, Kira, and other new characters. The story also builds on the conflict between Scots-Irish settlers and frontiersmen, the Shawnee and their allies, and British mandates regarding the return of white captives depicted in Red Bird’s Song.

Set in the rugged Alleghenies in the colonial Virginia frontier, the story opens in the spring of 1765, about six months after the close of Red Bird’s Song in the fall of 1764. Through the Fire takes place the summer of 1758 at the height of the French and Indian War. For those of you interested in this obscure but vital era of American history, a second war lead by Chief Pontiac (who united a number of the tribes) followed on the heels of the French and Indian, a sort of part two. That’s the war wrapping up in Red Bird’s Song, but to anxious settlers the Indian Wars just flowed together with times when attacks were more prevalent than others. 

These harried folk trying to survive didn’t keep track of the names of the wars. They didn’t always even know which tribe was attacking them, and some war parties were a mix of allied warriors. But the Shawnee gained the distinction of being the most feared tribe in the Shenandoah Valley and the Virginia frontier—the ultimate badass. The French officers who lead some of these attacks were particularly hated, to this day in some mountainous regions of Virginia and now West Virginia. Memories run deep. Bear in mind that Virginia used to be vast and encompassed states.

Dread of Indian attacks, of being killed or captured, of what happened to captive loved ones, and mistrust of white men who turned renegade and ran with war parties was on the minds of these mistrustful and superstitious Scots-Irish. Not that all settlers were Scots. Some were German/Swiss and English, but the clannish Scots tended to band together. And this is the volatile background for Kira, Daughter of the Moon.

(***Old family musket and pouch and powder horn)

Blurb:

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.

Excerpt:

“My secret in exchange for yours.”

     

Tantalizing.  He was drawing her into his snare, but she couldn’t resist asking, “How do you know I’ve a secret?”

    

“To begin with, you’re hiding in a tree.  What from, a wild beast?”

    

“Near enough.  You.”

     

He smiled.  “Was I to think you a large red bird, or overlook you entirely?”

     

Drawing her remaining shreds of dignity around her like a mantle, she said, “This isn’t one of my best hiding places.”

     

“Indeed?  Where are the others?” 

    

“That would be telling.” 

     

The strengthening breeze tossed the branches around them as he considered.  “You never could keep secrets from me, Cricket.  I’ll discover them and you.”

     

An assertion she found both disturbing and oddly heartening.

     

His lips curved as if the deed were already done.  “Why were you hiding?  Am I so very frightening?”

     

“Oh––I feared you were some sort of warrior.”

    

The humor faded from his eyes.  “I am.”~

About Beth Trissel: Married to my high school sweetheart, I live on a farm in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia surrounded by my children, grandbabies, and assorted animals. An avid gardener, my love of herbs and heirloom plants figures into my work. The rich history of Virginia, the Native Americans and the people who journeyed here from far beyond her borders are at the heart of my inspiration. In addition to American settings, I also write historical and time travel romances set in the British Isles. For more on me, my blog is the happening place: One Writer’s Way

***If you would like the chance to win a copy of Kira, Daughter of the Moon in pdf or mobi format (winner's choice) please leave me a comment.

***Kira, Daughter of the Moon is available in print and various ebook formats from The Wild Rose Press, from Amazon, Barnes & Noble’s Nookbook, All Romance eBooks, and other online booksellers.

The Story Behind My New Historical Romance Novel Kira, Daughter of the Moon--Beth Trissel

Many stories lie at the heart of Kira, Daughter of the Moon, but the beginning emerged while I was writing Through the Fire, my award-winning historical romance novel with a The Last of the Mohican’s flavor. I hadn’t planned a sequel to Through the Fire, but vivid dreams of a plot line connected with that story came to me, and not only while I was asleep. Characters and scenes, or snatches of scenes, also flashed across my mind during waking hours. Although the best place for musing on a story dwells in that dreamy realm between wake and sleep.

I’m not sure how much time passed with me mentally filing away snatches of imagery before I actually began writing what grew into Kira, Daughter of the Moon. But these glimpses of a related novel led me to include certain elements in Through the Fire that later surfaced in Kira, Daughter of the Moon, including a treasure I can’t go into without giving away too much. And dead doesn’t necessarily mean gone. And I do mean dead, not the ‘you thought they were dead but weren’t really kind of stuff.’ I’m talking ghostly here.

No, you don’t have to read Through the Fire first to appreciate Kira, Daughter of the Moon, as the story is written to stand alone, but it would certainly enhance your experience. You may ask why it took me so long to complete this novel. Because I struggled with various portions, most importantly the ending–rather critical. I also originally wrote it entirely from the heroine, Kira’s, point of view, then went back and labored to add Logan’s. I should add that Logan is terrific. One of my all-time favorite heroes and a joy to work with. Keep in touch, dude.

Back to the saga of writing and rewriting ‘Kira’ – a journey I undertook annually, usually in the spring when the story is set. Gradually, the novel took form, but that ending still daunted me until, finally, I clearly envisioned how it went without lingering doubts.

No trouble. Ha! Nearly drove me insane getting it right. Who knows, maybe I am bonkers. “Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.” ~E. L. Doctorow

As for me, I’ll just go and talk ‘amongst my selves’ while I work on my next project, or so it seems at times when the characters vie for space in my already overcrowded mind. Who said or did what–quick!  Write it down. It’s a mad scramble when the muse is with me. Nothing, when the voices are silent. I must listen well.

After all my blood, sweat, and tears, if you don’t like Kira, Daughter of the Moon, I’ll have my two-year old grandbaby, Chloe, give you the stink eye (no one does it better). If you’re a fan, she’ll do her super happy face. Feeling down?  She’ll sing you ‘Soft Kitty.’

This great quote sums up my writing motto: “I try to leave out the parts that people skip.” ~Elmore Leonard

Blurb:

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.

Excerpt:

“My secret in exchange for yours.”

Tantalizing.  He was drawing her into his snare, but she couldn’t resist asking, “How do you know I’ve a secret?”

“To begin with, you’re hiding in a tree.  What from, a wild beast?”

“Near enough.  You.”

He smiled.  “Was I to think you a large red bird, or overlook you entirely?”

Drawing her remaining shreds of dignity around her like a mantle, she said, “This isn’t one of my best hiding places.”

“Indeed?  Where are the others?”

“That would be telling.”

The strengthening breeze tossed the branches around them as he considered.  “You never could keep secrets from me, Cricket.  I’ll discover them and you.”

An assertion she found both disturbing and oddly heartening.

His lips curved as if the deed were already done.  “Why were you hiding?  Am I so very frightening?”

“Oh––I feared you were some sort of warrior.”

The humor faded from his eyes.  “I am.”

***Kira, Daughter of the Moon is available in print and various ebook formats from The Wild Rose Press, from Amazon, Barnes & Noble’s Nookbook, All Romance eBooks, and other online booksellers.

***Royalty free images — Stunning covers by Rae Monet

For more on me my blog is the happening place: http://bethtrissel.wordpress.com/