Monday, September 13, 2010

What's this "Harvest Moon" all about anyway?

As some of you know, “Harvest Moon” just debuted (insert screaming and running around in circles). I want to share a bit about the world of Dancing Cat and her family.

**Harvest Moon is set in Northern Alberta. Somewhere between Edmonton and Fort McMurray, to be exact. I wanted a different setting. There are so few stories featuring Canada’s First Nations peoples. It was important for me to include them in my work.

**Yes, Saskatoon berries are real. They're small, so red they're nearly black, and sweet-tart.

**There is no bannock in Harvest Moon. (Pauses to allow the collective gasp of Western Canada to subside). Bannock is a traditional native food around these parts. When I worked at the Mustard Seed, I included raisin and cranberry bannock with my Thanksgiving meal for the homeless. Sadly, this traditional food was only developed after the white arrivals. I can’t find any evidence for it pre-European and a lot against it. So, I left it out. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make yourself a good batch of it before reading Harvest Moon. hint hint shameless promotion

**Yes, there is a bisexual character. And, yes, there is historical evidence showing that some First nations tribes historically accepted homosexuality and bisexuality. So, I included a character that was.

**No one swears or drinks in Harvest Moon. I was too embarrassed to ask my Cree-speaking peers about swear words in Cree. So, those couldn’t exist in the story. Add to that the general lack of alcohol pre-Europeans in Canada. So, Dancing Cat is the most straight-laced character I’ve ever written. It’s no wonder I made the girl change genders. Things were going too smooth for her!


Wanna check out the first scene? Check it out!

Know that you want to buy it? Download it now!

4 comments:

Arlene said...

Hope sales rock, Krista. Again, congrats!

Rebecca Leigh said...

Sounds wonderful! congrats on the new release :)

Cate Masters said...

Very exciting Krista! Congrats!

Krista D. Ball said...

Arlene, hey I hope sales rock, too. I got a student loan to finish paying off before I can afford that maid ;)