Blood Moon: Diary of a Highland Massacre
Fate of the True VampiresNovella 3
Christine Church
Genre: Historical Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Grey Horse Press
Date of Publication: February 2018
ISBN: 978-0692063095
ASIN: B07317PW2R
Number of pages: 74
Word Count: approx. 30,000
Cover Artist: Christine Church
Tagline: Read the 17th century journals of Wolfe Amus MacDonald Stewart and discover the truth to an age-old mystery.
Book Description:
Scottish Highlands, 1692. Befell the tragedy of Mort Ghlinne Comhann, also known as the Murder at Glencoe.
Despite his own incongruous past, all Wolfe Stewart wants is a simple life, free from the persecutions of the Crown. And when he rescues a Child of the Mist from an “Asian man who disappears into the snow as if he were never there,” Wolfe has received his wish. However, mysteries still plague him. He gets no answers, but more questions when a familiar stranger arrives with his cousin and Regiment soldiers to take up the hospitality of the MacDonalds of Glencoe for a fortnight.
Little did the clan suspect what would soon befall them. After the massacre on 13 February, 1692, most MacDonalds lay dead, many exposed to the elements perished, homes burned. Wolfe and his friend Fergus are taken away for reasons unknown.
But why would Campbell and his men commit such a hideous and unholy crime? The truth will not be found in history books. The beast behind this tragic night holds nothing but greed within his heart, and using the Jacobite risings as his cover, he gets what he wants and leaves behind death and suffering.
Excerpt:
A dreary gray
mist settled over the Glen, the distant peaks of the Three Sisters Mountains
concealed beneath a deep fog that obscured the landscape. However, the weather
never kept us young lads from a bonnie game of shot-put in the field. The chill
air felt faint against my flesh, though I was donned only in my féileadh-beag,
boots and a linen sark.
My shoulder
ached from tossing more than my weight in large stones, yet still I was in the
game. I lifted quite a bonnie rock, and ignoring the pull in my shoulder, I
drew my arm back. Afore I could toss, however, a far-off eerie cry startled me.
The boulder landed with a hard thud in the weeds, barely missing my toes.
“Mhac Na Galla!”
I cursed, leaping out of its way.
The call sounded
once more.
“Wha’ is that?”
I asked, rubbing my shoulder and stretching my arm to take off the ache.
“I dinna ken,”
said Ian, who stepped up beside me, listening.
“A wolf?” asked
Fergus.
Colin weighed
in. “An adventure!”
About the Author:
Writing has always been in Ms. Church's blood. At age 9, she wrote small picture books, taped them together (too young for staples??) and even gave them a publishing house name (Church Books; what else?). To this day, those ‘books’ sit in storage somewhere. In school, Church could be found in the back of the classroom, writing short stories (and still managing A's in English and Art).
Church's first book, House Cat (non-fiction) was published when an editor who rejected it left the publishing house and the new editor chose Church’s manuscript proposal from the previous editor’s pile of 200 rejected manuscript proposals, and saw it to publication (plus a Revised Edition 7 years later, which is still on the shelves). From there, Church received offers from Animal Planet (when it was still about animals) and more book assignments. Her book Indoor Cats won the 2001 Iams Responsible Cat Ownership Award.
After working for years honing her fiction skills, Ms. Church made the decision to write a novella, a brainstorm idea introducing a brand new, conceptual and innovative vampire series in a way never before done. As a no-name in fiction, this was a big, bold move. With no cash, no job (on disability), she put the book out all on her own; writing, editing, cover design, formatting, everything. Though far from perfect, this was a big step and a big dream.
Book One received a Finalist Medal in the 2016 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, and Book Two received the 2017 Finalist for the Next Generation Indie Book Award.
Web (free book with sign up): http://www.christinechurch.net
Twitter: https://twitter.com/christinechurch
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