Wednesday Promo- Paty Jager

Spirit of the Mountain my first historical paranormal is releasing this Friday!! I've been on a blog tour all week, and I'm giving away an autographed copy. Check out the side bar and see where I've been and hop on over to collect the puzzle pieces from each blog. Today I'm at Autumn Jordan's.

My August release is Spirit of the Mountain, a paranormal historical set among the Nez Perce of NE Oregon. I grew up in their beloved Wallowa Valley and have always had an interest in their culture. When the idea came to me to write about Native American spirits I knew exactly which tribe and band to use in my story- The Wallowa Lake band of Nimiipuu. This is also the band of the infamous Chief Joseph. While this story starts before Chief Joseph's time, the second book in the trilogy deals with the coming of the White man to the valley and the third book is set during Chief Joseph's race for the Canadian border.

I use the Nimiipuu coming of age ritual of the vision quest as the catalyst for this book. The heroine is visited by a white wolf while on her quest and the wolf tells her she will save her people. This gift bestowed upon her by the spirit or weykin is said to be the greatest ever given a female. Wren, the chief's daughter doesn’t feel the weight of the gift until an enemy Blackleg warrior asks to marry her to bring peace between the bands. Marrying the Blackleg will take her from the mountain people she holds most dear in her heart, but it would also fulfill the gift her weykin bestowed upon her.

While walking the mountain and contemplating her fate, she stumbles upon a wounded white wolf who resembles her weykin. She feels no fear and helps him, believing he is her weykin. The white wolf is the hero, Himiin, who has just battled a dark spirit wolf on his mountain. He is fearful of the maiden for multiple reasons but when she speaks of her marriage to the enemy he is compelled to help her and ultimately falls in love with a mortal.

I wove the factual with the fictional to make a story I hope will enlighten the reader about the Nimiipuu and entertain them with the paranormal aspects.

Blurb for Spirit of the Mountain
Wren, the daughter of a Nimiipuu chief, has been fated to save her people ever since her vision quest. When a warrior from the enemy Blackleg tribe asks for her hand in marriage to bring peace between the tribes, her world is torn apart.

Himiin is the spirit of the mountain, custodian to all creatures including the Nimiipuu. As a white wolf he listens to Wren’s secret fears and loses his heart to the mortal maiden. Respecting her people’s beliefs, he cannot prevent her leaving the mountain with the Blackleg warrior.

When an evil spirit threatens Wren’s life, Himiin must leave the mountain to save her. But to leave the mountain means he’ll turn to smoke…

Excerpt
Wren’s eyes glistened with unshed tears. “My gift is to save The People. The weyekin who came to me in my vision quest said this.” She wrapped her arms around herself as if staving off a cold breeze.
Himiin hated that they argued when they should relish their time together. He moved to her, drawing her against his chest, embracing her. The shape of her body molded to his. Her curves pressed against him. Holding her this way flamed the need he’d tried to suppress.
He placed a hand under her chin, raising her face to his. The sorrow in her eyes tugged at his conscience. To make her leaving any harder was wrong. But having experienced her in his arms, he was grieved to let her go. Even for the sake of their people.
Her eyelids fluttered closed. Her pulse quickened under his fingers. Shrugging off the consequences, he lowered his lips to hers. They were softer than he imagined. Her breath hitched as he touched her intimately. Parting his lips, he touched her with his tongue, wanting to see if she tasted as sweet as she smelled.
Honey.