It's my Party! Birthday Bash Sale

Starting today you can get the first book of my spirit trilogy, Spirit of the Mountain, for $.99. It's what I'm calling my Birthday Bash Sale. This price is available at all ebook outlets where this book is sold from June 15th-30th. My wonderful publisher Wild Rose Press agreed to this sale so I could give readers the gift of one of the books of my heart.

"It’s slightly reminiscent of Clan of the Cave Bear, but more lyrical and with all the boring parts removed to showcase the love story."

That is part of a review written by Bethany at Cloudy with a Chance of Books(http://www.chanceofbooks.com/2011/03/five-umbrella-friday-giveaway-spirit-of.html)

She understood the lyricalness(is that a word?) I strived to show in Spirit of the Mountain and have to some degree in Spirit of the Lake and when in Sa-qan’s point of view in Spirit of the Sky. This trilogy is set among the Nez Perce Indians of NE Oregon. My editor at The Wild Rose Press understood the cadence and tone but worried the reviewers might not. So far they have all understood and like the Native American cadence I gave the trilogy.

How I worked toward getting the cadence of the Native American speech and thoughts in my books came from two mediums. One – I listened to Native American music as I wrote. Some had lyrics and some were instrumental. Two- I read books like Tales of the Nez Perce by Donald M. Hines not only using the tales to add flavor to my stories but to also get a feel for Native American word usage.

The books I relied heaviest on were Yellow Wolf: His Own Story by L.V McWhorter. In this book, Yellow Wolf, a member of Chief Joseph's band who was with him on the flight to Canada, told L.V. McWhorter the details up to and during the chase. His wording and thoughts were put down by an interpreter and still show the cadence of how they talked before being influenced by English.

The other book was That All People May Be One People, Send Rain to Wash the Face of the Earth by Chief Joseph.  Just the title shows you the cadence and thought process of this eloquent Native American. The stories in this book are from interviews Chief Joseph gave reporters in 1879 in Washington DC while there trying to persuade the leaders to let his followers return to their beloved homeland.

Not being Native American but wanting to portray the characters as close to real as possible, I studied these books for a year before I even started writing the first book. That is how determined I was to make sure the people were represented in the right way. 

Blurb

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.

She tasted of sweet honey straight from the bosom of a bee tree.

One taste was not enough. He pulled her closer, moving his lips across hers, tasting and savoring the feel of them.

Her mouth opened and she sighed.

 His body came to life. The sensations transcended anything he’d experienced before. How could one woman make him feel powerful and vulnerable at the same time? Why did he wish to crush her to him and never let go and yet feel compelled to treat her with the tenderness

one would give the tiniest of creatures? He couldn’t continue this way.

To hold her, to touch her soft skin. He would never be able to let her go.

He must.

He released Wren and stepped back, avoiding her eyes. How could he show her the sensations she brought to him then turn around and tell her they couldn’t see one another any more?

“Himiin? Did I do something wrong?” The pain in her voice drew his gaze to her face.

The anguish and fear in her eyes cut through him like a knife.

“You did nothing wrong. It is I. I should not touch you so. It is wrong.” He took one step forward, before remembering he could not touch her and remain sane. “You are spoken for. We should not be together.”

She moved quickly, grasping his hand before he could pull away. “I could not bear to not have you to speak with these last days.” She stroked his hand. “Or to touch.” She placed his hand on her cheek. “I may never feel this touch from the Blackleg.” She kissed his palm. “I wish to have this to remember.”

He growled and pulled her into his arms. “I wish I were the one to touch you so, but I cannot. It is wrong.”

“Why?” She leaned back, studying his face. “I should be the one to say if it is wrong or not. It is my heart, my body. My life.”

“You belong to another. He has spoken.” Himiin released her and took a step back. He should not have shown himself to her as a man. Wewukiye was right.

It complicated things.

BUY LINKS

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Wednesday Western- Books of my Heart

I’ve told many that my paranormal historical trilogy, Spirit of the Mountain, Spirit of the Lake, and Spirit of the Sky were the books of my heart.  I just didn’t realize how long my interest and admiration for the Wallowa Nez Perce has been inside of me. While helping clean up my dad’s house this past weekend I found paintings I did when I was in my early teens. I floored me to see that I had been invested in the first inhabitants of the valley where I lived back then.

The trilogy is about a trio of siblings the Creator made spirits to oversee the Lake Nimiipuu or the band of Nez Perce who lived in the NE corner of Oregon in the Wallowa country. The area where I grew up.

To write the books I did a lot of research. Here is some of what I dug up to help me write the

second book in the trilogy. This story has a pregnant heroine, which led me to devote hours reading books about the Nez Perce customs and social living aspects to learn all I could about pregnancy and child birth.

The Nez Perce women had specific jobs. They gathered roots, berries and herbs as well as the firewood. It was their job to keep the fire going all night during the winter months. They were the cooks, the ones who dried and stored the meat, fish, berries and roots. Tanned the hides, made the clothing, wove baskets and constructed the dwellings. They did everything needed to sustain a family other than hunt, prepare weapons, and fight. If need be, they could hunt for smaller animals, fight, and take care of weapons though it was not one of their jobs.

During battles women provided fresh horses, food, and water for the warriors, tended the wounded, warned others of danger, directed children and the old people where to hide and how to leave when their encampments were attacked. If a husband was shot they could pick up his gun and fight.  They also cooked and gathered wood during attacks, keeping the children, old people, and warriors fed during the attacks and battles.

Pregnant women still did most of the chores right up until the moment they started labor. Some would have miscarriages from long periods of riding horses in the last months of pregnancy-usually during campaigns of fighting.

If a woman was pregnant they believed their man would have bad luck hunting. She was also not allowed to see any part of a kill—blood, skinning. They feared her child would be born deformed. They also didn't touch, view, or ridicule any deformed animals or humans, fearing it would cause their child the same misfortune. They didn't tie knots or do things symbolic of obstructing the birth.

A wide strip of buckskin was tied around their bellies. This was believed to protect the child. After the birth, this strip was burned or buried, giving the child a healthy, strong body. They did everything to keep the baby safe. The Nez Perce wanted to build a large strong tribe.

When a woman started labor she was isolated in a small dwelling with either an older family member or a mid-wife. If there were complications the Ti-wet (medicine man) was called in. The dwelling had a hole dug in the middle of the structure. The blood and after birth were put in this hole and buried.  The umbilical cord was kept in a small leather pouch attached to the cradleboard. It is believed to be bad luck to destroy such an intimate part of the baby.

The cradle board is made by a relative. The baby is transported and tended in the board until he is ready to walk. Children were breast fed for several years.  This was one of their ways to contribute to birth control. Other ways were with herbs.

You can click on the books on the side bar and it will take you to my website and excerpts to the books as well as buy links.

Sources: Nez Perce Women in Transition, 1877-1990- Caroline James; NeeMePoo – Allen P. Slickpoo Sr. and Deward E. Walker Jr.

Fabulous Friday!!

For those of you who don't follow me on facebook or twitter I received an e-mail the first of the week that told me Spirit of the Mountain had placed first in the paranormal category for the Lories Best Published Book. Since many of you know this is the book of my heart, I was beyond ecstatic. All the first place books in each category now are being read by a buyer for Barnes and Noble and he will pick the best of all those and that person will get a registration for next year's RWA(Romance Writers of America) National Conference. Just having my book picked as first is a thrill.

My daughter finished the cover for the next book I'm self-publishing along with Lauri Robinson. It's our "Sister" story we co-wrote, For a Sister's Love. She wrote half of the book from one sister's point of view, and I wrote the second half from the older sister's point of view. They were split up on a wagon train headed west when their parents were killed in an Indian raid. Now ten years later they're working to get back to one another. It was a lot of fun to plot, come up with their back story, and exchange ideas for each of their stories. I'm having someone read through it for any typos/errors then it will go live to Kindle next week.

And for those of you dying to get your hands on Christmas Redemption, I'd originally said it would be available in November. Due to popular demand, it will be ready to purchase in October. (daughter is working on the cover, I'm formatting it)

This is the first weekend in a while I'm not doing something book related, but I'm on the road to our other property to stop the pivot and start the solid hand line set. Hoping for twenty-four hours of judging a writing contest entries so I can start next week with a clean slate and get Hank's book rolling.

Enjoy your weekend. Summer will soon be over and you'll wish you'd hit the lake, mountain, beach one more time.

Blog Spooktacular!

The Spooktacular blog tour continues here! Come on in, grab a cookie, and join the party! I'm honored to be part of the Shifters blog tour. My latest release has a shapeshifting Native American spirit.

I never thought I'd ever write a paranormal but for me adding spirits to a Native American story seemed natural and seamless. Less of a paranormal and more the norm.

If you're a paranormal reader what is your favorite type of paranormal creature? If you're not a paranormal reader what is your favorite genre to read?

Like I said I never thought I'd write something with a paranormal twist. The abominable snowman on Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer scared me as a child. I can't watch commercials for horror movies. I have to close my eyes and ignore what I hear. I've always been a scaredy cat. I don’t care for vampire or werewolf books or movies. I have read a few books with good witches and some ghosts that I like and could believe.

Do you like the movie Casper? I loved the cartoon as a kid and like the movie. There's something about a friendly ghost- Like The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. Anyone remember that TV show? My brothers watched the Munsters and the Adams Family. While being a little creepy, they were too klutzy to make me hide my eyes.

But I've always loved Halloween. A night when I could get dressed up and be anything I wanted to be. I only wanted to go trick or treating to get to wear some costume I'd put together for the occasion. When I married, we had many Halloween parties at our house and always helped out with the Fall Carnival at the grade school which fell during Halloween. I dressed up and helped with games. Back then, my husband had a moving floor semi-trailer. We'd fix it up like a haunted house and send kids through, making the floor move and having scary things along the way. And I could set the thing up, go through it in the daylight, but come dark… I couldn't go through--you guessed it--it scared me! I admit. I’m a light-weight when it comes to being scared. I've even had to stop reading some murder mysteries the bad guy was so well portrayed. I barely finished Brenda Novak's White Heat last week because it was getting too intense for me. That's being a big baby!!

I'm attaching my No Fail Soft Sugar Cookie Recipe. These cookies are always light and fluffy no matter how thin you roll them and they taste Yummy!
Cream together ½ Cup Margarine or Butter and 1 Cup sugar. Add 1 egg, 1 ½ tsp vanilla, and ½ cup sour cream. Mix well and add; 3 ¼ cups flour, 1 tsp. soda, and ½ tsp salt. Mix well.
On a floured board, roll out a third of the dough to a 1/4 inch thick use cookie cutters to cut out. Bake at 375° for 5-8 minutes. They shouldn't be brown. Frost with either a buttercream or powder sugar icing. Enjoy! Aprox. 4 doz. depending on the size of the shapes you make.

The next stop on this blog tour is Simone Eden. Hop on over there and see what goodies you can find on her blog. To catch all the blogs on this tour visit Marie Beau the first blog on the tour.

Leave a comment and your name could be drawn for your choice of one of my books. I'll pick a winner on Halloween Night!

Happy Haunting!!

Paty

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.

Friday Fave-Another Release

(I love this cover!)
My fave this week is receiving my release date for my first historical paranormal Spirit of the Mountain!! So everyone mark your calendars for August 13th. Yes, that is a Friday and I'm squeezing my brain to figure out how I can work Friday the 13th and paranormal into all my release promotion so if you have any ideas I'm all ears to hear your thoughts.

My dh also said we would go to a granddaughter's birthday next week.

I'm getting jazzed for my writing groups annual coast retreat at the end of the month.

In honor of the Valentine weekend, tomorrow please stop by and check out Rebecca Clark's latest release.

On a not so fave note- George Strait and Reba McIntyre are in concert in Portland in March and I can't figure out how to swing tickets. They are my two favorite country singers. If the local radio station has a contest for tickets you can bet I'll be listening to them 24/7!

Friday Faves- and Personality type 3

First off- I was offered a contract for the first book of my Native American paranormal trilogy. Spirit of the Mountain will be published in the Faery Rose (paranormal) line at The Wild Rose Press. As it is historically correct in all but the spirit aspect I'm hoping I can get some cross over readers. It is a book I wrote several years ago with the trilogy in mind. I had an agent tell me it was a good read but no large publisher would publish it because the Native American element wasn't a big seller. I would love be the ground breaker into this sub-genre. We'll see what happens.

Now as promised the Third personality type from Ennea grams and Laurie Schnebly Campbell.

Type Three is the Achiever, the Succeeder, the Performer—these people are very aware of the right image. They're always onstage, projecting whatever the situation requires. Success, career and achievement are important to them...no matter what's going on around them, the Threes will look really, really good. They go around believing (and this is their motto), "The world values a champion...I must avoid failure." So you can imagine the internal conflict when you get a Type Three who's faced with the prospect of failure.
At their worst a Three will embody charm without substance, at their best they embody excellence with a heart. Oprah Winfrey might be a real-life Three; Jay Gatsby might be a fictional one. Threes are often the oldest or only child in their family, because the firstborn is almost always oriented toward being the best and performing the best—and that's what Threes do.

THREE's fatal flaw is Deception. These are the performers who put on a front for the world and for themselves in order to look just right. This person will have to overcome the habit of deception...to quit putting on a perfect face and discover his or her true self. Imagine the impact of someone coming to realize that his or her whole life has been a series of performances, of trying to be the best at whatever comes up, of doing whatever will present the best facade to the public—and for the first time actually looking at what's really inside him or herself. This is a great chance for the lover to help out, to help this person discover that they can be loved for themselves...that they don't need a perfect facade in front of everyone in the world. That's a wonderful road to a happy ending for the Three.