Appalachian Legends

#WakeRobinRidge by @marciameara #Excerpt

/ Marcia Meara / 19 Comments

WRRnewsmall

Still trying to catch up after so many interruptions this fall, so not back on my normal posting schedule. Since we have no guest blogger today, I thought maybe I’d just share an excerpt from my first novel, Wake-Robin Ridge, available on Amazon for the permanently low price of $.99.

“Wake-Robin Ridge, where ghosts walk,
ancient legends abound, and things still go bump in the night.”
~~~
EXCERPT

A slow, cold mile later, he could see the faintest hint of dawn through the trees just ahead, and knew he was approaching the clearing. The trick was to get close enough to see without being seen. He found a spot behind some thick but low-growing bushes. It was a perfect place to hunker down and wait. In the gray light of early morning, he pulled out his favorite filleting knife and a small whetstone, spat on the stone, and began to slide the knife back and forth across the surface. Falling into a rhythm, eyes half closed, he continued to hone the knife, metal caressing stone again and again. His excitement rose as he thought about the damage the razor-sharp edge was going to do, slicing deep into tender flesh, and releasing spray after spray of coppery-scented blood into the air. He smiled, already hearing the terrified pleading and the screams that would follow.

The soft noise of blade on stone kept him company as time passed. At last, morning broke in full, and spilled pink and gold daylight into the world, but his thoughts were not on the beauty of the new day opening in front of him. Instead, his hatred morphed into a cold fury as he thought about the full extent of the treachery committed against him, and the bloody revenge he planned to extract.

Lloyd crouched low in the bushes, peering at the little cabin in the clearing. This is what she chose to do with his money? Hide out on a deserted hillside in a stinkin’ little wooden shack that looked like it should have belonged to the Beverly Hillbillies, before they struck it rich? God, he could kill the bitch. “Oh, that’s right,” he said. “I’m going to.”

~~~

Download Your Copy Today!
Wake-Robin Ridge Book 1

Things That Go Bump in the Night – Misterio Press – #TuesdayBookBlog

/ Marcia Meara / 8 Comments

Black_Dog_ghost
The  Black Dog

I was invited to do a guest post at Misterio Press today, talking a bit about legends of the Appalachian Mountains, one of my favorite topics. It was a lot of fun to share with the good folks there, and I hope you’ll check it out, and share with your friends, as well.

Misterio Press Guest Post

#WakeRobinRidge Book 3: #Harbinger

/ Marcia Meara / 16 Comments

Final Harbinger Cover at 25percent

 

Nope, I haven’t actually launched this book yet, as I haven’t finished deciding how to go about it, but it is available in Kindle and print format, and already selling, in spite of my lack of a cohesive plan.  (Boy, do I hate that “P” word.) So I figured I’d better let you guys know, at least! This is the third book in my mountain series, and for those of you who enjoyed #WakeRobinRidge and #ABoyNamedRabbit, I hope you’ll be eager to follow Rabbit’s latest shivery adventure.  (Meanwhile, I’m trying to remember how to put the image/link in the right sidebar with my other books. Doh! Brain is on vacation!)

Blurb

“. . . he felt the wet slide of the dog’s burning hot tongue on his face, and the scrape of its razor sharp teeth against the top of his head. A white-hot agony of crushing pain followed, as the jaws began to close.”

The wine-red trillium that carpets the forests of the North Carolina Mountains is considered a welcome harbinger of spring—but not all such omens are happy ones. An Appalachian legend claims the Black Dog, or Ol’ Shuck, as he’s often called, is a harbinger of death. If you see him, you or someone you know is going to die.

But what happens when Ol’ Shuck starts coming for you in your dreams? Nightmares of epic proportions haunt the deacon of the Light of Grace Baptist Church, and bring terror into the lives of everyone around him. Even MacKenzie Cole and his adopted son, Rabbit, find themselves pulled into danger.

When Sheriff Raleigh Wardell asks Mac and Rabbit to help him solve a twenty-year-old cold case, Rabbit’s visions of a little girl lost set them on a path that soon collides with that of a desperate man being slowly driven mad by guilt.

As Rabbit’s gift of the Sight grows ever more powerful, his commitment to those who seek justice grows as well, even when their pleas come from beyond the grave. 

Wake-Robin Ridge Book 3: Harbinger

I Love UPS!

/ Marcia Meara / 12 Comments

itsheresmall

Just look what they brought me today! My proof of A Boy Named Rabbit, which, btw, looks GREAT! I’ve already ordered my first batch, and will have them in time for my two Meet the Author Eco-Tours on the 25th and 28th. Woohooo! Doing the happy dance, here. Don’t you just love it when your newly released books show up?