An abused young wife stranded in the Alleghenies in 1783 is rescued from drowning by a rugged frontiersman who shows her kindness and passion.  But can they ever be together?

Excerpt:

May, 1783, the Virginia Frontier, the Allegheny Mountains

“Reuben!” Abby Hasting’s voice was hoarse from shouting.

Searching this far from the cabin was a mistake, but she was alone and her empty belly gnawed at her with the ferocity of a trapped fox. Shivering, she hugged her crimson cloak around her. The raw breeze whipped her striped petticoat about her ankles, its hem muddied from puddles. Her shoes and stockings were wet. Damp cold seeped into her bones.

Where was Reuben? He’d never been away hunting this many days before. Not that they’d been wed long. Still, one week gone—

Kree-eee-ar! The piercing cry of a hawk shrilled from overhead.

Glancing up, Abby saw a blur of russet tail feathers. The misty forest canopy spun in leafy circles. Her head throbbed. Chills ran down her aching spine to her weak knees. The basket in her numb fingers slipped to the earth, spilling green poke shoots over the moss. There went all the nourishment she’d gleaned from these harsh ridges. Winter food stores had been depleted; fair spring was the starving time.

A genteel girl from Eastern Virginia never should have wed Captain Reuben Hastings and come this far west into the Alleghenies. Abby’s father wouldn’t have let her if he’d only survived the bloody revolution. Reuben’s knowledge of this Godless place wasn’t a great deal better than hers, but the lure of the land given to him for service in the war had overpowered him. If this was freedom, maybe they would have been better off under King George.

Abby’s conscience pricked her.  Many good men had fallen in that drawn out conflict and she shouldn’t criticize her husband off Lord only knew where, maybe suffering.  He wasn’t charitable, more like a gruff he-bear, but at least he’d fed her enough to survive.  Until now.

Her shaky legs gave way and she sank onto the forest floor alongside her basket. Hazy branches revolved above her, the damp wood’s scent filling her nose.  She had no idea how far she was from their log home or the nearest neighbor.  She would die out here lost and alone.

Not that easily! Groaning, each breath raspy in her throat, she pushed up on ice-cold hands and bruised knees.  She’d crawl.  No.  Walk.

Using all her strength, she struggled to her feet. Head swimming, she staggered back the way she’d come. At least she thought it was. Fog whitened the ferny undergrowth and clouded the trail. The stream sounded nearer than she’d remembered.

She shrieked as loose ground gave way underfoot. Scrabbling for a toehold, she careened down the muddy bank and into the icy stream. The frigid current caught her in its grip and swept her away. Gasping at the shocking cold, she flailed to keep her head above water. Instinct told her to grab an overhanging limb and cling. She couldn’t hold on long.

“Help me!” She choked out the futile plea.~

NIGHTHAWK and other Free Reads are available at The Wild Rose Press.~

I have two novels out in my colonial frontier trilogy and am at work on the third.  The main characters are a mix of Native Americans (of course) and English/Scots-Irish with a smidgen of French, my ancestral roots.  


Red Bird's Song is doing well at Amazon, selling in the top ten ranking kindles for Native American Romance, but Through the Fire is lagging behind and I'm not sure why.  I suspect when the novel was originally listed it may have only been categorized as historical romance and it's equally an NA story and setting.  I've tried to remedy this with tags. 


When I wrote Through the Fire I felt as though I'd been through the flames. My hero and heroine certainly had. This adventure romance with a strong The Last of the Mohicans flavor and a mystical weave was born in the fertile ground of my imagination, fed by years of research, and a powerful draw to my English/Scots-Irish roots. My fascination with stirring tales of the colonial frontier and Eastern Woodland Indians is an early and abiding one. My ancestors had family members killed and captured by Native Americans. Some individuals returned with intriguing accounts of their captivity while others disappeared without a trace.

Much of the history and events in Red Bird's Song and Through the Fire were inspired by accounts I uncovered while researching my early American ancestors.  My fascination with Colonial America, particularly stirring tales of the frontier and the Shawnee Indians, is an early and abiding one. My forebears had interactions with this tribe, including family members taken captive. I have family ties to Wicomechee, an outstanding Shawnee warrior who really lived and whose story greatly impacted Red Bird's Song. I've included more on Wicomechee at the end of the novel as a bonus for my readers.


Blurb for Red Bird's Song:
Taken captive by a Shawnee war party wasn't how Charity Edmonson hoped to escape an unwanted marriage. Nor did Shawnee warrior Wicomechee expect to find the treasure promised by his grandfather's vision in the unpredictable red-headed girl. George III's English Red-Coats, unprincipled colonial militia, prejudice and jealousy are not the only enemies Charity and Wicomechee will face before they can hope for a peaceful life. The greatest obstacle to happiness is in their own hearts. As they struggle through bleak mountains and cold weather, facing wild nature and wilder men, Wicomechee and Charity must learn to trust each other.~

Blurb for Through the Fire:
At the height of the French and Indian War, a young English widow ventures into the colonial frontier in search of a fresh start. She never expects to find it in the arms of the half-Shawnee, half-French warrior who makes her his prisoner in the raging battle to possess a continent--or to be aided by a mysterious white wolf and a holy man.~
A few comments from Reviewers For Through the Fire:

Ms. Trissel has captured the time period wonderfully.... I felt I was there through her descriptions and settings. An excellent story where there is so much happening.

--Two Lips Review by Shelia (She gave it five lips :)


Through the Fire is full of interesting characters, beautifully described scenery, and vivid action sequences. It is a must read for any fan of historical romance. --Long and Short Reviews by Poinsettia (It won book of the week at LASR)


Through the Fire came in fourth in the top ten BHB Reader’s Choice Best Books of 2009 and finaled in the 2008 Golden Heart Contest for historical romance.

A Few Reviewer Comments for Red Bird's Song:

I loved the descriptions...I felt I was there...Many mystical episodes are intermingled with the events...The ending is a real surprise, but I will let you have the pleasure of reading it for yourself. 

--Seriously Reviewed


This is a beautifully written story filled with adventure and suspense...This book touched my soul even as it provided a thrilling fictional escape into a period of history I have always found fascinating. --Night Owl Book Review by Laurie-J  (A Night Owl top Pick) For the full review click here~

As for the third novel I'm at work on: Kira, Daughter of the Moon, the sequel to Through the Fire, is set among the clannish Scots-Irish in the Alleghenies on the fringe of a colonial frontier that's rapidly expanding west. The Native Americans in this mystical, adventurous romance are highly essential secondary characters.  Not sure when the story gets listed if that counts as NA or if it will get lost in the vast world of undefined historical romance.

Celebrate my Release Day party here with The Fuzzies! I'm serving chocolate mousse, wearing my colonial gown with voluminous skirts, embroidered stomacher, lace and ribbons. One lucky commenter wins a digital copy of Red Bird's Song and a second one wins a signed copy of the book, so comment away. :)

To start us off, a bit about the story.  Red Bird’s Song is my first child, an oft rewritten historical, a poignant romance written deeply from my heart. Each of my stories is my favorite when I'm writing it, but there's something special about Red Bird's Song.  Maybe because many of the events depicted in the story and the inspiration behind it are true. Red Red Bird’s Song is based on events that happened to my early American Scots-Irish ancestors in the Virginia colonial frontier. The novel began as historical fiction with a strong romantic element but evolved into a historical romance, painstakingly researched and pulsing with emotion. The romance between Wicomechee and Charity throbs with tension, tenderness, passion and angst.

A bonus for readers, at the end of the book is the account of this Shawnee warrior I discovered in distant branches of the family tree. Yes, Wicomechee really lived and he comes vividly to life along with the others characters in this adventurous romance with a strong The Last of the Mohicans flavor.

Blurb: 

Taken captive by a war party wasn’t how Charity Edmonson hoped to escape an unwanted marriage. Nor did Shawnee warrior Wicomechee expect to find the treasure promised by his grandfather’s vision in the unpredictable red-headed girl.

George III’s English Red-Coats, unprincipled colonial militia, prejudice and jealousy are not the only enemies Charity and Wicomechee will face before they can hope for a peaceful life. The greatest obstacle to happiness is in their own hearts.  As they struggle through bleak mountains and cold weather, facing wild nature and wilder men, Wicomechee and Charity must learn to trust each other.

                                                                     ****

Excerpt:

Charity swiped angrily at a tear.
She’d run away, if she had anyone to run to.
It wasn’t right they were all dead.

On impulse, she jumped to the ground. “I’ll go anyway,” she muttered. “Eat nuts and berries and live in the woods.”

“Will you go alone?” a low voice asked.

Sucking in her breath, she whirled around. Less than twenty feet away, grasping his musket, stood a tall young brave. Stripes of red and black paint blurred his striking features. His dark brown eyes riveted her in place. This warrior was like no other and the most savagely handsome man she’d ever seen.

God help her. She should flee now, but could only stare, open-mouthed. She swept her disbelieving gaze over the loose black hair brushing an open buckskin vest that revealed his bronzed chest and shoulders molded into contours of muscle. An elkskin breechclout left a great deal of his hard thighs exposed. Despite the dread hammering in her chest, a fiery blush burned her cheeks. But it was the sheathed knife hanging on his left side and the lethal tomahawk slung on his right that snapped Charity from her near-trance.

In a rush of memories, she recalled the stories of her father’s death under the scalping knife and neighbors who’d suffered the same violent fate. No Indians had been spotted in their settlement since the Shawnee grew hostile and war had erupted nine years ago, but the warfare had ended. Hadn’t it?

Clenching ice-cold fingers, she dug her nails into her palms. “What in God’s name are you doing here?” she forced past the dry lump in her throat.

“Watching you.” 

                                           **** 

Second Excerpt from RED BIRD'S SONG:

He slid the musket over his shoulder by a woven strap. A faint smile curved his lips. 

“You wish to go live among the trees? Come with me.”

Instinctively, Charity shied back.

The warrior closed the distance between them and extended a corded arm circled with twin bands of silver. His voice went from butter to grit. “Now.”

Musket shots cracked above the rapid water. War whoops rang through the trees. Charity scrambled back with a shriek.

He lunged at her. Jerked fully to life, she flung the basket at his chest and spun around. Catching up her skirts, she raced over the uneven ground along the river.

She had only the hair of a head start, but by heaven she could run. Hadn’t her brother, Craig, said as much?

Clinging to his praise, she tore through grass heavy with seed heads. The slap of her shoes and swish of her petticoats sounded alongside the rapid water. She sensed but didn’t hear the warrior’s stealthy pursuit. 

Dodging rocks masked by the haze, she hurtled across downed branches, risking a nasty fall. But what did that matter with the hound of hell snapping at her heels?

Faster! Heart pounding in her ears, she leapt over a moss-encrusted log and stumbled. Grabbing a bent sapling for support, she righted herself and sprang away through a blur of color. Her chest thudded. She could scarcely get her breath and shot a glance over her shoulder.

Lord, no! Her pursuer’s glove-like moccasins had the advantage over her square-toed shoes, as did his ground-covering strides. He rapidly narrowed the gap between them. God save her or she’d be killed and scalped like her father.

Summoning every ounce of speed, she spurted ahead, sides heaving, pain stabbing her chest. She flew around a bend in the river and stopped short. A prickly tangle of burdock and brambles blocked the path. She looked wildly around. No way through.
 

Shooting to the side, she clamored up the bank. Down she went, sliding over loose stones,lurching forward with outstretched hands and scraping her palms. 

She ignored the sting and scrambled up to pelt through tall grass and spikes of mullein. If she hid among the stand of cedars just ahead, he might not find—-too late. 

He’d come.
 

                       ****
 

For more on the story behind Red Bird's Song~

RED BIRD'S SONG is available in digital download and print from
The Wild Rose Press & Amazon, Barnes & Noble and will travel on to other online booksellers.  Local bookstores can order it in.

You’ve come to the right place.  I’ve labored over several novels, done meticulous research, and written from my heart as I feel profoundly for Native Americans.

To date I have two novels, Through the Fire and Red Bird’s Song, published by The Wild Rose Press that are Colonial Native American Romances with a strong The Last of the Mohican’s flavor and a mystical weave.

The colonial frontier is my particular passion, particularly the Virginia frontier, which used to be vast,  and the Ohio territory.

A third novel, Daughter of the Wind, is a historical fantasy, also carefully researched so the history in it is accurate while the story is also a light paranormal with a bearwalking (shape shifting) Shawnee warrior.

Although Daughter of the Wind is set among the clannish Scots-Irish in the Allegheny Mountains, the story has a strong Native American element and flavor.  As does my short FREE READ, Nighthawk.  Download Nighthawk without charge from the Wild Rose Press.

All of my Native American novels are available as both digital download, ebooks,  and paperbacks from the Wild Rose Press,  Amazon, and other online booksellers.  Your local bookstore can order them in as can your library if you ask them to.

To read the illustrated first chapter from Daughter of the Wind:

To read the illustrated excerpt from Through the Fire:

To read more about the story and inspiration behind Red Bird’s Song:

Each of these books, particularly Red Bird’s Song, were inspired by actual events that occurred to my early American Scots-Irish ancestors in the colonial frontier.   The high drama of the frontier, the power and passions of that time period are deeply stirring to my imagination.   I hope you will enjoy these books while gaining an appreciation for a mostly forgotten time and people.

When I look out the window at the distant ridges of the Alleghenies I remember the people who once roamed those ruggedly beautiful woodlands.  But not only the mountains, the Shenandoah Valley where I live and my family has lived for several hundred years was at once time the frontier.  Many Indian encounters and attacks took place in the valley.  Some to my ancestors and their friends and neighbors.  The Scots-Irish were highly interrelated.


Not to neglect my English ancestors who were also a part of these early dramatic times.  One of them, a Quaker, had visions and was so liked by the Indians they asked him to sit in on some of their treaties knowing he would be fair.  From my studies of history, and given that he lived in colonial Maryland/PA, I have concluded the tribes he was in communication with were the Shawnee, who make up the bulk of my research, and their close allies the Lene Lenape or the Delaware as they are otherwise known. 

A Shawnee historian with whom I once worked told me I should have made the Delaware the subject of my fascination as in his opinion they were nicer, but I have stuck to researching mostly the Shawnee.  Go team!

*Pic of the Allegheny Mountains taken by my mom

*Shoka and Rebecca from Through the Fire

*The release date for Red Bird’s Song is 9-10-2010 however the print is out early at the Wild Rose Press and Amazon.   The ebook will follow and the availability of the novel will spread from the Wild Rose to other booksellers.


*Posted by Beth Trissel