Waxing Moon
Calling the Moon
Book Two
Sarah E. Stevens
Genre: Paranormal
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Date of Publication: 8/18/2017
ISBN: 978-1-5092-1586-7
ISBN: 978-1-5092-1587-4 Digital
ASIN: B073MPTK1Z
Number of pages: paperback 308,
Word Count: ~76k
Cover Artist: Deborah Turner
Tagline: Paranormal arson, rogue wolves, and torn loyalties. How can a mere human mother protect her Werewolf baby?
Book Description:
Julie Hall thinks she has the hang of mothering her Werewolf baby Carson, until the night she wakes to frantic barking and finds her house on fire. Arson. Paranormal fire creatures want to kill Carson—and an unknown Were may be helping them.
As if fire-spawning Salamanders and a mysterious Werewolf aren't dangerous enough, Julie soon faces even closer threats. Her trusted friend Eliza harbors a secret and Julie’s new understanding of Werewolves threatens to tear apart her team. Meanwhile, her relentless enemies will burn everything in their path, if they can’t get to Carson.
Will Julie’s efforts to protect Carson do more harm than good?
Dark Moon Wolf
Book One of Calling the Moon
Available on Amazon
So, what makes Waxing Moon special? This is a hard
question for an author, because I'm rather partial...I think everything
about my book is pretty darned special. However, I want to highlight three
specific things.
First, the characters. Waxing Moon is a story about a
human mom caught up in a paranormal world and surrounded by people with much
more power than she has. I love reading urban fantasy and paranormal novels,
but I found myself frustrated with heroines who are usually young, gorgeous
loners who are extremely powerful. What about people more like most of us? What
would happen if someone like us was drawn into the paranormal world? What would
we do if we were suddenly faced with people and events that we think only exist
in books?
That's why my series Calling the Moon revolves around
Julie Hall. I wanted Julie to be relatable and real. She's a mom--with all the
joys and frustrations that brings and with added complications because her son
is an incredibly strong Werewolf. Like many of us, she draws strength from her
close friends, Sheila and Eliza. It's important to me to write about strong
female characters, so that's a real focus in the book. Julie also tends to make
unwise decisions about men, but I don't want to give away any spoilers.
I think Julie's a refreshingly real character and I think that's
new.
Second, my Werewolves. If you love Werewolves, you're going to be
surprised and intrigued by the ways my Weres differ from the typical mythology.
A lot of Werewolf novels depict Weres as brooding, angry, alpha males obsessed
with violence and domination. My Weres? They'll confound your expectations.
As I wrote, I thought about Werewolves and their link to the
moon. If they draw their power to shift from the moon, what other abilities
might the moon grant them? Surely they can be more than humans who turn into
animals? This thought leads me right into the third special thing about Waxing
Moon.
Third, a new paranormal species. In Waxing Moon, I create
a new type of paranormal creature linked to the sun. As Weres draw their power
from the moon, these creatures called Salamanders draw their power from the
sun. Weres and 'Manders exist in an uneasy yin-yang relationship that's mostly
peaceful...or is it? Maybe you're sitting there thinking: Salamanders? What the
heck are those? Do they change into giant lizards? Well...you're just going to
have to read the book to find out all the details.
Waxing Moon is a fast-paced, fresh book that revolves
around strong female characters, motherhood, friendship, romance, and
paranormal intrigue. I hope you give it a try. If you do, I think you'll fall
in love with these characters and this world, just like I did.
Excerpt 1:
I
jolted awake because of the barking—deep barks that sounded right next to me
even though I slept alone in my bedroom. I sat up before I opened my eyes and
even then, my brain lagged behind. For the first few seconds, I stared at the
flames before understanding my house was on fire.
My
house was on fire.
Carson!
The
curtains at my window burned, flames shooting up toward the ceiling. I stared
at them and almost forgot to move. Then panic poured through me and I jumped
up. I felt disoriented: the blackness, the flames, the smoke beginning to fill
the room, the roar. My heart raced in terror.
My
baby was in this fire.
With
a high-pitched crash, my bedroom windows exploded from the heat, and a shower
of hot glass flew into the room. I reflexively turned away, arms raised to
cover my face. Some of the glass hit me, hot stings against my arms and side,
but I barely felt the pain. Below the thunder of the fire, I heard the smoke
alarm sound a futile warning.
I
didn’t think to drop to my knees, to detour into the bathroom for a wet cloth,
to crawl to Carson’s bedroom. Instead, I ran through the house, breathed in the
choking smoke, felt my hands and feet start to numb from panic.
Fire
filled the hallway to Carson’s room, and I skidded to a frantic stop, unable to
reach him.
Carson!
Carson!
My
throat so raw from the smoke I couldn't even scream his name. Heat pounded down
the hallway, along with thick black smoke, and flames blocked his door.
The
window! Maybe I could get to him from his window, from outside.
I
whirled, stumbled, and ran back down the hallway. The fire seemed to chase me
until my numb feet tripped on the edge of the area rug and I fell hard, sending
a stab of pain into my arm where some glass stuck.
Landing,
I remembered I should stay on the floor. The air was slightly clearer down
there, and I crawled the last feet to the front door, lined by small paned windows
shattered by heat. Glass pieces bit into my knees as I reached the door, the
doorknob hot in my hand as I turned it.
I
launched myself onto the front stoop, then forced myself off the ground to run
around the side of the house. Flames snaked upward toward the roof; the siding
below was a mass of char. How did the fire erupt so quickly?
I ran to Carson’s window, now a
gaping wound in the siding framed by jagged pieces of glass. The eaves above
sang with rising flame and sheets of smoke poured off the lower walls. My bare
feet sank into mud, deep mud, and I paused for a second, confused because the
water didn’t make sense.
I shook my head to clear it.
Carson. I had to get to Carson.
I
tried to knock out the rest of the glass on the window frame, before I pulled
myself up and over the window. My eyes searched for my baby against in the
darkness—thank all the gods! Somehow, there was no fire in his room. I landed
heavily on the carpet. The floor was wet and cold shocked my skin. I didn’t
have sprinklers—what the hell? I sloshed through inches of water and finally
reached Carson’s crib.
He
cried, which meant he was alive, and my heart leapt. Tears streamed down his
face and his mouth opened in a howl. I grabbed him, held him fiercely and maybe
a little too tight, but he grabbed me right back with arms and legs, burrowed
into my body, rubbed his face into my shoulder. He was soaking wet from tears.
Or—
Something
cracked overhead and I leapt back toward the window, swung my legs up and over
the sill, and dropped down into the mud. I landed heavily on one side with
Carson cradled against me and pain stabbed through my hip. Holding Carson to me
with one arm, I crawled as far as I could—which wasn’t far—then collapsed onto
the ground.
I
looked back at my house. Fire blazed on the roof. Carson still cried; I cried.
We both gasped for air. We were black with soot, with ash, with mud. We were
soaked. I was suddenly freezing. Nothing made sense.
Then
a growl came out of the darkness and chills raced up my spine. I sat up and
turned to see what my body already knew. A huge, black wolf. A Werewolf—it had
to be. Only Weres were that big. But who was he? Why was he here? The wolf
stood mere feet from me with hackles raised and mouth half-open. Red light from
the fire reflected off his teeth. He crouched, muscles taut, ready to spring.
“No!”
I shouted and clutched Carson to me, a surge of anger giving me strength.
Why would a Were attack us?
About the Author:
Sarah's love of reading, writing, and all things fantasy started with her childhood explorations of Narnia, Middle Earth, and Pern. She's a huge enthusiast of all fantasy, paranormal, and science fiction. She's a board game geek, an artist, and a dabbler in making chainmaille jewelry. She loves to write about strong women and their friendships--combined with magic and love, of course.
Sarah, her husband Gary, their three kids, and three cats live in Evansville, Indiana.
PS. None of her kids are actually Werewolves.
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