Behind the Scenes of Moon Child by Em Peters

I come from a huge Irish Catholic family, which means lots of aunts, uncles and cousins. We’re scattered across the US and several countries, but somehow, when the family gets together, they come together in a very spiritual sense. I’ve seen this time and again, through birthday celebrations and graduations. And also at funerals, which is where the spark for my debut release MOON CHILD ignited.

The deep sense of family is the basis of MOON CHILD. The enormous family rallies twice a year, during the summer and Christmas holidays, in a place called Wing Landing. When Jack Winters is adopted and plopped into the chaos of a huge family for the first time, he feels like a fish floundering for air.

And he instantly finds a dark secrets looms over his new family—a secret he’s desperate to uncover.

MOON CHILD is set in rural Pennsylvania, where I reside. The setting is taken directly from my world. From the wildlife to the seasons to the old junk cars that are left to rot in the fields. The beauty of the countryside filters into the world of my characters.

This book crosses genres. It’s paranormal fiction mixed with romance and family saga. You’re introduced to the characters as children, and watch them grow, learn and evolve into the passionate people who are driven to break a centuries-old pact. Paranormal events happen to these very real people. And as in most books, there’s always a love story.

Read on for an excerpt from MOON CHILD, now available from Whiskey Creek Press.

When eight-year-old orphan Jack spies an otherworldly girl seated in the crook of a cherry tree, he’s instantly smitten with the dark waif known as the “Moon Child.” Over time they become inseparable and the steel tendrils of tenderness take hold of Jack, especially on nights of the full moon, when she seeks sanctuary in his bunk, begging him to silence the voices she hears.

Frantic to find a way to help, he is thwarted by family at every turn. By the time he’s an adult, his determination to uncover the secret drives him to defy the family’s strict orders and he learns his childhood love has transformed into the bonedriven need to be part of her life in a brand new way.

To free her from the life she fears, he first must trust himself. Only then can he break the pact naming the woman he loves as Guardian of the Indian Six Nations, which forces her to wander the night protecting their peoples and ensuring the Montgomery family’s prosperity, but to her, means certain death.

Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmJ_Pqk0A9Q

Jack slouched on the long leather seat, wondering how he’d be punished if he puked in the big black car. The bumpy country roads didn’t help. His tummy rolled, flipped, bubbled up his throat. His cheeks flamed as the car tires hit the gravel lane, and by the time it rolled to a stop, his clothes felt sticky with sweat. He pressed his moist forehead to the tinted window and peered out at a sea of strangers and an astonishing house.

Walker—or Jack’s father, as he would now be called—flashed his sparkling movie-star smile at the boy and said, “Welcome to Wing Landing, Jack, my boy!” and then climbed into the melee.

The long black car was swarmed by relatives. One little kid with white-blond hair dangled over the top of the car door like a monkey and ogled Jack. Jack met the bright eager eyes, and the boy waggled his tongue at him. Then he vaulted down and took off running.

A hand reached inside to clasp Jack’s shoulder and draw him into the ruckus. He shrank into Hope’s—now Mother’s—side, comforted by the sweet smell of her perfume which made him think of the flowers that grew at his first foster home.

“ Everyone,” she said in a voice that sounded as soft and tinkling as wind chimes, yet the family stilled at once to hear, “this is our son, Jack. Be sure to welcome him to our family.” She bent to shoot a pointed look at a small knot of children, who nodded solemnly beneath her gaze.

He found himself passed between the hands of adults: shaking, hugging, patting, and even kissing his cheeks in welcome. After one aunt kissed him, he felt the sticky ring of her lipstick mark tightening his skin. He dug his knuckles into his cheek, trying to wipe it off. When he looked up he saw her eyes were laughing. She extracted a dainty handkerchief from her skirt pocket and dabbed away the mark.

Jack was jostled into the ancestral country house by way of a great front porch. It was wrapped in wooden shakes, a mixture of brown and gray like an old dog. He noted the comfortable give of the floorboards beneath his feet before he was swept through the double front doors. The first glimpse of the interior blurred by—light fixtures dripping raindrop crystals, the heads of boars mounted on walls, a staircase that resembled something from a castle and people…dozens and dozens of people.

The adults moved off in a massive, noisy crowd, leaving Jack alone in the grand foyer. Only he wasn’t alone. He was surrounded by children who smiled and whispered behind their hands. He wished his face wasn’t burning. He wished his stomach wasn’t churning. He wished the wooden floor would swallow him up. The return of his stomach cramps may be useful—if he bolted to the bathroom he would escape the smiling kids. He wished they’d go away.

Buy Moon Child: http://www.whiskeycreekpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=938&zenid=65d47ff71a5fe111c38c84ee4e9564c0

Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear from you!

Em Peters

www.empeters.com