GUEST POST AND GIVEAWAY: Moonlight Dancer by Deb Atwood

Guest Post & Giveaway: Moonlight Dancer by Deb Atwood

Deb Atwood is celebrating the anniversary of Moonlight Dancer by giving away three ebooks and three Moonlight Dancer mugs.

Book Description:

A doll...a ghost...a love that transcends time.

Kendra JinJu MacGregor can resist neither the antique Korean doll in the dusty warehouse nor the handsome Hiro Peretti who sells it to her.

Once she brings the doll home, Kendra pays little attention to misplaced objects or her beloved dog's fear. That is, until one terrifying night forces her to question her very sanity. Soon, the ethereal, brooding NanJu manifests herself, and Kendra begins her travels through time to 16th century Korea into a history of conflict and intrigue. For Kendra is about to discover the dark past of her ghostly visitor.

Now it's up to Kendra, with Hiro by her side, to interpret the past and prevent murder. Everything depends upon Kendra's success, even--she discovers to her horror--her own life.

Excerpt from Moonlight Dancer:

Jindo, Korea

Prologue

By the time I reached land’s end I had renounced prayer.

Standing there, wind whipping my skirts, looking toward Jindo, I couldn’t help but think of the legend. Why not, if doing so would delay me? I welcomed even a pause of ten heartbeats. I could slice open my palm, apply a red pepper poultice to the wound, yet the pain in my heart would exceed that 10,000 times.

If only the gods had spoken that day. If only I had seen their silence as disapproval. But as we say, wheat bows its head deeper as it ripens. This means, Kendra JinJu MacGregor, wise people are humble.

On that day, I was neither wise nor humble.

Instead, I stood at the end of the land unable to move forward, unable to retreat, and recalled the legend. Long ago, in the time of the dragons, so the old ones say, a streak of hungry tigers drove the villagers from their homes. Grandmother Bbong fled, but churning seawater surrounded her so she could not cross to Modo Island where her family had rafted to safety.

At the end of the land Grandmother wailed and prayed, prayed and wailed.

That night, the Sea King appeared in her dream. “Tomorrow,” he told her, “follow the rainbow.”

In the morning, a ribbon of dazzling colors rose over the waters. As Grandmother stepped forward, the Sea King parted the waves. A walking path broke through the waters all the way to her family on Modo Island.

Every year since then, the sea splits for one hour on one day in the fourth lunar month, and the mysterious path between the islands appears.

That’s where I paused, unable to do what I came here to do. The sand beneath my feet was dry, but time was short. Below the cloud layer, a muted gray sky pressed into the sea, pressed into my heart.

I fingered a triton I had fished from the rocks. Kneeling, I kissed the baby’s ear, nuzzled the soft down on his head and offered him the shell.

“HanGyu, listen,” I said.

But he was distracted. Following his upward gaze, I spied a white-tailed eagle arcing her wings. No doubt she had cached her chicks beneath her.

An eagle protects her young.

I should have seen that as my sign.  

Bio:

Deb loves Korean history and time-slip novels, and she feels a ghost is the perfect medium to bring history to life. She holds an MFA and resides in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and former shelter dog Nala. Deb’s work has appeared in numerous anthologies.

Please visit Deb on Twitter @deb_atwood or at her blog PenInHerHand.com. She’d love to see you there!

Purchase Moonlight Dancer: 

Amazon

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