About
the Book
Title: LEOPARD MOON (Moon Series #1)
Author: Jeanette Battista
Publisher: CreateSpace
Release date: March 7, 2012
Pages: 204
Formats: Paperback, eBook
***Kindle format free at Amazon - HERE***
Description:
How do you disappear when you come from a
family of predators?
A wereleopard, Kess is forced to flee her
home and family in Miami once her brother's obsession with her turns violent.
She runs from city to city, trying to stay one step ahead of the investigators
her family has dispatched to bring her home. Kess ends up in the mountains of
North Carolina and attracts the attention of Cormac, a young man with a secret
of his own. As she attempts to live as normal a life as her were-nature allows,
her brother Sek continues to hunt for her. He believes she is the key to
revitalizing their weakened clan and is driven to extreme measures to ensure
their continued existence. As Kess' relationship with Cormac deepens, Sek
closes in, threatening Cormac's life and Kess' freedom.
When the moon rises, the hunt is on….
Book Links:
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/leopard-moon-jeanette-battista/1109751526?ean=2940014514774
Photo credit: Dimitri Williams Photography
Source: Author’s website
About
the Author
Jeanette Battista graduated with an English
degree with a concentration in medieval literature which explains her possibly
unhealthy fixation on edged weapons and cathedral architecture. She spent a
summer in England and Scotland studying the historical King Arthur, which did
nothing to curb her obsession. To satisfy her adrenaline cravings—since sword
fighting is not widely accepted in these modern times—she rode a motorcycle at
ridiculously high speeds, got some tattoos, and took kickboxing and boxing
classes. She gave up the bike when her daughter came along, although she still
gets pummeled at the gym on a regular basis.
When she’s not writing or working, Jeanette
spends time with family, hikes, reads, makes decadent brownies, buys killer
boots, and plays Pocket Frogs. She wishes there were more hours in the day so
she could actually do more of these things. She lives with her daughter and
their ancient, ill-tempered cat in North Carolina.
Author Links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Battista_j
Website: http://www.jeanettebattista.com
I'll be honest--I wasn't planning to write a
book like Leopard Moon. I had an entirely different story in my head at the
time, but it just wasn't coming into clear focus. That's the funny way writing
works though: there I am, sitting at a red light on my way to meet my friends
for a birthday martini and pedicure, listening to Florence + the Machine and
WHAM! The song Howl comes on and this whole lovely scene just starts unfolding
in my head. There was Kess, running through the woods, ripping off of her clothes
as she triggered a change into a black leopard. And there was Cormac, standing
in a different part of the woods being beaten mercilessly by the villain. I
didn't know Sek was going to turn out to be Kess' brother, but I did know who
he was as a character and what he wanted.
It was truly a gift: the entire final fight
scene just unspooled itself along with the song lyrics. Each beat of the song
matched a key point in the fight. The more I listened, the more I realized that
the lyrics could apply to all of the characters in the main triangle at some
point in the story I suddenly wanted to tell. And I wanted that story to be
more than just boy meeting girl--I wanted that story to be about girl saving
boy, but more importantly about girl saving herself. The song Howl gave me Kess
first and Sekhmet second, so a lot of what I tried to do with them was to show
them as two halves of a whole, two sides of a coin. Howl, at least to me,
wasn't a love song at all--it was a song about possession and obsession and all
of those things that show up in our animal drives. that we'd like to forget
exists.
So when I began to craft Kess and Sek, Howl
played on a continuous loop. And though the song speaks of wolves, I knew these
two had to be cats. Wolves have a more social nature and are more easily
understood by us--I think it comes from them being a a precursor to our beloved
dogs. Cats are an unknown quantity, strange and separate, even if they choose
to share space with us. I wanted real darkness there, not just a brief bit of
danger that would be easily resolved. Obsession and mental illness gave Sek
that scariness, but also--I hope--a bit of sympathy. He really does love his
sister and wants what is best for her and his clan. I never intended to excuse
his behavior, but I did want to try and understand it.
Just like the song made me understand that
narrator of that story. I can only hope I did half so well.
***
To meet Kess, Cormac and Sek in this first
book in the Moon series, head over to Amazon to download the Kindle eBook for
free until January 31st.
It
can be found HERE!
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