Bear Song, Sequel to Pale as the Moon

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If you enjoyed my first novel for young readers, Pale as the Moon, you’ll want to read its sequel, Bear Song. I wrote Bear Song soon after I finished Pale as the Moon twelve years ago. It kept sitting on the back burner after my original publisher went out of business, even though my first two book were picked up by another publisher. In the meantime I wrote three non-fiction horse books, which were published by The Lyons Press. When I did finally turn back to Bear Song I queried several agents and publishers, who while they complimented my book, for various reasons decided against publishing it.

Recently I attended a workshop on self-publishing and decided I had messed around long enough. I began that week the process of publishing Bear Song myself using Create Space. It turned out to be a lot of fun. I have always loved playing with designing brochures, flyers and booklets, so this new creative control over what my book would look like was very satisfying.  I did have a few formatting issues to over come because I lacked some knowledge in using Word. But, I learned, with the help of Internet tutorials, and I think I have put out not only a good story, but a good product as well.

While Bear Song is a sequel to Pale as the Moon, you can follow this story without having read Pale as the Moon (although it is still available so you can buy them both). We pick up the story of the English colony some years after their escape from Fort Raleigh on Roanoke Island.

In Pale as the Moon the refugees were guided to a small village of Native People on the shore of a pocosin lake on the New World’s mainland. We learn in Bear Song that Gray Squirrel left her home with the Paspatank to join her husband, William Pierce, and live with the Lake People and the English colonists.

It takes patience and wisdom for the two cultures to learn from each other and live in harmony. Gray Squirrel has earned her position among the council of elders because she has those very qualities, as well as knowledge of medicine. She teaches young Virginia Dare skills to help the English survive in what they call a wilderness, and she helps Virginia’s mother overcome her fear and prejudices of the native people.

Readers will follow these characters in their quest to live peacefully and at the same time protect the secret location of the Lake People. This secret is jeopardized first when a Croatan hunting party captures William, and then when a stranger kidnaps Virginia.

But the whole village is at risk of being wiped out when a small pox epidemic is brought to the village through an innocent act of kindness. First the old and very young die. Gray Squirrel tries everything she knows to heal her people but nothing works. She loses all hope, and that is when the bear comes to her in a dream.

You can buy Bear Song and any of my other books from Amazon.com by following this link:  http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001JP8KXO

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