Autumn Moon

Jairec Connelly's holiday in San Francisco turned into a living nightmare when he's attacked by a chiang-shih, a Chinese vampire. He has until the end of the Moon Festival to find the elixir or become the white haired demon for all eternity. All he needs to do is convince one stubborn woman she holds the key. Autumn Moon is an acupuncturist and herbalist. When Jairec confronts her demanding she give him the elixir of life, she believes he's heard one too many Chinese legends about the Moon Festival. The chiang-shih of legends is a white haired, green-faced vampire-nothing like Jairec with his Irish good looks and charming manners. When a mysterious attack leaves the victim drained of blood, Autumn is forced to believe monsters really do exist. She searches her uncle's journals. She must find a cure for Jairec. Time is running out. Jairec and Autumn join forces to stop the master chiang-shih from raising an army and taking over Chinatown. Jairec will do all he can to keep Autumn safe, even if it means his death.Review"Autumn Moon" starts with action and doesn't stop. The romance is perfectly entwined with myth and suspense. A one night read." --Bitten By Books 5 Tombstones"Read through the pages of this delightful 'love' story, as this unlikely pair attempt to conquer Jariec's curse before his time runs out, leading them into a sinful interlude."--Ghost Writers Literary Reviews"I loved how Autumn used acupuncture to take the edge off of Jairec's blood craving. Autumn Moon is one of those stories that comes at you unexpectedly and takes the vampire legend to an entirely different level." --PNR-Paranormal Reviews"This is a very fast-paced piece, but it keeps the reader in the midst of the action. Ms. Nutt does a wonderful job of weaving a legend into the heart this romance." Kimberly --Coffee Time Romance"... an ancient evil, a tormented family, a hunky hero and his lovely lady, and plucky grandparents that are not afraid to kick some paranormal arse. Lovely work!" --Mystique Moons From the AuthorBehind the ScenesI wanted to share with you how I intertwined the autumn moon festival, the myth of the moon goddess and the legend of the chiang-shih to create this exciting tale in the heart of San Francisco's Chinatown. I chose the wonderful city of San Francisco as the location for the tale because of its rich culture in Chinese lore. My husband and I took a few tours of Chinatown, one being a ghost tour, which was interesting. The tour guide had grown up in Chinatown and told us about the superstitions as well as the history of the town.The moon festival caught my interest for the basis of my story. The Autumn Moon Festival is a traditional festival. It is the third and last festival for the living and is usually celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth moon. This is the autumn equinox. In San Francisco the festival is celebrated in September.The festival is about worshiping the moon (called xi yue in Chinese.) One tradition is sending moon cakes to their relatives as gifts to show their best wishes for the family. A moon cake is a semi-sweet pastry filled with bean or lotus-seed paste. Sometimes the pastry is topped with a duck egg to signify the full moon. In my story, Autumn's grandmother made the moon cakes. It is also the pastry Jairec mistaken as the elixir of life when he steals the package from Autumn.The Seer tells Jairec that the Autumn Moon festival is his salvation and this is the only way he will reunite his two souls. He was attacked by a chiang-shih (Chinese Vampire.) In Chinese belief, each person has two souls, a superior soul and an inferior soul. The superior soul can leave the sleeping body. It will appear, as the body's double, speaking and acting as if all is fine. However, if something happened to the disembodied soul during its journey, the body would suffer. This is why Jairec is desperate to reunite his souls before it is too late.The chiang-shih may appear to look like a normal human being while others have a hideous green phosphorescent glow with serrated teeth and long talons. Some may appear more like a zombie as if being controlled by another entity. For the story, as the person leaned toward evil and succumbed to the chiang-shih curse, their appearance took on the more hideous version of the chiang-shih.Not realizing there is a woman named Autumn Moon, Jairec is desperate to find the elixir. The festival is also known for the immortal moon Goddess, Chang O who lives in the moon. She took the elixir of life meant for her husband. Of course, Autumn believes Jairec has lost his mind. The story of the elixir of life is a myth, not reality. How could she have the elixir?Chinatown, San Francisco moon festival has many street vendors to purchase plants, clothes, souvenirs and such. Autumn is an acupuncturist and offers her service during the festival. Autumn's grandparents set up a booth to sell pastries from their bakery.The Dragon parade closes the festivities of this event and this is where the showdown between the master chiang-shih and Jairec will go down. It seemed only appropriate. There are dancers who maneuver the giant puppet along the fog-filled street to give it a surreal feel. Fireworks light the sky. A master chiang-shih that has reached the flying, white-haired stage can only be killed by copper bullets or by thunder. Autumn and her grandfather work with Jairec to end the threat that will destroy Chinatown.I hope you enjoyed the behind the scene tour.. Until next time, I leave you with a Chinese proverb:  "In safety, do not forget danger."