Happy Monday, everyone! Jeanne G’Fellers has a brand new queer non-binary/gender fluid paranormal fantasy out today: Keeping House, book #2 in the Appalachian Elementals series. Check it out!
Title: Keeping House
Author: Jeanne G’Fellers
Series: Appalachian Elementals (Book #2)
Release date: July 8, 2019
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy, LGBT Fantasy, Appalachian Fantasy
LGBTQA+ characters: Nonbinary, lesbian, gay, trans, intersex, queer, and genderfluid
Length: 130,000 words
Publisher: Mountain Gap Books
Cover Artist: Jeanne G’Fellers
Centenary Rhodes is caught in a deal she didn’t make. Thanks to her eternal lover, Stowne’s, quick thinking, she’ll live forever, but there’s a hitch. Cent’s now fey, and three months out of the year she’ll live on the other side of Embreeville Mountain among the Hunter Fey, serving their king, Dane Gow.
As Cent begins wading through the anachronisms that come with being a Hunter, she learns that nothing is what it initially seems. Cent shares several past lives with Dane, who wants her back, and Stowne’s lied to Cent so many times that she’s having doubts about their marriage. To make matters worse, the past Hunter Kings are influencing Dane’s behavior, and the youngest Hunter, Brinn, might well be the most dangerous of them all.
It’s going to be a cold, dark spring, and Cent needs to unite both sides of Embreeville mountain before her eternal life, her relationship with Dane, and her marriage to Stowne come permanently undone.
Another rich Contemporary Appalachian tale about fantastic people and the magic they possess, including LGBTQIA+ characters Human and otherwise.
Content & trigger warnings: depiction of mental illness including on page psychosis; discussion of gender dysphoria, cutting, and self-harm; discussion of rape and murder; on and off page violence
Series Blurb:
Come dance with the Appalachian fey and drink a little moonshine under the full moon while you hear Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Death share tales about families of our blood, families of our making, and magic both long ago and flowing through us now.
Available at these retailers!
Mountain Gap Books | Amazon US | Amazon UK | Smashwords
You can also add it to your shelf on Goodreads.
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GIVEAWAY:
Jeanne is giving away a $20 Amazon gift certificate with this tour. Enter via Rafflecopter for a chance to win:
{Or paste this link into your browser: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/b60e8d4772/?}
• • • • • •
EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT
While Keeping House isn’t listed as a Romance, there’s a definite romantic thread running through the novel, mainly one between the protagonist Cent Rhodes and Dane Gow, she-king of the Hunter fey. While Cent has come and gone in her mortal lives, Dane, who’s immortal, has been there for centuries, waiting just like Cent’s immortal elemental spouse Stowne has been for her return. The rivalry between Dane and Stowne is intense and the more Cent remembers about them, the more complicated things are becoming.
What makes this scene unique is that Dane’s put Cent behind the wheel of her welding truck, (the king doesn’t give just anyone control of her rig, you know) and she’s expecting Cent to drive the rest of the way up a seemingly roadless mountainside to reach home, meaning the hidden Hunter kingdom where Dane rules.
This excerpt comes from Chapter Eleven: “Clocked Out.”
“Where to now?” Cent peered out the window at the mountainside.
“Same way we’ve been goin’,” said Dane.
The road ends here. Cent saw no path or vehicle tracks. “We’ll run into the side of the mountain even if we get through the trees.”
“Magic, sugar. Drive right through them, but you better put on some speed before you hit the trees, or you’ll run outta gears on the way up the mountain.”
“Drive into the trees?”
“Head straight for them two big oaks.” Dane pointed ahead. “There’s an old mining road we used to use, but it’s nothin’ pretty since the Forest Service stopped maintaining it, so we’ll be drivin’ on the hidden one we made up to the kingdom. You remember the ol’ Upper Peedee mine, doncha?”
“I didn’t until now.” I’m living a twisted, backwoods version of Harry Potter. “Platform nine and three quarters it is.” Cent took off in second again, gunning the engine as Dane braced her arms against the cab’s roof.
“Keep your foot on the gas.” She laughed when Cent shoved the truck into third and drove directly toward the trees, not hesitating once, bouncing the truck across the dip and up the hill. “Over the hill and through the woods—”
“You ain’t no grandma.” Cent didn’t downshift until she had to, then she ground the gears, and the truck clunked into second.
“No, but you’re sure drivin’ like one.” Dane unbuckled and scooted to the middle of the truck, one leg on each side of the stick so Cent had to reach over her to shift. “Come on. You can do this. We’re almost to that road I talked about.”
“Shut up and let me drive.” Cent concentrated on the gravel road Hunter magic hid from public view, managing two switchbacks in second. “Yikes! Those are some serious ruts.” They were on National Forest land now, and on a road that both did and didn’t exist. The land had been ravaged by earlier mining, but it was slowly returning to its natural state. Poor Stowne. It had to have hurt. But there were dozens of old mines in the Bumpass Cove area, and she’d read there’d been toxic waste illegally dumped in some of those mines between this life and her last.
“Consider them ruts a challenge.” Dane bounced so hard her head hit the roof. “We gotta reset the spells to carry a new grade as soon as the ground thaws.”
Cent gained speed at the next dip, but it wasn’t enough to find third gear again, and by the time they reached the final turn up the mountain, she’d dug into first, rolling the truck through the hidden gates of the Hunter kingdom at less than five miles per hour.
“Good lord.” Cent pulled the truck inside the three-sided metal shed where Dane parked and killed the engine. “That was rough.” She still gripped the shifter knob.
“But you did it.” Dane placed her hand over Cent’s. “You ended in granny, but if you can do it in my rig, that ol’ F-100 of yours will be a piece of cake once it’s fixed and we put some weight in the back end.” She removed her gloves and touched Cent’s face, her fingers both calloused and tender against her cheek. “I’m glad you’re rememberin’.”
“Me too.” Cent closed her eyes and leaned into the touch before she caught herself. Too familiar, too… She ached for things that weren’t hers to have. “Did Tsula say Lexy made turkey?”
“I netted a few dozen last fall. They’ve been waitin’ in the freezers.” They were alone together in the dark confines of the pickup. This, too, felt overly familiar. “Lexy and her helpers make great cornbread dressin’.” Dane placed the tip of her tongue between her lips, deep in thought again. “I can’t get past your wards to know what you’re thinkin’, and I can’t always read your expression yet, so what’s goin’ through your head?”
“Things.” They stared at each other in the dark, Dane fingering Cent’s hair where it poked from beneath her toboggan.
“You know I was playin’ with my note about shavin’ your head, right? I was just tryin’ to piss off Stowne.”
“Were you?” She turned her face into Dane’s hand, inhaling avocado oil, iron, and wintergreen. “We’re both married.” She tried to turn away, but Dane caught her, turning her back.
“Aye, we are, but it don’t change history.” Dane moved her hand to cradle Cent’s chin. “It don’t change our past.”
• • • • • •
And here’s an extra EXCERPT!
I can do this. Cent unzipped the top of her coveralls and lowered her long johns to reveal the halter top beneath them. “Sorry, not sorry to disappoint you, King Dane.” She unfurled her wings and rolled her shoulders to shake them open.
“Just look at all them sigils.” Dane stomped her boots on the circle sands as she laughed, and her men laughed with her. “You look like a doodled-out scratch pad.” She removed her arm from her coat and rolled her sleeve above her bracer to show the sigils tattooed across her plaster-pale bicep. “All us Hunters got them, but ours won’t warsh off with a good scrubbin’, and neither will yours by the time you get back to Stowne.”
“Sigils remain intact even if they cannot be seen by the eye.” Cent’s spouse’s mouth thinned with the stress she knew they were feeling. “If the sigils are applied in perfect love and trust, that is. Rest assured, Centenary’s were.”
“Like I care.” Dane shoved her arm back into her coat. “It’s my turn, you worn-out gravel heap. That was our deal.” She lunged forward to grab Cent by the arm.
“Let go!” Cent wrenched away and moved to stand between Pyre and Exan, her elemental escorts. “I’ll fly with them.” She blew Stowne a kiss and stretched her wings, shivering. “Hold on.” She pulled a pair of striped leg warmers from her pocket and slid them over her arms. They were horribly outdated, but they’d been a cheap thrift shop solution, and she was glad she’d remembered them. Still, they weren’t enough for the current weather.
“Betcha she can’t keep up.” Dane’s guard, Conall, snorted and extended his hand to the guard with the dreadlocks. “Deal, Weeds?”
Weeds knocked his hand away. “Nothing to be gained there because you’re right.” He pulled a red wool chullo hat from his pocket and drew it over his head, topping that with a pair of ski goggles he lowered over his eyes. “She’s not going to get there without help.”
“Manners, boys.” Dane pulled a pair of leather Steampunk-style goggles over her eyes. “Best not judge until we see what she’s got under the hood. Come on. We’re late for a helluva shindig.” She laughed as she took to the air, hovering above the circle until Cent, Pyre, and Exan joined her. Her men took to the air behind them, Weeds pressing ahead while Conall brought up the rear.
We’re sandwiched in.Cent flew as hard as she could, hoping to lessen the distance between her and Dane, but it kept growing.
“Problem?” Conall flew up behind Cent as she struggled to keep speed. “Get movin’.”
“I’m trying!” Cent almost stopped mid-air to confront him, but Pyre grabbed her by the shoulder, pulling her to the right so he flew past.
“Not a good idea.” Pyre hooked their smoky arm through hers, urging her along. “You’re cold.” They sent warmth into her, but she still shivered.
“Let us give you the energy to do this.” A thread of Exan’s black mass wrapped her left arm. “Come along.”
“What’s the holdup?” Dane flew back to face them. “Havin’ trouble keepin’ up, girlie?” She moved closer. “Guess Conall’s right after all. You need him to carry you the rest of the way?” Dane snickered when Conall returned to hover, scowling, behind her. Their beating wings stirred the air more than Cent’s, and her teeth chattered to the point she couldn’t hide it.
“I’ll get there.” But she knew she’d be struggling even with Pyre and Exan’s help, and she was so cold their warming energy wasn’t enough.
“You can’t, admit it.” Dane surged forward to grab Cent around the waist, forcing her wings to roll then tuck as Exan and Pyre’s grips fell away. “Your spirit form can fly, but your real wings are puny. Best hold on, or I’ll let you fall.” She turned Cent outward, holding her with one stout arm as they began to move. “Your eyes ain’t used to this cold and movement combined, so keep them closed until we’re— no. Hey, Weeds.” Dane slowed until he caught up along with Pyre and Exan, who both moved to see Cent’s face.
“I’m fine.” She blinked away the frost that’d collected on her eyelashes. “Let her do the work if she wants.”
“I got stuff to get done, or you’d be suckin’ up the rear, that’s all.” Dane motioned to Weeds. “Give her your goggles.”
“But— yes ma’am.” His dismay spread across his face as he pulled a scarf from his pocket, wrapping it around his head until only his eyes showed.
I’m making a great impression on him.
“Put them on, and let’s get movin’. Much longer up here and our wings’ll start freezin’.” Dane pulled Cent’s coveralls and long johns to her chest and opened her own coat to wrap her in it. “Damn rookie-ass flyer. Next time, wear a hat too.” Dane jerked her welding cap from her pocket, pulling it over Cent’s head as they gained speed.
Air whipped around them as they moved, and it began to sleet, pelting Cent with ice shards and freezing over her goggles by the time they touched down. “Someone get her a blanket!” Dane tore the goggles from Cent’s face and blew warm, tobacco-tainted breath in her face. “And somethin’ hot to drink!” Her voice softened. “You all right, sugar?”
“Let go!” Cent broke away and rushed to Pyre and Exan’s sides before they could fully manifest. “Dane’s being nice,” she whispered as she pulled off the leg warmers then raised her long johns and coveralls. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Take a deep breath and look around.” Pyre kept their voice soft and calm, which frightened Cent all the more.
“She means you no harm this night.” Exan wrapped their arm around her shoulders. “This is Dane’s kingdom, and she is in control of all you see.” They spun her around to view the nearly three-dozen pale Hunter faces, some clearly pissed by her presence, others amused, and a few too clouded in their expression to read, clustered around the bonfire she stood near.
“Welcome back to my world, Centenary Rhodes.” Dane bowed before her then rose wearing a mischievous smile. “Let’s get this party started!”
• • • • • •
Author Bio
Born and raised in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Science Fiction and Fantasy author Jeanne G’Fellers’ early memories include watching the original Star Trek series with their father and reading the books their librarian mother brought home. Jeanne’s writing influences include Anne McCaffrey, Ursula K. LeGuin, Octavia Butler, Isaac Asimov, and Frank Herbert.
Jeanne lives in Northeast Tennessee with their spouse and five crazy felines. Their home is tucked against a small woodland where they regularly see deer, turkeys, raccoons, and experience the magic of the natural world.
Website: https://jeannegfellersauthor.com/
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Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Jeanne-GFellers/e/B01N0YWCT7/
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