Murder Under a Redwood Moon a paranormal murder mystery by debut author Sherri L. Dodd
Author Interview + Book & Author Info + Awesome Horse Photos!
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Murder Under a Redwood Moon
At the age of eight, Arista Kelly was frantically swept up by her parents and whisked off to an isolated town in the California redwoods. Two days later, her parents were gone.
Now at the age of twenty-three, she has settled quite nicely into an eclectic lifestyle, much like her great aunt, and guardian since childhood, Bethie. She enjoys the use of herbs and crystals to help her commune with the energy and nature around her and finds pleasure in the company of her beloved pet, Royal. Usually quite satisfied with her mundane life high in the Santa Cruz Mountains, life becomes unsettling when a new recurring vision of an ominous tattoo as well as increased activity from the ghostly presence within her own cottage invade her once-harmonious existence.
But life in this mountain sanctuary takes an even darker turn when the body of Arista’s former classmate is found in the nearby river. As other young women fall prey to a suspected serial killer, Arista realizes that the terror is coming to her.
To purchase a copy of Murder Under a Redwood Moon, click any of the following links: Amazon, Amazon (Canada), Barnes and Noble & IndieBound
Interview with Murder Under a Redwood Moon Author, Sherri L. Dodd
Murder Under a Redwood Moon is set in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Tell us about that environment and why you chose that for your debut.
I have lived in Santa Cruz County for a combined thirty years (including teen years), with seven of them being spent in Ben Lomond, which is about eight minutes down Highway 9 from Boulder Creek.
My kids went to preschool and elementary in the mountains and I loved taking them for nature hikes and splashing in the river. Loved the wildlife and the disengagement from city life. The redwoods truly have an ethereal spirit … mostly grand and stoic, while other times, spooky.
We had a redwood grove at the far end of our property that our kids called Scooby Doo forest. The only reason we moved from the area was because the mountain terrain was too steep to accommodate the sudden spur of energy and resulting free-range run of thundering hooves.
Murder Under a Redwood Moon revolves around Arista Kelly. What would you like readers to know about her?
The trilogy begins with Arista as a twenty-three-year-old eternal optimist, to the point of blindness. Her upbeat nature puts her in peril because she only wants to see the good in the world. She wants to do what’s right and be the inspiration for her friends. It is the best defense mechanism to resolve the loss brought on by the traumatic events that led her to the mountains in the first place.
The Murder, Tea & Crystals trilogy is her coerced journey out of blind optimism. But the trilogy is also about her great-aunt, Bethie. Bethie has raised Arista from the age of eight. She has always had to protect her, and this is also her journey of letting go and allowing Arista to grow into adulthood, and subsequently, into her powers as an intuitive modern-day witch.
Murder Under a Redwood Moon is a paranormal murder mystery. What draws you to read and write about paranormal events?
I think I will always ride that line of believing in ghosts and magick and heavily debate them with my knowledge on the power of mind and science. However, how much fun is it to put happenstance in a scientific box and say, ‘that’s why”?
Life is so much more exciting when you question it in a dimensional way and look at it in a mysterious light. This especially came true when my father passed. When we truly love someone and feel that void, it is nice to imagine that they could still be watching us, guiding us, and even protecting us and our generations to come.
In addition to writing, you teach Yoga, Kickboxing, and Dance Aerobics. How does your physical life and your imagination work together? Do you figure out plots while you’re practicing? Or are you 100% into your practices, and able to leave the plotting behind?
Fitness has saved me from a lifetime of anxiety. I began playing racquetball at age fourteen and have been on an exercise tear ever since. Kickboxing helped me regain my strength and form after delivering both my children. Yoga brought me peace and breath during erratic life happenings and UJAM greatly improved my low back functionality.
Each time I have assumed a new form of exercise, I’ve made sure to certify in it, so that I could effectively do it on my own and teach it. Therefore, I truly focus on the exercise at hand, and all thought, including creative, flows away into the studio fans.
HOWEVER, I do find most of my plot ideas come when I am in nature on a trail. My husband and I are talking and all the sudden I go dead silent and work out this whole scenario or come up with a fantastic hook. He’s gotten used to it by now!
We are both horse lovers. Tell us about your herd of Arabians.
The love of my life earns this credit. My husband had an Arabian mare that kept him out of trouble in high school. So, once we had a little property, we bought him an Arabian stallion, his long-time dream.
This eventually branched into an entire breeding business. My equine love, Summer, who is ½ Quarter Horse, and ½ Arabian, was created because I wanted a Palomino (damn those stereotypes of women and color choice).
We contracted a Cremelo named Vanilla Zip and bred with our largest and prettiest mare. Summer was born in our stables and is everything I could have wanted, sweet as pie with humans and b*tchy enough in the meadow to merit no trouble.
We also raised our children with horse chores, such as shoveling manure and throwing flakes before and after school.
Aur Mystic Illusion made it to Prix Saint George, but we retired him before he competed at that level.
Major Precision, Canadian National Champion. Questionably, my favorite stallion on our ranch and sire to many of our breedings.
Summer’s Dream, my baby in her Sunday-best – ha!
Love the joy of foals on their first turnout!
Hubby Ed playing with Aur Vanity, stallion.
For Christmas last year, I had this made into an oil painting for him.
What are you working on now?
I am currently working on the third, and final, installment of the Murder, Tea & Crystals Trilogy. This book has a completely different pace than the first two, and I truly hope the readers enjoy it!
Words of Wisdom for Aspiring Writers:
The process of getting published, whether through an agent, small publisher, or self, weeds out a lot of hobbyists.
The next step of actually selling and getting the next deal slims down the pool even more so. If you are serious about authorship, definitely give it a go, reality will sort out the rest. This, of course, the perspective of a novice writer.
It may be advice from a novice, but it’s excellent advice for any writer!
Sherri L. Dodd — Author of Murder Under a Redwood Moon
Sherri was raised in southeast Texas. Walking barefoot most days and catching crawdads as they swam the creek beds, she had a love for all things free and natural.
Her childhood ran rampant with talk of ghosts, demons, and backcountry folklore. This inspired her first story for sale, about a poisonous flower that shot toxins onto children as they smelled it. Her classmate bought it for all the change in his pocket.
Shortly thereafter, her mother packed the two of them up and headed to the central coast of California. Since that time, she has worked corporate, married, raised two sons, and now writes full-time creating atmospheric paranormal fiction. Her debut novel, Murder Under Redwood Moon, shot straight to #1 New Release on Amazon.
To learn more about Sherri, click the following links: Website & Instagram
