Beneath the Blackberry Moon Series by April W. Gardner

War, captivity, hunger that will not be denied. And a blackberry moon with enough pull to endure the test of time. Frontierswoman Adela McGirth has never feared her neighbors, the Creek Indians, but a suspicious encounter with a steely-eyed warrior shakes her confidence. As dreaded, a skirmish with the natives sends her family fleeing into a hastily constructed fort. But no picket is strong enough to hold off a party of warriors who fear nothing but the loss of their ancient ways... moreWar, captivity, hunger that will not be denied. And a blackberry moon with enough pull to endure the test of time. Frontierswoman Adela McGirth has never feared her neighbors, the Creek Indians, but a suspicious encounter with a steely-eyed warrior shakes her confidence. As dreaded, a skirmish with the natives sends her family fleeing into a hastily constructed fort. But no picket is strong enough to hold off a party of warriors who fear nothing but the loss of their ancient ways. Totka Lawe, a Red Stick bound by honor to preserve his heritage, will do what he must to expel the whites from Muscogee soil. But in the midst of battle, he is assigned to protect those he’s expected to hate and kill. One of whom is the copper-haired woman who has haunted his thoughts since that strange night under the blackberry moon. The war was simpler before his enemy became a beautiful face with a gentle warrior’s spirit he cannot resist. But what woman would have a warrior whose blood-soaked hands destroyed her life? Then again...does she have a choice? less

Big Warrior Totka Hadjo enters his toughest battles yet—the fight for love, the invasion of fear, and the inescapable ashes of each. The war has ended, and now, Totka Hadjo must endure eleven moons and twenty-six sleeps without his beloved Copper Woman. But he has a two-fold task to keep him occupied: establish a lodge deserving of her and challenge her Jesus Creator to a vision, to prove his existence... moreBig Warrior Totka Hadjo enters his toughest battles yet—the fight for love, the invasion of fear, and the inescapable ashes of each. The war has ended, and now, Totka Hadjo must endure eleven moons and twenty-six sleeps without his beloved Copper Woman. But he has a two-fold task to keep him occupied: establish a lodge deserving of her and challenge her Jesus Creator to a vision, to prove his existence. Totka leaves the white settlements with Copper Woman’s holy book, an object with medicine strong enough to keep at bay the hounding ghosts of his unavenged ancestors. But the sacred writings cannot restrain the Bluecoat who has returned from the dead, the one who first owned her heart. From the far reaches of the Muscogee Confederacy, Totka is powerless to stop the onslaught of events that conspires to take his beloved from him forever. Leaping Waters, Totka’s old passion, is a constant presence he cannot escape, but she might be able to unlock the spiritual mysteries found in the holy book’s talking leaves. While he wades through the confusing symbols, the Choctaws, his ancient enemy, are determined to seize prime Muscogee hunting lands. In the process, they aggravate wounds that might never heal and expose him to a truth too bitter to swallow. Denial and revenge go down much easier. less

Thirsty for more Creek country? You’ll find just the thing in The Untold Stories, available in digital format on Amazon. The twenty-six scenes in this novella-length compilation are those that met the edge of the ax over the twelve-year evolution of Beneath the Blackberry Moon. In them, you’ll reunite with familiar characters—Nokose, Zachariah, Hester, Adela. You’ll meet brand new ones—Dixon Bailey, Red Eagle, Andrew Jackson... moreThirsty for more Creek country? You’ll find just the thing in The Untold Stories, available in digital format on Amazon. The twenty-six scenes in this novella-length compilation are those that met the edge of the ax over the twelve-year evolution of Beneath the Blackberry Moon. In them, you’ll reunite with familiar characters—Nokose, Zachariah, Hester, Adela. You’ll meet brand new ones—Dixon Bailey, Red Eagle, Andrew Jackson. And you’ll have nagging questions put to rest—What exactly did Zachariah do while his women were lost to him? How did Hester escape the doomed fort? What happened when Totka went to Coweta to meet the White Warrior? By the end, you’ll have a better grasp of what transpired in Creek country during the war while Totka and his beloved Copper Woman were falling in love. Journey back, dear reader, to 1813 Creek country in The Untold Stories . . . less