Welcome Krista Ball

This month MuseItUp Publishing releases Harvest Moon by author Krista Ball.
Here is the blurb:

Dancing Cat angers her Ancestor, whose harsh punishment teaches her that true strength comes from the spirit within.

Cursed, abused, and desperate to know her future, Dancing Cat sneaks a glimpse inside her tribe's Sacred Bundle, a powerful source of spirit magic. Instead of the future, she sees her most powerful ancestor, Small Tree and incurs her wrath. Small Tree strips Dancing Cat of everything - her home, her identity, even her gender - and drops her in the middle of enemy lands.

Author Krista Ball

Injured, and in a strange, new body, she is befriended by Bearclaw who is on a spirit quest. He offers her assistance and asks for nothing in return; a kindness Dancing Cat had forgotten existed. She struggles to weave a path around the obstacles of friendship, identity, and longing in order to survive her eventual return home to face even further punishment.

And she does it while wearing someone else's skin. 

Hmmm... sounds like my kind of story. So, of course, I'm intrigued. Where did Krista get the idea? According to her: "There was a call out for gender-bender stories. I was working at a homeless agency at the time. The two sort'a mixed together. The story ended up too long to work for the anthology and found a home at MuseItUp." Krista has been writing for the sheer love of it since a teen, and I'm sure she is glad to find herself published. That won't stop her, though, as she has a self-published book, and has more work waiting for a publisher.

Here is an excerpt from Harvest Moon:

Cross-legged, Dancing Cat sat pounding the sun-dried Saskatoon berries between two hand-sized rocks.
The stone, her hands, and her buckskin dress all bore the tell-tale signs of berry duty. Streaks of red dye, impossible to clean, striped her clothing and tanned skin. She tried pushing her hair off her cheeks, only to have the sticky residue coating her fingers glue the dark strands in place.

The black flies swarmed and buzzed, ready to feast.

She worked in silence as part of the greater circle of twenty women, who chatted as they worked. Dancing Cat had no reason to join in. They only spoke to her to criticize or belittle, never for companionship. The band no longer even called her by name.

Thieves & Scoundrels

Wicca Dog

Her attention faded away from her work. She stared past the women to catch a glimpse of Eagle Eyes, her brother, mounting his horse. He was only six years older than her and already leading hunting parties, while she sat, docile and obedient, making powdered berries. His gaze caught hers, full of warning. She looked away with the heaviness of her situation pressing against her chest. Dancing Cat pounded her berries harder, trying to crush her own aching loneliness.
Here's a review from Ginger Simpson.

If you like what you've read, then do as I did and download a copy from MuseItUp Publishing, $2.50, 35 pages.

Be sure to visit Krista's blog and her web page! Also, check out these titles by Krista.