Dark Sunrise

by Jane Toombs

Who are the Moonrunners? Why have they been blessed--or cursed--with unusual powers that make others fear them? Will they ever be able to bring their strange talents under control?

As they try to live and love as ordinary humans do, they search desperately for an answer to why they are born "different" and marked for death by the deadly Stalkers. This third book in the Moonrunner trilogy stands alone, though it continues the story of the Volek family--human, or are they? For Jael Steinmetz, newly hired to care for the strangest little girl she's ever met, the challenge is to stay alive. . .

This paranormal fantasy is set in the past and ranges from the USA to Iron Curtain Russia. Though violence and sex are present, so is love.

Note from Publisher: I'm always on the look-out for a good fantasy read and I heard Ms. Jane Toombs got the rights back to the first two books of her Moonrunner series from Roc. Seems that her editor left Roc before the first book was released and so the trilogy was orphaned early on. Then marketing decided to put gothic romance covers on the first two books and then shelved them in the SF/F section!

But, this story has a happy ending. New Concepts Publishing already has Book Three, Dark Sunrise, up at their web site. Please note this book is a paranormal fantasy, even though NCP is billing Dark Sunrise as horror. Under the Shadow, Book One and Gathering Darkness, Book Two will be forthcoming very soon as Ms. Toombs turned in the disks to them a couple of weeks ago.

Recently, I had the opportunity to ask Ms. Jane Toombs a couple of questions regarding creativity and her Moonrunner fantasy series for Twilight Times readers.

TT: Ms. Toombs, does your creativity express itself in ways other than writing?

Ms. Toombs: Lida, first of all, please call me Jane. In answer to your question, I'm afraid I'm a single-track creator--just a writer. That could be a blessing, though, as I have a friend who is extremely talented as a potter and a painter as well as a writer. She tends to get distracted by which she wants to do, while I have no choice.

TT: Do you feel you were creative, even as a child?

Ms. Toombs: As a child I couldn't wait to get words down on paper. My stories werenever oral, always written. My father was a nonfiction historical author and read all my efforts, praising first before showing me how to improve. Very encouraging to a fledgling writer..
I prefer writing and reading fantasy to all other genres--and it's mostly Poe's fault, with an additional boost from Lovecraft and A. Merritt.

TT: Could you share with us the story behind the story of your Moonrunner Trilogy?

Ms. Toombs: The idea for the Moonrunner Trilogy arose from my wondering how a person with a very strange ability could manage to fit into society without being persecuted--or even noticed. Since shapeshifting has always fascinated me, I fastened on this for the strangeness. I chose America as the setting, beginning in Gold Rush California and, because of my interest in history, wanted to connect the original shifter, and those he sired, with important people and events of the past. I wrote the story in my head for at least ten years before organizing it into a coherent proposal.
Being a woman, I feel strong men-women relationships are essential to life, so those also became a part of the story, though it's by no means a romance. The problem with writing the book I always wanted to and getting it published is sort of--what now? I'm still searching for another idea with as powerful a resonance for me.

Author Bio

Ms. Jane Toombs was born in California, raised in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, lived in those two states and also Texas and New York before settling down in Nevada, in beautiful Carson City.
She's had over fifty books published, including her electronic ones, in all the romance genres as well as mystery, fantasy and horror. She said she and her significant other have known each other since he was seven and she was six but, as adults, they went their own ways for several decades before finding one another again. They're both cat people, which Kinko, their crazy calico, literally believes.

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