Let’s welcome Marilyn Barr back to West of Mars! This isn’t her first, err, rodeo here, so let’s get right to business.

Marilyn Barr, what song makes you think of your book?

The core issue of Dance to a Wylder Beat is the need for community. Nartan’s secret Shamanic dancing and Olive’s paranormal secret keep them on the outskirts of Wylder society. In line with their desires, their song is “Stolen Dance” by Milky Chance.

Listen to this haunting song here – https://youtu.be/k750IIdKq08

In the late 1870s, the Arapaho nation’s way of life was being destroyed by the US Government. Their nomadic existence was at odds with the settlements, like Wylder Wyoming, popping up along the railway line. The Arapaho followed the migratory herds with small bands creating circles of teepees for a season before packing their travois and heading to the next place. The US Government turned tribes against each other and in 1871, the Shoshone and Arapaho battles destroyed the Antelope Band which broke my heart. This conflict is the catalyst for Nartan and his brother, Ikshu to set up their homestead at the edge of Wylder.

“I hope they didn’t get your mind
Your heart is too strong anyway
We need to fetch back the time
They have stolen from us.” –Stolen Dance, Lyrics – Clemens Rehbein

Away on a vision quest, Nartan missed the chance to defend his band. His younger brother, Ikshu, was with the women, elderly, and children when the attack happened. His PTSD gives him night terrors and selective mutism. Despite being a Shamanic apprentice and destined for mystic greatness in his tribe, Nartan becomes a humble leather tanner and protector of Ikshu’s fragile state. What he refuses to give up is the support of his spirit team. The six spirits answer his calls when he dances in secret. His ceremonial herbs, dance steps to create the sacred geometry of his people in the dirt, and incantation (the same incantation I use in my energetic healing practice) are offerings to the spirit realm. Such practices are against the law on the reservations which is a second reason why Nartan left. While I would argue Nartan is never stoned, the unbelievers contribute his visions to the ceremonial herbs – which were most likely sage, tobacco, and sagebrush in 1878.

“You’ve never danced like this before
We don’t talk about it
Dancin’ on, doin’ the boogie all night long
Stoned in paradise
Shouldn’t talk about it” –Stolen Dance, Lyrics – Clemens Rehbein

What about his love interest, Olive? While she doesn’t dance, this song has a ring of truth for her story as well. Olive is a guttersnipe. These were orphaned kids who rode the railways to find their adventure. Olive migrated from “Mexico to Montana” with the native tribes who would protect her. She learned many skills – such as the basics of leather tanning – from the gentle souls who helped her along the way. Unfortunately, her paranormal secret has kept her from assimilating into the settler towns of the Wild West. Yes, Olive is too wild for the Wild West and tired of wandering alone.

“I want you by my side
So that I never feel alone again” –Stolen Dance, Lyrics – Clemens Rehbein

When a medicine man on the Wind River Reservation suggests answering Nartan’s telegraph ad for a wife, Olive dares to dream of living in a house with a soft bed and a roof over her head. Could she keep her secret, learn to be a settler wife, and have a family of her own? She has nothing to lose.

“Coldest winter for me
No sun is shining anymore
The only thing I feel is pain
Caused by absence of you” –Stolen Dance, Lyrics – Clemens Rehbein

Will they put aside their differences to create a family nestled in the community of Wylder or will Nartan reject Olive out of the desire to hide his spiritual past? Find out in Dance to a Wylder Beat.

Whoa. There’s a LOT going on there. And I’m fascinated.

And this song? It’s catchy. Fun. I’d add this to my Spotify playlist. I can see myself singing along as the miles while away on a road trip. It’s got that vibe. Also, it kinda makes me want to dance. That would definitely be hard to do while driving.

Ready for the back cover copy? Here you go:

Nartan Sagebrush’s name may mean “to dance” in Arapaho, but he dances in secret. Forced to abandon his Shamanic apprenticeship, he is overwhelmed with homesteader life, and even his spirit guides are at their wit’s end. Nartan takes fate into his own hands. Instead of divine intervention, a wife will help with his responsibilities and in assimilating into the Wylder community.

Olive Muegge answers Nartan’s “wife wanted” advertisement. Wildly independent she has secretly dreamed of a family to call her own. The secret she carries inside makes her an outcast and her wild ways don’t fit the quiet wife Nartan thinks he desires. Despite their differences, they are drawn to each other but a mistake may drive them apart. Will Nartan embrace his Shamanic past to save them both or will he choose to rid himself of Olive forever?

Yeah… I’m so there. Are you? Grab a copy of Dance to a Wylder Beat by Marilyn Barr
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Still here? Good! Remember that the Featured New Book Spotlight is open to any author of pretty much any book or even if you have a short story in an anthology. I’m here to help spread the word about your fictional masterpiece!

And since the best way to say thanks to an author for all their hard work — well, other than buying their book (often in multiples) — is to leave a review, if you’re struggling with one, drop me a line. I’m really busy right now and this isn’t a free service, but if I’ll make the time for you, I’ll also make it worth your five bucks.

Let’s welcome Marilyn Barr to West of Mars today! She’s got a new book out, Bear with Me, and I’m curious. Are you?

Of course. That’s why you’re here.

Marilyn, what song makes you think of your book?

Strawberry Shifters Book 1: Bear with Me is a tale of a failing marriage between two people who love each other just like “Harmony Hall” by Vampire Weekend. Like in the song they “took a vow in summertime” but after 12 years of struggle “now we find ourselves in late December”. They have let their marriage crumble by not learning to communicate, listening to each other, and allowing the pull of financial success (and modern life) to tear them apart. When Grant gets the job opportunity of a lifetime, he asks his wife, Alison, to move to Strawberry KY for the “perfect time of that great surrender”. She decides to give Grant one last chance to prove he will listen to her and treat her as a partner.

Once in Strawberry, Grant is the workaholic he has always been but this time, Alison is not going to sit idly. The couple tentatively pushes boundaries until a car crash changes Grant forever. The cynical Pharma guy is thrust into a paranormal world which he vows to keep secret from Alison. “A wicked snake inside a place I thought was dignified”, Grant’s new Bergan Pharma job is a front for a paranormal nightmare. How can he promise Alison to be open and fight Sluagh demons from Celtic myth at the same time? “I thought that I was free from all the questioning but every time a problem ends, another one begins…”

What Grant doesn’t know is that Alison has a few secrets of her own. Ones that could make her his greatest ally or greatest weakness. He knows about her sensory processing disorder (which I share, #ownvoices) and finds her fascinating instead of strange. However, he treats her disorder as an excuse to keep her isolated from the world. Alison doesn’t want to push it by telling him her other secret she has had from birth until she can’t take it anymore. “I don’t want to live like this, but I don’t want to die…”

Will a new place, a fresh start, be enough, or will their magical secrets tear them apart? Find out in Strawberry Shifters Book 1: Bear with Me. #Strawberryshifters

Whoa! I. Am. Hooked.

And this song? Queue it up, folks. This is a new-to-me band (and song, obviously) and it’s now part of my various Spotify playlists. Thanks, Marilyn Barr, for expanding my musical horizons.

Ready to hear what the book’s about? Although, wow, that link to the song pretty much said it all, didn’t it? That might be the most in-depth answer ever, in all the years I’ve been running the New Book Spotlight, and that’s over ten years now!

Blue eyes, dimples, and silky brown hair; Grant Luther has all of Alison’s weaknesses.

When he asks for one last chance to save their marriage, she agrees to relocate their family to isolated Strawberry, Kentucky in pursuit of his career dreams. Grant views Alison’s sensory issues as limitations and protects her from outside threats. When he finds his new job includes changing him into a shifter in a war against the soul-sucking Sluagh he vows to keep the changes a secret. What he doesn’t know is Alison has been hiding a magical secret of her own. One that makes her a target of the Sluagh.

Will Alison emerge from Grant’s shadow to protect her family? And can Grant learn that being different can be a strength not a weakness?

Guys, I am blown away by this concept. There’s so much going on here, so much that’s fresh and yet so much that’s familiar, too. I… gotta read this. Totally got to read it.

Get your copy!
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Lots of options, and not one of them is wrong! Chances are if you’d like to help out an independent bookstore, they can order this for you, as well. Just remember to leave a review when you’re done reading. And, as always, if you need help with your review, contact me and I’ll give you some guidance.

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