SPOTLIGHT & EXCERPT - Hummingbird Moonrise by Sherri Dodd

C.C. King

13 hours ago

10 min read

Can a family escape a curse that's haunted generations?

Happy Wednesday, writers!

Book cover of Sherril L. Dodd’s Hummingbird Moonrise, showing a pink hummingbird on a snowy forest branch at dusk.

I hope you're having a good week. I'm making steady progress on the zero draft of my second novel. But today, I'm happy to step away from it for a bit to welcome a familiar face back to the blog!

Sherri L. Dodd has joined us before to share her thoughts on navigating book promotion as an introvert and why Stephen King was right.

(You can read more about Sherri and her book here!)

This time, she's here with a peek inside her novel, Hummingbird Moonrise. Family secrets, mysterious disappearances, and a decades-old curse? Sounds like there's plenty to keep readers turning pages!

In Hummingbird Moonrise, Arista Kelly is trying to find her footing after a difficult couple of years, but a discovery tied to her family's past threatens to upend her world once again.

Enjoy this excerpt from Hummingbird Moonrise by Sherri Dodd!

Enjoy!

~ CC

PS: Don't miss the Hummingbird Moonrise giveaway!

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I almost forgot! There's a giveaway running through November 15th, so there's still time to enter. You might win a copy of Hummingbird Moonrise, plus all sorts of fun things, like candles, oracle cards, gemstones, and more. And there's TWO WINNERS, so it's double the fun!

To enter, simply visit this post at The Muffin. There are multiple ways to earn entries, and you can increase your chances of winning by completing them all!

Excerpt from Hummingbird Moonrise by Sherri Dodd:

CHAPTER ONE: OFF TO ARIZONA

~ December 2020 ~

Fueled by caffeinated soda and lively Tejano music blaring from his pill-shaped Bluetooth speaker, Mateo pried the wood planks from the foundation of the tiny mountain house, sweating and swearing with each mashed finger. Only a dozen planks had come loose so far. It surprised him how much effort he needed to put forth in the demolition despite nearly a century of aging.

“You know, some lady killed that serial killer in here a couple months back … end of summer. Um, Henry something,” Jack bellowed from the dining area, where he duplicated Mateo’s de-boarding efforts. He appeared in the doorway, following his remark with narrowed eyes and booing like a ghost while wriggling his fingers.

“No way. So that’s straight-up blood stains in there?” Mateo asked.

“Yep. You remember all that in the news? The showdown up here in the mountains.”

“Yeah.”

“When the boss assigned me the inquiry, I wondered if that’s what I’d be quoting. Of course, when I got here, it sure looks like a bloody battle went down. Then, I see the owner’s name—Arista Kelly—one of the stations let the name slip before it all went hush-hush. Protecting the victim, I suppose.”

“Damn,” Mateo commented, calculating Jack’s facts.

“When her boyfriend gave me the keys, he said she’d been staying with a relative down the street.”

Mateo grunted at all the new information. He had only a vague memory of their key exchange from the previous week since his attention had been on his wife’s phone call.

“Now, they’re off to Arizona, and I don’t think they’re coming back till next year. So, the boyfriend will be here end-of-week for the sign off,” Jack added, eyeing Mateo’s technique.

Mateo considered his work, seeing it in a new, grotesque light, and groaned. He pried at another plank and tossed it aside before picking up his rag and wiping the sweat from his face. “Rigorous,” he said, wedging his crowbar into another crack.

Jack laughed. “Yeah. Careful you don’t bring the dead home with you. Anyway, I’m due for a break. You wanna take thirty?” Jack asked.

“Let me get this done first so I can start fresh on the next section.”

“Okay. I’ll be at the truck. But seriously, this house is supposed to be haunted.”

“Great,” Mateo said, watching Jack head outside.

With the front door left open, the chilly December breeze crept through the house and cooled his sweat, sending shivers up his forearms. He felt the rise of goosebumps as the chill traveled across his shoulders. “Shut the door!” he hollered.

With Jack’s selective hearing, the door stayed open.

Shaking off the discomfort, Mateo hastened his effort on his current board, only to see the very edge of something tucked beneath the flooring. Another board stripped, and the edge of a case became visible. Two more earnest efforts and the object sat in clear view—an antique canvas suitcase with rusty hinges.

His imagination ran wild. What if it was a cache of loot? He craned his neck, looking down the hall and out the door at Jack, reaching into his brown bag.

He got up to shut the door. “Hey, please keep this shut. You’re letting all the cold in,” Mateo said, with a firm slam.

Through the door’s glass panes, he saw Jack nod with his mouth full of sandwich and pick up his phone.

Mateo resumed his position on the floor and pulled the case from the exposed earth. A simple click of brittle latches revealed a cache of papers and trinkets. He picked up the first page and studied the drawings of what looked to be knots, practice examples scratched out with only one traced over several times. Its appearance, darker than the rest. He flipped to the second. Now, that title caught his attention! “Vision spell, to see clear—”

“Hey, Mateo,” Jack called out as he opened the front door.

Mateo nearly jumped out of his skin and froze with his back toward Jack, hoping he couldn’t see him arms-deep in the client’s belongings. “Yeah, man, what’s up?”

“What time did we get here this morning? I forgot to clock in on the app.”

“Just after nine. Like, 9:07 a.m.”

“Thanks, man.” Jack shut the door.

Relief! He confirmed the heading—Vision spell. While he had never taken a single thing from any of their clients, this topic of vision held his highest interest since his son struggled with his own. Sure, the stuff in this suitcase leaned toward the occult, but that didn’t scare him since his mother-in-law claimed to be a seer. If the supernatural helped her, like she claimed, maybe a secret method lay in this case that could help improve his son’s vision. It sure wouldn’t hurt to try.

Quickly, he re-stacked the papers and snapped the case shut. Since the owners were vacationing in Arizona, he would take it back to the privacy of his house to read further. Of course, he would return it.

He paused, considering the possibility of the house being haunted. He looked at the walls hovering above him and listened. Nothing to hear but the thump of his own heartbeat. The dim natural lighting overhead added a bit of eeriness, but the vibe of the house itself seemed pretty light. Empty more than anything, and he would know. His gut feelings had been well honed over the years with the help of his mother-in-law, a superstitious woman who also talked of her many successful house readings.

With the decision made, he strategized his next move. To get it to his truck without Jack knowing would take some finesse, but sneaking it back in after dark would be easy since they had a house key. Further, they hired him and Jack to tear up the floor. So, if it were that important, they would have put it elsewhere. In fact, maybe they didn’t even know about it? The rust and creak of the hinges suggested no one had opened it in ages.

After checking several spots, Mateo wedged the case in a temporary holding area under the back bedroom headboard. Jack rarely came into the hall, and he had no need to root around in the farthest room.

With the treasure situated, he joined Jack for lunch, then finished the day, biding his time until they had fully prepped their respective sections for the installation on the following day.

“Alright, I got the cleanup. You can go. I know you got that dinner tonight,” Mateo said in a generous offer.

“You sure?” Jack asked.

“Yep. Go for it! I’ll lock up.”

Mateo glimpsed out toward Jack several times before he drove away, then hustled to retrieve the case. He slid it out from under the bed and arose, handle in hand. Unexpectedly, the weak latches gave, and the lid dropped open. In a grand swoop, he saved the contents from crashing to the ground, stuffed them back into their space, and quickly slammed the case shut again. With care, he cradled it in his arms and took it to his car.

. . .

After his wife and son had gone to bed, Mateo snuck out into the garage and removed the old suitcase from his trunk. He took it to his workbench and flipped on the four-foot fluorescent shop light above him. Next, he unsnapped the fussy latches and opened the case.

He wiped at his runny nose before pulling out the second paper and held it up under the bright light to read the entirety of it. “Vision spell – to see clearly a path to heavenly beings and open the doors of full intuition.” He groaned and scanned the page, hoping to find something about actual eyesight, but reached the bottom and accepted disappointment. “All figurative!” He flipped the sheet over—Nothing. Had he wasted all his effort for this?

Again, he wiped at his nagging runny nose and shuffled through the remaining materials. One paper caught his eye. With its ink still vibrant, he read the words aloud. “‘Incant … protection … may this tablet deflect the curse and send the evil back.’” He stopped, not liking those words—curse and evil—nor their meanings. He should have never taken the case.

He had to get it back to that house. After organizing the contents, he shut the lid. It would be easy to put it back under the foundation tomorrow before they installed the new floor.

He yanked up the case by its handle, forgetting his previous error.

The lid flew open, this time sending all the contents to the ground, including a thin slab of stone that broke in half upon landing.

He flinched at the commotion. “Frickin-A!”

He set the case back on his workbench, picked up the stone halves, then the papers, and put them all back inside. For formality’s sake, he snapped the useless latches.

“What are you doing out here?” Alicia, his wife, said from the door.

He jumped at the sudden voice.

Alicia laughed and said, “Feeling guilty about something?”

Deflection. “Nope, just forgot my phone on the bench.” He quickly shut off the overhead light before turning around, knowing his body had blocked the view of the case from her. She’d go ballistic if she, number one, knew he had taken something from a jobsite, and number two, knew the “evil” contents that lay inside it. He barged past her. “Just got sidetracked with my new tools. Thanks again! Killer birthday present … best ever!”

“Uh-huh! Maybe I should look at your phone,” she said, feigning suspicion.

“Go for it,” he said, handing her the cell as they shut the old case in the garage behind them.

. . .

The early morning alarm came too soon and jangled Mateo’s nerves. He could barely open his eyes from the stickiness that enveloped them, and his runny nose had turned into a full-blown, congested headache. With his ears plugged and his jaws stiff, he felt like a semi had hit him.

He wished Alicia had not already left for her job. Nevertheless, he dragged himself out of bed, every inch of his body aching. This did not feel like the usual head cold, and no way would he make it to work today. Still, he took the precaution and trudged to the medicine cabinet, removing the generic over-the-counter test packet for the superbug for which the governor had shut down the state.

Moments later, all became clear with the positive results. He phoned Jack and gave him the news.

“Great. Hopefully, I don’t catch it,” Jack said with a groan. “Anyway, hope you feel better. Enjoy your ten-day quarantine.”

Mateo hung up the phone and could barely drag himself back to the sanctity of his warm covers. Now, Jack would complete the job without him, and that meant the keys would go back to the owner’s boyfriend before he recovered. At this point, he had no energy to care. With any luck, the owner knew nothing of the old case, but he would keep it tucked away in his office in the event something came of its absence.

More About the Book:

Book cover of Hummingbird Moonrise by Sherri L. Dodd, showing a pink hummingbird in a moonlit forest with snow and glowing lights.

The past two years have taken their toll on Arista Kelly. Once an eternal optimist, now she has faced the darkness and must recalibrate what true happiness means for her. Meanwhile, Shane, her ex-boyfriend, is pulling all the right moves to help keep her sane from her heightening paranoia. But it doesn’t help that Iris, her Great Aunt Bethie’s friend, has disappeared.

Still, one additional trial remains. While searching for Iris, Bethie and Arista stumble upon a grand revelation in the eccentric woman’s home. With the discovery, they realize their run of chaos and loss of kin may have roots in a curse that dates back to the 1940s—the time when their family patriarch first built Arista’s cottage in the redwoods and crafted his insightful Ouija table.

This pursuit will not follow their accustomed recipe of adrenalized action, but the high stakes remain. Will the mysterious slow burn of unfolding events finally level Arista’s entire world or be fully extinguished, once and for all?

Purchase a copy of Hummingbird Moonrise on Amazon, at Barnes & Noble, or through Bookshop.org. And don't forget to add it to your GoodReads reading list!

All About the Author

Smiling Sherri Dodd in sunglasses takes a selfie in a sunflower field under a bright blue sky.

Sherri Dodd grew up in southeastern Texas walking barefoot and catching crawdads as they swam the creek beds. Her childhood ran rampant with talk of ghosts, demons, and backcountry folklore, inspiring her first short story about a poisonous flower that shot toxins onto curious children. Her classmate bought it for all the change in his pocket. Not long after, her mother packed the two of them up and headed to the central coast of California. She has explored the vast area ever since, using it as a catalyst to her writing, from journaling to fitness articles to fiction. She holds a bachelor’s degree, and is pursuing her master’s, in holistic theology and believes this helps her to see the world through a more colorful and accepting lens.

In writing, her publisher labeled her 2024 debut novel as a paranormal thriller. She would have described it as a cozy murder mystery with generous dashes of magic realism, showing that she loves to merge genres. Her trilogy — Murder, Tea & Crystals — released book one — Murder Under Redwood Moon in March 2024; book two — Moonset on Desert Sands in March 2025; and the final book in the series — Hummingbird Moonrise released October 2025! All three books became an Amazon #1 Best Seller in the Occult Supernatural genre.