Chasing the Moon by Torena O'Rorke

About the book

Chasing the Moon is a fast-paced brew of medieval history and romantic adventure. Written in parallel voices, the reader first meets the spirit of Selene, a Moroccan sorceress trapped in a portrait at the New York City home of Madame Dashiki, an eccentric antiquities dealer. As Selene recounts her tragic life, she observes Tara Bold, a brilliant archaeologist, in her attempts to find the legendary Deigratia medallion.

The story begins in 1559 in Fez, Morocco where she is an adept in the mystical arts of her late grandfather, Nostradamus. After a bloody massacre, Selene and her twin sister, Atthar, escape to Toledo, Spain where they become models to El Greco, a famous artist. When meeting their relatives, they have an altercation with Father Marco, their cousin, who finds them guilty of witchcraft. Only Selene escapes, due to the medallion's power, and is placed in the care of Queen Catherine of France. Shortly after her marriage, she's forced to flee to Ireland in order to save her daughter's life. She hide in an abbey where she lives for two centuries. At her death, a secret ceremony entraps her spirit in the portrait, along with the Deigratia.

Tara must find the Deigratia in order to bring forth the first female messiah. After many near-disasters with her nemesis, Dr. Hargrave, Tara's journey takes her to Ireland, France, Spain and Morocco with Tom, her lover, the Madame and Serenade, a feisty orphan. On each leg of their journey, tragedy and the power of miracles unfolds. A visit to an Irish abbey reveals important clues. In France, Dr. Hargrave kidnaps Serenade. In order to rescue the child, the team detours to Toledo, Spain where an inexplicable event causes Tara to admit to her own spiritual powers. When Tara performs the dance of the Guedra in a Moroccan kasbah, she discovers the answer to the birth of the next messiah.

About the author

I've been writing psychology-related articles for trade magazines, such as Insights, Child's Advocate, Treating Abuse Today and The Entertainer for many years. As a counseling psychologist, I am deeply committed to learning about the internal life of people and the external struggles in which they must engage. As a result, I began to write fiction in response to my work and the incredible stories that I hear.

Books published:
Always Another Dawn - A novel set in Seattle, Texas and Germany during the Great Depression and World War II. Two girls from culturally diverse backgrounds struggle with racism and the meaning of life and grow up to be WASP pilots in World War II.
Publisher: Sterlinghouse Publisher, June 200

Books completed:
On a Wing and a Prayer - A contemporary coming-of-age story of an abused college coed who must overcome her traumatic past. In the process, she is assisted by a group of Greek women who engage in the Elysium Mystery Rites. Metaphysical overtones and magic realism dominate the style. Set on the Greek island of Santorini.
Flight from Gomorrah - A psychological thriller about a young woman's abduction by a religious cult in California, her journey of survival and the subsequent discovery of her estranged mother.
**Novel won second place in mystery division at Houston Writers Conference 1999.
Queen for a Day - A ribald, tongue-in-cheek diary of a bored-out-of-her-mind, forty-year-old mother and wife who decides to set herself free by having an affair with her Generation X gardener. Mildly graphic sex scenes.
Chasing the Moon - A parallel story line about an intrepid archaeologist and a 16th century prophet, with all the goodies of a typical adventure story including a hunt for the lost treasure, an evil doctor, a power-hungry French Queen, a spirited orphan and a lover with good intentions. Set in New York City, Morocco, Ireland, France and Spain.

Not yet completed:
The State of Grace - The story of Grace, a young feminist social worker at the turn of the century, who is forced into surrogating her enemy's child to avoid incarceration in an insane asylum.
Breathing Room - The story of an adopted daughter's adult relationship with her borderline personality disordered mother and the aftermath of finding her biological mother.