(From the gothic eccentricity of Asheville, North Carolina to the terrifying recesses of the Appalachian wilderness, from modern demonology to ancient Cherokee mythology, SOUL CATCHER follows the tormented journey of folk artist Livia Belane, who has been stalked through many lives by a sadistic and vengeful demon.

Livia and her loved ones, including her frontier-era soulmate and husband, Ian, a Soul Hunter, have never beaten the demon before. Now, in this life, he s found them again.


Hello From Deborah Smith, now writing as Leigh Bridger. If you know me from my women's fiction novels like A PLACE TO CALL HOME, SWEET HUSH, A GENTLE RAIN, THE CROSSROADS CAFE, ON BEAR MOUNTAIN, and others, you may wonder why I've taken off in this new direction, under a pen name.


I love the urban fantasy genre, I love folk art (see samples at my website, deborah-smith) and I love Asheville, North Carolina. So putting all three together in a fast-paced, sexy, and some might say way-violent novel was great fun. SOUL CATCHER is not for the faint of heart, and it's not the same tone or style as my women's fiction, so that's why I picked a pen name. I also write the Solomon's Seal ebooks under the Bridger name. They're softer, paranormal romance.


Anyhoo, let's talk about demons. I know demons are all the sexy new thing in fiction, not drooling monsters and such in many cases; often quite attractive, likable, and, like vampires, just another fun OTHER to mix with we mortals. But I wanted to write about down-and-dirty, drooling, vicious devil-kind. Old School Demons. And angels. And other critters I made up for my own mix of modern and mythological, Biblical and Cherokee spirituality.


So I've got banes, boons, pogs, lesser demons, greater demons, angels and, in Book Two, SOUL HUNTER, there'll be vampire-like folks and probably shapeshifters, too. All with what I hope is a special twist to bring my unique, some might say odd, perspective to this very haunted, very involved, very southern Appalachian world.


On another note: Why is Asheville one of my fave places? The food, the scenery, the bohemian ambience, the arts crowd, the film festival, Bele Cher, the Biltmore, Pack Square on a warm summer night when the musicians are strolling; the drum circle at Pritchard Park, the Grove Park Inn, and much more.


My next project is a women's fiction trilogy called KITCHEN CHARMS, set entirely in Asheville's fascinating River Arts District. Can the McMurray siblings transform a hundred-year old pottery factory surrounded by weedy lots, toxic soil, and boarded-up shops into the restaurant their mother always dreamed of running?

Can the McMurray food magic rescue disabled Army Capt. Gus McMurray from his bitterness, and heal local artist Lucy Patton, traumatized by a brutal rape two years ago? What about Tallulah and Garbo, Gus's hot-chef sisters? Will they cook up a fabulous new family business despite the odds; and will they, and Gus, remember what kind of kitchen charms the McMurrays create when they're working together?

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