Werewolves in Portland

Hmm, I started out writing more "normal" paranormal, psychics, ghosts, time travels, stuff like that. But I'd always loved the seductive vampire stories and when the market was becoming flooded with those, I decided to make a sexy werewolf story. :)

Today, I spoke to two-hundred women and told them about how I'd sold four of the series, that the book received a great review in Publisher's Weekly also, but I didn't tell them exactly what I write. Just showed them my hunky Heart of the Wolf book cover. :) Still, I signed several today, and one lady is adding me to a 4-star website, so that was pretty exciting. Maybe I'll have to write about werewolves in Texas. :) And I got a request from a book club in Minnesota to come visit their group if I was ever in the area. My Wilde Germans initially settled there and so I thought that was pretty neat.

But back to the wolf series, I research the areas where I have my wolves live, because they need to be where real wolves live in their native environment. That way if the lupus garous are seen in their wolf coat, they'll not arouse too much suspicion. Although in Heart of the Wolf, Bella gets caught anyway for being a red wolf in Oregon, when only grays are in the area, sneaking out of their preserve in Idaho. :)

I love to do research, and so one of the things I was looking into for the beginning of Heart of the Wolf was the clothes they wore in the 1800's. After someone read Heart of the Wolf, she remarked that women did not wear crotchless underwear...I guess she believed that that's only something that's erotica fashion today and if I hadn't researched it and found this to the contrary, I would probably have believed the same thing. It's amazing how one's fashion can be one's great grandmother's earlier fashion. My daughter was going on about her hip hugger pants like they're something new, the same with the capris...My mother wore capris when I was a baby, and I wore hip huggers when I was a teen.

But back to crotchless underwear in the Early Victorian Era, can you imagine trying to relieve yourself, wearing multiple petticoats, and the like in an outhouse? So crotchless underwear was a necessity, not a sexy, fashion statement.

Pantalets - Pantalets were crotchless underwear of about mid-calf length. They could be of cotton, silk or linen and often had lace trim at the bottom. Sometimes they were even flounced.

When I'm reading stories, I love learning new things, so I hope that readers will enjoy learning more about real wolves and they areas they live in as they follow along in the stories.

Terry Spear

Heart of the Wolf, Don't Cry Wolf

www.terryspear.com

A Babe With Bite

I think that by now even casual readers of this blog know that I write werewolves. Big, sexy, Scottish werewolves. And really, that said, isn't the reason why I write them pretty self-explanatory? But what you may not know is that with the release of Dark Highland Fire in October, which is the sequel to Call of the Highland Moon, there are a host of other creatures from the Drakkyn otherworld that begin to reveal themselves. And one of them, I'm happy to say, is my heroine, Rowan an Morgaine.

Rowan is one of the nine daughters of the dyana of the Drakkyn Tribe of the Goddess, the Dyadd Morgaine. And yeah, she totally looks like that picture! The Dyadd is a purely matriarchal tribe, a nomadic group of powerful demigoddesses directly descended from the goddess Morgaine who roam the vast forests of their home world of Coracin. The dyana herself traditionally does not marry, instead loving freely and bearing children by numerous fathers. So, each of her daughters is singular in both looks and ability, though most never know who sired them. It just isn't important in their society. But all are legendarily beautiful, and the non-magic villagers come in droves when the Dyadd passes through to beg favors of the dyana and to join in the whirlwind celebrations that her people are famous for. And the men also come in the hopes of being chosen to give sustenance to one of the powerful beauties. Because, apart from all being female, that's the one thing all members of the Dyadd Morgaine share: their magic is dependent on the drinking of blood. Don't mistake them for vampires, though! The fangs are their only real resemblance.

Rowan herself is an outspoken redhead with a sharp tongue and the gift of fire. As in, if you tick her off, she'll throw some at you! She's also being groomed to one day become the dyana. At least, she was, until she attracted the attention of a dragon prince with issues who doesn't seem to understand the word "no." I don't want to reveal too much, but I enjoyed every moment I spent with Rowan...she's a heroine who doesn't really need saving from anyone or anything (at least, not that she'll admit to, though she doesn't mind some help once in a while), but there's still a softness there that allows a certain someone to forgive her for some of the stuff that comes out of her mouth. I love her power, and the joy that she and her kind take in their femininity. It does make it kind of uncomfortable for her brother Bastian, the only male ever born into the tribe, but...well, it sets him up well for his own adventure, which I'm working on now.

I hope the promise of a demigoddess on the run, who you'll meet when she's just about had it with her stripping vampire routine in a skeezy dive in Reno, will get you to open up a copy of Dark Highland Fire this October. Because Gabriel MacInnes, playboy werewolf extraordinaire, has no idea what's about to hit him!

Kendra

My New Cover!

My Hex Appeal Cover!

I’ve got to say I love it and I know Jazz loves the shoes.

Once I finished 50 Ways to Hex Your Lover I knew there was more to tell and why I gave it a bit of a hanging feel to the end.

So it’s a few months later, Jazz and Nick are together, but all still isn’t right in their world. To make matters worse, Fluff and Puff are in trouble and could end up destroyed. Not that Jazz would allow it. After all, if anyone’s going to torture the mischievous slippers it will be her.

I wanted to set up the problems via dreams since it’s been said dreams are our subconscious at work. So what would happen in their dreams? Would they be connected to their past, to their future or both?

Is Jazz still involved with curse elimination?

And what’s Irma up to? Is Dweezil, Jazz’s creature of a boss, still adding to his vintage erotica collection? Could Krebs, her mortal housemate, finally find his true love?

And could Jazz and Nick find a way around that nasty ole a witch’s blood is poisonous to a vampire problem? Or does he blunt his fangs during their romantic moments?

Do we get to see more of her witch friends she sees as the sisters of her heart?

Lots of questions, but not that I’ll answer them.

I don’t even give up movie endings no matter how much a friend begs or threatens. Plus, what can I say, I want you to buy the book!

Hints, I’ll do. Thanks to a stroke of luck, Jazz ends up with a mega designer wardrobe; Irma gets more involved even when Jazz doesn’t want her to. And remember Detective Larkin in 50 Ways to Hex Your Lover? He’s in for a surprise too. Along with Jazz’s little run in with a big bad vampire who doesn’t like Jazz anymore than she likes him, who just might show up down the road. Along with a pair of crocodile stilettos that have a life, literally, of their own.

I’ve talked about dreams and given you hints about the next book. What do your dreams tell you? What do you wish they told you?

Linda

I DREAM OF IRON MAN, or Why I can't stop thinking about Robert Downey Jr.

Having just gotten home from seeing Iron Man for the second time, (which was every bit as good as the first!) I feel compelled to blog about someone who has intrigued me for years: Robert Downey Jr.
Is it his rapid-fire delivery, is it his turn-me-to-mush eyes, or is it the whole delectable package? Don't know. Don't care. The man does something to me. Probably the eyes mostly; I know I've used those eyes as a starting point to build many a dreamy hero around.


We've all heard about his escapades and troubles with substance abuse, and I'm so glad to have him back in the kind of role he should have had all along. As an actor, he's just plain brilliant. Not to mention cute. But is he a hero? I think so. He's a survivor. He's overcome obstacles--most of them within himself. My hat's off to him, and those eyes can still melt my heart just like they did when I first saw him, oh, so many years ago.
























And sure, we see actors in many guises, but the romantic in all of us can't help but respond to this:Enjoy every last bit of him!
Cheryl

A Genie in the Bottle!

After mowing, moving brick pavers, painting 10 doors and 14 door frames today, I decided if I could have a power, I'd want a genie who would grant me every wish. And he'd be easy on the eyes too. :)

Of course I could want to be a genie myself, without the bottle, but I'd still prefer a hunk of a genie instead. :)

Terry Spear
www.terryspear.com
Heart of the Wolf

Just Super

Happy Friday, everyone! With all the talk about special powers this week, I got thinking about which superhero I'd be, ability-wise, if I got to pick. One name immediately popped into my head (which was good, because if I think too hard for extended periods of time you can't find anything in there through the smoke). Laugh if you wanna, but I'm going to go with morphing into a superVILLAIN, Lady Death Strike.

So what appeals, you might ask? Well, I don't actually want to annihilate people, so it isn't that. I just want the Wolverine-esque claws and superhuman fighting ability. Well, and I want to look as good as she does in skintight black leather. I would, of course, use my kick-butt powers for good. And also to steal Cyclops away from Jean Gray, as long as he continued to look like the James Marsden version:-) Yeah, yeah...I know the real Lady Death Strike was a mind-controlled baddie who killed on command. But watching her fight was one of the coolest parts of X2, and though she might trip over her own two feet a little more often if I inhabited her skin, if I got to design my own superhero-ness, it would look a lot like her. Um, minus the mindless bloodlust thing.

So for Friday, and a little mindless fun (the best kind at the end of another long week), if you could become any superhero/villain, who would it be?

Have an awesome weekend!
Kendra

Nose Twitch, Eyes Blink or Snap of the Fingers?

We've been discussing special powers on the Sourcebooks groups loop. What would I want? And would I make sure to use my gift for the greater good and not for my own personal gratification?

I love the idea of twitching my nose and the house would be all clean and dinner in the oven. I'd love to teleport where I need to go. Save on gas and headaches when traffic's heavy. And manipulating time? Could I do a lot with that gift!

There's times I like to fix things. Fix problems. Comfort people to where their hurts go away. That type of stress. But what if that was my gift? What if someone had a problem and I could fix it and make sure they'd have no more worries. It could backfire on me too. People have problems with a friend or co worker and expect me to make things better.

Then my gift becomes a problem for me. But I still want the gift! Therefore, I'll keep the gift of fixing, but instead of outright fixing, I'll have the knowledge to steer someone in the right direction. At the same time, they'll think I'm Wonder Woman because my house is always clean--please don't show up at the door to see if it's true because trust me, it's not!--a gourmet dinner is always served. Not around here! And I have time to do everything I need to and get where I need to go with no muss and no fuss.

So if we talk about powers and wishes, I'd have to say my gift was working to make my wish come true with finding the right home for my witches.

What wishes do you have?

Linda