She-Wolf–Next….

Okay, so I sell on a plot synopsis. A short synopsis.  A couple of paragraph synopsis. And since I’m nearly finished with A SEAL Wolf Diving for Trouble–one of my beta readers suggested moving a couple of things around, to which I said I had NO TIME. Because I’m due at my daughter’s house soon and then won’t have time to write. I’m afraid I might be keeping dogs from fighting the whole time I’m there, *sigh*, but hope they’ll get along. BUT, I made the time because I want the best book out there, and so she and I were going back and forth on how to fix the issues last night, and I’ve been rewriting this morning. :)

And now that it is really nearly done, I’m opening up a file on the next book. I’ve made a start. I opened up a file for the next book. Yes. That’s it. The first step. Without it, no file, no book. And I opened one on the next one because here I thought I had already for  this one and hadn’t. So I’m a step ahead. One thing was finding my blurb to remember what I said I was going to write about. That was like two books ago. And I have 3 more I’m writing.

Then, I typed in the title, which will probably change. And my name. Which most likely won’t. And….yes, Chapter 1. That’s it. The book is started. and I have 80,000 words to go. Well, 79,995 technically. Hey, every word counts. I need to add my bio and that will add a few more words.
But on SEAL Wolf Diving for Trouble, it ended up at 90,000 words and I haven’t even added my bio, acknowledgements or dedication. So I know I can do it.

I just have to take baby steps. I have to get to work on the dreaded taxes, and I still need to put Phantom Fae in print form, and I need to send off SEAL Wolf Diving for Trouble after any other changes are made on Monday. And then it’s nose to the grindstone on working on She-Wolf.
First, since it’s a romance, I have to think of how they’ll meet–hero and heroine. Since it’s a werewolf story, I have to have the wolfishness show early too…one running as a wolf, or some such thing. And I’ll have to show the conflict early on.

That’s my Mission Impossible, and I’m stepping up to the challenge, as soon as I can. This book is due Jun 1, so no time to lose. :)

Hope you are having a glorious day! It’s FREEZING here, literally, with more snow showers on the way.

I look outside at them today, and they look just as pretty as they did before they got frostbite.

Have a happy Saturday!

Terry
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
Connect with Terry Spear: Website: http://www.terryspear.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears http://www.celticbears.com

Rats in the Attic! And the Muse and Me are in Time Conflict!

Okay, so the termite inspector came out to do his annual check and yes! No termites! Also, and this was so great, so exciting, the puppies didn’t even bark at him! They greeted him and were still shy, but they didn’t bark and misbehave! They even held it so that I could take them out to potty when he left. That’s a BIG deal.

Tanner tuckered out.

The bad news is–hey, without bad news, all the good news is just boring, right? Who wants to hear about all the great news? That everything is going along fine? We want conflict, right? We want to see that someone else has problems so we feel better about our problems, right? Of course. :) That’s what makes life interesting. The conflict. The drama.

Okay, so I’ve got rats in the attic. So says the pest control guy. I KNOW I get mud daubers in the house constantly in the spring through the fall. I know I have a lot of places that things can get in. Never seen a mouse or evidence of mice in the house, though when my parents lived here, the first few years, they had a terrible problem with them. I have snakes in the house. So maybe that’s why?

Anyway, he said that on a little bit of decking in the attic, he could see rat prints in dust, and their droppings. And that there’s a little bit of chewing. So I’ll have to check this stuff myself, document it, and share it. With you. Isn’t that what friends are for???

I’m finishing a book first. I’ve GOT to finish this. Eleven days and it has to be turned in. I have a ton of stuff stacking up in the meantime. Call of the Cougar–need to proof the audiobook for one.
So what’s happening now is my Muse and Me are in time conflict. What this means is that it wakes up at times that I want to sleep. Sure, I hear the puppies stirring a bit, and that’s probably what really wakes me, but then my Muse decides to go through scenarios in my book. Not only that, but it tells me all the things I should have done during the day or when I get up. Like, Hey, did you put the clothes in the dryer last night?

Shoot! Nope. But if I get up to do it right then and there, which I would if I didn’t have puppies, I would wake them, and they’d want to go out.

Now, the problem with that is for the last two nights, I’ve actually put them to bed at 7 pm, then I continue to edit, or write, and they wake up the next morning at 5 am. It’s great! But it means I can’t turn on the light or get up without “telling” them that it’s time to get up. And I want them to learn that 7 pm to 5 am (or later) is their bedtime.

Oh, and you know I do lots of research for my books, so I’ve talked a lot about the phases of the moon in this one, and so I was looking at the phases, making sure I got it right, and wow, guess what I found???? The werewolf diet. Hey, sometimes I can’t even make up stuff that great!

Anyway, so I’ve got to figure out a way to talk about it in the book, that makes it seem seamless. It’s not just an urban legend. Some actors supposedly followed it–Madonna, Demi Moore, according to Grazia. It’s also known as the lunar diet or moon diet. It has to do with fasting during the new moon and full moon. But what’s interesting is that when I was at The International Wolf Center, they fed the wolves only once a week. That’s normally how they eat in the wild. They’ll have a dead deer, for instance, (often road kill and someone will drop it off at the center), and once it’s gone, they don’t get fed until the next week. So it’s really appropriate to call the moon diet a werewolf diet, even though it’s not based on the phases of the moon. Anyway, food for thought.

I now officially have wordcount on A SEAL Wolf Diving for Trouble, and then had to turn in the cover sheet specs including the blurb. Now I’m still writing the book, but it’s getting closer to being done. I printed out the first 100 pages, again, and am making more corrections. But I still have to finish writing the book.

Max Rubber Banded in Black and White

I love all his black and silvery tips and hope he gets to keep them as his hair grows out. I was able to pull more of his hair back, but this morning I found Tanner chewing on something, and yep, Max’s rubber band.

When I was coming in from one of my trips outside with the puppies, I saw that the daffodils had bloomed! The day before, I noticed they were getting ready to. It’s amazing how fast they open up when I’m not paying attention. Also, freesia has bloomed!



And all kinds of weed flowers are popping up! And my rosebushes are leafing out.
And white stuff on the roof. 

Okay, back to the book.  Nose to the grindstone and all that sort of thing.
It’s getting closer to being finished! And that’s the main thing!

Tanner stealing away from Place

Tanner stealing away from Place

Learning to Place

The funny thing  is when I say Place, Tanner is the first to get there. But then….he’s the first to leave.

Have a great Saturday!

Terry
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
Connect with Terry Spear: Website: http://www.terryspear.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears http://www.celticbears.com

Happy Valentine's Day!

 We're having a Valentine's Day party today with lots of giveaways! Please join us!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/757657010949412

Terry
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
http://www.terryspear.com
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website:
http://www.terryspear.com
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears
http://www.celticbears.com

Jaguar Pride Review and Kissing the Highlander is OUT!

Loved this review from: Harlequin Junkie Recommends, and thanks so much to Angela for sending me the link!!!
http://harlequinjunkie.com/review-jaguar-pride-by-terry-s…/…
Excerpt from Jaguar Pride:
In one giant step, he grabbed her up. She squealed, never expecting anything like this, and laughed. She loved it. He tossed her over his shoulder and stalked back to the bedroom.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“I’ve had enough babysitting duty. It’s time for some grownup action.”

And the Review continues:
So. Much. Fun. Jaguar Pride was an exciting mix of pulse-pounding action while our hero and heroine tracked down bad guys, as well as playful scenes that showed off the cat side of their shifter personalities.
This is the first novel I have read in Terry Spear’s Heart of the Jaguar series and I have to say, I am pretty wowed by the world she’s created. I have read some of her other paranormal titles so I had an idea of her “voice” and writing style, which I’ve enjoyed quite a bit. I thought that this was just as solidly written and that it was actually very unique. I loved that there was an underlying message of how important it is to protect animals, especially exotic breeds, against poachers and ultimately, extinction. There was almost a reverence to the storyline in how the JAG agents protected their fellow shifters and all other creatures in the rainforests.


With so many books in the wolf and jaguar series, this is book 4, but I have 16 wolf books out, 2 cougar shifters, and tons of other books out, I have to do something really different with each one. With this one, they were already seeing someone else. It’s the first time I’ve done that because I didn’t want there to be a stigma about jumping from one situation into another, but also that they were working together before this, and NOT having an affair. Sorry, affairs don’t work for romances, unless the one having the affair is the villain.  But it can’t be the hero or heroine. Soooo, it means setting up the situation so it’s clear they really enjoy working with each other, and admire each other, but it doesn’t go beyond that, until their boyfriend/girlfriends call it quits.

Even though we write what we want to an extent, and each book must be different as readers don’t want to read the same story only with the names changed, we are limited by what is acceptable for the genre–the hero and heroine must be heroic, for one. They can’t be bed hopping when they’re in a relationship with the hero or heroine, lying, cheating, or stealing.

Now there’s a caveat. If the hero and heroine are doing these things for a heroic purpose, then it’s acceptable. It all comes down to motivation. He’s lying to her because if he doesn’t, she’s going to be killed. Castle comes to mind where Rick has to keep secrets from her or the powers to be will kill her. So lying is not a heroic thing, but in this case, it has to be.

Anyway, sometimes we have to write something different that might border slipping into that gray area, but again, we have to have something different in every book so that readers will look forward to it.

If you have read Jaguar Pride, did you enjoy it? I always have fun writing these books. Does it show?

The characters are real, the places real. I often use trip reports to flesh out the reality of the setting–like the donkey braying in one when they were eating at a jungle village cafe. And the woman who rented cabanas and fed wild animals and offered for them to feed them. Only jaguars actually eat those in the wild, not that my hero or heroine wanted to, but they declined. These were in fun trip reports written by folks who had visited the parts of the world that I used as settings and of course, small details were used to create that reality–in a jaguar shifter, or in a wolf shifter world.

Goodreads ~ Shelfari ~ Amazon ~ Apple ~ BAM ~ B&N ~ Chapters ~ Indiebound ~ Kobo –

Daytona Beach
The Raven

On Puppy News: Max is doing so well on his collar, I had it set on 1. Hmmm, maybe I had the collar on too tightly. But he really was paying attention to me despite Tanner attacking him from time to time, and that’s the ultimate distraction. The puppies are still having accidents on the tile floor after their stay in cages for the duration at the Vets. It was better yesterday and we have been fine this morning. But then, they’ve only been up an hour and are now sleeping on my lap. More pictures to come. Need to get back to story. I’m late! I’m late! I’m late!

I should have finished SEAL Wolf Diving for Trouble already so I could be working on my edits. Still trying to come up with an ending. I printed out pages and was editing it on the couch last night as the puppies will sleep on their bedding on the couch and I have total peace.
But, it’s time to get cracking! Deadline quickly approaching!


Five new Highland novellas by Bestselling Authors of Highland romances that will delight with mystery, intrigue, romance, drama and much more! From the authors who have provided countless hours of reading pleasure so that fans can slip away to the past and live among all those hot Highlanders.

BUY LINKS:
Barnes and Noble
Amazon
ARe Books (All Romance ebooks)
Kobo
Smashwords
Apple/Itunes/Ibooks

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,813 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#7 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Historical Romance > Scottish
#10 in Books > Romance > Historical > Scottish
#58 in Books > Romance > Anthologies

Have a wonderful day!

Terry
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
http://www.terryspear.com
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website:
http://www.terryspear.com
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears
http://www.celticbears.com

Jaguar Pride Releases!!!

An impossible mission…
JAG Special Forces agents Huntley Anderson and Melissa Overton are hot on the trail of poachers when they’re suddenly saddled with two jaguar shifter cubs. They have to locate the parents, pronto-but who’s going to babysit in the meantime?
A lifetime of possibilities… Huntley is a rough, tough jaguar shifter and an all-business agent, but he’s not going to let two abandoned youngsters come to any harm on his watch.
Seeing her super-manly partner try to get the playful cubs under control stirs up some unexpected desires in Melissa, and she begins to feel like Huntley’s not the only one who’s in over his head…

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Jaguar-Pride-Heart-Book-ebook/dp/B00NH1UK68

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/jaguar-pride-terry-spear/1119260026

Excerpt from Jaguar Pride by Terry Spear:

Melissa had never had a mission that had turned her world so upside down like this one had. She always had a plan. Maybe not a great one, but she always had some notion of what she was going to do next. This. Was. A. Disaster!
Not only was she feeling highly agitated and concerned about the jaguars the poachers had taken off with, now believing they had to be the parents to these two cubs because there couldn’t be that many shifters in the park at one time, she didn’t think, she worried how they’d care for a couple of baby jaguars.
And Huntley. What an all-around catastrophe, though she was thanking God that the cubs were all right and that at least she and Huntley had been here to care for them in the interim. And that Huntley would be fine. She thought.
The mother had to have smelled that jaguars had slept here, knew they were shifters, and hoped they’d take care of them. The problem was that the babies would be nursing, not adding meat to their diet until they were three months old. They had to get them back to their lodge and then Melissa had to get milk for them, pronto, even though mother’s milk would have been much preferred.
Melissa was so rattled, she had begun to take care of Huntley’s head wound out of instinct, not realizing she’d cleaned it, administered an antibiotic, and bandaged his head before she even knew it. She called her boss right after that.
“Martin, we’ve got a terrible problem.” She explained everything that had happened, and as worried as she was about Huntley, the cubs and the parents, she felt chilled to the core.
What if any park rangers came across them and found them with the cubs? They’d take them away from them and then take them to a facility. And she and Huntley could be arrested for trying to poach the jaguar kits. What if the mother shifted, which would cause the cubs to shift, and they were suddenly two little human babies?
This was a real nightmare of epic proportions.
“Okay, Melissa,” Martin said, and she didn’t realize he’d been speaking to her for some time when he said, “Melissa?”
Breaking through the fog in her brain, he repeated her name and this time she said, “Yes?”
“Listen to me. I’ll have a team there within thirty-six hours tracking down the mother and father, if the ones taken are the mother and father.”
What if they weren’t? What if the mother and father were somewhere else? No, they couldn’t be.
“Your mission, and Huntley’s, is to get the cubs to your cabana. Keep them hidden and safe. Feed them. Nurture them. Protect them at all costs. Watch Huntley. Make sure he’s all right. If his condition deteriorates—”
“He’s unconscious!”
Silence. Then the cubs began to snarl again as if she could feed them!
She felt Huntley’s cheek again, but his temperature was fine and his breathing normal.
“Yes, but we heal quickly. If that changes—he begins to get feverish or shows any other sign of infection, let me know at once. You should pack up your gear and move to the cabana tonight.”
“Huntley’s unconscious!”
A pause.
“Yes. Melissa, listen. You need to move the cubs under the fall of night. You’ve got to get them out of the park before anyone sees you with them. You’ve got to get them to your cabana before morning. I hear them in the background. They’re hungry. They’re going to give you away if anyone’s about. I hear it’s raining also. Good cover. For now. It won’t last though.”

***

Fresh Fiction Review!

Jaguar Pride
Terry Spear

Reviewed by Annetta Sweetko
Posted February 1, 2015

Thriller Paranormal – Supernatural | Romance Paranormal

JAGUAR PRIDE is fantastic! Author Terry Spear weaves her magic and takes her readers for an action packed, race through the jungles. I loved Hunt and Melissa and their mixed up lives and enjoyed watching as they came to slowly realize that they were perfect for each other. Having these single people deal with those cubs was funny and really sweet because not to long before they did the “never having cubs” conversation and anyone could see they would make perfect parents. I also got a kick out of the matchmaking play that had gone on behind their backs and couldn’t help but laugh at how they found out about it. There is a lot of action and camaraderie between them and other members of the different teams that come to help rescue the poached jaguars as well as the growing romance that makes this book one that you will want to keep reading to the end and then want more. This is in my TRA (to read again) shelf and I can’t wait to get my hands on the next one.

***

Okay, puppies were sick ALL day yesterday. They seem to be doing well today, but I’m still cleaning all the bedding they threw up on. My watch is now repaired. I just got my computer back and everything is wiped out, so except for finally getting my blog up and running, I have nothing on my computer, so need to try to really get it up and running. My heater was not working, but it appears to be now.
And…it’s time for me to go to conference. Oh, and my editor called about edits last night, just as I was rushing a sick puppy out the door.
So not only am I 6,700 words behind on SEAL (which, considering I was 14,000 words behind, that’s not bad, and now have edits on Silver and a trip to take… *sigh*
Have a super great day. I need a vacation. :)
Terry
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
Connect with Terry Spear: Website: http://www.terryspear.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears http://www.celticbears.com

New Release: Phantom Fae!

Human turned phantom fae Brett has to survive mage trials when he has only just learned he’s a mage. And dragon fae shifter Ena is warned that the dragon fae kingdom is in turmoil, something that she vows to help put to rights.

When Brett is forced to fight alongside the phantom fae, which means take a stand against Ena and her kind, he’s not doing it. She will always have his loyalty, though when she learns he’s one of her enemy fae, and a mage on top of that, she might not feel the same about him.

Still, Prince Grotto is their common enemy, and if it means fighting him, maybe they can work together. Yet, Brett wants more than that with Ena. Will she ever see him as more than just a human fae seer she took as payment for rescuing the kingdom’s princess?

Buy Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SKCY59C
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/512923
Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/phantom-fae
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/phantom-fae-terry-spear/1121100973
All Romance Ebooks: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-phantomfae-1732037-143.html
Google Play: Coming

Normally, I like to have a story that is ended, no cliff hanger because it frustrates readers when they don’t know when the next book is coming, and I never know when I can finish a book when I have so many other deadlines that absolutely have to be met: ie for a publisher.
With Hawk Fae, book 5, it had to be left like it was or it would have been two books in one. And truly, I loved the way it was ended, with resolution, but with something more devious going on coming up.

With Phantom Fae, book 6, resolution. I have two covers for two more fae stories, no idea where I want to go with them at the moment, or titles for them. But when I have some time, I’ll share.
Because I worked on finalizing this up all day yesterday, I didn’t have time to work on SEAL, so I’m behind, but I’ll hopefully catch up on word count today. I will be working on the Phantom Fae print version soon, but needed to get my word count for SEAL because it’s so much harder to manage when it gets really behind. Hopefully, I’ll be at the halfway point today, if I get caught up.

It’s been raining a lot, which is unusual in the winter, but we so needed the rain again. I slipped on the wet pavement when I went to take the dogs out at 4:45, so need to find a different pair of shoes that hopefully are less slippery, or figure out something else. I have a conference to go to in a little bit and I don’t want to be running around in airports on crutches.

Oh, and I had asked my editor if they’d be interested in a historical wolf story series some time ago because I love writing historical, but she said no. My wolves also have long lives, so often I slip some of the historical aspect into them. So I thought it would be neat to have two series, the historical ones and the contemporary ones. But when she said no, that was fine with me. A rejection means an opportunity to excel. With today’s publishing options, I can just smile and say, “Okay,” and go on my merry way and write the books of my heart anyway.

A couple of years ago I listened to a NY Times bestselling author who was writing a historical series, and she had this idea for a really cool Irish historical romance series. She was so excited to write it and her agent said if she tried to push it, he’d dump her. Now, she was a highly successful author and he was making a ton of money off her, but he was afraid if he didn’t squash this far out notion, she wouldn’t make any money and he wouldn’t. So she dumped him and got a new agent, sold the series, and made bestseller status on those books. We have to write what our heart tells us and hopefully our readers will love them every bit as much.

I wonder if the agent is regretting his decision. Even if the sales hadn’t taken off, the author had to do this. It’s what we do. Create. From the heart. And if that creativity is squashed, we end up hitting a brick wall of writing block.

Editors and agents will sometimes steer us in directions that aren’t right for us because they think that’s what the market wants. But we’re still creating the stories and we have to be able to write what we can to an extent because otherwise the story just won’t come.

So here is the cover, still need to come up with a series name and title, but I think for series name: Highland Wolf Clan. Not sure on title. It will be historical, wolf, Highlands.
And I thought this was such a fantastic cover, I had to buy it for the first book. :)

That’s it! I’m listening to the rain, and it’s pouring out, typing this up, working on making the changes to SEAL that I worked on when I went to bed last night and then I’m off to write.
Have a super great Thursday. Puppies are sleeping on my lap and all is well.
:)
Terry
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
Connect with Terry Spear: Website: http://www.terryspear.com Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerrySpear Wilde & Woolly Bears http://www.celticbears.com

Sick Puppy and Playing Catch Up

Max was throwing up all late afternoon, then got me up at midnight and didn’t make it outside for some of his other hurried business. But despite all the drama and cleanups, I managed to write 7,000 words. Then they wanted back out at 5 and so I stuck them in their crate for another hour of sleep afterward. But of course I didn’t sleep.

I was thinking of my next scene in the book. I left it at a cliff hanger. Heroine is in wolf form, lunges at hero. Normally, this means play time. In A Howl for a Highland Wolf, the heroine tackles the hero because he was late for a date and broke into her house, for good reason. But still, she was the perfect little guard wolf. In others, purely wolf play time. But in this one, she’s totally pissed off.

So that makes for a really fun, different scenario. :) She’s brand newly turned. And what does that mean? A puppy that doesn’t know its own bite power, only she’s armed with adult WOLF teeth, which can crush bones. And he’s in his human form, so stopping an angry wolf makes it a tad difficult. I so love conflict. In my stories. Not in real life. I much prefer no drama. Like yesterday with a sick puppy.

You’d think that if a dog got sick on something, it would teach it not to eat it again. At least one of my dogs that I took in was not that smart. Every time she could get hold of any chocolate, no matter how much I safeguarded it from her, she devoured it and would be just as sick as Max. Didn’t matter. Next time, she’d do it again. I wish I knew what he got hold of. I have them both on leashes when we go out, but he’s tugging one way and Tanner’s tugging the other, so I have a time watching both sometimes.

Okay, so though I wrote a great number of words yesterday, I didn’t write enough. I needed 11,000 to catch up. That means 6500 today, at least trying, then I’m back on track tomorrow.

Max with his hair pulled back

The little devil behind Max that ruined his coiffure.

Max has been so good to allow me to rubber band his hair. I still need little ones. This was a big one and I had to wind it around his hair a number of times to get it to be tight enough. He was sooo patient with me.

Then? You see the little devil dog, Tanner, an angel in disguise behind him, chewing happily away at a piece of rawhide? Well, later, they were playing and Tanner pulled out Max’s rubber band and bit it in two before I got it away from him and threw it out. *sigh*

For those of us who love to read romantic stories, I thought this was so cute.

SEAL Wolf Hunting

This dude sat down next to me on train. He’s so romance novel handsome I’m going to assume he’s a rancher navy seal billionaire werewolf.

All I’ve got to say is I hope she caught her man!

 Okay, puppies sleeping for the moment, so off to finish writing the scene with the lunging wolf. Yep, there she is, mid-air and what’s going to happen next. That’s a real cliff hanger. Oh, and my editor always wants the first kiss by page 60. So I try to have it before because with edits, my pages grow and then I’m past page 60. Dumb, I know. The kiss should happen when the kiss is supposed to happen, not on some arbitrary page number. But still, I was worried about it when I was thinking of the lunging scene.  Have I missed the obligatory kiss by page 60????

Yes, see the dilemmas I have when I have a moment to contemplate the novel?

And OMG, yes, I missed it by 5 pages. I was thinking in the lunge he was going to have to kiss her. Wonder how I was going to do that. But now, can’t do it. It’s got to be at least 5 pages before that. Bummer.

Have a super great wonderful…Saturday? Whoops, need to write another blog. Have fun!

Terry
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
http://www.terryspear.com
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website:
http://www.terryspear.com
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter:
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Wilde & Woolly Bears
http://www.celticbears.com

Juggling between Edits, Writing, Blog Tour, and Publishing…oh yeah, and Puppies

I spent hours yesterday getting Kissing the Highlander ready for preorders and it’s up now at Kobo and Smashwords. Amazon to follow.

Five new Highland novellas by Bestselling Authors of Highland romances that will delight with mystery, intrigue, romance, drama and much more! From the authors who have provided countless hours of reading pleasure so that fans can slip away to the past and live among all those hot Highlanders.

His Wild Highland Lass by Terry Spear

http://www.terryspear.com

The Highlander’s Charm by Eliza Knight

http://www.elizaknight.com

Heart of Stone by Willa Blair

http://www.willablair.com

Kilts and Kisses by Victoria Roberts

http://www.VictoriaRobertsAuthor.com

My Captive Highlander by Vonda Sinclair

http://www.vondasinclair.com

His Wild Highland Lass by Terry Spear

Lady Sorcha Barclay fled her brother-in-law’s castle because of his unwanted advances. An awe-inspiring circle of standing stones captures her attention and she captures the attention of the laird who owns the land.

Laird Ronan Daziel takes Sorcha to his castle to protect her and give her a home. Before long, he wants much more. He’s duty-bound to take a wife whose clan wishes an alliance with his. So why does he long to have something more? Everyone loves the lass as much as he does. But he has pledged his loyalty to his clan. Taking Sorcha to wife could lead to battle on several fronts. How can he wed another when she stole his heart from the first moment he laid eyes on her near the ancient standing stones on his lands?

The Highlander’s Charm by Eliza Knight

They should be enemies… But passion and love know no bounds.
Returning from battle to England, Samuel de Mowbray discovers that his two younger sisters have been stolen by Highlanders. Determined to save them from vicious warriors, he convinces the king to send him north. While there, he discovers that his loyalties are wavering and that a headstrong, feisty lass could destroy everything he believes.

Catriona Buchanan must travel north to ask for help in saving her brother and ridding her castle of brutal English knights. Unfortunately, to do so, she must trust in the thing she mistrusts the most—an Englishman. Minute by minute, the man who should be her enemy breaks down her defenses. There is something different about him and she can’t help but be captivated by Samuel, and his steamy kisses.

Heart of Stone by Willa Blair

Riding home after two years away, Gavan MacNabb encounters a lass and her deerhound in a moonlit circle of standing stones. Little does he know the garland of bluebells she weaves and the spell she sings will change the course of his life.

Marsali Murray doesn’t really believe the old wives’ tale that making a chain of bluebells by the standing stones under a waxing moon will bring true love, but she’s desperate to try anything to escape the boring, everlasting sameness of her life.

Gavan has already seen much of the world denied to Marsali. He’s ready to settle down. She is eager to spread her wings. Can they find what they need with each other?

Kilts and Kisses by Victoria Roberts

Since the deaths of her parents, Ceana Gunn has lived in the shadow of her uncle and his family. She wants nothing more than to see her clan the way it was when her father was still laird. But her uncle has other ideas. Ceana soon discovers that the only refuge to be found is in the last place she expects—the arms of her enemy.

Luthais MacKay wants to be left alone. His only interest is training his prized hawks. He certainly doesn’t have time to listen to the petty squabbling of his clan when his father travels to Edinburgh and leaves him in charge. But when Luthais discovers a mysterious woman on his lands, he’s determined to unravel her secrets…one layer at a time.

My Captive Highlander by Vonda Sinclair

Can unexpected passion and a little ancient magic turn enemies into lovers?

During a fierce storm on the west coast of Scotland, Shamus MacKenzie barely survives a galley wreck only to be captured and held for ransom by the enemy MacDonalds. Aided by the gift of second sight, Maili MacDonald, sister of the ruthless chief, senses the handsome, dark-haired stranger will somehow be important in her life. Compelled to help him, she insists on providing him food and a healer to see to his injuries. She knows she is daft to fall in love with this captivating warrior after one forbidden kiss but cannot help herself. With each visit from Maili, Shamus finds his thoughts consumed by the enchanting lass. Can he convince her to help him escape the dungeon and prevent the impending battle between the two clans?

BUY LINKS:
Kobo
Smashwords, which includes Barnes and Noble (because they don’t have preorders available except via Smashwords) and Apple/Ibooks

It will also be out in print!

But you know you have to have glitches. So for whatever reason when I tried to convert the docx in Jutoh to epub/etc, the chapter headings didn’t show up on two of the authors’ works. Have no idea why not. They are formatted exactly the same as all the other chapter headings. Anyway, so it’s a total pain and I’ll have to probably go in this morning and manually book mark the links. That’s why I love Jutoh so much. It does it automatically, no mistakes, normally and it’s done.

So Amazon’s will take a while longer.

Because: I got SEAL Wolf Hunting back for final copyedits. I’ll have one more final proof to go over after this. And I will be getting first edits on Silver Wolf Christmas next. And I received two more blog requests for Jaguar Pride’s release on Feb 3. And I only wrote 300 words of 2500 on SEAL Wolf Diving for Trouble. argh.

I really need to get 2500 done a day. With so much to do on the other stuff, Amazon formatting, finishing up SEAL Wolf Hunting, NEED to proof the audiobook on Call of the Cougar, which has been on the backburner now for about four days, bought another book cover (did I ever mention I’m a book cover hoarder, but it was so neat!) and that means figuring out a title, tagline, etc, etc, etc, write the 2 blogs, including this one and another this morning, and now write 4700 words today on SEAL Wolf Diving for Trouble.

And then there are the puppies. Well, they got me up at 4 am, so the routine is they go to sleep in my lap so I can write, for an hour or two. They don’t get to eat until 7 or 8, but that means as soon as they wake, it’s time to potty again. *sigh* The adventures of puppyhood. Luckily, they’re not having accidents, and they’re not chewing on things they shouldn’t, for the most part. I caught Tanner with two of my socks yesterday.

Max is wearing a cone to keep him from chewing on his stitches from being neutered. He’s been grouchy with Tanner, partly because Tanner keeps grabbing his Elizabethan collar and tugging. But I think he might just not feel well either. So I’ve been trying to keep them separate to chew on chewsticks so Max has more time to rest up.

Okay, got to get to work.

Have a super wonderful and fun…Saturday?

Wow, the time is galloping away!

Do you ever feel that way? That when you want to do something, take a trip to the islands, or something great like finishing the week of work and you’re OFF, that it takes forever to get there? But if you have a deadline or multiple deadlines looming, the time flies? It’s like if I leave early for an appointment, I hit every green light and have no traffic and am there even earlier than planned, then have to sit and wait. But if I’m running late? Yep, you guessed it….I get behind the tractor trailer traveling 15 mph in the no passing zone, hit every red light and get stuck behind every Sunday driver.

Funny how life works that way. :)

Terry
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
http://www.terryspear.com
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website:
http://www.terryspear.com
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears
http://www.celticbears.com

Giveaway at Reading Between the Wines

Kissing the Highlander final (438x640)

I’m still formatting for Kissing the Highlander. When I received everyone’s novellas, the italics were stripped out, argh, and some of the authors have tons of italicized words. That, and trying to make everything uniform as far as front and back matter and section divisions, etc. If I do this again, hopefully, we can all be on the same page next time and I won’t have to do so much reformatting.

Phantom Fae

Phantom Fae has gone out to my first beta reader. And then after I make changes and read it over again, it will go out to another.

But what I really wanted to say was that I am here with a giveaway!!! Go to Reading Between the Wines, comment and enter for a chance to win A Highland Wolf Christmas!

Highland Wolf Christmas-300 (390x640)

http://www.readingbetweenthewinesbookclub.com/2015/01/behind-author-terry-spear-giveaway.html

And now I’m off to get to work on the formatting again. Feeling anxious because the time is slipping away and I need to get started on the next SEAL wolf book due Mar 1. And I haven’t started it. I’m trying to come up with a great new opening scene to set the stage. Must have first meeting soon, show something of the world, a wolf sighting early, conflict, mystery, romance and adventure.

When I was reading books on writing, one author said to make sure you have that conflict right from the beginning. The bomb going off in the school, but not. Something that makes you want to read what happens next and next and next. Yet, you have to have character-driven plots for romance, not strictly plot-driven scenarios.

Okay, so I’m still pondering. But I need to get back to formatting Kissing the Highlander.

Have a super great Tuesday!!!

And be sure and drop by at Reading Between the Wines and enter to win!

Terry
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”

http://www.terryspear.com

Connect with Terry Spear:
Website:

http://www.terryspear.com

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/TerrySpear

Wilde & Woolly Bears

http://www.celticbears.com

Picture Bloopers with Pets

Don’t you love bloopers? I thought it would be fun to show a couple of the Christmas pictures that didn’t turn out and a couple that did.

Puppies a Blur

Squirmy Corgis

To better. In the shot with the corgis, I think I had my puppies in the bedroom, which was why both were looking that way and not at the camera. Oh, well, at least they weren’t blurs.

And there you have it!  Lots of bloopers and a few nice shots. I might have to include some of this stuff in a story. I actually have a lot of “real” life stuff in my stories, no matter how imaginary they may be.

So, are you doing anything fun today? I’ve been awake since 3, up since 4, so doing anything exciting beyond writing this blog just wears me out thinking about it. :) The audiobook for Call of the Cougar came back last night, so I might start proofing it today.

What about you? Have any plans? Eat special dishes? Black eyed peas? I’m having stuffed bell peppers since I bought them for when my daughter and SIL were here and we didn’t eat them. So that’s on the menu. :)

Happy New Year’s!!!

Terry
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
http://www.terryspear.com
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website:
http://www.terryspear.com
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears
http://www.celticbears.com

My Birds are Back!

I've been seeing a lot of my birds come back after the hawk trouble I was having.  And my neighbor's cat was prowling and so when I began to take two little puppies out all the time, the birds watched from the trees and shrubs. Then I saw the whole colony of cardinals feeding. Though I think they lost one of their brothers to the hawk when I was gone a while back.

But it was fun seeing them again. It was getting to be dusk, and I need to clean my windows, and I was afraid to get closer to the window to really be able to stabilize the camera, so my pictures weren't all that great, but it was so much fun seeing all of them I had to try and get a few that might have turned out somewhat.

How many cardinals do you see?

All male cardinals

This really was an amazing sight to me because the hawk got one and then another bird, I found red feathers, so one day I saw a cardinal on top of the feeder that sits in the shrub. He was so wary. This time, all of them were flying down, feeding, sitting in a tree and I couldn't believe it. I would have thought that me going out with the dogs constantly would have made it worse as far as the birds being skittish. But they must realize that we're keeping the hawk and cat away.
The birds eat a lot of bugs, so I'm glad to have them.

Cardinal in the tree closer to the kitchen window

Happy New Year!
Hopefully I'll be back before that, but it's been so hectic with working on housebreaking Tanner, the youngest pup at 8 weeks. Max was housebroken when I got him at 5 1/2 months. And With company.
I started putting away some Christmas decorations, only because it's a chore with having two puppies underfoot. :) So I figure it will take me a while.

And I need to do another new release blog for Jaguar Pride. And I'm still working on Phantom Fae every day, have word count, just need to finish the book. But I have a confession. My daughter and SIL got me PC game Dragon Age: Inquisition. I love the Dragon Age stories, and I'm having a ball. Got all my characters killed off over fighting a dragon, so need to figure out how to do that, but hey, here I'm writing about dragon shifters in the fae world, so this is research. Right???

My daughter, Jennifer, and Max, me, and Tanner

We had to take a lot of pictures of both her dogs and Mike and Jenn and my dogs and Jenn and me. They were all moving, or we were moving to hold onto them.

My birds are back. The puppies are the best. I had a lovely Christmas with family, and it's time to begin the new year with lots and lots more books to write and share with you.

Terry
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
www.terryspear.com
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website:
www.terryspear.com
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears
http://www.celticbears.com

Sunset and Max and the Christmas Tree

Sun Setting

I was walking Max last night and saw this sight, ran back in the house with him, grabbed my camera and ran back out. Isn’t it great?

Sun Setting

Trees on Fire

Dark Descending

Christmas Tree Max

Okay, so Christmas is coming, ready or not. And I have to pick up Tanner today. He’s 3 months old. Max, pictured above, is 5 months old.  I have to say he’s very good about the tree. He pokes his nose at one of the balls every once in a while, but that’s it. I tried to take a picture of him closer to the tree, but he won’t sit long enough for the camera to focus on him for a picture. He comes to greet me instead. Can you tell he’s just about ready to move? So here, I had backed up yet again, told him to sit, and tried to take the shot. The first 3 were blurred Maxs. But he had been closer to the tree.

Tanner

This is Tanner from last week when I picked up Max. He’s much smaller, though bigger than the puppies from the other litter. She had two litters both born on the same day. :)

So now I’ll be training two puppies instead of one, but hopefully, fingers crossed, if they both have each other to sleep with, Tanner won’t be fussing tonight. Max has been fine since the 4th night.
We’ll have to work Tanner into our routine. Hopefully he’ll love it too. We had our 2nd official car trip ride and Max was really good. But this time I took him into a pet shop to see other people and get used to being out a little. A lady approached who had two twin 4 year old girls. They were adorable and they were so good with Max and he was so good with them. The mother scared him though. And then two groomers came to see him, for business, of course, but it was a good experience for him. But before I got him out of his carrier at home, he threw up. So the 1st official car trip was fine. The 2nd one, he got sick again. Hopefully he’ll be all right on subsequent trips. I have a 3 hour drive coming up and want both dogs to love riding in the car.

When Tanner gets home, he’ll have another dog to play with. And my daughter and son-in-law are bringing Sir Rilo and Lady Luna, their corgis, for Christmas. Both are two years old, so Christmas is going to the dogs. :) I’ll try to take lots of pictures.

I had to start writing blogs for the upcoming release of Jaguar Pride, and I’m behind on Phantom Fae (only by 3,000, though today I’m supposed to have another 2,000 also), though I keep waking and thinking about the end. I have 20,000 words left to write, so I am winding down to the end. :)

Do you have kids? Or, were you ever a kid with siblings? What order? Notice Max has lots of shots that are all just Max, because he’s the only puppy. But when Tanner comes home, what will happen? He’ll probably be in lots of shots with Max. Maybe not, but probably.

Doesn’t that happen with kids too? The firstborn has lots of pictures, then second and subsequent babies come along and all the pictures are of the toddler holding the baby, or looking at the baby, or two toddlers together, or…well, you get the picture. Second borns just don’t get the spotlight like firstborns.

So I was a firstborn. It’s all right by me. LOL What about you?

Okay, off to write another Jaguar Pride blog, the book is coming out Feb 7, and then back to Phantom Fae. Then it’s off to pick up Tanner. Have a super great Monday!

Terry
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
www.terryspear.com
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website:
www.terryspear.com
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears
http://www.celticbears.com

Being Smarter than the Dog

I can write full-length novels, and do any number of things well. But now is the time to be smarter than the dog.


Every day is an adventure. I’ve discovered this Havanese is a chow hound. Maybe because he had others to compete with back home, so he wolfs down his food and then wants to get up on the printer cabinet where I’ve measured out the rest of his food for the day so I don’t overfeed him.

He’s a jumper, so trying to jump on top of the printer stand, but he can’t make it. Thankfully.

So then his next goal–you see, just like in books, characters have to have all-important goals–so does Max. His next goal is to get the trash out of the wastepaper basket next to my desk. It’s mostly paper trash, though I throw my used up green tea bags in there too. It’s empty as it’s trash day, but I always line it with a recycled plastic bag. So he keeps getting into the wooden receptacle and I put a towel over it. Yesterday, I just put the trash can up above on the printer cabinet, but then I can’t reach it.

Sooo, have to have another solution. He tried to pull off the towel, tried to go underneath the towel, finally climbed on top of the towel. With a new mission in mind. He could use this as stepping stool to reach his food on the printer cabinet.



But the towel sank under his weight.

He’s not going for playing with his ball or chewsticks or rope pull. He wants something different. So we went to down training and he’s doing well. He still doesn’t go down on command, but he’s no longer trying to grab the treat out of my hand. Maybe because I’ve switched the treat to the other hand and he just has to follow my empty hand to the floor.

I will say that we had no accidents in his bed the last two nights and I was working on a final Christmas bear order, I know I keep saying that, but I keep getting last minute bear orders, and I worked so late, he went into his cage to sleep. Woohoo! No fussing, just is totally acclimated to it.
When I bring the other puppy home, it’s going to be a new day dawning.

I did get my word goal down for yesterday, and about 500 extra words, but still about 2500 behind. Which is a lot less than I was behind. I spent a lot of time getting packages ready to ship.


Are you ready for Christmas? I need to pick up some candy, but otherwise, I’m done.   Well, except for finishing the last bear order and then I’ll ship it tomorrow.

Amethyst Bear

It’s an Amethyst Bear like this one.

Off to work on the story before I run errands. Max finally pooped out. :) I think he was waiting for his training.

We had another fun foggy day.

A Cool Vampire Day

Even More Vampire Like?

Have a great Wednesday!
Terry
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
www.terryspear.com
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website:
www.terryspear.com
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears
http://www.celticbears.com

Prince Maximilian–the Dog

Well, I finally succumbed. With all the traveling I’ve been doing, I wouldn’t have done so, but I’m not traveling as much this year and even less next year, so I decided to get a dog. I’ve always had pets, but when my standard poodle died, I was working full time and writing full time so I figured it wasn’t a good idea to get another. Then I was writing full time and taking trips all the time.

I wanted another dog that didn’t shed. I’ve had poodles, silkies, and an Afghan hound. And I had a Lab, loved her, but she shed all the time. Course I had short haired cats too, and one long-haired one. Not all at the same time.

This time I went for a Havanese because they’re supposed to be good with kids and dogs and cats and people in general. Just a sweet disposition. So this is Prince Max.

5 mos old Havanese Puppy

Max is very white and has some silver and black

He’s now crashed out on my lap. I taught him to sit this morning. So we’ll see if he remembers that later today. :)

Off to work on His Wild Highland Lass. Note the Scottish leash? If they’d had a jaguar one, I would have gotten it.
:)

Have a great Wednesday! I need to get cracking on word count for Phantom Fae too. :)
Terry
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
www.terryspear.com
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website:
www.terryspear.com
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears

Last Teddy Bear of the Year! And Totally Goofy Weather!

Davidson Clan Bear

The clan fabric was ordered in Oct, but never arrived, so they had to ship it again. So here he is, finally! And that’s the last of the teddy bear orders for Christmas. I have 3 boxes of bears to ship.
I’ll be making up some more bears eventually, just to have some more ready for orders next year. That’s the only way I stay ahead of the game–make them to have a back stock. But everything’s clean and I hate making a mess again so soon.  Especially since I’ll have company again for Christmas.
I’ve been working a little on Phantom Fae. But I had 11 chapters to critique for one of the stories in the Kissing the Highlander anthology and then had to reread my chapters and upload them. So that took most of the day, and finishing up the bear and getting him ready to ship.

Now I need to finish the last 2 chapters and epilogue for my critique partner and make the changes she suggested on mine as she sends them to me. I’m also working on Phantom Fae, trying to get a 1000 words a day. Not as many as I usually try to do, but that’s because I’m still working on His Wild Highland Lass changes also. Once that’s finally done, I’ll begin formatting the anthology also for the 5 of us authors who are doing this together. So as usual, lots of projects going on!

Oh, and then before I know it, it will be the new year. And that means new deadlines all over again. Trying to get Phantom Fae done this month. :)

Anyway, I’m up in the middle of the night, unable to sleep, so working on Phantom Fae edits!
If I’m not going to sleep, I might as well do something!

Ever do that?

Oh, oh, and I really should check out the weather from time to time. It was 75 yesterday! And this morning at 3:23, 63. By 8 am, it’s going to be 40 degrees. And the high today??? 48 degrees. Talk about goofy weather. And then??? On Thurs, 72, and Fri, 75. No wonder we can’t get used to the weather!

Fog

Have a super great Monday, 1st day of December! Have you got your month planned out?
Terry
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
www.terryspear.com
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website:
www.terryspear.com
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears

Thanksgiving Meant Family!

 My daughter and her Pembroke Welsh Corgi.

 Pear tree in fall colors.

 Ham and stuffing my daughter made for Thanksgiving.

 Rhaegar, Rottweiler, my son's dog and Rilo, my daughter's dog while we were eating the roast I had made.

The two dogs playing with Rilo's toys. Rilo barked a bit. Rhaeger is about 18 mos old and really sweet.

It was great having my son and daughter visit at the same time since they haven't seen each other in 3 years.

We had a great time. Hope your holidays are the best!
Terry
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
www.terryspear.com
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website:
www.terryspear.com
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears