Tuesday Teaser 1/27/15: Daughter of the Wolf Clan
Before we get to today’s snip, I want to give you an update of Rose and Sky’s story. It’s moving along. I finally got the write The Scene I’ve Been Looking Forward To For The Past Two Years. Yes, Rose has finally accepted Sky’s mate claim and they have lost their virginity! It’s a looooong scene (about 10 pages) with hot passionate kisses, a few giggling fumbles, tender possessiveness, heartfelt confessions… OK. I really like it. I may do a little trimming, but in general, I think it’s one of the best love scenes I’ve ever written. I shared a few snips of it on my Facebook Page and I’ll post a few here next week. I know a lot of you are anxious to get to read Rose and Sky’s story, and I’m anxious to get it out to you! I have four major scenes left to write, and several smaller scenes, so four chapters plus an epilogue. Should be about 100,000 words. For comparison, Wolf’s Glory, Wolf Tracker and Ellie’s Wolf were all around 75,000 words.
And now, back to Olivia and Kit:
The first woman, the taller one, took a menacing step. “Dev, you’re coming pretty close to insubordination, aren’t you?”
Devlin held her eyes for a moment before looking down. “Not intentionally, Maria. But I was with Kit when he found his mate yesterday, and I believe the mate bond exists. For him to service another female would be wrong.”
“Fine.” Maria’s smile made Olivia touch the knife on her belt. “If they’re mates, let’s see it. Service your mate, Kit, and we’ll all be witnesses to your bond.”
“I’m nah human,” Kit growled.
“Human enough to give the little girl sex. Do it, Kit. Prove she’s your mate and she lives.”
Tricia jumped up from the blankets, wearing only her shirt and a leer. “Your choice, Kit. Either give your mate sex or watch her die.”
Kit’s roar was cut off by a third woman, walking from the back of the cave with two mountain lion kits in her arms. She was smaller than either of the other two women and her mouth was curved in a smile that didn’t have even a hint of a leer.
“Maria. Tricia.” The third woman shook her head. “Why taunt poor Kit like this? Leave him and his mate alone.”
“You always had a soft spot for him, Juanita,” spat Maria. “He’s brought a human to the pride.”
The curvy woman called Juanita shrugged and rubbed her cheek against the fur of one of the babies in her arms. “She’s his mate.”
“Human,” insisted Maria.
“She probably wasn’t even born when the pride was slaughtered. She’s not responsible.” Juanita turned to Olivia with a smile. “Here, hold my sons.” She plopped the kittens into Olivia’s arms and ignored both Olivia’s stuttering protests and the hisses from the other people in the cave to fasten a cold stare on first Maria and then Tricia.
“This stops now. Kit deserves to find some happiness. His mate is off limits. I mean it.” She lifted black eyes to glare at everyone else in the cave. “No one bothers Kit or his mate or they answer to me.”
All eyes dropped, even Maria’s and Tricia’s. Juanita gave a satisfied grunt and turned back to Olivia and Kit. She smoothed hand over Kit’s feline face with a loving smile. “I’ll miss you as a lover, sweetie, but I hope you’ll be happy with your mate.” She picked up his paw and kissed it before turning to Olivia. “What’s your name?”
“Olivia Stensrud.” Holding the kittens squirming to get loose was hard. They each weighed at least twenty pounds, and their claws were already sharp. Juanita took pity on her and removed them. She leaned close to say, “Be good to Kit, Olivia Stensrud. He’s special. Let him service you as soon as possible. Until you’re fully mated, the pride won’t accept you.”
“Uh.” Olivia blinked. She didn’t want the pride to accept her. She wanted to go home, where her family would surround her with love, and where no man could get within fifty yards of her without her brothers bristling like the wolves they were. “Thanks.”
Juanita leaned in to press a quick peck on Olivia’s cheek. “You two get out of here now. Take your mate back to your lair, Kit, and get to know her better.”
Kit didn’t say a word. He picked Olivia up, tossed her over his shoulder and ran out of the cave back to his own.
2015 is Here!
A new year gives us an excellent time to assess where we are, where we’ve been, and where we want to go. Do you make New Year’s Resolutions? I used to, but they always turn into depressing failures, so instead I make goals. Some goals are concrete, others are sort of vague. Here are mine:
Goal #1: Waste Less Time. Facebook is a Time Suck. Truth, right? I want to make better use of my time, so I bought
a planner on Amazon. I think it will work out nicely. Maybe I won’t actually keep to a schedule like this, but I’m going to try. After a few weeks I should have an idea of where I’m wasting my time, right? (If you look closely you might get an idea of where I am in Wolf’s Princess.)
I ordered mine here.
Goal #2: Finish Writing Wolf’s Princess!!! I love this story. I adore Sky. Rose is a nice mix of vulnerable and tough. I like the secondary characters. There are lots of threads that get wrapped up in this story. This is officially the last book in the series, but I will be writing a few more short stories, like a Christmas story series epilogue and …
Goal #3: Write the Tuesday Teaser for Kit and Olivia. I’m not sure where I’m going with this one yet. My publisher recently put out a call for 20,000 word novellas that go with established series. This one might fit that.
Goal #4: Sew more costumes! I used to make two or three historical costumes every year. I haven’t made one in quite a while. I miss doing that. If I do another costume fashion show at RAGT I’d like to have newer costumes for that. Maybe a regency day dress and a Victorian bustle skirt and jacket?
Goal #5: Laugh more!
Goal #6: Spend More Time with Friends.
Goal #7: Downsize. I am planning to move to a different apartment at the end of March and the thought of packing all the books, yarn, and other things makes me cringe. That blender on the counter? Haven’t used it in years. Do I really need to keep it? I hate the idea of getting rid of books, but really, will I ever read it again? Is it available through the library or on Kindle?
Goal #8: Do more in the SCA. I hardly ever go to events anymore and I miss it.
Goal #9: Exercise more. I ordered one of those foldable bikes. It arrived yesterday at my brother’s place and he’s supposed to bring it over and help me get it set up next week.
Goal #10: Play with my cats more. The poor girls are mighty neglected, and that’s not fair.
There, 10 goals for this coming year. Do you have goals or resolutions? Wishing you a wonderful, happy and prosperous 2015 with all your goals met!
2014: A Recap
Have you ever gotten to the end of the year and felt defeated, like you hadn’t accomplished anything? It’s how I was feeling. The biggest thing on my 2014 To Do list is a fail. This summer I had no question that by this time Wolf’s Princess would be submitted to Liquid Silver Books and on its way to being published. But it’s not. I don’t even have a good excuse. I’ll talk a little more about that in my next post. I am at this moment at 72,800 words, or about the length of Wolf’s Glory and Wolf Tracker, and I estimate I have another 20,000 words to write. And they’re the best words. Love scenes. Battle scenes. Hate, love, revenge, and … Well, all the plot threads are coming together and the writing is moving along now. Back to the recap.
A wise person told me recently that when I feel discouraged I must remember the things I accomplished in the previous year. So here goes:
Template to be used to assemble cover art for Liquid Silver Books. It was created in PhotoShop CS6.
Wolf’s Vengeance was published! I’ve always had a soft spot for Snake, and I wanted him to have a happy ever after. This is his story.
I wrote a Tuesday Teaser about events that took place in Omaha after Quill left, and before Wolf’s Princess takes place. Omaha was very different from Kearney and the Clan. I wanted to introduce you to that world, sort of break it to you gently. LOL It became a novella, Wolf’s Lady.
Every year I go to the Reader & Author Get Together in Cincinnati Ohio. RAGT is a fun time. They have literally hundreds of raffle baskets, and me and my friend Jessica always contribute. This year I crocheted an afghan. I think it turned out really well. I was proud of it, and pleased that the woman who won seemed so 
genuinely happy about it!
Also, I helped sponsor a boardroom, and my big thing was to hold a fantasy/historical fashion show. I’m into historical costume and I love showing off the things I’ve made. Here are my vict– uh, volunteers wearing some of the costumes you might see in a fantasy or historical novel:
Left to right: Author Tatum Throne in Viking, Author Ty Langston in 16th Century Florentine, Paul Tyler in Early 20th Century Indian coat, Author Paige Tyler in an early 20th Century Indian Sari, Reader Marilyn Mandalis in 16th Century Japanese.
I had my very first Facebook Party. I did not know what to expect but everyone who came was friendly easy to chat with, and I had a lot of fun. I might do another one when Wolf’s Princess is finally released.
I also finished knitting a Dr. Who scarf I began in 2012! This young man won a bunch of yarn in a raffle but had no use for it. He gave it to me and I brashly promised to make him a Dr. Who scarf. He was patient, and in November I finished it and gave it to him.
There. Those are some of my accomplishments from 2014. Now I can set my face forward to 2015! I hope you can look back on 2014 and pick out a few things that you are especially proud of. Happy New Year!
Help! Which Author Head Shot Contest!
Good morning, and Happy Labor Day! I am having a fantastic mini-vacation here at home. It’s been wonderful to sleep late, and read, and knit, and write. Really fantastic. I need to do this more often!!
Anyway, I’ve received the headshots done by Gary Lura Photography. I hate even looking at pix of myself. In my mind I’m tall and willowy and young, but when I look at a picture of myself I discover I’m short and plump and middle aged. Can you imagine my disappointment?
So I’d like some help choosing which pic should be my new author head shot. Look over the pix below and leave a comment saying which one you like best and why. To sweeten the pot, I’m going to offer an Amazon $10.00 gift card to one person who leaves a comment. I will draw tomorrow evening, September 2 (Oh my gosh, it’s September already?!!) at 7pm central time.
Headshot 5
Headshot 4
Headshot 3
Headshot 2
Headshot 1
Writing Update! News! Read All About It!
It’s probably not as exciting as the subject line sounds, but I thought I’d post to let you know what I have going at the moment. Summer is here in North Dakota USA, so I’m sweating and moaning about the heat and humidity. In five months I’ll be shivering and moaning and the cold and the windchill. lol But I should get to the point.
So, NEWS:
I will be part of a blog hop beginning Friday August 1 and ending Sunday August 3. That’s next weekend! I love these bloghops because they are so well run, and there are tons of great prizes. Not just gift cards and free books, but the grand prize is a Kindle Fire. I will be offering a download of any of my ebooks or audiobooks, plus I’ll be running another contest on my blog. If you are a cat lover, you might like to sign up. One winner will have the right to name and design Rose’s cat. This cat will be Sky’s mortal enemy, but even Sky has to love him when he helps to save Rose. You can signup for an email reminder at www.JustRomance.Me So, be sure to swing by next weekend.
The other thing is that on Wednesday October 29 2014 I’ll be having a Facebook Party. We’ll chat and you can ask me any question, and I’ll be having games and prizes. The main prize will be a (very raw and unedited) ARC of Wolf’s Princess. I’ll be sending out more info on that in a couple of months.
WRITING UPDATE:
We are coming to the end of Wolf’s Lady, the serial short story I’ve been posting on Tuesdays on my blog. I haven’t posted all of it, and I think it will be about 35,000 words long. I plan to have it released for free on December 5, 2014. It will be on my website, and Smashwords. I’ll upload it on Amazon also, but they don’t allow a book to be started at FREE. It must be at least $0.99, and then people can report it as free in other online stores and Amazon will match the price. So you might want to download it from Smashwords if you prefer a format for kindle. More about that to come.
I feel like I’m doing well with Wolf’s Princess. I love, love LOVE this story. Sky is half Alpha jerk and half tender lover. Rose is snarky, pragmatic, and brave. Once she figures out what she wants, she goes for it. Poor Sky doesn’t have a chance. Not that he complains after the first few chapters. I hope to have it ready to go out to the Beta readers by mid-October and hopefully will have it submitted to Liquid Silver by mid-November. I can’t tell you for sure when it will be released, because it depends on the publisher’s schedule, how long edits take, etc, but my educated guess is late February to mid March.
Well, I better sign off and get Rose and Sky going on their first kiss. Fireworks are about to erupt in the form of a jealous, mean feline who despises Sky. 🙂
How To Make Win Win Magnets
I have some old business cards left over, and I’m too darned stingy to just throw them away. My sister and my niece made me some fridge magnets, and while I was admiring them, a thought popped into my head. Hey! I could make some cute magnets out of my business cards! It took me almost no time to make a dozen of them, and didn’t cost very much, and now I’ve gotten rid of some old business cards that were just taking up space. That’s what I call a Win Win! And then I thought: Wow! What a great thing to do with lots of the swag that I’ve gotten. I mean, I hardly read paperbacks anymore, so I could recycle all those great bookmarks I’ve picked up at conventions that are too nice to throw away. Oh, and maybe my mom would like some magnets with the grandkids’ pictures! Or those Christmas cards I keep saving but never do anything with could be great seasonal magnets! And the more I thought, the more hooked I became on this quick and easy craft. And, being a nice, generous person, I thought I’d share how I did it.
Gather supplies. I used the following:
Glass bubbles.
I don’t actually know what these are called, but they are glass round things flat on one side and rounded on the other. You can get them in the floral section in the craft store, or in the mosaic making section. Mine are about 1 inch in diameter and about a quarter of an inch tall. Mine cost $2.99 for a 2 pound bag. You can get something like them for a buck at the dollar store. Or you can buy square glass tiles for a bit more.
A clear adhesive to glue the picture onto the bubble.
I looked at my glue supplies at home, and considered the Mod Podge, but it was pretty thick and old. I picked up some “Glossy Accents” at the craft store for $5.99. I couldn’t find Diamond Glaze, which is what others have used.
Magnets
I bought a 48 count pack of 3/4 inch round magnets for $7.99.
Glue
A good, strong glue is what you want here. I already had some E6000, but Goop would be fine, or whatever you like.
Pictures
Anything you want. Scan and print photographs. Cut out pieces of pretty wrapping paper, old Christmas cards, Valentine’s cards, paper swag from Romance Conventions like bookmarks, trading cards, and postcards, or whatever you want.
Hole Punch
This actually optional. I already had a 1 inch round hole punch from my scrap booking days. A pair of scissors would work just fine. If you decide to buy one it would cost under $10.00.
Directions:
1. Clean the glass bubbles to be sure there’s no lint or dust on them.
2. Cut out your paper. Should be a hair smaller than the flat side of the glass bubble. Doesn’t have to be exact. The glass isn’t always a perfect circle.
3. Smear a small amount of adhesive to the flat side of the bubble.
4. Place the paper on flat side of bubble, picture side to glass, and gently move it around to be sure the adhesive coats all parts of the paper. Smooth it flat to get any air bubble out. Let dry an hour or so, until it is completely dry.
5. Squirt a pea sized dollop of the strong glue to back of picture. Press magnet firmly into the glue. Set aside to dry.
Done! See how easy that is? Unique and fun gifts that take very little time and very little money. Even if you have to buy every item needed, including the hole punch, and pay to have old photos printed out, I think the magnets come out to about $0.49 each. But watch for sales and clip coupons, and it’s more like $0.28 each. A set of 6 would be a great stocking stuffer gift and could be tailored to the recipient. Know a quilter? Know a cat lover? This is a perfect, easy gift with a quirky, personal touch that won’t take weeks to make or break your budget. That’s why I call these Win Win Magnets.
The Tale of the RAGT Afghan
For the past four years I have attended the Annual Reader & Author Get Together in Ohio. One of the fun things about the event is the raffle baskets the attendees put together. The proceeds of the raffle go to www.OneWayFarm.org, an organization that helps neglected, abandoned and abused children. This year my raffle basket will contain a nice lap afghan that I crocheted out of a washable wool/acrylic yarn. But there is a story behind this afghan.
My newest kitty is named Dixie. She was rescued a couple of years ago from a hoarding house along with many, many other kitties. CATS Cradle Shelter in Fargo, ND does great work saving cats and finding them homes. You might have heard of them from my author bio. They are the shelter I donate a portion of my royalties to. They do amazing things to save kitties, and that takes money. You can learn more about them at www.catscradleshelter.org.
From the first I wanted Dixie. She is exactly the kind of cat I am drawn to: needy, frightened of people, and sweet-natured. However, I already had three cats when she first came to the shelter, and that is my personal limit. My landlord readily agreed that I could have four, but I have to look at the cost of food, litter and vet visits realistically. If I can’t afford to take care of four cats, I wouldn’t be doing me or them any good. Three was the most I could comfortably support.
Fast forward almost two years. I was down to two cats after Magic had to be put to sleep after her stroke. In a happy set of circumstances, I was able to bring Dixie home with me back in December. I was so excited! I had to control myself so I didn’t scare her. She came out of her shy shell slowly but surely. She sits in my lap about once a week. She loves demands to be petted. She’s not a cuddly kitty most of the time–when she’s in a mood, she tends to sit as far from me as she can get– but she’s happy and healthy, and I adore her. I think she’s coming to love me too, as more than just a set of hands that will stroke her on demand.
What, you ask, does that have to do with the afghan? Well, I’m always careful about yarn and cats. If they eat it, it could cause serious trouble, so I keep it shut up in project bags to be sure it’s out of reach. But Dixie has never shown much interest in my yarn until I began putting the blocks together. Then she seemed to become fixated on the afghan. When I was sitting in my chair working on it, she would sit inches away and carefully watch me.
If I had to get up for a minute, Dixie
would be curled up on the afghan when I came back.
When I’d put the afghan away in its bag, Dixie would drag it out and lay on a corner of it.
Dixie LOOOOOOVES this afghan! I was afraid it would break her heart when I’d have to pack it up to send for the raffle. So I began a new mini Dixie-ghan, just for her, hoping she would tranfer her attachment to it. And look! She likes it. Now I just need to get it away from her long enough to make it bigger. 🙂
Tuesday Truth 4/8/14
The snip from Miss Amanda and Sand’s story is going to be delayed this week. Sorry! I got sucked into the final line edits on Wolf’s Vengeance and ended up finishing them and turning the manuscript back into the editor tonight. I will work on Amanda and Sand tomorrow night after work and try to get something posted on or before Wednesday. Sorry!
Readers Anonymous
My name is Maddy and I’m a reader.
OK, that is supposed to be funny. I do not think reading is an addiction, at least not like alcohol, eating or gambling is. The huge majority of readers don’t go into debt to feed their habit, right? Okay, maybe I sometimes spend more than I actually budgeted for on books. And sometimes I read when I REALLY ought to be cleaning or sleeping, but I hardly ever call in sick to work because of it. Reading is actually beneficial for you. This study shows that reading fiction is good for your brain. So my brain must be very healthy! How about yours?
Here’s what I’ve been reading, with links to the books on Amazon so you can learn more about them:
Valiant by Laurann Dohner-This was a re-read. In my opinion, the best of the series about human/animal hybrids and the women they love. Sometimes a re-read is like seeing an old friend. What books do you like to read over?
Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop This is the 2nd book in Bishop’s Others series. Unique world building, excellent characters. A thousand books are about vampires and werewolves, but none do it this way! Start with the first book, Written in Red. I love this author because her stories are unique.
The Sylph Hunter by LJ McDonald I’ve been waiting for Ms. McDonald to continue her fantasy romance series and was thrilled to see this one had come out. If you haven’t read them, I suggest starting with the first book, The Battle Sylph
Hunter’s Claim by SE Smith This is the first in Ms. Smith’s new series. If you enjoy sci fi romances where Earth women are claimed by handsome aliens who fall in love with their mates, I think you’ll enjoy this one.
Eight Million Gods by Wen Spencer Another brilliant fantasy novel. If you enjoy manga and anime you might like this one too. I have gobbled up everything thi author has written. Her Ukiah Oregon series is an absolute fave of mine, and I loved Tinker too. If you haven’t read Ms. Spencer before, Tinker is a great place for a romance lover to start. A brilliant tomboy catches the eye of a handsome elf lord. This is a very simplistic description of this book. I loved it.
So what have you been reading? Tell me about it. I’m always looking for something new and fun to read.
My new kitty Dixie
is settling in! She and the two I already have don’t get along. But when I went into the bedroom just now to put clean sheets on the bed I found Merry and Dixie almost snuggling. Really! They were barely an inch apart on the jumble of fresh sheets, snoozing happily away. By the time I got my camera, they had apparently realized how close they were and separated. This means one of two things: 1. they are becoming friends or 2. both were anxious to deposit as much white cat hair on the navy blue sheets as felinely possible. Which do you think it is?
Aren’t they adorable?
