Terry Spear is back with us today talking about her writing process and the sixth book in her Urban Fantasy Romance Heart of the Wolf series, WOLF FEVER, due out December 7, 2010. Julia’s early review is already up, but if you can’t wait to get your alpha male fix, Terry is giving away a copy of WOLF FEVER today! See details below. 

From the Beginning to THE END
by
Terry Spear

Imagine another dimension where the world actually had shifters who could change from human form to wolf. Who kept their differences secret from the human population to prevent from being abused or analyzed to learn of their curative powers or longevity, or wanted them destroyed because they were “alien” to what most humans thought were normally acceptable.

Enter the world of wolves—werewolves, that is.

Why urban fantasy romance? Why werewolves? Why wolves?

Suspending belief is the fun for me. I write everything from romantic suspense to romantic comedy, although my suspense has humor and my comedy has conflict. In my werewolf stories, I get to add an additional dimension. My love of the paranormal, of fantasy, yet I love true stories, so making them as realistic as possible is the fun for me. Adventure, mystery, suspense, romance and humor are all ingredients in my stories that I can’t live without. I don’t plan anything, don’t have a cookbook recipe on how to do it. It just happens.

Oftentimes when I’m doing final edits on a book, such as #7, after they’ve been approved by my editor, I’ll already be writing book #9, so it’s been a while since I’ve reread the earlier book. And I wonder how I ever got from the beginning to the ending when it sounds like I’ve planned it out all along. But I’m not quite there yet with the current book I’m working on. Some writers work best with planning their stories from the beginning. If I tried to force myself to do that, I’d just stare at a blank monitor all day.

While I was doing final line edits on Heart of the Highland Wolf, I didn’t even remember some of the scenes. As I write, they just come to me. An idea will flit across my brain, and if I can catch the trigger and think about it a little, sometimes it will turn into a full fledged scene.

I’ll be getting dressed for work, and I won’t consciously be thinking about the current story I’m working on, which right now is book 9, The Wolf and the SEAL, but all of a sudden, I’ll begin to hear the dialogue, sometimes see the setting that the characters are in, and if I don’t jot it down, even an hour later, it can be gone. So I have to catch the scene right then and there. Sometimes, I’ll turn off the lights at night and I’m planning on sleeping, not writing, and that’s when a scene comes to me. It’s dark. My mind is free to wander when it’s supposed to shut down. And then here is a terrific scene.

On come the lights and I’m back to writing. Usually it’s a short scene and then I can go to sleep after that. But if I think to remember it in the morning, forget it.

So how to come up with the ideas? Questions help to evoke more thoughts, more scenes. Brainstorming.

Is Bigfoot real? Some think so. Sometimes a kernel of a notion sticks in the memory banks, and someday that one little bit of information becomes part of a story. In Legend of the White Wolf, Bigfoot, or the notion some think he’s real, came to be in the story. It all started with my mother taking a course for senior citizens at Baylor University. It had to do with demystifying myths, or some such thing. The instructor told them a story about Bigfoot, and for a year or so, I thought about it, and finally found just the place to introduce it.

It’s a true story, you see. But making it part of a fictional work, makes it more fun and more real.

Creatures that have been myths for ages are finally unearthed and then the myths become reality. So in my world, werewolves are myths—to regular humans. But for werewolves, perfectly real.

I love to banter back and forth about the myths and how unreal they are as I write my tales. We were having a discussion about vampires on an author loop the other day, and it made me smile. But vampires are supposed to be written a certain way. So are werewolves. Hmm?

To me that’s half the fun of writing urban fantasy. As authors, we decide what’s real and what’s not. And hopefully our readers will play along and become part of the—pack. :)

In Wolf Fever, the cast from Destiny of the Wolf is back. About the time I was writing the story, the World Health Organization was warning about a possible flu epidemic. So that got me to thinking about werewolves, and how they would handle such a crisis. Carol, the psychic nurse, sees the crisis coming, but no one believes her. And Chester Ryan McKinley wants to prove she really doesn’t have psychic powers, while she believes his interest in seeing her goes so much deeper. And somehow from that beginning, the end eventually comes!

I have to warn that even if you have your flu shots, you might get Wolf Fever. In book stores now!

Thanks so much, Abigail, for having me! And good luck to everyone who comments!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

With over 71,000 copies sold, Terry Spear is a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves. She received her MBA from Monmouth University. An eclectic writer, she dabbles in the paranormal as well as writing historical and true life stories for both teen and adult audiences. Spear lives in Crawford, Texas.

Visit Terry online:
Website|Blog|Facebook|Twitter

Want to read more from Terry Spear?

Highlander Medieval
1. Winning the Highlander's Heart 
2. The Accidental Highland Hero

Heart of the Wolf
1. Heart of the Wolf
2. Destiny of the Wolf 
3. To Tempt the Wolf 
4. Legend of the White Wolf
5. Seduced by the Wolf
6. Wolf Fever

Deadly Liaisons
Relative Danger

Giveaway

One copy of WOLF FEVER by Terry Spear

WOLF FEVER by TERRY SPEAR—IN STORES DECEMBER 2010

She may be his destiny, but she's not his first choice…

Hospital nurse and newly turned red werewolf Carol Woods is being pressured by her pack leader to find a mate, but he's the only guy in the pack who remotely attracts her… Why is he playing so hard to get?

The fate of the pack rests on his shoulders…

Gray pack leader Ryan McKinley doesn't want anything to do with Carol unless she's willing to embrace her wolf nature—no matter how beautiful she is.

But when a virus infects the local lupus garou pack, Ryan realizes just how wrong he's been not to seize the moment with the woman he's come to love. And now, it may be too late…

Praise for Terry Spear's To Tempt the Wolf:

“Ms. Spear's has spun a web of drama that pulled me in... Get it; read it; you'll love it!”

“A paranormal romp that sizzles! Action-packed romance and suspense-filled plot add up to pure magic. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. Terry Spear is a great addition to the paranormal genre!”

GIVEAWAY GUIDLINES

1. Open to US & CA only
2. Leave a comment that includes:
   1. A comment or question for Terry
   2. A way to contact you if you win
3. Entries must be received by Midnight MST on  December 9th

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