Spooky Legends & Giveaway: Theresa Meyers’s Colt Jackson on Skinwalkers & win a signed copy of THE HUNTER

THE HUNTER (available on November 1, 2011 from Zebra) was my first book by Theresa Meyers, but it will definitely not be my last.  The action was vivid, the romance was playful, and as I say in my review up later today, the “blend of Wild, Wild West steampunk and demonic forces was everything I could have hoped for and more.”  I really enjoyed that Meyers wasn’t afraid to put her own spin on both romance and genre tropes, and look forward to picking up book two in The Legend Chronicles, THE SLAYER, when it comes out this April.  One person will get a chance to read a signed copy of THE HUNTER, courtesy of the author herself, but we all get to enjoy a little taste of the book’s leading man, Colt Jackson, and his take on Skinwalkers.  See details below.

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Colt Jackson on Skinwalkers
by
Theresa Meyers

There’s many things out there that can spook a man. Make him think he’s lost his ever lovin’ marbles. But as a Hunter I’ve seen more than most. You good folk, don’t worry yourselves any. See we Hunters have been doin’ our jobs since the earliest times, making sure that supernaturals don’t get the upper hand on humanity. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Pardon, nearly forgot my manners. Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Colt Jackson part of the American part of the Legion of Hunters out here in the Arizona territory and further west when problems take me there. They asked me to teach you all about Skinwalkers today. What they are, how to spot them and what you can do to defend yourself.

See, they got a lot of different names for Skinwalkers. Some people call them shape-shifters. Others call them Weres (werewolves, werecats, and all that.) The Navaho out here, well they figure their witches gone bad. Have done some pretty nasty stuff, sometimes even killin’ a family member so they can get a power to transform between their human form into the form of a coyote, wolf, owl, fox, bear or crow, by stealin’ their skin and walkin’ around in it like a fancy
pants suit. They also reckon that those witches used the bones of Anasazi in their spells to make the dark magic work. It’s part of the reason you don’t see them using much other than sheep or buckskin. Them other animals, well if you’re using those kinda skins, then you might be under a heap of suspicion for being a skinwalker. The legends among the Navaho, Hopi, Lakota and other tribes started up to explain how the best hunters could catch prey when no one else could. Others tried on animal skins, fasted, smoked peyote or rubbed animal fat with herbs into their skin to see if they could transition into that elite hunter state.

To tell you the truth, I seen skinwalkers take on more than animal form. It ain’t somthin’ I like to talk about much, but I’ve seen them steal a human skin just as easily. Make you think it’s a person you know for they rip the lungs right out of you. Their damn fast, quick as lightning. Black gums and teeth like a crocodile. Nails sharp as a Bowie knife that can slice a man to ribbons. If they’re really after you, you might hear scratching on the walls, taps at your windows or something big-like scrabbling around on your roof right ‘afore they break in a window and rip you out of your bed.

Make no mistake, Skinwalkers is the most dangerous sort of shape-shifter. And as much a people would like to think they’re just scary human witches with powerful dark magic, they’re not. Their Darkin, just as much as any demon, or any hell hound. You can’t reason with it, and once it’s got your scent, it ain’t stoppin’ until it hunts you down.

As a Hunter there’s only a few things I know of that can take those kind of Darkin down. One is a really good bullet. Now I ain’t talkin’ the kind you’re gonna find at some gunshop. These got to be made special, by hand. Our inventor friend Marley uses a mix of powdered bone, and salt blended in with that gunpowder. Something that can kill ‘em quick. If makin’ ammunition like that ain’t your thing, then I suggest you keep a good machete handy. Lop of the damn thing’s head. I’m not sayin’ it’s pretty, or that you won’t get hurt. But at least you might survive.

Now, if you’re interested in seeing me in action, or finding what other kinds of Darkin my brothers and I hunt out here in the western territories, you can check out The Hunter. ‘Till then, keep your ears and eyes open, your mouth shut, and remember that while we’re out here protecting you, what you can’t see can hurt you.

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About the author:

Raised by a bibliophile who made the dining room into a library, Theresa has always been a lover of books and stories. First a writer for newspapers, then for national magazines, she started her first novel in high school, eventually enrolling in a Writer's Digest course and putting the book under the bed until she joined Romance Writers of America in 1993. In 2005 she was selected as one of eleven finalists for the American Title II contest, the American Idol of books. She is married to the first man she ever went on a real date with (to their high school prom), who she knew was hero material when he suffered through having to let her parents drive, and her brother sit between them in the backseat of the car. They currently live in a Victorian house on a mini farm in the Pacific Northwest with their two children, three cats, an old chestnut Arabian gelding, an energetic mini-Aussie shepherd puppy, several rabbits, a dozen chickens and an out-of-control herb garden.

Visit Theresa Meyers online: Website|Blog|Twitter|Facebook Want to read more from Theresa Meyers?

Giveaway provided by the author

One signed copy of THE HUNTER by Theresa Meyers

 

Available on November 1 from Zebra

Description:

They're the Chosen—Winchester, Remington and Colt—brothers trained to hunt down supernatural beings using the latest steam-powered gadgetry. It's a hard legacy to shoulder, and it's about to get a lot more dangerous. . .

A Devil Of A Job

Colt Jackson has gotten his name on many a wanted poster with success in the family business: hunting supernaturals across the frontier. Lately, though, there's a sulfur stink in the wind and the Darkin population is exploding. A rift in the worlds is appearing. To close it, Colt will have to do the unthinkable and work with a demon to pass arcane boundaries no human alone can cross.

Except when he summons his demon, he doesn't get some horned monstrosity: he gets a curvy redheaded succubus named Lilly, who's willing to make a bargain to become human again. He also gets Lilly's secret expertise on the machinations on the dark side of the rift. And her charm and cleverness help to get them out of what his silver-loaded pistol and mechanical horse can't. Of course, when all hell breaks loose, he might have to sacrifice his soul. But what's adventure without a little risk?

"Meyers puts the steam in steampunk." —Cherry Adair

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**Don’t forget to visit Dark Faerie Tales today for her Spooky Legends guest blog with Nancy Gideon**