Terry Spear: Walking On The Wild Side!!!

Has your week left you tuckered out?

Well, I've got something that will get your tail waggin' again! How about a moment in time with the phenomenal Terry Spear!

If you're addicted to a love story with some bite, then cop-a-squat and get to know Terry! Her tantalizing Werewolf Series will definitely leave you hungry for more. LEGEND OF THE WHITE WOLF is the latest addition to the 'canine collection' and is sitting pretty on my TBB list. I was hooked with book one: Heart of the Wolf.

So, howl with me now and let's get our wolf on!!


1) If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

Retired Lieutenant Colonel Terry Spear settles down to a life of creating award-winning teddy bears and working at a library when she dreams up a pack of hunky werewolves and vampires, and Highlanders too, and begins writing about them while searching for the perfect hero.

2) Using three words, describe your voice.

First, these are really difficult questions!!! Great job, Sarah. It's hard to describe one's own voice. We live with it, whereas readers see something in the writer's voice that we might not recognize. One time a duo of authors wrote a mystery romance and when they submitted the 2nd story of the series, their editor said, "What happened? You completely left the humor out of the story. That's what the readers want!" The authors hadn't even realized they had humorous voices. One time I submitted something to a new humorous romance line, but the editor, who loved my voice, said I had too much of a serious side to the characters. But when I submitted a different darker story to a different line, the editor said I had too much humor. :) So that's me--or my voice--edgy with a dash of humor, romance, and mystery. :) That's probably because I loved mysteries like Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes, and humor, but only when it had a more serious side to it, and of course romance. Can't live without that!

3) What has been the biggest obstacle you've had to overcome in your writing?

Self doubt. In the beginning before being published it's whether I'd ever be published. And then after being published, would I sell again. And when more books were contracted, once I've written them, will they be as good or better than the last. So it really is a continual process, and good too, so that you remember where you've been, and keep trying to do the best you can with every new story you write.

4) If you had to start all over again, what's the one bit of advice you'd want to take with you?

Be careful who you publish with. Some publishers have really poor contracts or sales records and should be avoided. Preditors and Editors is a good place to research both publishers and agents.

5) What are some of steps you take to ensure your characters are fully developed and ready to go? Charts? Worksheets? Give us the scoop!

I wing it! :) As I'm writing the story, my characters develop. :) For some, charts and worksheets are definitely the way to go. For some, like me, we write by the seat of our pants and the normal way to create the character is to let them develop as they work out issues, try to overcome obstacles, learn to deal with their failings. Take for instance, a woman sits at a light that hasn't changed even though the light for everyone else has--twice, already, so what does she do? Make an illegal turn? Cut across an empty lane to the right of the one she's in, drive through a gas station parking area, then out the other side to get into the lane where the light is working? Go straight through the red light when no one's around? Her action helps to define her character. I drove through the gas station's parking lot. LOL :) I like to be legal. But rather than say, this character never breaks the law, I'd want to show it. That's characterization. :)

6) Do you have any advice for conducting research?

I love reading a story and wondering if the author has been in this locale, they seem to know so much about it. It's important to make a story as realistic as possible, but at the same time not include so much detail that the reader gets bored. The details should be important to the characters in the story. What's your favorite part? I get lost in research. I'll be reading about the history of an area, or mythology, or about wolves, and then I click on another link and another until I'm far from my original mission, but I love reading. :) And I love to learn about anything that will add to the fun of the stories.

7) Any news or future releases Terry Spear fans should look forward to in 2010?

This is a really busy year, starting with Deadly Liaisons release from Samhain in January, Legend of the White Wolf, Sourcebooks, February, The Accidental Highland Hero, Vintage Romance Publishing, March, Seduced by the Wolf, August, and Wolf Fever in the fall.

Here's the first meeting between Faith O'Malley and Cameron MacPherson in Legend of the White Wolf:

Once she reached her room, she slid the key card in. Green light. She twisted the handle and pushed. The door didn’t budge. She tried again. Same thing. She hated key cards. Why couldn’t they just use regular old brass keys?

She tried a third time and this time she twisted the handle harder and shoved the door more firmly. And was rewarded. Lights were on in the room and the place was already toasty warm as if the welcoming mat had been set out for her. Perfect. She walked into the room and glanced at the two queen-sized beds, the chartreuse covers pulled back from the pillow of one, a chocolate wrapped in gold foil sitting on the center of it. She smiled and pulled off her parka, peeled off her boots, and reached for the phone to call room service when she saw a leather bucket filled with ice. Wow, they sure knew how to coddle their guests.

That’s when she heard the bathroom door open. She whipped around and faced a naked man towel drying his hair. Or at least until he saw her.

His mouth gaped. Hers matched his expression, and he quickly wrapped the towel around his waist. “I didn’t think room service would come this soon.” He glanced down at her sock-covered feet, her boots lying beside them.

“I’m not…I’m…they gave me a key to your room by accident.” Faith tried not to look at the man’s physique—too much—but ripped abs, arms muscled just enough that could give a woman a good hug, and toned legs that looked like they could run a marathon, were just too appealing.

And his eyes—blue like the ocean, dark, hiding a wealth of secrets, that held her gaze with way too much interest as if she was the specialty of the house and just what he’d ordered on the menu. A light blond stubble covered his square jaw, making him appear a bit roguish and intriguing.

He folded his arms across his broad chest. A light smattering of blond hair trailed down to the towel slung low on his hips. Her gaze dropped lower. He cleared his throat to get her attention, making her skin heat in a flush of awareness, but he wasn’t moving out of her path. The one she needed to take to get to the door. Although for now she wished it was her room, and he was part of the amenities.

He inclined his head a little, a hint of a smile on his lips, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “Then I guess I’d better get dressed before—”

A knock rapped on the door.

“Too late.” His deeply-amused baritone voice sounded like he was enjoying this a little too much as he turned, took a couple of steps, and opened the door.

Great. Faith hurried to pull on one boot, when the aroma of steak wafted into the room as a man brought in a tray. Faith’s stomach growled. The room service guy glanced at her, green eyes smiling. She could just imagine what he was thinking what with the room’s occupant wearing a towel, and her pulling her boots on.

The toweled guy signed the bill, and the lodge employee grinned, dimples appearing in his ruddy cheeks. “Thanks so much, sir. If you need anything else, just ring.” He glanced at Faith, smiled even more as if to say she could visit him next if she had a mind to, then left the room.

“Enough for two of us, if you want to split a medium-rare steak, baked potato, and salad,” the sandy-haired hunk said.

“Thanks so much for the offer, but I’m returning to the front desk to get the right room key. Have a nice night.” She brushed past the mostly naked man, smiled when he smiled, then hurried out of the room.

“The night could have been better,” he murmured.

She glanced back at him, wishing he was the kind of man she had been dating, and could justify staying and splitting his dinner with him, then maybe share the chocolate treat resting on his pillow with him. And more. For the first time ever, she was seriously wanting to flirt with a man. Something about him appealed, as if he were the real McCoy, spontaneous and fun-loving, and for an instant, she yearned for that. Wanted to feel that a man who looked like this guy with a hint of the devil in his expression and actions found her appealing, too.

The man lifted a brow and smiled again, his chiseled features and intensely intriguing gaze nearly irresistible. She faltered, but shook her head, and hurried for the elevator before she did anything she might regret in the morning. She didn’t look back at him, although she wanted to see if he was still watching her. But she felt he was doing just that, observing her, maybe hoping she’d change her mind? Or maybe it was just wishful thinking on her part that someone was truly interested in her after Hilson ditched her. Except on further introspection, she realized she hadn’t heard his door shut.

It wasn’t until she returned to the front desk with her suitcase in tow that she realized she’d left her parka on the man’s desk chair. She let out her breath in exasperation. Okay, so the day turned night wasn’t going to get any better.

A naked hottie? Makes you want to sit up and beg for more, huh?!

I'd like to thank Terry for venturing into the newbie neck of the woods! To learn more about Terry Spear, click on over and nose around her lovely website.

THANK YOU, TLN'ers, for making this blog a place to call home! Let's get this weekend rockin'! Here's a song that brings back my wild and misspent youth! Go on and crank up WILD LOVE by Joy Lynn White !! Oh, the memories!LOL