Archive | September 2014

Sold! Sold! Sold! And…Sold!

I didn’t make my word count last night. Didn’t make any bears. What was I doing all day??? Do you ever have days like that? You were really busy, but you have NOTHING to show for it?

Okay, well I did work on about 15 student lessons, 3 of the 17 students finished. And I did get half my word count. And I talked to my daughter about her work and what I was doing. And that was a 2 hour conversation. We hadn’t had time to talk in a while. So here’s part of the conversation:

“I quit writing to work on bears.”

“No, you couldn’t quit writing.”

“No, I got my word count in for the day so I could work on bears. I’m not quitting writing. I love writing. And I love making bears.”

Anyway, so I had to run into town to ship bears yesterday. And I don’t know. The day just…vanished.

About the new books sold:

I pitched 3 and somehow ended up selling 4!

It’s kind of like wolf and jaguar cubs. They come in multiples. I had a reviewer snark about how I had so many twins and triplets in books. What was the deal with that?

I write my stories as realistically based on the real animals as I can. Sometimes I only show one wolf, no siblings. But usually, I have multiples. Not because I’m thinking that I’ll have tons more books to write, because especially early on, I really wasn’t thinking of how I would be writing these series so long. Why not, you ask?

Sales. We never know when sales will allow us to keep writing. Or if a series just doesn’t take off. I really work hard at making my stories as new as possible so that each story is really different from all the rest. I’m still finishing up A Silver Wolf Christmas, which is book 17 in the wolf series. I sold another Silver pack book–Eric Silver, the eldest of the quadruplet brothers, who butts head with Darien, his cousin and the pack leader. He’s a park ranger, runs into trouble with another wolf pack, and meets the she-wolf running it. I had started this story a long time ago, but lost it in a computer crash, so I’ll be headed in that direction again.

I don’t know the order the books will come out, but I sold another SEAL book because they do really well, and this one is A SEAL Wolf Diving for Trouble. It’s Allan’s story and he’s on the police diving team when a human female he’s interested in discovers a nearly dead wolf and wants to put it out of its misery, but the wolf is one of Allan’s pack.

Then, I had to write another jaguar story, and this one is like the end of the season premier. I can’t talk about what’s going to happen in that one just yet. It has to do with a cub and that’s all I can say. 🙂 <3 But you know me, before long, the cat will be out of the bag.

And that was what I pitched and sold!

Then my editor was telling me that she just totally loves the cub story and babies and billionaires sell well. Wait, I needed to write a billionaire wolf story!

So there you have it. The unpitched Billionaire Wolf story. Not sure on title or what it’s going to be about, but I’m excited about writing it. <3

I had two billionaire stories I wrote–Exchanging Grooms, and Marriage, Las Vegas Style, more comedy romance, no paranormal. And I had fun with them.

Lisa Robbins has one mission in mind–sell back her UNUSED wedding dress to the wedding shop, but when she has no success, maybe she’s going about this all wrong.Peter Crawford is intrigued by the woman who has somehow hooked Dallas’s most eligible confirmed bachelor, Pembrooke Hastings, Peter’s staunchest enemy. Not only had she gotten a commitment from him, but she left HIM standing at the altar. Dating the vivacious woman certainly appeals and Peter wants to know just how she hooked Pembrooke, but also why she didn’t marry him.Lisa Robbins is not dating and not marrying anyone, so she assures herself, her family, and her boss. But when Peter takes an interest in her, she’s wondering just what to do about Dallas’s most eligible confirmed bachelor number two, when he just won’t take no for an answer.

B&N

Amazon

Smashwords

ARe Books

Kobo

Marcy Taylor wants a divorce, but she doesn’t want her husband to go after the family fortune, so she’s trying to do this the easy way, no fuss, no muss. The only problem is Michael Lindquist doesn’t have a wife, and he’s sure she’s running a scam to try to get his family’s fortune!It all began in Las Vegas when Marcy threw caution to the wind. Boy, was that a mistake. Twenty-five thousand dollars richer with a husband to boot and one powerful hangover, she’s got to right the wrong.Now that Michael has a wife he doesn’t know he had, he’s not at all sure he wants to lose her. At least until he can unravel the mystery about her. And that’s how the roller coaster ride all began.

B&N

Amazon

Smashwords

ARe Books

And I HATED my cover for my Collection of Vampire novellas, so yes, all right, it’s like an indulgence of chocolate and I didn’t want to tell you exactly what I was doing yesterday INSTEAD of writing and making bears…I was playing around with redoing the cover! So what do you think? My vampires are getting a bit of a revival because of Huntress for Hire coming out in the TALL, DARK and PARANORMAL box set.

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Okay, before too much more of the day slips away, I’m off to write, lessons are stacking up and I need to work on bears!

Have a super great Saturday!!!

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

Are You a Morning Person? Or a Night Person?

Sep5

Do you fall out of bed ready to take over the world? No coffee needed? Or do you have to have your second cup before you can make sense of everything?

I’m an early morning person, but this morning….I think I am more of a later morning person. The problem is I’m burning the candles at both ends: reached word count, finished lesson critiques, finished two bears, more lessons arrived, but planned to tackle them today, worked on edits late, and am up early again.

I might have stayed in bed for a few more minutes, not to sleep, but to…wake up. But, I remembered I had to put out a water sample by 8 am for the water department. If I had thought of it, I would have done it yesterday. But you couldn’t use the faucet for 6 hours and I wasn’t sure I hadn’t. Then I had to fill the bottle with a certain amount of water. It was supposed to be marked on the bottle. It wasn’t. I have no idea how much it was supposed to be. I may be doing this again. 🙂 <3

Here are the two bears I finished last night.

Personalized Rainbow Bear Small

Personalized Friends Bear

Okay, off to get the day going on word count! 8,000 words to go!

And I might have word soon about the books I pitched. Will let you know.

Have a super great TGIF!

Terry

Wilde & Woolly Bears

http://www.celticbears.com

Another Great Review for Hero of a Highland Wolf!

Sep4

One of the characteristics of the Heart of the Wolf series that I have enjoyed over and over is the temperament of the main characters. Colleen is an alpha without a true pack of her own, and has been fending for herself ages. Unlike other characters of similar dispositions, however, she is swift to acknowledge when she doesn’t have the full story, and knows the value of making amends. Grant, like his fellow Highlanders before him, is bullheaded but well intentioned, and watching him flounder before changing course was both funny and sweet. Colleen’s reluctant admiration of the other alpha was likewise completely understandable, and I loved seeing them both finally give into their mutual desires. Things get pleasantly steamy between the two quite a few times in this relatively quick read, proving yet again that Ms. Spear has a knack for writing sexy shifters and plenty of lighthearted erotic tension.

While the romance between Colleen and Grant is certainly the most prominent facet of the story, Hero of a Highland Wolf also brings to culmination a long history of greed and betrayal surrounding the estate itself, and nicely ties off all the loose ends uncovered during the course of the narrative. As an event that has been a mainstay of the Heart of the Wolf novels thus far, the bad guy gets it in the end, and watching this particular nemesis meet his unfortunate demise was a guilty pleasure I’d looked forward to since his introduction. While not a surprise, given the pattern these stories follow, the happy ending was very much welcome, and an enjoyable occasion all around.

As is true of Ms. Spear’s other novels I’ve been fortunate enough to read to date, the Heart of the Wolf series has been a lot of fun from the beginning, and this newest addition is no exception. Packed with brawny Highlanders and determinedly capable women, this story has something for just about anyone who appreciates a lighter touch when it comes to shifter romances. With action, kilts, and plenty of humor, Hero of a Highland Wolf is another keeper by one of my favorite authors in the genre, and I sincerely hope that there are no plans to end the series anytime soon. Jen That’s What I’m Talking About

And I completed two special bear orders. Working on another tonight, caught up on student lessons, haven’t even started on A Silver Wolf Christmas’s word count. Need to get going on that!

Only 11,000 words to go! Well, that and I still need to figure out the end. 🙂 <3 Which is keeping me awake some nights!

Okay, back to work. None of this goofing off, playing with bears, blogging and the like. Next week I’m taking a day off, as soon as I finish writing Silver.

What? You don’t believe me?

Okay, an afternoon.

No?

A lunch break. 🙂 <3

Have a super wonderful Thursday!

Terry

Wilde & Woolly Bears

http://www.celticbears.com

New is NOT Always Better!

Sep2

Have you ever thought that? You get used to doing something a certain way, perfectly content with the way that you were doing it and without your permission, someone changes it??? (Oh and by the way, you had to learn this way in the first place and that took some time to figure out?)

Sometimes, the powers to be are good about it–they ASK you if you want to update. Sometimes they don’t. And they just DO it. Sometimes you think, sure, it’s new and improved right? And you soon learn it’s a nightmare to handle.

That happened on my email program. Change to this cool background. Okay, click of a button. But after that, there was no going back. My emails nested. I couldn’t write in response to emails sent to me right on the email, which really helps when I’m commenting point by point without copying and pasting their whole message to my email. Finally, there was a way to UNnest the emails so I didn’t have this problem. But there were complaints all over the boards about it. The problem is if you’re in groups where you talk about stuff, you’re supposed to trim messages. With this new and IMPROVED email version, we couldn’t do it.

Anyway, WordPress changed something for the better, and I don’t know if I agreed to it and forgot, or they just changed it, but I didn’t like it and they gave me the option to go back to the old way of doing things.

Sometimes the old way is the best way. Sometimes I can’t wrap my brain around a new way, since I’m always learning new ways to do a million different things, and I just don’t need one more new way to do something that is working well for me.

Do you ever feel that way?

Here are some pictures of my hot Labor Day. Isn’t this beautiful?

I’m surrounded by cornfields that look like these on three sides. The one in front of me has been cut, but guess what my neighbors were doing for Labor Day. Shooting off fireworks.

Shaking head.

Why did the dragonfly have to be sitting on top of a cornstalk that was right in front of a telephone pole? I couldn’t move to take the picture because he flew off as soon as I did. But I still thought it was a cool picture, him pausing on the tip of a cornstalk. Next time maybe my model will stay put so I can move around and get a better background. Or, I can show it as just a slice of life–telephone pole and all.

Do you see the scissor-tail flycatcher on the lower right? The sparrows are on the upper left. I’m not usually able to capture one in a picture.

Here is a cardinal in the piracantha. I was watering the new shrubs and that always makes the birds jittery, particularly since my neighbor was also shooting off firecrackers.

But what I had seen that was so cool were four sparrows clinging to the cornstalks. I wanted a picture of them. But when I ran back to get my camera and returned, they were gone. It was the first time I had seen them actually doing that. The rest of the time, I’d just see them fly off.

So instead, while I was watering, with camera in hand, I got pictures of the dragonfly, the beauty of the sky and the cornfields, the scissor-tail and the cardinal.

Oh, and a dove in the piracantha. It’s a wickedly thorny shrub, but the birds love it. Nice and protective

Well, I’m back to word count, caught up on student lessons, and I’m still keeping up on word count, behind on bears. 🙂 <3 But I did cut out two more last night. 🙂 I have 6 bears ready, just need to embroider their paws. 🙂 But that takes time too. And somehow, I’m always running out of it.

Do you ever find that too?

Okay, back to writing!

Terry

Wilde & Woolly Bears

http://www.celticbears.com

I Wasn’t Going to Blog Today, But….

Sep1

I just got word I’m up at USA Today’s Happily Ever After Today talking Scotland and how I used it for settings in my books.

This is moss on stone in Scotland. I love moss. In Texas, you have to pay a lot of money to buy a mossy stone. LOL

I know. It’s amazing what fascinates me. This reminds me of a faery world.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/happyeverafter/2014/08/31/willa-blair-scotland-romance-setting-diana-cosby/14908099/

Her Highland Hero
Lady Isobel is a Norman laird’s daughter, living near the Scots border where her father, Lord Pembroke, is trying to keep the peace. But her mother was a Highlander and the man Isobel loves most of all is Laird Marcus McEwan, who has been bringing news of her mother’s people for years. But now Isobel’s father wishes her wed to an English nobleman, who will carry on his title. Isobel will wed no other man but her heart’s desire—and that is one braw Highlander from her mother’s homeland.
Laird Marcus McEwan has loved the feisty lass forever. For years, Marcus has tried to convince Lord Pembroke to allow him to wed his daughter. But the Norman lord will not allow it. Then ambushes and murders make it too dangerous for Marcus to reach a peaceful resolution.

Nothing goes as planned and keeping the lass for his own is fraught with danger, as they try to determine who was behind the killings. Isobel and Marcus will do everything in their power to ensure they are together as they have always vowed they would be.

Audiobook will be coming, and print is coming soon.

I also set A Highland Werewolf Wedding there, after I fell in love with the ruins of Dunnottar Castle.

A Highland Werewolf Wedding: He never thought any woman could get him to the altar…

Book 11

B&N

Amazon

Kobo

IndieBound

Chapters Indigo

Mountain, Fall, Reflection, Scotland

Isn’t it beautiful? I love reflections.

And, we have a new FB page dedicated to the box set.

https://www.facebook.com/TallDarkandParanormal

We’re also having a FB party on Sep 16, day of release, with goodies to giveaway:

https://www.facebook.com/events/514036032064445

So you see why I had to blog today?

When all I thought I was going to do was catch up on student lessons AND work on finishing up A Silver Wolf Christmas. All kinds of folks are vying for a say in whodunit. I’ve got to figure this out! 🙂 <3 The fun part is coming up with the end, and then editing it to make sure it’s the best it can be. No loose ends. No walk-on, walk-off characters, no plot holes. 🙂

Okay, off to do it! Goal is to have the book done by Sunday (word-count wise). It always ends up being 6-8,000 words longer than I expected…but shooting for the minimum by Sunday.

Have a super great Labor Day!

I’m off to labor. What about you?

Terry