Archive | September 2015

Toads of a Warty Skin, Cuddle Together–Macro Shots

Like father like son toads (640x427)

Mom and baby loving the mud

4 toads around a leaky hose (325x640)

Four toads around a leaky hose coupling–the only way they’re going to get wet in this dry heat in Texas–talk about camouflage

close up of toad's eye

Close up of toad’s eye. I thought it was pretty cool.

Back to writing!

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”

Connect with Terry Spear:

Website: http://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

The Battle between the Super Moon and the Clouds over Texas

Super Moon starting to rise over Texas about 7 pm

Super Moon/Blood Moon starting to rise over Texas about 7 pm

Bluer looking sky, blood red moon

Bluer looking sky, blood red moon

These photos are all untouched. Unfortunately, I only had my older Canon EOS Rebel t2i with the 18-135 lens, my Nikon with the 75-300 lens was in the shop. ugh. It’s the one I took the latest Scotland photos with. The earlier Scotland photos were just with a Canon G-10 Power Shot.

Super moon and the clouds starting to swallow it up

Super moon and the clouds starting to swallow it up

Super Moon half buried in the clouds

Super Moon half buried in the clouds

Super Moon mostly buried in the clouds

Super Moon mostly buried in the clouds

Super Moon coming out of clouds

Super Moon coming out of clouds

Super Moon emerges victorious!

Super Moon emerges victorious!

Until the next morning and the super moon is battling with the clouds again

Until the next morning and the super moon is battling with the clouds again

Isn’t that neat? I wish I’d had my longer lens. Need to get one for the Canon as it’s a reliable camera always. I didn’t get the eclipse this time as the moon was again shrouded in clouds by the time the eclipse occurred.

Blood Moon Eclipsing

Blood Moon Eclipsing, you can see the North Star there too, wolves were added because they needed to be there.

I took this some years back with the Canon EOS Rebel T2i, 18-135 Lens,no tripod.  But only a couple of pictures turned out because of photographer’s hand shake. 🙁

Canon G-10 Power Shot, some years back, no tripod

Canon G-10 Power Shot, some years back, no tripod

I’ve learned a tripod is essential for taking moon pictures! 🙂 <3

A Silver Wolf Christmas by Terry Spear

SILVER
A Silver Wolf Christmas by Terry Spear
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal, Mystery/Suspense
Length: Full Length (311 pgs)
Heat Level: Spicy
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Xeranthemum

 

For the most part, this is a character driven story with Laurel and CJ’s budding romance on center stage. The author goes into a little bit of history as to why the heroine and her sisters are in town, and it also touches on the fact that CJ and his brothers are newly re-established in the town and are finally fitting back in. There is a strong sense of community which is accomplished through the varied secondary characters that populate the town. Ms. Spear took the time to describe the town, some of its traditions and some of its challenges. Like a lot of small hamlets, they struggle to stay afloat financially and have to come up with unique events to liven things up. Nothing makes a celebration easier than a holiday and Christmas is the perfect backdrop for some magic and romance. I adored the snowman making contest.
 
I enjoyed how Laurel and CJ ended up taking turns pursuing each other. The novel is told through both their points of view so I could get a sense as to what motivated them in their quest to connect. It’s hesitant at first but soon sparks fly, libidos are inflamed and readers get to see how good CJ and Laurel are together.
 
The mystery comes with a twist. It’s not as clear cut as I originally thought. In addition, the bad guys end up being a huge surprise and the revelation stunned me. I really like that Ms. Spear could pull the wool over my eyes so efficiently. http://www.longandshortreviews.com/book-reviews/a-silver-wolf-christmas-by-terry-spear/
A Silver Wolf Christmas a howling good time and a recommended read.

Okay, back to writing!!!

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”

Connect with Terry Spear:

Website: http://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

 

 

Sunrise, Sunset, and the Full Moon

Sunrise Texas

Sunrise Texas

Full Moon this morning at Sunrise Texas

Full Moon this morning at Sunrise Texas

Sunset Texas

Sunset Texas

Sharing super moon tomorrow!

Title:  A Silver Wolf Christmas
Series:  Heart of the Wolf #17
Author:  Terry Spear
Publication Date:  October 6/15 by Sourcebooks Casablanca
Length:  384pgs
Genre:  paranormal romance
Shelf:  review
Rating: ★★★★

Back Cover Blurb:

 

Fans of shapeshifter romance will be thrilled to spend Christmas with the Silver Town werewolf pack…
– See more at: http://purejonel.blogspot.ca/2015/09/aSWC.html#sthash.wUfwawiQ.0sErvscS.dpuf

Welcome to Christmas wolf shifter style! Spear creates an exciting and fun story that kept me on my toes while taking me deep into the world of her unforgettable characters. The underlying current of mystery had me trying to puzzle it out while also enjoying my foray into this wolfy world. She uses descriptions to advantage, developing characters you can picture & feel as if you know, and settings that come to life, but leaving room for your imagination to run wild in this fantastic world. Spear develops her concept of wolf shifters well. She really lets readers know what it means to be one, how the pack works, and other cultural details. – See more at: http://purejonel.blogspot.ca/2015/09/aSWC.html

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”

Connect with Terry Spear:

Website: http://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

Crannog in Scotland, Maybe?

closeup of crannog (640x427) (2)

Note the “walkway” to the land mass from the high island?

crannog maybe close up (640x427) (2)

Was this all completely natural, or had Scots of old built the narrow land walkways to the islands?

crannog maybe (2) (640x427)

Maybe they are nothing more than islands with tentacles of rock and peat bridges to the mainland. Maybe only children of an earlier time played on them, pretending to own the vast riches of their own island world, defending them from fantasy invaders.

crannog closeup (640x427)

Or maybe they were crannogs at one time eons ago and protected the locals as they were meant to do.

In times of old, the Highlanders would build crannogs–many of them wooden structures on a loch to protect themselves. But sometimes they would use natural islands like these and fortify them.

When I saw these, I immediately thought of a crannog that I had used in the story, The Highlanders, because essentially, this is what it looked like. A narrow path from the shore to the island, only they would have built a stone or wooden fortification to shelter them from the weather and they even could cook in them. In The Highlander, they had low stone walls and the island was bigger, though I took these shots from a long distance on another hill that we climbed to see the view of them clearer, so close up, they aren’t all that small. My “land bridge” was a bit wider than these, but these would make for a much more easily defended crannog.

The Highlander, Book 5

Anna, the shepherdess, finds a half-naked man in her bed, so what’s a woman living alone in a cottage in the Lowlands of Scotland supposed to do? Prod him with her pitchfork to chase him off! Only the man is not just a traveler seeking her bed for a rest—but a wounded Highlander, who fights back, swinging his sword!

Niall MacNeill is searching for a Frenchwoman of nobility to escort to his brother’s castle for safekeeping, when he and his friend, Gunnolf, are attacked by another Highland clan, seeking the same woman. The other Highlanders wish to sell her to the highest bidder—English or French—it does not matter.

Niall takes refuge in a sheepherder’s cottage to heal up from his wounds and discovers the shepherdess taking care of him may very well be the woman he seeks. He has no intention of doing anything but what his brother requests of him—ensure her safety on their way to Craigly Castle—but when the lass so bravely wields her pitchfork at him, he is thinking of other, more interesting possibilities.

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Okay, off to write! I made up a little on writing yesterday, but still 13,000 words behind. 🙁  Have you ever watched Limitless? There’s a drug that will make you see everything so clearly, the writer who hasn’t written a word for months suddenly sees the whole book clearly and in three days, he’s written his best seller. Now, wouldn’t that be great? But what’s so amusing about the story is that the author gets an advance for a book he hasn’t written, when he’s a total unknown, and he can’t even clearly pitch the story to anyone, so how he would have pitched to and acquisition editor and received a contract is beyond me. And he’s missing deadlines, as if someone who was nobody, never been published, and doesn’t have a big name otherwise, like some famous actor or wrestler or singer who can’t write, but can still get a fantastic advance for an unwritten book. He’s nobody. The thing is an author wrote the book. So you’d think he’d get it right! 🙂

I mean, when I write about my shapeshifters, one is a romance author and she’s famous, but she’s been writing for years and has a built-in shifter audience. Even so, I never talk about her advances, only about how she took her brawny Highland wolf warriors to a book signing, and she sold more books at a signing than she had ever done–because of them, not because of her book. See? I write realistically!

Okay, this was supposed to post last night, but I was having computer problems and it wouldn’t save, so I couldn’t schedule it. I’m off to write! Have a great day!!!

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”

Connect with Terry Spear:

Website: http://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

A Scottish Bee with a White Fanny

It looks like the painter forgot to paint his bottom yellow, you know, yellow, black, yellow, black, yellow…wait, white???

bee in flight (640x617) (2)

Bee in Flight

a bee of Scotland (640x488)

Shiny Bee’s head

Fuzzy Bee

Fuzzy Bee

The flowers were pretty, but it was the challenge of capturing a non-blurry bee that fascinated me. Do you ever notice you don’t notice things when you’re photographing them? I had no idea he had a white fanny until I began to really look at his pictures. 🙂 <3

I was 18,000 words behind on Jaguar Christmas, caught up to make it 12,000 words behind, but now with needing today’s word count of 2,000, I’m back in the hole for 14,000. Off to work!

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”

Connect with Terry Spear:

Website: http://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

Harry Potter Train in Glenfinnan, Scotland

I spent all day working on promo blogs, catching up on emails, snail mail, and have a million other things to do. But I have to get back to writing Jaguar Christmas.

In the meantime, you can enjoy Harry Potter’s train crossing the viaduct in Glenfinnan. Some of the Hogwarts fans were there from Belgium waiting to cheer them on. Or hitch a ride.

Girls from Belgium waiting for Harry Potter train (640x427)

Sun shining through for a brief moment before train came

Sun shining through for a brief moment before train came

Raining when the train rolled through

Raining when the train rolled through

full view of Harry Potter train

full view of Harry Potter train

 

Have a lovely day!

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”

Connect with Terry Spear:

Website: http://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

A Mother Grouse, Her Scare Tactics and Her Baby

Grouse and Baby

Grouse and Baby

I wish the shots had been better, but we could only capture the grouse through the windshield and by then, it was rain and dust smeared and so the pictures didn’t turn out as well as I would have liked.

Grouse trying to scare us off

Grouse trying to scare us off

 

Because we wouldn't  leave, she got wilder and wilder

Because we wouldn’t leave, she got wilder and wilder

More grouse antics

More grouse antics

She gave up on us and crossed the road.

She gave up on us and crossed the road.

And then she rejoined her baby on the other side of the road and we were on our way.

And then she rejoined her baby on the other side of the road and we were on our way.

We also saw a hedgehog, adorable, on the Isle of Skye at night, but I couldn’t get a shot of it since it was too close to the car. And a big white winged owl flew in front of the car at night also and startled me, but it made me think of Labyrinth, Harry Potter, and everything magical.

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”

Connect with Terry Spear:

Website: http://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

Black Faced Sheep of Scotland

2 Black Faced Sheep Isle of Skye

2 Black Faced Sheep Isle of Skye

Black faced sheep watching me

Black faced sheep watching me

black faced sheep (640x427)

Black faced sheep at Glengarry Castle

They had tons of white sheep, but I wanted to capture shots of the traditional black-faced sheep. One farm also had all black sheep and one white sheep. I wanted to get a picture of them as that was the only time I had seen black sheep. We also saw a group of white horses. They were near a loch and probably were kelpies. But at both sites there was no way to stop and take pictures. 🙁

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”

Connect with Terry Spear:

Website: http://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

 

Eilean Donan Castle in Mist and Rainbows & A Goodreads Giveaway!

Magical Rainbow, mist and reflection of Eilean Donan Castle in loch

Magical Rainbow, mist and reflection of Eilean Donan Castle in loch

I thought how pretty the mist was the morning we left and was happily taking pictures when I realized a misty rainbow arched over the castle. Funny thing was the day before, I’d said how it would be fun to capture a rainbow over a castle.  And we’d never seen Eilean Donan in the mist either, so I thought that was just so pretty, mystical, and fairy-like.

Rainbow over mountains

Rainbow over mountains

We saw another rainbow while we were on a bus, but not sure mine came out. Couldn’t find it. It was amazing that with all the clouds, mist, and sun, we didn’t see more. But I was glad we saw a few. 🙂 <3

Found it on my phone. We saw this one from the bus in Edinburgh.

rainbow over Scotland off bus window

A rainbow makes everyday a little more magical. 🙂 <3

And a Goodreads Book Giveaway! A Silver Wolf Christmas release is coming soon!!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

A Silver Wolf Christmas by Terry Spear

A Silver Wolf Christmas

by Terry Spear

Giveaway ends October 05, 2015.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/widget/154598

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”

Connect with Terry Spear:

Website: http://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

Birds Flocked Together

bird and purple flowers (640x427) (2)

birds flocking in the purple flowers

4 birds on branch (640x427)

birds flew up to the branches above

birds in flight on feeders (640x427)

then they massed on the feeders across the road we were walking on

I liked the arrangement of the feeders. Plenty for all.

Pictures of birds in Scotland on the walk to the ruins of Caisteal Maol, “The Bare Castle,” Isle of Skye.

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”

Connect with Terry Spear:

Website: http://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