Archive | November 2016

Tomatoes in November

After the other tomato plants had died, I found 3 volunteers growing from tomato seeds scattered. And so I planted two in one of the tomato boxes and one in the yard. I REALLY didn’t think I’d have any tomatoes, despite the plants growing so tall. It’s chilly most mornings and evenings, but look, there they are and they’re evening beginning to ripen. Best part? No bugs. 🙂

Have a great Thursday!

Terry Spear

“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

I Bet YOU Can’t Do This

Nov9

Sometimes doing the impossible is worth it! Sometimes it isn’t!

Okay, so my grass is dying out in patches and I couldn’t figure out why. I have an automatic sprinkler. I kept meaning to check it out, so this morning, I finally remembered, and guess what?

Yep, it was OFF. No wonder my grass is dying in patches. But at least it’s an easy fix. I couldn’t have auto sprinklers anywhere else I’ve lived, so as long as they work, and I’ve turned them on for auto…it’s great!

Maybe it will rain again though. 🙂

Have a wonderful day!

Terry Spear

“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

Time to Vote

Nov8

I had decided to walk to the polling station first thing this morning. I walked to my mailbox and realized I had forgotten my phone. I don’t always think of it. It isn’t an appendage to me like it is for some. But if I go walking, I want it in case I need it for an emergency. The first time I walked through these sprawling neighborhoods, I was brand new and got lost right away. lol

So having a GPS really helped. So I returned and grabbed the phone and headed out. Totally confused the puppies.

A light mist cloaked the whole area. I’d brought my raincoat and several had umbrellas just in case.

We waited for maybe an hour to vote, but I was lucky. The line for A-L was much longer than for M-Z. And you have to know that was nice for a change–being a W before I was married, and an S after that, I’ve always been at the back of the line, last to be called. When I’m at the back of the group on book signings, I often wonder if I should have created a pen name. A. Just A. Then I’d be in front for once in my life. 🙂 Every once in a while, we’d line up in reverse order, but that happened so infrequently, that I can only recall maybe two times that it happened in my life.

And then it was done and I was off to walk back home, taking pictures along the way, capturing the winding, mysterious path, right when an older gentleman stopped to talk to me. He was from South Africa, not voting, but visiting his sister. I always say hi to joggers and dog walkers in the morning. Because of the hour, I was nearly run over by kids riding bicycles or not sure what they’re called boards on speed.

And then I tried capturing the misty water droplets on pine needles and berries.

And fairy mushrooms in the wet grass.

I had to ship off a bear and a book after that, so now I’m home, FINALLY posting my blog.

And now I have to write.

Have a wonderful day!!

Terry Spear

“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

Macro Photography with a Phone–Sleepy Bumblebees

Nov7

Do you ever challenge yourself to do something? To do more? To do better?

I’m on several photography FB pages and so this week, one of the challenges was to use a cell phone to take a macro picture. I tried several things, but the lighting in the house is awful. It was still dark out, but when it got a little lighter, I took the puppies out and started taking pictures of anything, UNTIL I saw a cold, wet bumblebee clinging to a butterfly flower. And that was it. Now, don’t worry, the bumblebee will be off moving about in a little bit, but despite the wind moving the flowers about, I was able to get a couple of good shots. And then I found another on yet another bunch of flowers.

Different bumblebee

Okay, so now my challenge is to get busy on writing Loving the White Bear. It’s a cooler day, yay! So I should be able to write about snow and polar bears, right??? I’ve got a start! 2,000 words!

Challenge yourself!

Have a super great day!

Terry Spear

“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

Enchanting the Highlander Hits Top 100 on Amazon!

Nov6

Thanks to everyone who made this happen!!!

We’re #1 in hot new Scottish historical romance, #8 in historical romance overall for Enchanting the Highlander!

THANK YOU!!!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Enchanting-Highlander-Eliza-Knight-ebook/dp/B01JNYO2AM
ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1136905927
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1124144233
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/…/ebo…/enchanting-the-highlander

Fall Back, Spring Forward, Fall Back, Spring Forward–I Feel Like a YoYo!

Nov6

Can’t we be like Arizona and just leave off with all the falling and springing???

A random collection of shots, but they tell a story. Out of order. The man cut down the dead pine tree the downy woodpecker had been pecking at. The day turned to storms and the woodpecker returned to discover his tree was gone. So he was taking it out on the neighbor’s tree next door, the top of it that had died. It might not have the substance that the pine tree had, but it was better than nothing.

And that’s my story!

Oh, and then it rained.

My computer has crashed twice today, so I’m trying to get this out before it hangs up again. Double Cougar Trouble is out to beta readers and I’m setting up the first page for Loving the White Wolf. Title. Author. Got it! Chapter 1. Title.

But I really did write about 1,000 words last night too, so need to get to typing them up.

Okay, so off to get to work. I have a luncheon today, dogs to let out again, dogs to feed, dogs to let out again.

It’s like falling back and springing forward. It just gets repetitive! Or…computer crashes. I think it’s the…fae.

Have a super great day!

Terry Spear

“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

Puppy Sitting & Cooler Weather

Nov5

The cooler weather is coming! Yay! I’m hoping to finish up reading Double Cougar Trouble, made an offer to a potential narrator for Taming the Wild Cougar audiobook, and have to juggle trips outside with the puppies. I wish I could just throw them all out and they’d be happy, but my neighbor’s dog barks and runs along the fence, and then the corgi’s do, barking and making a ruckus. Mine are used to the neighbor’s dog and they don’t bark or antagonize her, and if I call them to come to me, they will.

Not the corgis. I had to use the hose on Rilo yesterday. It took a few times before he realized barking and growling and running next to the fence meant he’d get wet. 🙂 Then he was fine.

I just have to learn how to outsmart the smart dogs. Sometimes that’s a challenge. lol

You know what that means, right? Being the alpha when you don’t have teeth and can make the pack behave. 🙂

Oh, and I did my first ever podcast yesterday! It was fun, after all the stressing I did over doing it.

Okay, I’m off like a herd of turtles to keep reading Cougar! Have a super wonderful day!

Next week, I plan to get some more holly to plant, and I’ll be starting Loving the White Bear. 🙂

Terry Spear

“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

Double Cougar Trouble is Done!

Nov4

I’m still rereading to catch errors before I send it off to my beta readers. I was adding some things last night, and when I add, I always insert new mistakes. 🙂 So now I’m in final read this morning.

But my daughter and son’s grandfather died and my daughter is leaving her corgis off with me today, and I’ll have them for the weekend. I have my first podcast to do this afternoon. So with all the distraction, I might be thwarted. But I’m trying to read this before the craziness begins. I also have an RWA meeting to go to on Saturday, and a luncheon to go to on Sunday…but I hope to have this finished before all that comes up.

Yesterday, I HAD to go into town to get groceries. I was nearly out of potatoes. Is it my Irish background that craves them??? I also needed to take back a dog harness that I tried and tried and tried to figure out. I had gotten a different also, really easy, and fits the puppies just fine, so I needed to return it and get the other so I can walk both dogs when it gets COOL out again. So…that was it. Oh, and gas. I reach the brand new pet store and it has a sign out about grooming. And I think to myself, it would be nice to have the puppies groomed every once in a while. I brush them 2-3 times a day, but it about breaks my back to bend over the bathtub to wash both of them. And she was $20 less than another place I had checked with that is farther away.

She trimmed their nails, pulled hair out of their ears, or at least, maybe Max’s. He doesn’t grow much in his ears and I keep after it. But Tanner won’t hold still, so I need to work on his some more still. But the puppies smell nice, though Max was trying to rub off the nice smell. Tanner always poses for the camera. Max is going through a shy phase.

Still, it meant grabbing groceries and gas, running home, finding the puppies’ shot records, running them in, and then an hour and twenty minutes, she called me to say they were done. I hadn’t even had time to finish lunch. But I was glad to have them washed and fluffy for a day. 🙂

I’m not doing preorders on Double Cougar Trouble. When it’s finished completely, I’ll make it available for sale. 🙂

Trouble doesn’t always come in twos.

Jack Barrington still has an army obligation that takes him away from the woman who had enchanted him when they were both in college, but Dottie Hamilton refuses to marry a man in the military because of the problem of raising cougar shifter cubs in foreign lands and the worry he may be killed while overseas like her cousin was, leaving a wife and three little ones behind. When Jack returns home to see his family and Dottie’s only living relative, her aunt, she convinces Dottie to bring her twins home to see her—and to see him. Jack has two-and-a-half weeks to convince Dottie to wait for him while he finishes his last three months on active duty. And learns the truth. Dottie’s twins are his own flesh and blood.

Dottie has made a lot of mistakes in her life, including marrying a man to call the father of her children, who turns out to be an arms’ dealer. When Jack returns to her after finishing his army obligation, he’s determined to prove he’s the mate she needs in her life, and he has every intention of being the father to his four-year old twins. But now criminal deeds of Dottie’s dead, ex-husband have come back to haunt her. And she and Jack and their cougar friends will have to ban together to stop the arms’ dealers before they destroy what the cougars hold dear.

***

Tiger Swallowtail

And yesterday, I had one of these huge, beautiful butterflies flittering about, so I had to take some shots.

So I’m off like a herd of turtles to read over the book again!

Have a great TGIF!!

Terry Spear

“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

First Kisses are Really Fun in Romance Novels–Vexing the Highlander

Nov3

First kisses change the dynamics between an evolving romance between two people. It’s no longer just boy meets girl, but it’s taken to a new level. So when my editor says I need to put it earlier in a book (I always try to have it as early as I can, but sometimes heroes and heroines aren’t cooperating), it really changes things between them. So then the first kiss I had no longer is the first kiss. The relationship between them between the original first kiss and the now earlier first kiss has to be changed to reflect that they’ve had that first kiss. It’s known as the Kiss Effect (you know like the Butterfly Effect–one change changes all?)…okay, so I made it up, but it’s true!

Like anything, setting, plot, characters, the first kiss has to evolve from the relationship between the characters, and it has to be different from any other story you’ve written. Which makes them really fun for me to come up with.

So here is the one from: Vexing the Highlander

Copyrighted by Terry Spear

Feeling panicked, she was afraid she wouldn’t make it down the corridor to her room in time before she was caught.

Alban must have assumed the same thing and suddenly moved her against the wall with his hot body pressing indecently close and held her hostage. “Forgive me,” he breathed against her cheek. And then he moved his warm lips against her mouth and kissed her.

A lady with the right upbringing would never, ever kiss a gentleman—or an untitled Highlander—let alone do so in the king’s own castle when he planned to marry her off to one of his loyal lords. She would never have kissed Alban back—or so she told herself—except to pretend she was not who she was, rather just a servant girl having a good time with one of the king’s honored guests.

Yet, she gave into the kiss as if she’d been trained in the art of kissing, which, with the way Alban was kissing her back, she found it easy to follow his lead. She soaked up the feel of his warm mouth against hers, and the smoldering flame that ignited low in her belly and fanned the heat all the way through her, despite the chill in the corridor. His chest pressed against her breasts, making them tingle with the most delicious need. His manhood stirred against her waist, and she realized why her mother had warned her and her sister never to kiss a gentleman in such a manner. Indeed, not until she was wed to him, for she felt urges she’d never known she could experience. Womanly urges that compelled her to take this further.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, Alban’s mouth smiling slightly against her lips, as she pressed him tighter. She thought if he was as close as he could be, whoever was about to pass them by—hopefully without stopping to speak—would not see her, as tall as Alban was. Though she was hoping the Highlander would not presume she was always this forward with a man whether she knew him or not. Yet she was thrilled beyond measure to enjoy his attentions, even if it was just to keep her reputation intact. But if the man stopped to speak with Alban, and the Highlander quit kissing her to speak with the person in kind, her character would be in tatters.

“Ahem,” the male said, but continued to walk on by.

She didn’t dare glance in his direction to see if she knew the man. Alban didn’t either, but she wasn’t sure if it was because he was so wrapped up in kissing her, or because he was afraid to reveal who she was.

If Alban hadn’t been holding her so close, she would have melted right into the stone floor, her body boneless. His breathing was as labored as hers, his heartbeat pounding just as fast. He didn’t make a move to release her, waiting while the footfalls faded away. He smelled of summer and the woods, of freshly-washed, earthy male. And then the footsteps were gone.

Yet even then, Alban didn’t let her go. “Wait, just a moment more.”

ENCHANTING THE HIGHLANDER is up for pre-order!!! All BRAND new novellas!

5 new Scottish romance novellas by 5 bestselling authors! BRAND NEW stories!

PROTECTED BY THE LAIRD by Eliza Knight — When she needed a champion, he raised his sword…

VEXING THE HIGHLANDER by Terry Spear — Saving the king’s life has unforeseen consequences for one Highlander and a lady, the king’s ward…

DEFENDED BY A HIGHLAND RENEGADE by Vonda Sinclair — A bride on the run doesn’t expect a kilted outlaw to come to her rescue…

TARTANS AND TRYSTS by Victoria Roberts — This Highland warrior is about to lose the battle to a lass who’s already won his heart…

HIS HIGHLAND ROSE by Willa Blair — He is the one man who can see her soul and show her who she truly is—his only love…

Order now! Available November 1!
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Enchanting-Highlander-Eliza-Knight-ebook/dp/B01JNYO2AM
ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1136905927
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1124144233
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/…/ebo…/enchanting-the-highlander

We’re trying to make a list, so if you haven’t bought the book yet for only 99 cents, we’d so appreciate if you did!!! 🙂 The sales count toward the list through Sunday. 🙂

Okay, so that’s it and I’m off to finish up Double Cougar Trouble. It’s done! But I just need to add a couple of things I thought of this morning.

Have a wonderful say!

Terry Spear

“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

3 Books at 99 Cents Each for Limited Time!!

Nov2

purple-flowers-eilean-donan-900-stormy-clouds-lake

Purple Flowers, Storm Clouds, Eilean Donan on the loch, Scotland

We are discontinuing the Kissing the Highlander and Enchanting the Highlander anthologies on November 30, 2016. Enchanting the Highlander is brand new and comes out November 1.

Individual novellas will be offered after that.

But for now, you can still get the whole anthology, each one at 99 cents!

Five new Highland novellas by Bestselling Authors of Highland romances that will delight with mystery, intrigue, romance, drama and much more! From the authors who have provided countless hours of reading pleasure so that fans can slip away to the past and live among all those hot Highlanders.

BUY LINKS:

Barnes and Noble

Amazon

ARe Books (All Romance ebooks)

Kobo

Smashwords

iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/kissing-the-highlander/id1165098920?mt=11

ENCHANTING THE HIGHLANDER is up for pre-order!!! All BRAND new novellas!

5 new Scottish romance novellas by 5 bestselling authors! BRAND NEW stories!

PROTECTED BY THE LAIRD by Eliza Knight — When she needed a champion, he raised his sword…

VEXING THE HIGHLANDER by Terry Spear — Saving the king’s life has unforeseen consequences for one Highlander and a lady, the king’s ward…

DEFENDED BY A HIGHLAND RENEGADE by Vonda Sinclair — A bride on the run doesn’t expect a kilted outlaw to come to her rescue…

TARTANS AND TRYSTS by Victoria Roberts — This Highland warrior is about to lose the battle to a lass who’s already won his heart…

HIS HIGHLAND ROSE by Willa Blair — He is the one man who can see her soul and show her who she truly is—his only love…

Get yours while they’re still available!

Everyone needs a hunky Highlander or five! 🙂

COUGAR’S MATE–99 cents for limited time!!! It’s going off sale by the weekend!

Cougar’s Mate: Instinct told her to run…

Shannon Rafferty learns that hanging out with the bad boys could be a dangerous business, but hooking up with a cop is even worse. Now she’s on the run, trying to avoid being murdered by his cougar shifter brothers and uncle. If that isn’t bad enough, a deputy sheriff hunts her down while she’s running as a cougar and trying to survive in the Colorado wilderness. He vows to protect her no matter what she’s done. With three dead boyfriends to her name, she’s sure she will be the death of Chase Buchanan before either of them can prevent it. No matter how much she knows she has to run again, he soon holds her heart hostage. But will that be enough to keep them both alive?

Chase Buchanan—as wilderness cabin resort owner, former US Army Special Forces, and part time deputy of the small town of Yuma, Colorado that boasts a love of cougars—is tasked to track down a cougar reported to be hunting human prey. Chase soon learns she’s a shifter, not a full-time cougar, and she’s on the run. When he takes her in, he vows to protect her. After losing his wife and baby to the human kind of predator years earlier, he’s not letting Shannon’s hunters kill her, too. But how is he going to hold onto the wild-cat woman, who is unpredictable at every turn, without losing his heart to her, and then losing her as well?

Terry Spear

“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

***

Excerpt from Vexing the Highlander, Enchanting the Highlander Anthology

Copyrighted by Terry Spear

***

Later that afternoon, Alban and his brother went to the feast and found seats at one of the tables furthest from the head table. Alban was glad for that. Though he was still aware that anything he said, no matter where he was, could be misconstrued and shared with the king.

He kept watching the servants coming and going as they brought dishes to the table, though he was sure the redheaded lass wasn’t a kitchen servant.

“Are you looking for anyone in particular?” Ward sounded amused, like he thought Alban had become interested in a servant.

Which Alban had, but he wasn’t about to discuss it.

“Here you are more interested with the wait staff, when a lady truly seems to be intrigued with you.” Ward raised his brows as if to ask how in the world Alban had managed to captivate the attention of a lady at the king’s court when Alban had done no such thing.

At least that he was aware of. Maybe it was the lassie who had waved at them from the loch. He looked around, but didn’t see any woman openly watching him. “Which one? There are many, but no one who seems particularly aware I exist.”

“The lady over there. She is concentrating on her meal now, blushing to the heavens and back. The one with the pretty red hair.”

Alban turned quickly to see the woman, instantly wondering if it was the lass he’d run into, who had been carrying the pitcher of water that had drenched them both. It was she, only now she was wearing a dark blue gown, her hair half hidden beneath veils of silk. “A lady. Are you sure?” Yet the fact she was seated at one of the tables, not waiting on others, and was dressed so fine, ensured him his brother had to be correct. Alban was at once sorely disappointed, wanting nothing more than to see the woman again, but not if her family was titled. He couldn’t. He wasn’t worthy of her hand in marriage—not based on his position in society, anyway.

He let out his breath and said, “Figures.”

But worse, she lifted her gaze and saw him watching her and gave him a bewitching smile, to which Ward said, “Well, well. What have you been up to, little brother?”

And here Alban thought he’d been above reproach the few hours he’d been here so far.

****

Okay, got to “run” and write!

Have a great day. It’s foggy here! And beastly warm.