Tag Archive | butterflies

Butterflies Blending In

Mar19

I used Topaz Studio Impression on a photo of a branch of flowers, added texture overlays under and over the picture and the butterfly images which were my own–two taken at a butterfly house and the one on the lower right on flowers in my yard.

It’s cold out, feels good before the heat comes back. I managed 3,000 on Highland Wolf last night, so hope to keep going like that because I’m way behind with writing. This cold has really gotten me down.

Have a beautiful butterfly day!

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website: http://www.terryspear.com
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Butterflies on Flowers (Wild Kingdom)

May12

I captured a few more shots than I originally thought, yay! I was rushed out of there–kids and grandkids weren’t as fascinated as me. lol

Little one is here. We took our walk early because it was only 68 degrees, yay! It’s supposed to be 93 so very hot. We saw a great blue heron and a great white heron, but I didn’t have my zoom lens, just my phone and it doesn’t take good pictures.

Managed 3,000 words on Lachlan’s story yesterday. 47K words to go. Yay!

Got to get to work and play! Have a fun 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
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Research Helps…

Aug18

to get me on track.

Superfast Wing-Flapping Pipevine Swallowtail on Zinnia

For Red Wolf Christmas, I’ve done tons of research. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in what I’m reading, I can’t stop reading. But guess what? It can pay off in the long run. I think, man, I wasted a whole day writing. Or two whole days writing. And nothing has come of the story. How did that happen? That’s how it happened. But…days later, something finally clicks.

And I’m thinking, wait, that would work in the story! So I was writing, got a 1,000 words early yesterday morning, then finally got another in the afternoon, slowly, but then the story started to gather steam. Three-thousand words. Four thousand. That’s what I was shooting for so that I could have some extra words (2,000 a day for the next couple of days so when I do the edits on the 10th Anniversary of Legend of the White Wolf I won’t be behind). But I was still going. Five thousand. Time for bed. But I printed off some pages to edit in bed and realized as I was editing, I had more to say. And more and more. I have to type up the edits, but it was getting so late, I will write the rest today. And that will give me a start anyway.

So see? All that research paid off. That’s why I absolutely cannot write an outline of my book. It doesn’t work for me. As I was searching for a place to set one of the plats of land, I found this neat online plat and owner finder. Who would have ever known? She had the deeds, but she didn’t know where one of the plats of land was located. And so I was looking for a place to set the plat and the town just hollered to me. Here! This is it! The name? Christmas Valley. It’s a Christmas story. Yes! And there’s a neat history to it. Soooo, more research, more story plot, more words.

Speaking of which, I need to get busy. Have a super fun day!!!

I’m off and running! Again. Yay!

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
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No time, no time, no time…

Oct14

No time, no time, no time, no time….

I worked until 1 am this morning on All’s Fair in Love and Wolf edits. I’m on my last chapter and epilogue, but had to finally call it quits, get some sleep and start over again this morning. I need to finish Billionaire so I can send it to my beta readers…, so I’m hoping I can finish that one today. Too.

I have a reader tea and book signing coming up. So no time to write while I’m doing all of that.

And that will be my break!!!

This morning it was super foggy out, last night I was cold, but this morning it’s warm again. Weird weather. A bluebird was perched on the fence, again, in the dark, so before I let the puppies out, I was trying to get a shot of him. Handheld camera shots in the dark, probably is all blurry. Fed the puppies, the birds, killed milkweed bugs, and washed aphids off the milkweed, and now it’s time to do my blogs and get to work.

Oh, about the pictures. So, there’s a yellow butterfly I’ve been trying to capture in some shots, and wouldn’t you know I WAY overexposed them. Ugh. I saw a fritillary butterfly and was trying to capture it, then the monarchs came for their pictures, but wouldn’t hold still. I went looking for my lone little monarch caterpillar, and couldn’t find him, but a bumblebee was on the flowers next to me, so I tried to take a few shots. My computer has been giving me grief, so I was having trouble with doing anything last night. I’m sure there are better pictures of the bumblebee. Photoshop kept crashing, everything kept hanging up. When I turned to look for the caterpillar again–I only see it once in a blue moon–there’s the monarch!!! She’s sitting so prettily on a bunch of milkweed flowers so close to me, I could reach out and touch her! 🙂

I’m almost to the end of All’s Fair and then I can turn that back in! 🙂 <3

Have to do one other blog, and then I’m off to finish All’s Fair….

Have a super duper 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

Newsletter Sign Up: http://eepurl.com/u63qP

Follow Me for new releases and book deals: www.bookbub.com/authors/terry-spear

signature line email Seal Wolf Undercover, Cougar Undercover, Dreaming of a White Wolf Christmas, My Highlander 300 x120

Butterflies in the Garden

May5

And they even posed for me. One is a skipper, one a buckeye.

Having trouble with firefox this morning and posting anything anywhere so trying to get anything done quickly isn’t happening.

Only 5 more chapters to edit on Flight of the White Wolf before I need to turn in and then back to working on the ending of Bounty Hunter Gets Her Wolf.

🙂 Have a wonderful Friday!!!!

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

Wilde & Woolly Bears http://www.celticbears

Welcoming Garden Guests

Mar26

2 orange butterflies clear 900

Last year these annual pentas grew huge and the butterflies and hummingbirds loved them. I planted them between holly, figuring they would give some color while the holly were filling in. But the flowers filled in nicely and they attracted butterflies and hummingbirds, an added attraction. So I wasn’t sure if I could plant them this year because the holly are bigger now. But then I figured, sure, why not? I planted them in front and behind, instead of in between and in one corner where I have non-flowering tulips, and one bearded iris is beginning to show up.

Max, my white Havanese pulled up one of the irises, and I had to chase him down to  plant it back in the ground. They like to pull up grass and chew on pieces, so to him, it was just a dead piece of grass. NOT. 🙂

pentas flowers baby 900 002

And Exchanging Grooms is now available in print!

EXCHANGING GROOMS NEW--Enyssala font top E (533x800)

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: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/exchanging-grooms-terry-spear/1102680378?ean=2940012920652

 

In audiobook too: https://www.amazon.com/Exchanging-Grooms/dp/B00GLM594I/

Now you can understand why a bridal shop wouldn’t take back a “used” wedding gown, but really, if it hasn’t been altered or worn???

Have a fun 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

I Took a Walk…Lazy Me

Nov11

I meant to take a walk every day now that it’s cooler, right? And I’m just as lazy about it as usual. So if I give myself a goal, then I will get myself out the door.

I wanted to donate books to a Ladies’ Christmas party at the rec center, and so I took my camera, even though the books were heavy, but if I don’t take my camera, you know what happens, right? I see the most wondrous sight, and no camera. I dropped off the books and then saw hundreds of butterflies and bees (I exaggerate, which is an author’s prerogative, but truly, there were tons) on the flowers outside the center, and they’re flighty, not sitting still, so what’s new. But you never know when a cool shot will present itself, so I snapped away anyway.

dragonfly-against-bokeh-blue-sky-900The sun was out, so not the best as far as going with the golden hour, but I had to wait for the center to open.  The dragonfly is beautiful anyway.

dragonfly-against-green-backdrop-900-029walk-butterflies-red-flowers-900-008And the gulf fritillary is pretty too among the red flowers.

walk-long-tailed-butterfly-900-004And a long-tailed skipper butterfly.

walk-3-turtles-900-036And three little turtles. I almost didn’t see them, and then I thought they were ducks, maybe, so I took a shot and realized they were turtles. I drew a little closer, but they began to slip into the water.

I’ll share an excerpt tomorrow. I don’t know where the days go to sometimes. Does that happen to you?

Have a great one!

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

Temps Dropped in the Mornings!

Oct23

puppies-looking-out-window-in-cold-900-001But the house can be stuffy, so I have been opening the windows to let the cool air in. Here, Max and Tanner are enjoying watching out the window and smelling all the scents.

50mm-900-orange-butterfly-on-butterfly-bush-051I was experimenting with the 50mm lens to see if it made any difference in the photos. The butterflies are all over the kaleidoscope butterfly bush, and this time I could get close without disturbing them.

50mm-closeup-of-orange-butterfly-900-065fall-colors-900-032And if you look really hard, there are even some fall colors!

Okay, I’m off to write. Over halfway done on Double Cougar Trouble and I’m still hashing out the plot for White Wolf. Then it’s time for a walk! I’m waiting for it to get light out enough and warm up a bit. I know. I know. I was waiting for it to cool down a bit forever. lol

Have a great one!

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

Finding the Muse

Oct2

Everyone needs to find the muse. Not just photographers or writers or artists.

Yep. What motivated you, inspires you to do anything?

Yesterday as I was writing my wordcount on Double Cougar Trouble, I kept seeing tons of butterflies fluttering all over the pentas flowers. And house finches at the feeder. And you know, the camera is sitting right next to me. Oh, and the puppies were playing. So everything was being my muse, for photography. So I quickly opened up another page on how to shoot the right shutter speed for ridiculously fast moving butterflies. Well, for them, it’s not ridiculous. For me…ahem…

So I put the camera back in manual mode, figuring with the new settings, I was bound to get some more of the really overexposed shots, but this one worked. I tried posting the link, but it’s giving a bunch of stuff when I only want to add the link. So just look up: motion-shutter-speed-freeze-blur.2-orange-butterflies-clear-900

The other thing I needed a muse for was Photoshop manipulation. So while I half watched a ghost story set in England around 1920, I also watched several photoshop manipulations. They don’t give details exactly on how it’s done, but I was watching them and maybe if I keep watching them over and over, I’ll finally see what it is they’re doing so I can do the same. I had seen them on my laptop, so not  sure what the site was. But here is one that I thought was pretty cool that I found on another site.

Ghost Love Story – Photoshop Manipulation Tutorial

And the reason for looking into this more is that I am working on a cover, and I want to make it better. I’m still not happy with it, so will have to keep trying.

raven-by-brick-and-lantern-900This was one I was playing around with, but I know I haven’t really gotten my light sources right. This is not the one for the cover though. Or maybe it will be eventually. The one I’m working on is Double Cougar Trouble, and once it looks like I want it to look like, then it will also be my muse.

Now I need to get my house cleaned up for my son’s visit. And you see, that’s my muse!

Have a great one!!

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

Black Swallowtails–Capturing a Fastly Fluttering Butterfly

Sep10

black-swallotail-900-004

The first one I took knowing more about setting. Yes, the 2nd one is better as far as catching the image, but, the first one was moving at Mighty Mouse speed. He was flapping his wings like crazy. I was waiting on a delivery, so I couldn’t try to capture him outside so it’s from a much greater distance, and looking through double paned windows. Aperture set at 1200.

 

closeup-black-swallowtail-butterfly-217-726x800Second one, was the first really. I was close, he was sitting still for me at the time for the most part, his wings are a little blurred. I just used automatic mode, not manual. I was outside, not shooting through glass.

black-swallotail-looking-at-us-900-019This was from the same house shots I made with the first one. 🙂

black-swallotail-blue-tail-900-035This one showed his blue wings too. 🙂

Okay, back to the book. 10,000 words to go! 🙂

Have a super 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