Tag Archive | snow

Finch and Sparrow in the Snow

Finch

When we had our snowstorm, I managed some pictures of the birds, that are totally not used to snow and ice! Poor little things. Luckily, the fountain I have works perfectly, motor and all, after I forgot to turn it off and it turned into a frozen waterfall. We just don’t have a week of hard freeze normally like that and I just didn’t think of it. A squirrel kept trying to get water from it, confused as to what the ice was.

Sparrow

I read where we could have more severe hurricanes and Africa could get dryer. I’m not surprised.

If I were a scientist who could perform a miracle, I would turn the deserts into lush green forests. I’ve always wanted to. I wish I had the power to do it. Not for fame or glory, but just so more of the earth could be inhabitable and everyone could have enough fresh water and clean air to breathe.

I looked at the news, I shouldn’t have. One of the news stories I saw was about a tractor trailer that hit an SUV killing 13 of the 25 people traveling in it. Now, I’m sorry for that. It’s a horrible tragedy for everyone involved, the loss of loved ones, the people who made this happen. But how in the world do you get 25 people squished into an SUV? Forget that only about 8 people could have been seat-belted in. That’s more than three times what they can safely carry.

Anyway, the news is all horrible. We have both of the new fast spreading virus strains in Houston. We have a large international airport here. It’s a mess.

But on good news with the writing arena–the only thing I have real control over–I finished proofing Primal Desire and made the changes and uploaded the print version, so it should be coming out in a few days. And next I’ll be working on Saving the White Cougar print proof! And then it’s time to get back to writing new stories.

I was working on 1 of 17 audiobooks I need to send over to Voices, and I was writing on Warrior Elf also yesterday. I love it when I finally have some ideas for a story I’m working on. I’ll reread a story from the beginning several times, wondering where to go with it next. And then suddenly, the light bulb turns on. Now if only it would do that for Billionaire! I mean, that I could just come up with an idea to even start it!

And a little excerpt from Saving the White Cougar.

“She’d already moved behind rocks to jump down the cliffs on the backside, but her darned tail was whipping about in a response to the mixture of frustration and anger she was feeling.

She wanted to bite the men, but not turn them, and that probably wouldn’t fare well. They would be turned and then be rogue cougars, and she would have to terminate them. Which she didn’t want to do. Then there would be a hunt for the killer cougar, and any puma would be on the hunters’ hit list.

The men had already made it over or through the barbed wire fence and were running around to the other side of the cliffs before she reached the bottom. One of the men fired a shot at her, the bullet hitting the cliff and splintering the rocks. Her heart skittered as she dodged through the rocks to the base, trying to find cover.” –Saving the White Cougar, Terry Spear

Okay, I’m off to get something else done, maybe get Taming the Wild Cougar’s audiobook done before my granddaughter gets here. We have a busy day ahead of us!

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

Junco in Snow and Ice

My friend in Minnesota tells me that when the Junco arrives, it means snow is coming. Well, it sure worked here in Texas too.

We still have snow on the ground, still freezing temperatures through the night and this morning. When I saw how many people died at home due to hypothermia because of the week-long hard freeze we had and no electricity, it made me wonder how cold it had to be to get it. The horrible fact is that none of those people had to die.

Apparently, there are no hard and fast rules.

Today we will get to 58, and perversely, 70 tomorrow.

I heard someone say that Texas never gets snow. Sure we do. I’ve been in snowstorms in Amarillo, whiteout conditions trying to drive home to Canyon from work in Amarillo. I’ve slid all over the black ice roads trying to get to Fort Hood in an ice storm along with countless others when they didn’t close the fort early enough. In Crawford, I have pictures of the number of times we had snow, both at my home and later when I lived at my mother’s. In Houston, I’ve only lived here for six years, and we’ve had snow for 3 of those years. My pipes froze in Crawford a couple of times. My pipes froze here. I’ve been stuck in Dallas during a snowstorm and couldn’t get a flight out.

So yes, we do get cold weather. It doesn’t last this long–a week of way below freezing temperatures down to 10 degrees, but yes, we can get freezing temperatures, snow, and sleet.

And even if we don’t get it very often or for very long, there shouldn’t be any reason why we had to go through what we did this week and for people to die because of it.

Okay, I’ve got to get to work on this book. It’s nearly at 100K, I thought I was cutting some out! At least I’m writing about summer. Heat, paddling, swimming. I should be writing my Christmas book!

Have a super great day!!! And stay safe!

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

2021 Was Supposed to Get Better!

I’m a long ways from finishing White Wolf but I’m getting closer. 🙂 It’s been a job with changing out the whole new beginning, and I’ve deleted some scenes, added a ton more and I definitely like the story better. Minimum word count is 80K, I’m  now at 96K, and I’m sure I’ll be deleting more, just not sure what to take out and what to keep. I still need to write more.

I don’t often include the bad guy’s POV in the book, but in this case I did because I did in the original story he was in. And because it adds more conflict.

Dove and Snow and Ice

We still have freezing temperatures, still have some snow on the ground. Electricity has stayed on. Thank God! Because of the screw up by so many concerning the electric grid failures across much of Texas, the word is getting out that for 2 days–or more, electric customers will be charged $400 per day. Like everybody can afford that, right?

So we can thank those who, as usual, are making the big bucks and failing do to what they should have done to prevent this from occurring in the first place. Heads should roll, comes to mind. And when we have a crisis this bad–people are still without electric, some counties are on boil water orders–with no electric, how is that possible?–more pipes will burst without electric–some people are without water, plumbers are stretched to the max, and we haven’t even thawed out to see how bad it will be, we should all just head to Cancun, right?

Meanwhile:

The New York Times states: “The number of confirmed Covid deaths in the U.S. is on pace to exceed 500,000 in the next few days.

Yet the alarmism continues. And now we are seeing its real-world costs: Many people don’t want to get the vaccine partly because it sounds so ineffectual.

About one-third of members of the U.S. military have declined vaccine shots. When shots first became available to Ohio nursing-home workers, about 60 percent said no. Some N.B.A. stars are wary of appearing in public-services ads encouraging vaccination.

Nationwide, nearly half of Americans would refuse a shot if offered one immediately, polls suggest. Vaccination skepticism is even higher among Black and Hispanic people, white people without a college degree, registered Republicans and lower-income households.” The New York Times

hands with latex gloves holding a globe with a face mask
Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com

Why? It’s safe, it’s effective. It reduces the downtime of being sick if you get Covid. We need to dumb down the rhetoric. With all the high-fluting medical jargon, people aren’t getting the right message. And more people are going to die from it. I don’t understand it, but hey, what do I know?

Put it this way–if everyone gets the vaccine, maybe we can open businesses up again??? Maybe no masks after the 2nd dose and the time waited for it to be effective, right? Anyway, I can’t worry about people not taking care of themselves. I just have to worry about doing what’s right for my characters in my books. Would they take the vaccine? You’d better believe it.

I saw a post that said:

2020: The Year in Hell

2021: The Year Hell Froze Over

Okay, I’m back to the book, living in the wonderful world of fantasy where we have a happily ever after!

Have a super great day and stay safe!!

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

Texas under Snow and Ice

Azalea in snow
People pushing a car free after spinning out in the snow in Waco, Texas, yesterday.Jerry Larson/Waco Tribune-Herald, via Associated Press

I used to work in Waco. But it’s a mess here too near Houston.

Texas is under snow and ice! And a lot of other places in the south that normally aren’t either. Electric outages all over. Rolling blackouts. Water isn’t being pumped to some homes.

I’m afraid my sprinkler system probably broke, despite trying to weatherproof it. And my kitchen sink pipes froze last night. So I’m hair drying it, trying to unfreeze it, hoping I don’t have a flood of water like I did in Oklahoma one time. And the worst? It was Christmas Day. I had to have a friend turn off the water for me because it was frozen and I couldn’t budge it, and when the plumbers came the next day, they found termite towers in the wall behind the plumbing they had to repair. Talk about costly!!!

Anyway, still frozen, still writing tons and rewriting tons and moving stuff around in White Wolf. It will be a mess for a while, but it’s getting better. I’m up to chapter 7-8 and those are mostly like I want them. 15 chapters to revise, rewrite, move around. 🙂 But it’s getting there!

Now if I can only unfreeze my kitchen pipe and hope I don’t have a crack in it!

Frozen rose. Flowers blooming before the deep freeze hit.

Stay safe and if you’re in the middle of this Polar Vortex–we haven’t had this kind of cold since 1985–stay warm the best you can!

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

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

Cougar in the Snowy Mist

I took the picture of the cougar and added a snowy background and layers.

Had to drop what I was doing yesterday and work on marketing for an anthology of 4 of the wolf novellas I’ve written for 10th anniversary releases. I did 3 of them, but the 4th one is for a novella I haven’t written yet. It isn’t due until March. It’ll come out in December of next year. I need to reread Silence of the Wolf to even figure out what story I can write that will fit with the earlier stories and not contradict later stories.

I’m still writing on Cougar Christmas and should be past 80K today on it. I still have a way to go on it.

It’s cold out and creating snowy pictures has been fun.

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

Capturing Fleeting Moments of Life

When you’re photographing things or people, they capture fleeting moments of time. The fall leaves that will fall to the ground and the snow that will melt until the next snowfall. The green leaves that will die off until the spring. The people and animals climbing up the stairs in the forest. All of it ever changing.

So when I’m working on a story, it WILL be done. And then I’m working on another. Ever changing. Life goes on. Moves too fast. Seasons come and go. Capture the moment. Live it. Enjoy it. Until the next moment and continue on.

Have a lovely Monday!!! I’m off to edits on Silver Town Wolves and Woodland Fae. And playing with 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
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

Down South…Up North

So the pictures of the mud dauber wasp and honeybees and black bumblebee on the flowers are mine. The snow is my friend’s in Minnesota. The temperatures have dropped for us too, so I need to unhook all my hoses because we’re supposed to have a freeze sometime soon. But we’ll be at around 70 again for the rest of the week.

I managed about 1600 words on writing yesterday. I was editing Woodland Fae and so not getting as much writing actually done while I was also taking care of sick baby.

Off to work!!! It’s cold outside!!!! Have a great weekend!

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
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

Snowmen in Miniature

Whimsy on the 5-mile hike through a forest preserve in Omaha. It was slushy and slippery walking on the snow-covered boardwalk, yet I loved how the boardwalk wound around through the trees forever, but when we reached the gravel path, much better as far as not being slippery. Until we came to the end of the gravel path and were trying to make it in the mud, just as slippery as the snow. But we had a ball and someone had made little snowmen on a bench. It was fun seeing the snow and the green leaves, and some fall leaves, not something that is usual. Usually, the leaves are all gone by the time the snow comes, so it was really pretty. And then at the zoo, the aquarium had some of the exhibits ready for Halloween.

Okay, baby is here. She’s watching Mulan for the moment, had breakfast, and I’m going to try and get edits done.

Have a super wonderful whimsical 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
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

Nature is Art

Baby is on her way and so I have only about a minute to do this. Picture of a monarch on purple flowers with a splash of blue flowers. A robin closeup and a robin in the big picture out in the forest preserve on our walk. You can see the snow all over the gravel still. And a cute little tapir swimming in water, the shadows of things up above creating a surrealistic art in the water below.

I wrote 3,000 words on the plane on Claiming the White Bear…but I haven’t had time to type up the notes. Maybe today if I can keep baby preoccupied a bit. It’s cold!!!! And I’m loving it.

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.com
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

Snow Means No Wolves

We were planning to see the wolves at the reserve, but we had a snowstorm, so that meant the wolf reserve closes for the rest of the year until spring, I guess. We missed going last year because they had the first snowstorm in years at Christmastime.

It’s beautiful! We had a tree branch down from the weight of the snow, probably because the leaves are all on the trees still. And over 5,000 homes were without electricity. We were lucky. I rarely get to see snow, but last year they had it in Omaha, and then I returned home and we had snow twice in the Houston area. So it’s been crazy weather. They often don’t see snow in Omaha until later also.

I’m off to write and then go to a forest reserve!

Have a super 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
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