I'm happy to welcome back, paranormal romance author, Terry Spear, to Over Coffee. I have to admit, I love her books and I've been waiting for Jake's story and Dreaming The Wolf, forever. Or so it seems and not just because I have a tag line on the book (Squeee!) but because I loved the premise of this story.
For those of you who don't know it, Terry creates some amazing teddy bears as well as her fabulous stories. I'm planning on having a piper bear in MacKay colors, later next spring. I'll be sure to be squeeing then and will have pictures.
I write about werewolves, and my wolves would never think of
attacking humans. Not unless the humans attacked first. And truly most wolves
don’t. If there are any attacks, it’s more likely from cougars. Or bears even.
Although I still love bears and love to create them! I make
award-winning teddy bears that have been featured in magazines and newspapers,
that have won best in show, first place for most unique bears, and first place
for best-dressed bears. Many have found homes not only in the US and Canada,
but as far away as Australia, Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Belgium, and France!
But back to where the wildlife can eat you! What I wanted to
talk about is taking a trip to Pensacola, FL and seeing my son graduate from
USAF navigator training, and all week long watching Shark Week on PBS, BEFORE
we went to the beach.
Oh sure, there are not THAT many shark attacks. And yeah,
yeah, so the shark psychologists say that the sharks mistook humans for food.
The sharks thought maybe the humans were seals. Or walruses. Or whales. Right.
Yeah, yeah, the water was murky. (Or sometimes it wasn’t.) Yeah, yeah, they
were out during the feeding hours at night. (Or sometimes they weren’t.) And
sure, they were splashing around like nearly dead fish. (Or no, they really
didn’t.)
I write fantasy. So I try to make the unbelievable
believable. So to my way of thinking, shark gurus do, too.
In Australia, there were three great white shark attacks
resulting in three deaths. Either that’s a really confused shark, if it’s the
same one, or hmmm, maybe he DOES think human meat is rather tasty? Or maybe
he’s not even thinking anything but it’s big, swimming near me and could
possibly make a meal. They eat anything, you know.
These all occurred around the same time as I was in Florida
and another when I returned home.
We used to live in Florida, and swam all the time at the
beach, but on the ocean side. Not half as pretty as Pensacola Beach on the Gulf
side. So one day I was swimming out into the ocean, way, way out. The water was
black, choppy, I was on my back, half swimming, half floating. Way, way off to
the left of me was a rock jetty where fishermen pulled in sharks along with
their other catches. And on the shore, my father was yelling for me to turn
around and return at once.
He was not a very good swimmer, and had actually had a boat
sink on him in the shark-infested Sea of Japan. Another boat full of AF service
members had “picked” up my dad and the others, but they couldn't climb into the
boat, already full, without capsizing it. So instead, they swam alongside and
held on when they couldn’t swim any longer. They were about a mile and half
out. He said they barely made it.
So now years later, his thirteen-year-old daughter is out in
the middle of the ocean, and Dad didn’t want to get out as far as I was. He
couldn’t have helped me swim in if I’d needed his help.
When you float on your back, your ears are under water. So I
didn’t hear him shouting for some time.
When I finally realized it, I was terrified. I was so far
out; all that was around me was gallons of ocean water. Who knew what was
lurking all around me in that really dark, choppy water. I had to force myself
not to panic, and to begin the long swim to shore. Dad couldn’t have saved me.
No one could have if I’d been attacked. Lifeguards did patrol in jeeps along
the beach and put up a flag warning swimmers to get out of the water when
sharks were sighted. But there were no lifeguards about that day.
But maybe all the sharks out there knew I was a human, and
they just left me alone. I had no life vest, no surfboard, just me in all that
water. Boy did I get a lecture from my dad when I got to shore. But only
because he was sure he was going to lose me. Believe me, I didn’t need a
lecture. I never went far from the shore again. After that, we watched Jaws. I
REALLY didn’t get far from the shore then, even though I knew it was just a
fantasized story. Sharks don’t really go after people and eat them. Not really.
It was quite chilly when I went with my son and his wife to
Pensacola Beach and walked along the white sand, dodging the tons of jellyfish
deposited there. We didn’t go swimming. But that night we watched shark attacks
at guess where? Pensacola Beach. Two resulted in deaths. Several others were
bitten during a surfing contest. My son told me how they could see schools of
bull sharks while they were flying over the Gulf also.
I know that sharks don’t mean to eat us, but you know what?
I’d take a chance with a wolf. Especially if he was a werewolf.
The thing about werewolves is they’re hot and sexy and
protective and loving—for life—and family oriented and hot and sexy and…well,
you get the picture! They’re yummy. No one would mess with you if you took your
wolf for a walk. In an upcoming release, the heroine actually suggests that
while she and Duncan MacNeill are dealing with the bad guys in the Grand Cayman
Islands, in the Highland sequel to Heart of the Highland Wolf.
Oh, and yes, there is a mention of sharks. A couple of
mentions, truly. J I actually did everything that they
did—walked the plank from a pirate ship, took the submarine out (they
wouldn’t), enjoyed a dinner cruise, swam with the rays…only I didn’t run like a
wolf… ate at the restaurant where there’s a bit of a confrontation, walked the
beaches, swam…but not at night…like they did. That’s when the sharks come out
to feed, you know. And I did witness the man with the chain to his wrist locked
onto a briefcase, wearing a dark suit while the rest of us were in beach
attire. And did see tons of strange banks on the island. More about that in the
story.
But before that, comes Dreaming of the Wolf, A SEAL in
Wolf’s Clothing, and the first of the jaguar stories. They’re working on a book
cover as we speak. Or…as I write.
In Dreaming of the Wolf, we finally get Jake’s story, and
I’m working on Tom’s story right now.
Jake has already been in two stories, Destiny of the Wolf
and Wolf Fever. He’s the triplet brother of the pack leader and he serves as
sub leader, along with Tom. Jake’s the second oldest brother, doesn’t believe
in dream mating, although both Tom and Darien do so he seemed perfect to carry
on the family history of dreaming of the wolf who should be his mate—with a
caveat. She’s human, and werewolves don’t dream mate about humans. So
something’s not right with that scenario. Figures. Since Jake doesn’t believe
in it anyway. But he fears for her life, so he’s hopeful that the dream mating
means she’s still alive. And he’s determined to find her. And learn why he’s
dreaming about her when he shouldn’t be. But it’s more than. They have a drive
to be together that can’t be denied.
- What would you do if Jake was reaching out for you, even though you knew it was too dangerous for him to get to know you better? And you didn't know just how capable the hunk of a wolf was at protecting you?
DREAMING OF THE WOLF Available now in stores and online
Jake Silver doesn't believe in fate or dream mating, despite the fact his brother and other family members have been afflicted with this strange notion. But when dreams begin to plague him about a woman so seductive, he wakes up in a sweat and he's losing way too much sleep over it, he seeks to learn the truth. Can dream mating be a reality? Is the woman real?
Alicia Greiston doesn't dream. Not ever. So when a man visits her in the first dream she's ever had, she's startled, pleased, then alarmed. He's not going away, and the dreams take a sinister turn. He's in trouble, and if the dreams are a foreshadowing of the future, she has to save him. EXCERPTBUY: AMAZON, BARNES AND NOBLE, CHAPTERS INDIGO
She’s a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves and has an MBA from
