Terry Spear: A story for everyone

Interviewed by Carol Burnside  

CB:  Welcome, Terry, and thanks for being our guest today on Petit Fours & Hot Tamales! As writers, one thing we’re always curious about is the variety of processes from author to author. So, tell me, are you a plotter, pantser, or a combination?

TS: Thanks so much for having me, Carol! I’m thrilled!!! I’m absolutely a pantser. The only thing I plot is that I have to know what the main characters’ goals are in the beginning, and motivations (though I often deepen these as I write the story), and a vague idea of how they meet. Their occupations too. And after that, the story unfolds.

CB:  Okay, we know you write a paranormal series about wolf shifters. As a critique partner, I also know you write fast. What other sub-genre’s do you write, and do they all have romantic elements?

TS:    I write true genealogy stories for magazines, true stories for nostalgia magazines, and true stories for teen magazines. Plus, I write romances for the Trues, which are contemporary non-paranormal. I also write medieval romantic suspense. And teen paranormal, both psychic and vampire, and adult vampire romantic suspense. I’ve also written a couple of futuristic shapeshifter stories—dragon brother, panther sister, and a demon YA story. And some fantasy series! So I try all kinds of different things!

CB:  Wow, I’ll say you do! Can you tell us a little about your journey to publication? Was your wolf series with Sourcebooks the first series you attempted?

TS: My first series was a fantasy. Harlequin looked at it, and loved my voice, but it didn’t fit into their guidelines enough.So I put the fantasy trilogy aside and vowed not to write another series like that because if you don’t sell the first, you have more stories that you can’t sell. When I wrote Heart of the Wolf, it was fun and new for me, and when it didn’t sell, I started another, Single Title, same world, but all different characters. I thought if Heart of the Wolf didn’t sell, maybe I’d sell Destiny of the Wolf instead first, and then Heart of the Wolf would sell after that. But I hadn’t finished Destiny of the Wolf and was bouncing around on some other stories at the time. When my editor bought Heart of the Wolf, she wanted to know what else I had. At that point, I was trying to finish up Destiny of the Wolf, wishing I hadn’t been bouncing around with my other stories. LOL!

In any event, it took a while for them to buy it, and while they considered it, I began working on To Tempt the Wolf. Both that and Legend of the White Wolf sold, and for the next 6 stories, I sent in a couple of paragraph proposals and sold that way.   Then, of course, I had to write the books! Eight are done, two were just contracted, and I’ve started the beginnings of each of them.

CB:  I think your covers are great. Love the colors and hunky guy abs on them. It’s obvious that there’s a wolf theme here. For those who may not be inclined to start another shifter series, tell us what sets yours apart from the others.

TS: The covers are super, Carol! I love them. In some werewolf stories, the authors revert back to the old werewolf tales where the character is mostly wolf as a wolf (or in some cases more of a beast, or can change into dogs or other shifter shapes), but doesn’t have the human sensibility, can’t remember what he’s done as a wolf, believes he’s bitten or killed as a wolf. In some, when human, the character is all human, as if the connection to the wolf self isn’t really part of the equation.

With mine, I love to treat the characters like real wolves act in the wild, but with a human’s conscience. They know what they’re doing. But they have the added concern of taking care of business so as not to reveal their kind. When they’re human, they still have their wolf senses, but they also are part wolf—it’s not like they take off a wolf coat and are no longer a wolf. It’s part of their whole makeup. Just like when they are a wolf. Pack dynamics are important, and I enjoy showing the romance, adventure, mystery, and subtle humor in them.

Here are a couple of reviews for Destiny of the Wolf:

“I love Ms. Spear’s lupus garou society. She creates a world that makes you believe werewolves live among us.” Reviewed by: Karen Michelle Nutt, Reviewer, ParaNormal Romance Reviewers

“Centers on pack problems in a refreshingly straightforward way. The characters are well drawn and believable, which makes the contemporary plotline of love and life among the lupus garou seem, well, realistic.”—The Romantic Times

And that’s what I strive for. To make the werewolves realistic enough that a hunky guy who helps charge your battery, could actually be a real wolf, more so than you believe. 

CB:  I’ve seen some to-die-for reviews on your books. Haven’t they also won awards and accolades?

TS: Heart of the Wolf first came out in Publisher’s Weekly with a great review:

The vulpine couple’s chemistry crackles off the page, but the real strength of the book lies in Spear’s depiction of pack power dynamics, as well as in the details of human−wolf interaction. Her wolf world feels at once palpable and even plausible.

 But then at the end of the year, it made PW’s Best Books of the Year!! Legend of the White Wolf received Night Owl Top Pick and Destiny of the Wolf received the PEARL Paranormal Excellence Award for Romantic Literature Honorable Mention along with two NYT best-selling authors!

To Tempt the Wolf received the Top Pick from Novel Thought! And the Top Pick from Night Owl Romance and ParaNormal Romance!! Reviews are just starting to come in for Seduced by the Wolf and so far it’s received 5 Klovers from Crystal of CK’s Kwips and Kritiques.

CB:  That’s seriously awesome, Terry . Which one is your most recent release?

TS: Seduced by the Wolf. Here’s the blurb:

His first priority is to protect his pack…
Werewolf pack leader Leidolf Wildhaven has just taken over a demoralized pack. With rogue wolves on the loose causing havoc and the authorities from the zoo suddenly zeroing in on the local wolf population, the last thing he needs in his territory is a do-gooder female, no matter how beautiful and enticing she is…
She’ll do anything to help wolves…
Biologist Cassie Roux has dedicated her life to protecting wolves in the wild. On a desperate mission to help a she-wolf with newborn pups, the last thing Cassie needs right now is a nosy and entirely too attractive werewolf pack leader trying to track her down…
With rogue wolves and hunters threatening at every turn, Cassie and Leidolf may find their attraction the most dangerous force of all…

But the story behind the story is that while I was reading books about real wolves, I came across one about a wolf biologist who rescued a she-wolf and her puppies after her mate was shot and killed. It had a happily ever after ending too, and I kept mulling that story over until I figured I had the perfect mate for Leidolf, who has been in all the stories from the beginning. Now, Cassie doesn’t see herself as anyone’s mate, and therein lies the problem. 

CB:  What a cool story. What can we expect next from you in the future? Will there be more books in the wolf series or do you have something else planned, or both?

TS: I ALWAYS have something planned. Even though I’m a pantser!  After Seduced by the Wolf, Wolf Fever is coming out in December. A hunky Highlander wolf series is also in the works. The first, and WOW! The cover is artwork—Heart of the Highland Wolf is coming in June 2011. After that, I sold another Highlander wolf tale, and that’s the youngest brother of the quadruplet brothers in the series story next—The Highland Wolf in Paradise. Before that, though, Book 8 is Dreaming of the Wolf. And The Wolf and the SEAL, which is about Meara from To Tempt the Wolf, Hunter’s sister. The fun in that is that readers have wanted to see her story, and my editor was the one who gave me the idea about having a whole wolf SEAL team because Hunter was a Navy SEAL. I’ve been dying to write the Highlander series because I have a whole lot of ancestors from the Highlands, and I wanted to write a story that had a happily ever after.

CB:  Whoa. That’s a heap of books. You amaze me! Terry, thanks again for being our Guest Chef today. I look forward to reading more of your books.

TS: Thanks so much, Carol, for asking me! I was thrilled when you did! And thanks to the rest of the Petit Fours and Hot Tamales (Love the title of your blog!) and everyone who dropped by to say hi!

——-

Readers, Terry has offered to give one lucky person a free book of their choice from her backlist or Seduced by the Wolf. (US or Canada addresses only.) To enter, answer her question in the comment section below, then check out her website for more information on her complete backlist at www.terryspear.com

Terry’s question: If you’re reading my wolf series, who would you like to see a story about? And if you haven’t read any of the series, do you like to read stories that have a fantastical edge to them?

Terry Spear

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male.”

http://www.wickedlyromantic.blogspot.com/

http://casablancaauthors.blogspot.com/

http://fierceromance.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/terry.spear

http://shapeshifterromance.wordpress.com/2010/01/17/legend-of-the-white-wolf-being-shipped/#comment-4502

http://terry-spear.blogspot.com/

=======================

ABOUT TERRY SPEAR: Award-winning author of urban fantasy and medieval historical romantic suspense, Terry Spear also writes true stories for adult and young adult audiences. She’s a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves and has an MBA from Monmouth University. She also creates award-winning teddy bears, Wilde & Woolly Bears, to include personalized bears designed to commemorate authors’ books. When she’s not writing, gardening, or making bears, she’s teaching online writing courses. Originally from California, she’s lived in eight states and now resides in the heart of Texas. She is the author of Heart of the Wolf, Destiny of the Wolf, To Tempt the Wolf, Legend of the White Wolf, Seduced by the Wolf, Wolf Fever, Heart of the Highland Wolf, Winning the Highlander’s Heart, The Accidental Highland Hero, Deadly Liaisons, and numerous articles and short stories for magazines.