Welcome Terry Spears, author of all those temping werewolves.
Amber: Terry, why do you write fantasy?
Terry: First, thanks so much to Amber for having me!!!
When I was growing up, I LOVED Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, Cinderella, and myriads of other fantasy tales of princes loving princesses. The first shape shifter story I read was East of the Sun and West of the Moon, where the prince is cursed to be a polar bear during the day, and a handsome prince at night. *sigh* I love fantasy. But I also loved true stories, ghost stories, mysteries, and mythologies and fables from around the world. All of these “loves” helped to shape what I write today.
In most of my stories, I make references to fairy tales and mythical characters: Little Red Riding Hood (Dreaming of the Wolf), Alice in Wonderland (Seduced by the Wolf), Zeus (Seduced by the Wolf), Poseidon (Seduced by the Wolf), Atlas (Legend of the White Wolf), The Three Little Pigs (Dreaming of the Wolf), and many more that I can’t think of off the top of my head. Someday, I’ll have to have a reader contest and let fans tell me what they’ve found in my stories that reference fairy tales and mythical characters!
The difference is that in many of the stories, the heroine was incapable of being a true heroine, able to help save the day. In my stories, the heroines are just as capable as their heroes and often save them! Also, in the shape shifter story I mentioned earlier, it was a case of being cursed. No one in their right mind wants to be a “beast” for part of the day. In my shape shifter series, they love who they are—unless they’ve just been newly turned, and then, well, they can have some regrets. But most learn to love their new abilities and use them to their advantage.
Like my love of true stories, I wanted to create a world that seemed as realistic as werewolves living among us could be. My love of wolves originated from Jack London’s Call of the Wild and White Fang. I loved how he gave the wolf his own thought processes, and though I didn’t think about it consciously when I wrote Heart of the Wolf, since it had been years earlier that I’d read them, that must have stuck with me. When an interviewer asked me exactly what it was about the tales that had moved me, I reread part of one and smiled when I read about the wolf pup leaving the den and learning to hunt leaves, and “hearing” his thought processes as he ventured forth.
Amber: Why do think readers love fantasy?
Terry: It’s a way to escape the real world. If I wasn’t there, I’d have to be thinking about cooking dinner, doing the laundry, weeding the garden. Wow, I need to immerse myself in another fantasy.
Amber: Why do wolves fascinate you?
Terry: I love how they mate for life, are family oriented, and work as a team. I love dogs, that have some of the same alpha and beta tendencies, who are loyal and dependable. But they don’t mate for life. When I lived in Oklahoma, we had a pair of road runners that would hop over our 4 foot tall split rail fence, run across the yard, and disappear into the woods. They also mate for life. I just finished writing the 7th book in the werewolf series—“Heart of the Highland Wolf”, due out Jun 2011 and mentioned golden eagles that also mate for life. I just think there’s something special about animals that do.
Amber: Would you write fantasy even if no one read it?
Terry: Absolutely! Because I love it. And we have to love what we write.
So if you’re looking for a series where wolves—werewolves that is—live among us—want some adventure, suspense, romance, mystery and fun, join me in the world of werewolves. They truly live among us!
Terry Spears is an award-winning author of urban fantasy and medieval historical romantic suspense, Heart of the Wolf named in Publishers Weekly's BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR, NOR Reader Choice for BEST PARANORMAL ROMANCE.
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 and a Bachelors in Business and Distinguished Military Graduate of West Texas A & M. She also creates award-winning teddy bears, Wilde & Woolly Bears, to include personalized bears designed to commemorate authors’ books. When she’s not writing 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 the Sourcebooks Casablanca werewolf romance series: Heart of the Wolf, Destiny of the Wolf, To Tempt the Wolf, Legend of the White Wolf, Seduced by the Wolf (2010), Wolf Fever (2010), Heart of the Highland Wolf (2011), Dreaming of the Wolf (2011), and the medieval romance series: Winning the Highlander’s Heart, The Accidental Highland Hero (2010); Deadly Liaisons, The Vampire…In My Dreams (young adult), Deidre's Secret (young adult), and numerous articles and short stories for magazines.
Latest News!!!
Two more wolf titles to Sourcebooks -
The Highland Wolf in Paradise & The Wolf and the SEAL
Release date-TBD
and find her on these great blogs
Terry's Contest!
She's offering an autographed copy of a book, winner’s choice.
Just leave a comment answering the question:
If you could be a werewolf,
what would you love best about it?
Contest closed.
Congratulations
Stephanie Shaw!