Call me Batman

Alas. The bats aren't in the belfry, but in my home

The first one we found in the house was handled by my husband. I didn't even see it.

Four days later, my daughter and I were home alone when I suddenly saw a bat flying around the main room, which is a great room configuration. With its 14 foot ceilings, this is not a good space in which to catch a bat. Not that I could catch a bat in any space. It is illegal to kill them.

Bats are an almost endangered species, and finding one in your home would be nothing more than a scary nuisance, except for the fact that they can carry rabies, which is basically incurable. If a rabid bat bites you in your sleep and you don't realize it, you will be fatally wounded by the time you develop symptoms. The bites can be virtually invisible.

Were we freaked out? Yes, we were. We called the animal control, which actually doesn't exist in our area (except for a phone number). We called the cops. They said too bad, so sad. My husband, who was out of state, called the cops. They said, "We'll send someone over." Hmmmm.

A cop arrived. At the same time, two of my friends arrived to rescue us, one armed with a tennis racquet. Lol It was a good idea.

The cop brought down the bat. It took a bit of work though. I never could have done it. He was determined not to kill the critter. He put it in a paper bag and said he would bring it to the animal rescue center to see if they could save it. I wanted it tested for rabies but he wouldn't allow it.

I couldn't help noticing the significance of 3 women and a young girl standing around while the man got the bat. That thing terrified me. What can I say. The cop was a young guy, cute. He said we could call him Batman. lol

My daughter and I went to my friend's house for the night. We moved out of our home the next day. I don't co-habit with bats. 

We called around for a professional to deal with the problem, and all we heard is, "It will take 3-4 weeks. This is the biggest bat summer we've ever had." Finally my husband found someone. I hope he's good.

I couldn't take a picture of the bat. So I leave you with this sign near my house. The sign says: Bear Crossing. Stay Alert (Ya think?)

We've also received official notice from the town saying bears are now a problem in our area. I'm done with Mother Nature. Or at least I'd like to be.

Oh No! They Changed My Story!!!

Okay, not MY story, but I loved the Norwegian tale I read when I was a little girl.
Here is the version I read.
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/norway034.html
I loved it but was so mad at the girl for dripping wax on him and making him go away. I felt sorry for him and loved him. Poor polar bear prince. The newer version doesn't sound like it's anything like my version. It's supposed to be good for children to read. You know, probably the sanitized kind. Probably no exploding trolls and such. I like exploding trolls. I like to see the bad guys get their just rewards. :)
And why even bring it up???
It was the very first time that I had read about a shapeshifter and loved the sweet romance. My shapeshifters are not cursed to live their existence until someone can break the spell, yet, it made me see that shapeshifters could be just as sexy and lovable as anyone else.

I'm from the great grizzly bear state of California. And I have all kinds of different bear collections that I've collected over the years. And I make award-winning teddy bears. So it seemed natural to want to write about bear shifters. In honor of reading about a polar bear shifter, my first ever shifter tale, I decided to make it a polar bear shifter story.

Tanner, tan mohair, 10 1/2"
Suede paws

But with all good tales, it must end so I can get back to edits on A Very Jaguar Christmas, which I was told was up on Amazon for preorder now!
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1492621803
And that's it for today. I must go back to my writing cave. Carpet was replaced in the two bedrooms, and rather than shove everything back in drawers and closets, packing it all up. :) So no time for edits yesterday. Just more utter chaos.
This is me contemplating the next edit.
Have a great one!
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

New Cover Reveal! New Teddy Bears!

So many other things are going on, like usual, I totally forgot to share the cover for the new release coming Feb 2016!!!


http://www.amazon.com/SEAL-Wolf-Too-Deep-Heart/dp/1492621838
Don’t you guys all wish you had those abs? And, ladies, don’t you also? If he was yours, I mean, of course. lol :)

My dad used to say, “Yeah, but when they get older, those muscles all turn to flab.”
I’m over halfway done on Covert Cougar Christmas!

Then I need to get cracking on the jaguar Christmas story!!




New Peacock Bear

And New Blue and Purple Bubblegum Bear

Purple Bubblegum Bear

Back to writing on Covert Cougar Christmas! Have a super Saturday!!!

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

Do You Multi-Task???

I am. Okay, today, I’ve got to start proofing the final copy of SEAL Wolf Hunting. Don’t you love this cover? Besides the guy, I LOVE the wolf. Since I write about wolves, as  in werewolves, but they’re so human and so wolf-like that it seems sacrilegious to call them werewolves–as in a horror version of them, I love to see a beautiful wolf on the cover taking up center stage too. Why? Because the man is not just a man, but a wolf. I love this time with the book–it’s nearly done–just checking to make sure there are no other mistakes, but there are so few, that it’s a time for me to have that one last read that’s more for pleasure than anything, before you get it!

So that’s one of my number one priorities. I also want to continue to work on bears. I finished two last night. I finished making a 3rd, but still need to embroider the paws. :)

Plum bear with plum faux suede paws, 19″

Purple Bear with faux suede paws, 10 1/2″

And I want to get my word count in on She-Wolf. 2500 words a day. I need to be at 8500 today. I’m at 7200 right now. So moving right along. Usually when I get in edits, I have to quit everything and concentrate on only the edits. Then I’m playing a horrible game of catch up. So I’m trying to work on my blogs, word count, then proofing, then bears so I don’t get behind on anything. :)

It’s kind of like playing an RPG, role-playing game. I’m playing Dragon Age: Inquisition for my break time at night once I have all my other stuff done. Yesterday, besides word count, I was critiquing 10 chapters of a critique partner’s book, and while I was playing the game, I was finishing up the bears. Now, I also have to constantly stop to take puppies out, to play with them, cuddle with them, train them, feed them. So I do have other stuff going on. But in the RPG–there’s always a decision to make. Do I concentrate on the Big Boss, the guy with all the strength that is really, really hard to kill, and then work on his minions after he’s dead? Or do I tackle everyone at once? Then once the little guys are dead, I can use all my strength against the big guy?

Well, oftentimes I’ll go after the big guy while the little guys are beating at me too. And when I’m working on my projects, often I’ll tackle the one that needs to be done first–just all day long for every day that it takes to get it done. Then my stack of things to do goes down a little before it goes up a lot again.

So this is kind of a new experiment for me. Working on all things–having a goal for each, and getting each of them done, and not just working on one big project. I think it’s working, so far, because I think when I do just one major thing, I tend to take breaks anyway, and I don’t get as much done. Time will tell.

I want to get half of the proof book done today, and the other half tomorrow. That’s my goal. I need to start sewing up the other bears–4 of them, so another goal. And word count on She-Wolf.
Other than that, that’s it! :)

When you have jobs to tackle, do you go after the tough ones first, or the little ones until you’re ready to tackle the big one? I do that with first line edits. The simple stuff first. Then I tackle the bigger issues. :) When I see a page of issues, I want to reduce the number quickly. Then it doesn’t seem like so much.

Have a terrific Saturday and hope all your issues are little ones. The Big Bosses can be a real chore to deal with.

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

Having a Routine...The Puppy is SUPPOSED to Be Sleeping...

Hey, just because I can’t sleep, doesn’t mean that the puppy shouldn’t. I just had too much to do, so I was up at 4 am this morning, HOPING Max would sleep. No such luck. He was like it was our regular time to wake up between 5-6:30, depending on how late I worked the night before.
So we had to go out, and we had to eat and we had to play and I was trying to get some of the million and one things done, like get the bear ready to ship, and a Christmas card ready and bills paid, and Max is happily getting into mischief. Of course. :)  I can’t say what he grabbed hold of this morning and was tearing through the house with until I caught him.  He was having a fine time of it. I couldn’t help laughing. Which only encourages the little devil.

Amethyst Nana Bear is done!

Max and my desk chair

So I usually sit down first thing to work on blogs and emails and such and stop to play with Max often until he tuckers out. But I REALLY had things to do. So I wasn’t doing anything the way I was supposed to. He jumped onto my desk chair and looked at me. I was supposed to be sitting right there. I was getting a bunch of stuff ready for the post office. After I did that, I sat down, and he was in my lap to sleep.

Many years ago before kids, I was required to go to a military wives’ luncheon. I as on Active Duty at the time, had no husband or kids, no pets at the time, either, but had them growing up. So when a woman asked if I had kids, I wisely said, “No.”  I didn’t mention no husband either, which I would have to have to be a military wife. *sigh*

Everyone was talking about their kids and I said something about puppies being just like them. Hey, I babysat kids and babies when I was a teen, so it wasn’t that I didn’t know about kids. And I’d help raise a number of puppies, toy poodles, Afghan Hound, and a silky terrier. And guess what? They’re just like little kids.

When I was substitute teaching in the kindergarten classes, they were so used to doing everything in a certain way. Not my way, of course, but the teacher’s way.

The kids had a routine they felt comfortable with. So do puppies. And you know what? So do we as grownups.

With Max’s coming home with me, talk about my routine being out of whack. But we’re beginning to settle down into somewhat of a routine and that makes us both happy. When Tanner comes home, he’ll have to learn our routine too, and then he’ll be confused when I don’t stick with it. But, hey, I’m only human.

And we had a breakthrough! Max laid down when I gave him the word command. Woohoo! Now he circles and begs.

Do you have a routine? How do you feel when it’s  out of whack?


Have a great Saturday!!!

Terry
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
www.terryspear.com
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website:
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

Before! After! Renovating with Tile!

35-year old stained carpeting

Still have some work to do today, then cleaning.

I have 21 bears made up, just need to do the finishing embroidery work, etc. And one in progress, another needs to be cut out, but made up the dragon cloak. 

And I got edits back on A SEAL Wolf Hunting. Editor loved it! So just need to add a few more details on a couple of things, and then I’ve got to turn it back in pronto. Waiting on one more Silver Wolf Christmas beta read, then can turn it in. And one more Call of the Cougar beta read, and can publish. And two audiobooks waiting for review–Huntress for Hire and Her Highland Hero. *sigh*
So far the schedule for the first of the new books is: SEAL Wolf Diving, Feb 2016, She-Wolf Leader (titles to change btw), Jun 2016, and Jaguar Jingle Bells, Oct 2016, and Billionaire in Wolf’s Clothing, Feb 2017

And it’s 38 degrees this morning!! It’s cold, but I refuse to turn on the heat. It’s going to be a high of 65 today. That’s the lowest we’ve been this fall. Tomorrow, back to 73 degrees and then 78 the next day.

Have a wonderful Saturday!!! After he’s finished with projects today, I’m going to be doing a lot of cleaning. Dust everywhere. And I’ll be redecorating a bit later. I moved a big cabinet to another location, and so it freed up a wall and need to do something else there.



So what do you think?

Terry
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
www.terryspear.com
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website:
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

Butterflies! & Faery Realms Party!

Tawny Emperor Butterfly

These butterflies love to eat rotting fruit. I have pears that they are enjoying. And here is the underside of the Tawny Emperor Butterfly!  They say they’re very jumpy, so it’s hard to get close and take pictures, but it was cool out when the one was resting on my brick work. The other above might have been feasting on the fermenting pears and drunk.

Tawny Emperor Butterfly

Tawny Emperor Butterfly and Yellow Jackets eating fermenting pears

Comma Butterfly

Loved the shadows he created! :)

Comma Butterfly

Swallowtail Butterfly

And here I’m sharing all these butterfly pictures on Facebook, while I’m trying to identify them, and a friend saw this in the news about Monarch butterflies on the weather radar.  Coincidence or something else? Too cool!
http://www.grindtv.com/…/mysterious-cloud-radar…/

It seems the perfect place for the faeries!
Okay, I’m still working on Call of the Cougar. Have 2,000 words left to reach goal, though I’m a long way from the end. But I need to write a guest blog for the new release for Oct first.


Only 99 cents! Limited time offer!
Preorders Available from Amazon Now:
http://www.amazon.com/Tall-Dark-Paranormal-Thrilling-Tales-ebook/dp/B00N55HGOA
Kobo:
http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/tall-dark-and-paranormal
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/471539
ITunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/tall-dark-paranormal-10-thrilling/id915571414?mt=11
All Romance Ebooks:
https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-talldarkandparanormal10thrillingtalesofsexyalphabadboys-1611082-166.html
Barnes and Noble:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tall-dark-and-paranormal-opal-carew/1120323237
I’m working on setting up a Christmas party for the Faery Realms Box Set–also 10 authors and 99 cents!

Faery Realms Facebook Party

Young Adult Faery Fun will be had by all! Hosted by the Faery Realms authors who are bringing prizes to add to the fun! Only 10 stories for 99 cents!
Kobo – http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/faery-realms-ten-magical-titles
Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Faery-Realms-Magical-Multi-Author-Novellas-ebook/dp/B00JOP9OC2
Or the short link: http://amzn.com/B00JOP9OC2
Smashwords – https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/428544
B&N – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/faery-realms-anthea-sharp/1119219398

Google Play – https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Anthea_Sharp_Faery_Realms_Ten_Magical_Titles?id=rAFZAwAAQBAJ
Here’s the schedule so far:
Central Standard Time
9 am
10 am Rachel Morgan
11 am Talia Maya
12 pm
1 pm
2 pm
3 pm
4 pm Anthea Sharp
5 pm Julia Crane
6 pm Dana Julia Burnett
I’ll slip in for the time slot nobody wants. Okay, off to write up what a werewolf would want for Christmas and back to Call of the Cougar!
Oh, can’t remember if I showed her off. Here’s another Steampunk Bear for an order.

Steampunk Bear

And the other day, I was working on hats.

Steampunk Bear Hats

Have a super great Wednesday!
Do you have a lot of butterflies around your place?
Terry
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
www.terryspear.com
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website:
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

SOLD!!! 3 Wolf Books and a Jaguar Book!!!

I didn't make my word count last night. Didn't make any bears. What was I doing all day??? Do you ever have days like that? You were really busy, but you have NOTHING to show for it?

Okay, well I did work on about 15 student lessons, 3 of the 17 students finished. And I did get half my word count. And I talked to my daughter about her work and what I was doing. And that was a 2 hour conversation. We hadn't had time to talk in a while. So here's part of the conversation:

"I quit writing to work on bears."

"No, you couldn't quit writing."

"No, I got my word count in for the day so I could work on bears. I'm not quitting writing. I love writing. And I love making bears."

Anyway, so I had to run into town to ship bears yesterday. And I don't know. The day just...vanished.

About the new books sold:

I pitched 3 and somehow ended up selling 4!

It's kind of like wolf and jaguar cubs. They come in multiples. I had a reviewer snark about how I had so many twins and triplets in books. What was the deal with that?

I write my stories as realistically based on the real animals as I can. Sometimes I only show one wolf, no siblings. But usually, I have multiples. Not because I'm thinking that I'll have tons more books to write, because especially early on, I really wasn't thinking of how I would be writing these series so long. Why not, you ask?

Sales. We never know when sales will allow us to keep writing. Or if a series just doesn't take off. I really work hard at making my stories as new as possible so that each story is really different from all the rest. I'm still finishing up A Silver Wolf Christmas, which is book 17 in the wolf series. I sold another Silver pack book--Eric Silver, the eldest of the quadruplet brothers, who butts head with Darien, his cousin and the pack leader. He's a park ranger, runs into trouble with another wolf pack, and meets the she-wolf running it. I had started this story a long time ago, but lost it in a computer crash, so I'll be headed in that direction again.

I don't know the order the books will come out, but I sold another SEAL book because they do really well, and this one is A SEAL Wolf Diving for Trouble. It's Allan's story and he's on the police diving team when a human female he's interested in discovers a nearly dead wolf and wants to put it out of its misery, but the wolf is one of Allan's pack.

Then, I had to write another jaguar story, and this one is like the end of the season premier. I can't talk about what's going to happen in that one just yet. It has to do with a cub and that's all I can say. But you know me, before long, the cat will be out of the bag.
And that was what I pitched and sold!

Then my editor was telling me that she just totally loves the cub story and babies and billionaires sell well. Wait, I needed to write a billionaire wolf story!

So there you have it. The unpitched Billionaire Wolf story. Not sure on title or what it's going to be about, but I'm excited about writing it.

I had two billionaire stories I wrote--Exchanging Grooms, and Marriage, Las Vegas Style, more comedy romance, no paranormal. And I had fun with them.

 

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

Amazon

Smashwords

ARe Books

Kobo

---

 

Marcy Taylor wants a divorce, but she doesn’t want her husband to go after the family fortune, so she’s trying to do this the easy way, no fuss, no muss. The only problem is Michael Lindquist doesn’t have a wife, and he’s sure she’s running a scam to try to get his family’s fortune!It all began in Las Vegas when Marcy threw caution to the wind. Boy, was that a mistake. Twenty-five thousand dollars richer with a husband to boot and one powerful hangover, she’s got to right the wrong.Now that Michael has a wife he doesn’t know he had, he’s not at all sure he wants to lose her. At least until he can unravel the mystery about her. And that’s how the roller coaster ride all began.

 

B&N

Amazon

Smashwords

ARe Books

And I HATED my cover for my Collection of Vampire novellas, so yes, all right, it's like an indulgence of chocolate and I didn't want to tell you exactly what I was doing yesterday INSTEAD of writing and making bears...I was playing around with redoing the cover! So what do you think? My vampires are getting a bit of a revival because of Huntress for Hire coming out in the TALL, DARK and PARANORMAL box set.


Amazon
Barnes and Noble

Okay, before too much more of the day slips away, I'm off to write, lessons are stacking up and I need to work on bears!

Have a super great Saturday!!!

Terry
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
www.terryspear.com
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website:
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

Bears and Turkey Vultures and Teddy Bears!

We had a hail storm yesterday. But luckily no damage!

A black bear and his turkey vulture friends.

And I just completed Matheson Clan Bear triplets for another order and will be shipping them today!

In previous posts, I’ve shown the turkey vultures surrounding the lion and lioness as if they were part of their royal court. And actually perched on top of a rhino that was sleeping. I’ve never seen the bear up and moving around. And I’ve never seen the turkey vultures in his exhibit. So see? They might not be the greatest pictures as far as photography goes, but as far as subject, pretty cool, don’t you think?

I managed to get to 27,000 yesterday, despite being on a LIVE blog tour from noon until midnight. And I should make my goal by the weekend of 30,000, maybe more.

Have a super great Saturday! :)

Oh, and I’m from the bear state of California, and I’m researching grizzlies in Montana for A SEAL Wolf for Sale, and I saw the bear at the zoo, so what do you think I had a nightmare about???
Terry