When it comes to a good story, I always start with character. Well, characters. My hero and heroine. If I can see them. Get inside their heads. Then I can’t write their story. Back when I used to do Pern fan fiction, the first thing you had to fill out was the character sheet. If your character was interesting enough then you were accepted to be part of the writing group and the more complete the sheet. the more interesting the character and the more you had to write about. I’ve found this is true now, too.

While I don’t do a formal “persona sheet” anymore, I do still do character sketches so I know my characters’ background. Here are the character sketches I developed for Joe and Mandy, my hero and heroine for Cupid Rocks. I hope you enjoy them!

***

Joseph Schwarzerwulf / Joe Blackwolf.

Joe was born February 9, 1973—just turned 40. He plays guitar. He’s 6’1” and 190 lbs.  He has large hands.  Left hand has short nails and calluses on the fingertips. Right hand has long nails and no calluses.

He feels like he’s the family “disappointment” because he went into rock music instead of becoming a classical guitarist.  He legally changed his name to Joseph Blackwolf when he started playing in rock bands at the age of 20.

He is the oldest of three sons born to Leopold and Maria and his brothers are Jacob (opera singer) and Julian (trumpeter).

Joe’s musical influences:  Andres Segovia, Christopher Parkening, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Eddie Van Halen, Yngwie Malmsteen – since joining The Pack he’s discovered blues guitarists due to Eddie Goldwolf’s encouragement.

Joe practices four to six hours daily.  If he can manage it, he practices eight. He’s a disciplined musician who is determined to be technically excellent.  He’s driven to prove that he’s as good a musician as his father even though he doesn’t play classical music.  If he doesn’t have time to practice enough before a gig he can play well but doesn’t feel as “prepared” as he thinks he should be.

When he left home (and college) at twenty to pursue rock music his father gave him a Les Paul sunburst Gibson guitar.  Joe has many guitars but he practices and almost always performs using the LP.  He still has the Hauser acoustic guitar his father gave him when he began playing classical guitar.  When he practices classical music, he’ll pick up the Hauser to practice on.  He also takes the Hauser on stage to play acoustic tunes.

***

Mandy Goldwolf

Mandy was born July 28, 1977 – she’s 35 years old. Mandy is a plus-size female who makes the most of her curves. She knows males love her full breasts and round butt, but she still sometimes worries about her body. She is the only pup of Eddie and Carly Goldwolf and while she knows she is well loved by them both, her childhood wasn’t simple or idyllic.

Her parents, Eddie and Carly, met when they were twenty and eighteen, respectively, and have been together ever since. Their mating wasn’t an easy one, despite the fact that her parents were—and are—True Mates. Eddie resented finding his mate so young because he didn’t get the chance to get wild with females and live out the whole “sex, drugs and rock and roll” dream. Also, Carly’s father looked down his regal nose at Eddie and Eddie responded by going on benders and disappearing for days. When Mandy was ten, Eddie finally chose to dry out. Now, Eddie regrets putting his mate and his daughter through such hell, but Mandy remembers it and it colors her budding relationship with Joe.

Mandy loves music. She was born in The Pack and sang with the band from a very young age. However, when she was eighteen, she had a traumatic performance experience. She participated in a competition and forgot the words to a song, completely freezing on stage. It was so bad that Carly had to come onstage to help her off. From then on, Mandy developed stage fright. It grew worse and worse until she quit performing in public.

Since she could no longer perform, she chose to follow her second love…photography. She shoots portrait work to make money, but loves to do art photography too.

***

Mandy and Joe together

When they meet, the attraction is immediate and fiery. But there are some bumps along the way because Joe still views himself as the black sheep of his family and keenly feels his father’s disapproval. Mandy is still fighting her stage fright and has some baggage about her parents’ history. Joe and Eddie have built a friendship, but Eddie has an almost pathological fear that his daughter will end up with a musician like him and this fear rebounds on Joe, when Mandy’s parent’s find out about the relationship.

Cupid Rocks revolves around the family issues in Mandy and Joe’s life and how they work through their problems to end up strong and together in the happily ever after they deserve.

* * * * *

Here’s the story blurb:

Cupid Rocks

When her parents’ rock band, The Pack, performs at Zach’s bar, Mandy discovers her True Mate, Joe Blackwolf, the band’s lead singer and guitarist. All she has to do now is convince Joe that she told a little white lie to make her mom happy, her father that rock musicians aren’t all alike, and her new mate’s family that rockers aren’t all that different from classical musicians.

Joe Blackwolf is celebrating his 40th birthday. And what he wishes for when he blows out the candles is to find his True Mate. He succeeds when he meets Mandy Goldwolf. Problem is…she belongs to someone else. Finding out the truth leaves him free to explore every inch of her smokin’ hot curves, but now, Joe and Mandy are neck deep in overbearing relatives and everyone is in for a rockin’ Valentine’s Day!

* * * * *

Excerpt:

By reading any further, you are stating that you are at least 18 years of age. If you are under the age of 18, it is necessary to exit this site.

An Excerpt From: Cupid Rocks

Copyright © FRANCESCA HAWLEY, 2013

All Rights Reserved, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.

“Am I dead, Angel? Cause you look like you’re straight from heaven!”

“That has to be the worst line I’ve ever heard,” Mandy laughed, looking up into warm brown eyes. She shivered as he settled into the chair beside her.

“Maybe, but it made you laugh.” He took her hand. “Can I buy you a drink?”

Joe waved over a waiter and ordered for them without once releasing her hand. She could feel the rough calluses guitar playing had created on his fingers, but they turned her on. He turned her on.

This was Joe? “Good ole Joe” as Eddie called him. He was neither good nor old. No. He was gorgeous…and talented. Zach wasn’t kidding when he’d said this Blackwolf was a great guitarist and singer. For the first time since Carly bugged her, she wished with all her might she hadn’t lied about Zach being her mate. Zach might be handsome, but Joe made her throb in places that hadn’t throbbed in all of her thirty-five years.

“So what’s with the camera, Angel? Fan or reporter?”

Mandy looked down at her fingers clenched around her camera strap. If she told him who she was, he’d back off so fast she’d see skid marks on the floor. Just this once, she wanted to pretend she was someone else. Just tonight. She leaned forward pressing her lips against his ear.

“I’m more than a fan. I’m a groupie. Can’t you tell?” He shuddered, turning his head he met her gaze. The fire glowing in his eyes set her boiling. Yes. She had to have him. Now.

“A groupie? For just any rock musician?”

“No, Joe. I want you.”

“Fuck, yeah,” he growled, standing so abruptly his chair toppled over. No one nearby noticed as he dragged her to her feet. “Where?”

Mandy looked over toward the hallway leading to Zach’s office and smiled. They had a clear path. She pulled him after her and they ducked into the shadowy space. He pressed her to the wall and took her mouth in a deep kiss. Their mouths meshed together. Joe pulled back to nip at her lips, then ran his tongue along the inside edge of her lower lip. She caught his long dark hair in her fingers, holding his mouth to hers.

Fire. Heat. She’d never felt anything like this in her entire life. She moaned as his mouth slid to nuzzle her neck. Mandy wrapped her free arm around him, clutching his leather jacket. She lifted her right leg along his hip. He stepped into the opening she’d created, thrusting his hips against hers.

She shivered as his rough fingers slid along her leg and under her skirt. He slipped his fingers under her panties and cupped her ass. Grasping her, he pulled her more firmly against his hard cock. He reached up to her peasant top, untying the drawstring to bare her bra covered breast. His hot breath teased her neck and then his warm tongue grazed her skin as he licked his way over her curves

“Hey. Anyone seen Joe?” Mandy and Joe froze as she heard Eddie’s voice. He was close. Too close. She looked out of the entrance of the hall. She didn’t see him, but he was right there. She knew it. Mandy closed her eyes, fighting to keep her panting excitement from giving them away.

“I think I saw him with a hot chick earlier. I didn’t get a good look at her though. Just noticed she was his type.” Tom responded with a laugh.

Joe groaned in her ear, and kissed her cheek. She turned to look up at him. He was still on fire, she could see it but there was a definite question in his dark eyes? Stop or go?

She lowered her leg and he sighed, then she smiled and grabbed his hand. “This way,” she whispered.

Mandy knew there was an empty unlocked office back here and she wanted this wolf and she wanted him now. He chuckled as they moved into the darkness. She found the door on the right and turned the knob. Hearing the click, she pushed, wincing at the creak when the door stuck. He pushed her through and they shut the door behind them. Mandy flipped the light switch, blinking a bit to adjust to the table lamps that came on. She’d been expecting an overhead. They looked at each other and grinned.

Joe pulled her over to the empty desk and she climbed up onto it. He stroked her cheek. “You’re sure?”

“Yes. I don’t want to stop. Not now.”

* * * * *

Released from Ellora’s Cave on February 22, 2013.

* * * * *

Francesca Hawley, author bio

I’m Francesca Hawley and I’m a fat chick. A woman with dangerous curves just like my heroines.

I first began to read romance when I was in my teens. I loved the genre, but the heroines were all thin. Their thighs didn’t rub together…had never rubbed together…and frankly I had trouble relating to these ladies. The stories were great—full of emotion and well told, but the heroines weren’t like me and that was a major disappointment.  I kept wondering where were the fat heroines? I found some occasionally, but to have their Happily Ever After they usually had to lose weight and go from ugly duckling to swan.

Well, I wanted a fat heroine who loved herself—or at least learned to love herself—and a hot alpha hero who liked her jiggly bits just the way they were. Since I didn’t find many big girls to read about, I decided  to write about them myself. After all, I loved to write anyway and had been writing almost as long as I’d been reading, so Francesca Hawley – author of Romance with Dangerous Curves was born.

In a Francesca Hawley romance, my readers will find authentic, sensual, fat heroines who love and are loved by their intense, passionate, and seductive Alpha heroes. I hope you enjoy their dangerous curves just as much as their hunky heroes do.

web site – http://www.francescahawley.com/

blog – http://francescasmindstream.blogspot.com/

facebook – https://www.facebook.com/FrancescaHawley.author

twitter – https://twitter.com/francescahawley

goodreads – http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/608399.Francesca_Hawley

pinterest – http://pinterest.com/francescahawley/

yahoo group -  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/francescahawley/

Hi all,

This is Francesca Hawley and I’m thrilled to announce that on December 21, I will have a new release available from Ellora’s Cave Publishing. My new book is titled Leader of the Pack. It will be my first new book in over a year. It’s a follow-up to Alpha vs. Alpha, but both can stand alone.

I’ve written many stories with male pack leaders, but in Protect and Defend, I indicated that females could be pack leaders. It just wasn’t typical. So in the back of my mind, I considered the idea of a female pack leader. How would that work? Especially if her True Mate was an alpha male? That’s where Leader of the Pack came from and I’m really happy with how it turned out.

Yohana is a kickass female who knows how to leader her pack and is willing to make sacrifices. Per (pronounced like the fruit – pear) is a healer who cares for people, but he’s also an alpha male. He loves Yohana’s strength, yet there’s conflict between them as they work out who holds the top position at any given time. I had fun reintroducing Predator-Match.com to my shapeshifter world as both Yohana and Per utilize the services of the matchmaking agency to find a Mate. I loved including Serena in this story, too. It was fun to revisit her and her relationship with Damien – if only briefly.

Here’s the blurb:

Surgeon Dr. Per Goldwolf needs a mate to make partner in a prestigious practice. Predator-Match.com—a matchmaking service for shapeshifters—not only finds him a mate, they match him with his True Mate. Yohana’s long legs and fair flesh make him lick his lips and her scent makes him rock-hard.

New packleader Yohana Whitewolf’s life goal is to follow in her sire’s pawprints and lead her pack. Leadership demands sacrifices. To calm her people, Yohana needs a mate. But finding an Alpha male who won’t take over is a tall order. Yohana doesn’t want the complication of a True Mate, but Per is a sexy, intelligent Alpha male and she wants to shred his clothes every time she touches him.

Everything should be perfect—except she’s a packleader, and the Whitewolf pack is nervous.

Read the excerpt – visit the Ellora’s Cave web site. Here’s the link…

* * * * *

To start new readers off right, I’d like to run a contest. If you comment today or tomorrow, you win an electronic copy of Alpha vs. Alpha for your reading pleasure. If you already own AvA, you can choose one of the other books from my backlist. I’ll announce the winners on Wednesday!

Hey everyone!

Today is the second day of NaNoWriMo! Yes, I’m very excited because I haven’t had a chance to NaNo since 2006 and I didn’t finish that year due to preparations for our big move back to Oklahoma. That happened to be the month, just after Thanksgiving, that hubby decided we would move come spring to ‘take his wife back home’ and though I was thrilled, I had to ditch on NaNo.

So I thought I’d share my crazy NaNo preparations. I really don’t have any specific way I do it, except that I don’t plan. On day one I open a fresh word doc and let the characters come alive and whatever comes out of it is what I write.

As many know, I write contemporary romance. For some reason when I start NaNo it always comes out that I have a paranormal in front of me! Maybe my characters are trying to tell me something? I don’t know, but I ALWAYS have fun exploring this side of romance.

So what am I writing this year? Well a couple of days ago a whisper of a haunting idea floated on wispy mind clouds and that’s what it is. Wispy and haunting…literally. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that a ghost story came to me. I gave it a little thought, how it might go and let it go. Yesterday it returned and it’s not turning out anything like I imagined! Isn’t that the way it goes? LOL

So, after some editing for work, I’ll be off playing with spooks in an old estate manor for the day.

If you’re NaNoing, how do you get ready? Feel free to share a line or two if you want. Here’s a taste of Ghost of a Chance. Have a great writing day!

At twenty-five Kenzie still had trouble admitting to herself she could see ghosts, much less speak to one, or tell anyone else. She hadn’t even told Raze for fear he’d want her to join his team of spook chasers. Kenzie didn’t want to believe in the apparitions that swirled like cold fog around her everywhere she went. As long as she didn’t acknowledge their presence she learned they couldn’t manifest into more.

That was the key–ignore them and they eventually faded to nothing more than a constant chill that enveloped her like a cold second skin…constantly.

~Native American Herbs~ Melinda Elmore~
I am going to be doing numerous posts about herbs, especially Native American herbs and how the American Indian used them for health issues.
So, let’s get started…..

Basil: Nausea and gas pains.
Catnip: Toothaches, insomnia, and mild sedative; used as a tea relieves cramping and colic.
Garlic: Colds, flu, sore throats.
Larkspur: Lice.
Milkweed: Warts, ringworm, poison ivy.* Roots of the Milkweed are poisonous.* Must be boiled.
Onion: High Blood Pressure, blood sugar, gas pains.
Pumpkin: Burns, heal wounds.
Red Clover: Colds, sore throats.
White Oak Bark: Diarrhea.

Now these are just a few that I thought would be great to share. I will be doing several posts on herbs. The American Indian has used these remedies for decades. Now here is some interesting facts that I thought everyone would enjoy.

Basil: Is used to ward off evil spells and witchcraft.
Catnip: To prevent nightmares.
Garlic: Believed to have magic powers. To wear a charm of garlic would ward off evil spirits and gives strength and courage to its wearer.
Red Clover: Protects against evil spirits or spells.

I hope you have enjoyed learning about some herbs that the American Indian used.

~ Make sure you do research on any herb before using to ensure that you prepare them right. Some are poisonous and can make you very sick or can cause death if not prepared correctly.~

Have a great day!!!!!

Walk in harmony,
Melinda Elmore

***Royalty free images and some taken by my talented family.***
~~ Indian Herbs and Plants By: “The Cherokee Lady” Dr. Lelanie Fuller Anderson, N.D., Ph.D.~~

I love research. It opens doors in my mind and is often a source of ideas. When I browse the pages of books and web articles or scan websites, surprise plot twists evolve. Not always, but when they do, they’re a real bonus.

  While researching Chaco Canyon of New Mexico, the setting for Flames on the Sky, and the pueblo Indians in the area, I ran across the word nukpanas, which means evil spirits. What a perfect name for the evil spirit that plans to destroy the ancient artifacts of Chaco Canyon. Further research allowed me to create a villain I could be proud of, one I hope my readers love to hate.

Though I have several books on the pueblos in New Mexico, the majority of my research data came from websites, in particular The New Mexico Parks Service and Government Archives. The Anasazi of 1000 A.D. held a monopoly on the turquoise trade so I spent a lot of time researching where they might have obtained their turquoise. I strove to make all aspects of the story—the Native American people, their language, dress, and etc. as accurate as possible.

The remains of Una Vida below.

Flames on the Sky is the second book of The Turquoise Legacy. In the first, My Heart Will Find Yours, I used the ancient piece of turquoise in Texanna’s locket, ley lines and spin torsion fields to initiate time travel. In the second story, I use those phenomena again but added the vortex to the mix. Until I started writing time travels, I never knew of these natural occurrences. Now, I can’t say they can actually cause time travel, but hey, that’s what imaginations are for.

Here is the link for the book trailer for My Heart Will Find Yours on U-tube.

The book trailer for Flames on the Sky won Most Artistic Trailer for June 2010 from The NEW Covey Trail Awards. Click on the book title to go to U-tube.

Both books are available in both ebook and print formats. You can purchase a copy at Amazon.com, The Wild Rose Press, Fictionwise.com and other online book stores.

Thanks for reading!

Linda

The Fun in Being Eclectic by Terry Spear

As I began to write my stories, I heard—you HAVE to brand yourself, write in one area, develop a following, be like McDonalds with the Golden Arches, Pizza Hut with the red roof, or well, a genre that readers will see and say—oh, I know an author that writes that, and to stick to it.

But I love to write about a variety of different kinds of worlds from contemporary romantic suspense to fantasy, to urban fantasy romance to contemporary romance to historical romance to time travel romance to…even true stories.

I love to diversify, because I’m an eclectic reader. I read everything.

True, I’ve branded myself with paranormal romance, specifically werewolf romance. I have 15 contracted wolf books, nine out, four more either written, turned in, still being edited, or being written. With having so many wolf books out in the same series, I finally made USA TODAY bestseller with A SEAL in Wolf’s Clothing. I truly believe it had some to do with branding. Not quitting at writing three or four wolf stories, but writing several with more to come so that if readers like your world, you develop a following. I’ve had fans who say that they see a picture of a wolf, read about a wolf, they think of me. Fans send me pictures of wolves and articles about them. One sent a picture of her family dressed as Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, which I featured on my blog. That’s branding.

So yes, it’s important.

But I love to write about a variety of different kinds of worlds. It helps me to keep my longer series works fresh. I’ve just started a jaguar series with Sourcebooks also. I’m working on book two with book one, Savage Hunger, coming out in October. It’s new, the jaguars much different than wolves in personality, yet they are shifters like wolves and I’ve begun to make connections between the two worlds for fun. I hadn’t ever intended that, but…that’s the way I write. I don’t plot out whole worlds and a whole series, or…even a whole book at once.

The characters create the story.

That’s some of why I create different worlds. I get an idea, and take off running. When I wrote The Dark Fae, all I thought of was I wanted to write about a world where the fae coexist with us and where they are the reason for some of our missteps in life. The series took off. I had never planned to write more than one book. I did it for fun. But I had so much success with it, I wrote three more in the series with another one on the way. So some of the reason for writing eclectic is that I can enjoy writing something different, and find that readers love the new world, too. Or some that wouldn’t touch one kind of book that I write, might like something else I write. Others read everything I write, so for me it’s a win-win situation.

I also write a Highland historical series. I have two out with readers clamoring for more, but haven’t had time to write them. I am in the process, and have three books started. Winning the Highlander’s Heart began the series. I love to read historical romance and I love to write about Medieval times. I have a lot of Scottish roots, so write mostly about Highlanders, but I’ve written others also.

I also have a YA vampire series and adult vampire books, with another couple partially written that when I have time, I’ll finish up.

I’m just editing a book written some years ago—a third marriage comedy kind of book. It’s a contemporary, Marriage under Duress, in the line of Marriage, Las Vegas Style, and Exchanging Grooms. I wrote them for Flipside, but my stories have humor and a serious side to them so they didn’t work for the line. Again, they were a fun diversion from other works I was writing.

For me diversifying is the key to keeping my writing fresh. Branding is great, but for some of us, we need to try something different to keep the creative juices flowing.

The voice is what makes the work ours. With mine, I have mystery, adventure, romance, and humor. It can be set in the 12^th Century Highlands, or in contemporary world America. It can be our world with a paranormal twist with vampires or werewolves or jaguar shifters living among us. It can be pure fantastical worlds or futuristic even. Or we can drop everything and travel to the past like in A Ghost of a Chance at Love, a time travel western ghostly romance.

That’s because I’m an eclectic reader and love to read everything!

What about you? Do you tend to read in one special genre exclusively? Or do you like to read for variety? And if you write, which is it for you?

Thanks so much for having me here today!

Terry Spear

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

USA Today bestselling author, Terry Spear has written over three dozen paranormal romance novels and two medieval Highland historical romances. An award-winning author, Terry’s Heart of the Wolf was named a Publishers Weekly’s Best Book of the Year in 2008. A retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, Terry Spear works in a library by day and spends every spare moment writing paranormal romance as well as historical and true life stories for both teen and adult audiences. Spear lives in Crawford, Texas, where she is working on three wolf books, another jaguar book, and has a variety of other eclectic works in progress! For more information, please visit http://www.terryspear.com/.

www.facebook.com/terry.spear

www.terryspear.com

www.myspace.com/terryspear

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

http://twitter.com/#!/TerrySpear