Contest Announcement!!!

Another excerpt from 'Dalara', the first in the lycan series I am working on.  The contest parameters  follow the the excerpt.

Excerpt:
Sage rushed in as soon as he could get out of the car. He had felt Dalara’s fear over an hour ago and couldn't get to her. He knew she was safe and irritated but he was worried still. Council followed him in.
“Dalara?” he shouted just inside the door. He caught her scent coming from the dining room. There she was sitting with Elizabet and and another female as The Warrior stood at the door. He picked her up and held her tight. “Are you all right, my mate?” he asked.
“Fine.”
“Tell us what happened.” Eldest stated.
“I don’t know we were out in the woods.” Dalara said.
“Elizabet?”
“Warrior George was with us. Dalara was the first to catch a scent of two strangers. George was tracking them and sent us here. I assume he alerted The Warrior as well with his call.”
“And who is this?” Sage asked looking at the one female he had never seen.
“Sorry Alpha, I am Mildred Verna Ellis, two hundred eleven years of Alpha Thomas.”
“What are you doing here without my permission?” Sage asked thinking she might have something to do with the others.
“Sage, this is Elizabet’s sister. Council sent her here.”
“Are you sure?”
“Sage she is no harm to your mate. Council did indeed send for her. She is here to help Dalara with paperwork and anything else that is needed. You do not think I would risk my Grandpup’s life now do you?” Eldest asked.
“No, I’m sorry Eldest.”
“It is understandable and I would be worried if you had not reacted the way you have.”
“Sage, I said I was fine.”
“And you know this for sure? You know who is out in the woods?” he snapped.
Dalara knew this was where she had to put a stop to his controlling or it would get out of hand. “Listen here. I am the one that scented them first, I did as I was told and returned home. Now you are not going to control me like this or interrogate me. Do you understand?”
Sage took a step back away from her. No one had ever spoke to him like that. He wanted to smack her but his wolf took control and calmed him down somehow.
“Lucas, join George in the search.” Eldest commanded and before he had finished the order The Warrior was gone.
“Dalara I’m sorry.” Sage looked as if he was a whipped puppy.
“I just don’t want you telling what to do all the time. I have a mind of my own.”
Sage returned to her side taking the chair next to hers. He knew in the beginning it was going to be hard to keep from controlling everything she did. Though this just proved he had been right.

I as am getting close to finishing the first draft, I am starting a contest. The series has no title. I am hoping you, my followers can help. Go through the excerpts previously posted to get the idea of the story lines. Post your suggestions in the comments. If I choose your suggestion you will receive a $10.00US gift card to either Barnes and Noble or Amazon and a few copy of 'Dalara', when published, to expand your reading material.

Dalara Excerpt!

As promised here is the synopsis and an excerpt of WIP-Dalara. I how you enjoy it.

DALARA:
A teacher lost her Grams and decided to purchase a home her Grams had talked about all the time. It was falling down and Dalara had trouble finding a contractor to do the work. Along come a man that she had never really noticed, even though the town was less than 1000 people. That's the turn in her life that she would never had guessed would come.
She found that she wasn't human but wolf and the change of worlds turned her life upside-down.


EXCERPT:
“I don’t know what came over me. I've never done that before.” She admitted.
“Done what?”
“Umm… taken control.”
“You seemed to know what you wanted and you took it. I will never complain about that. I love you my mate.”
“I love you too.”
Cuddling Dalara finally thought about everything she had tracked that she wanted to ask Sage about.
“Can we talk?”
“Of course my mate.” He brushed her hair away from her face making her smile.
“Well, I have some questions.”
“I sensed you did.”
“I just hate to ruin this feeling. You know relaxed and warm all over, inside and out.”
“It won’t I promise. I won’t let you go any where.”
“Okay, I was wondering why you got so pissed when Eljin wanted to examine me.”
“You have to understand, males hate it when their mates are seen unclothed by other males. It’s ingrained in us to keep that from happening.”
“So you’d rather I have trouble with carrying than be seen?”
“No! I would not. It’s the thought of him seeing you down there, that’s all.”
“Whoever delivers this pup will see down there any way. I think Eljin will be that one. You need to get over it, at least with him.”
“You are right. I hope I didn't trouble you with my snapping at him.”
“No, just please let him look after me and the pup.”
“As you wish, though it might be tough to control. I think I will have Elizabet with you instead of me when he examines you. I don’t think I could control my jealousy.”
“Fine.”
Sage was rubbing her arm that was on top of the comforter trying to understand why Dalara was so worried about have to doctor look at her. “Love, why is it important you have a doctor? I mean wolves have been whelping without them for years.”
“I was raised human and they have babies in hospitals you know with drugs.”
“You’re worried you can’t handle it aren't you?”
“Yes.”
“You can do it I know you can. You are an unbelievable female that has comes to terms with your new life. You amaze me every day. Like today, you got through the interviews and it seems to name you picked the ones that will fit good.”

Let me know what you think. I'm getting close to done and will begin editing, which will suck.

The Long Process

As I sit in front of my computer trying to write, I can't help but think it's not good enough. Nothing seems to flow nor does it seem like a book I would read. Some think that an author just sits down and writes a story without trouble, well NOT! Many of us aspiring authors and even New York Times best sellers have this issue of being stuck.
Once I get started I end up going back and reading through what I have several times. Yep, you guess it; I change a lot. I need to learn to write it then edit it. I doubt that will ever happen which is something slowing me down.
I have however' learned to ask for help when I get stuck. I was hard at first because I didn't want to hear, "What the hell are you thinking? This sucks."  Now I have a few people I trust to tell me the truth and I can listen to their hating on parts of my book.

Things I learned in 2013

1. I can write any time of day, not just in the middle of the night.
2. I can't read when I'm in the process of writing.
3. Editing isn't as hard as I thought it would be.
4. My son can drive just fine and I had no need to worry.
5. I can clean and write in the same day.
6. I love my washer and dryer being in the kitchen. I do loads while typing at the table.
7. Scrivener is something I will never be able to live without.
8. Aeon Timeline is almost as needed as Scrivener.
9. My time management skills improved.
10. I love my son's laptop!

My for 2014!

1. Finish editing novel 1 and self-publish
2. Finish WIP1 and edit
3. Start WIP2
4. Keep house clean while writing...yeah harder than said with 2 teenagers in the house.
5. Save enough for my own laptop for X-mas 2014
6. Do more mommy/kid things with the kiddos

Excerpt:
"Dalara was laying on the couch in pain, it had never been this bad before, she thought. Every muscle and joint felt as if they were on fire, she was shaking with the fever and then her thoughts went fuzzy. She could here Sage and Naleena talking but they sounded as if they were far away. Her mind drifted to her dreams of the black wolf. It had haunted her since the first night." from WIP1 "Dalara"!

Working in Progress

I have some good news... I worked for over 8 hours on my 2nd book today. I finally got past the sex scene I was having issues with. Going from young adult content to adult is hard. I didn't realized how much other authors have to thing to keep the content age appropriate.

I plan on writing more of "A Cold Winter" later this week. Check back to read!