What Am I Doing On Christmas Eve?

We don't celebrate Christmas in our house so I'm making cheesecakes for my friends' holiday celebrations. I've cleaned the living room, did dishes, swept floors and dusted. Then my ex-boyfriend messages me on facebook. He's in an emotional tornado and wants my help. Guess what I agree to. I have him coming over to talk. How stupid can I be. The only time we talk is when he is having problems. If I had a doctorate I'd be getting paid tons of money for this. Why do I always help him and a few others like him? Is it because I know I can or is it a deep seated wishing I had a boyfriend? I have learned from mistakes that I do NOT need a man to have a fulfilled life. My mom thought she needed to stay with an abusive man to be happy. It tore her heart out in the end. I knew then I would never need a man. I still ended up in a few relationships that were just for companionship.  Guess some of us have to learn from experience.

Well, my ex is coming over and I will talk with him. I'll remember all the reasons why we are no longer together and forbid myself to get attached again.

I'm going to spend the next week looking at my mistakes and triumphs to better understand myself. I need to lose weight, eat better and get a handle on my emotions before I fall apart. My resolution for 2015 will be:
Take meds every day(I do it now)
Exercise
Write
Read
Cook healthy meals
Not look out the window and wonder if the grass is greener on the other side
Talk to my kids rather than speak at them

These should help me with all my issues.

Look for excerpts after the new year. I promise you ate least one.

Happy Holidays!

Writing is Hard

As I write today I realise that it's not easy. I have 1 that needs editing like crazy and 3 that needs to be finished. Why can't I just stay focused on 1 of them. Yep, you guessed it, plot bunnies driving me in so many directions.
Excerpt from #WIP3

Tasmina didn’t know where she was going but she knew she had to get away from him. How could this be happening? Her life was just getting on track, school, being able to walk around without fear’ well much fear anyway.  It was a life she thought she’d never have after everything she’d went through as a pup. She had thought it was in the past, now he brought it to the front of her thoughts. Thoughts she didn’t want back. Once she slowed down she scented to see if anyone was following her, no she was alone. The only scent she found was that of the stream running through the land. Knowing the visiting wolves weren’t allowed there she sat down. Thoughts of Amos and the dungeon rushed back. Feeling as though she was in it she began to shake, sweat and fear was rolling off her. This was how it would be with Elijah. He was of old days, kept his pack in order with whippings. Another thing she was all too familiar with. Though the scars on her back had healed without the faintest line, her inner scars were there to stay. She can’t go through that again and she wouldn’t. If that went going anomic then so be it. She had left her tracking sense open to keep herself safe, now she scented a male within a few yards. One she wasn’t familiar with. Must be one of those looking for their true-mate, something she never thought of doing. Tracking his movement she sensed he moved in another direction, to a path that was further away from her. Wondering why others wanted to mate, she thought of how her parents had been. They were true-mates and died within six months of each other, she being only four. Memories of them were faint but she knew they loved each other with all they had. Pictures of them holding hands and smiling at each other when they thought no one was looking made her wolf stir.

(c) Jessica Markley 2014

See not my best work but it's the first draft so I'll go with it for now. Back to fingers flying over the keyboard. #WriteClub today. Hoping to hit 5k new words. More updates soon.

10 Days and I'm Done

As there is 10 days left for NaNoWriMo, I have passed the 50k mark. Only a day behind last year. For the last week I had been struggling to get there. Now that I've hit goal, I have all these plot bunnies running in my head. With them in there I now have 2 more ideas for novels. Yeah, not like I don't have to finish the 2 I have almost finished.

As for editing, I'm working on the 1st in the Tamesville Series. Hoping to get 'Dalara' to my beta-reader by the first of the year. Then publish by March. I have my doubts it will be any good or even sell. Never hurts to try. I'll be blogging about the process once I get there.

With the holidays coming, it's time to slow my pace down and relax. I plan on writing on Thanksgiving and Christmas since I stay home while the kiddos see family. We will have a combo meal the 1st weekend of December; turkey, ham and all the fixings.  My house is still pretty much clean and so it's food prepping I will have to do.

Camping 1st Week

I haven't gotten much accomplished on my WIP-Naleena this week. I do plan on busting my butt this weekend to get ahead of my word count because I will not be able to write 2 more days this month.

Excerpt from 'Naleena' my CampNaNoWriMo WIP.

Takoda ran his hands over his face; he had missed an important meeting and now regretted it. “My orders?” he finally asked.
“None. You have not shown you are ready. You shall continue to run the bar and be Beta. That means you must act as Beta not a low ranking pack member.” Drewdon stated in his formal tone.
Shame fell over Takoda and the Council could smell it. “In time Young One, you shall take your place in the changes. Sooner than you may think.”
Drewdon was always cryptic, as was all of Council. Zane was more blunt most of the time. “That means what?” he looked at them. “If I may inquire that is?”
“Time will show you.” Zane said and Council just walked out without another word. They were known for not saying good-byes or telling anyone the conversation was over. It frustrated everyone that wasn’t older than a hundred. How did the thousand years old deal with that kind of stuff when it was the way of life? Well that was one question that was never going to get answered. He packed up some papers and went home for a shower and food. 

 I am loving Camp and I'm meeting tons of new people with things in common. I'm keeping a 'camp' journal here online. As you can see I still have tons to do. I forgot to add finish making up the freezer meals. I still have about 5 to do.

If you noticed I need to get male MC (Takoda) to express his feelings and as all women know it's hard. At least I have figured out the flashback parts and have lots of notes on that. It will make the 2nd part fly out of my fingers fast.

One thing that has had me to procrastinate is my son has informed me he is taking a Creative Writing class that he will have to write a book next school year. He keeps coming to me asking all kinds of questions so I have written out several steps he needs to take before writing. Now he's working on characters... 'Mom, can he have white hair and be 26 years old?' I told him his characters can be and do anything he wants but they may have a mind of their own at times and not get pissy about that.

Now I am off to kick Takoda's butt and get him to do what I want him to.
Have a wonderful weekend full of reading and writing.

Favorite Author #6

Nicky Charles 

Nicky lives in Canada and I try to use Canadian spelling in her work, which may throw some readers off but it's my way of supporting my country. She likes reading, writing and gardening.  Her favorite food is dark chocolate. She loves to travel and cats. She is an avid supporter of animal shelters, nature conservancy, food banks and a wide variety of other charities.

When I bought my NOOK, Nicky's The Mating was the first book I downloaded. Why? you ask. Well, it's free as well as the others in Laws of The Lycans series. They are around 800pgs. each or more given the book. I was amazed at how well written a free novel was. She catches your attention in the first few chapters and you don't want to put it down. As I finished The Mating I had to immediately download the next. Thinking it would cost a bit, wrong...FREE again.

My reading order was as she wrote them: The Mating, The Keeping, The Finding, Bonded, Betrayed

 Chronological order:  Bonded, The Mating, The Keeping, Betrayed, The Finding  
Following the story strands: Bonded, Betrayed and then The Mating, The Keeping, The Finding

Nicky is one of my fall-back re-reads I love and never get tired of. After reading it several times I still find things I missed the first few. Like a landscape, an emotion or implied feelings.

Nicky's books:

The Mating

Betrayed

The Finding

The Keeping

Bonded

Forever in Time

Find her on her webpage, facebook, or nicky.charles@live.ca & nicky@nickycharles.com

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.

My Writing Schedule ???

Many ask how do you plan when you write?

Well that all depends on the day and my mood. I am a participant of WriteChainChallenege so I make myself write at least 1500 wordies a day. I have managed for the last 53 days to do so. Here's my schedule (changes made when kiddos involved)

Monday - Thursday during 9am and 3pm for at least 2 hours. At night I write while cooking and cleaning up after dinner.
Fridays I write from 1pm-2am with a few breaks for food and dishes This is for FriNightWrites on Twitter
Saturdays I write any where from 9am-3am for a minimum of 6 hours. In the mornings I do #TalesAndTea with The Sprint Shack on Twitter.
Sundays it all depends on when my kiddos get home. usually I write around noon for a few hours (like 8).

Remember I have two kids and they interfere a lot with my scheduled writing times. Friday my son came home from school early because of a migraine. No problem he went to his room and slept for a bit, so no stopping is needed. Then I have to figure out which laptop I am gonna use, my daughter's or son's. If neither then I HAVE to use my desktop. Using my desktop isn't as inspiring as writing in the kitchen for some reason.

Most of the time I do word sprints for 30 minutes with friends and fellow writers on Twitter. They keep my grove going and when my writing groups aren't running sprints I do. Example, I ran six 30 minute sprints today and had several join in. I always use the hashtag #getwordies because that's our goal, to get words written.

Yeah I am on Twitter most of the day doing sprints. Like I said before, they keep me writing and during the breaks I get dishes, laundry and other things done in the kitchen. I even cook while sprinting now. Though finding TweetDeck was the best thing in the world since Scrivener.

No matter what wordies are written everyday. I wrote only 2540 words today but I created several supporting characters for this 'Dalara' and they may end up with one of their own in the future. Already planning on one for sure.

So, my writer friends and followers, if you need motivation to keep you on track find me on Twitter @jesdeh2o or search #getwordies to see if I'm running sprints! Or you can always ask if I can. I am more than willing to help out my fellow writers.

What Are They Doing?

My characters are not cooperating with me. 

The last few days my MC (main character) and her bestie have decided they don't want to do what I want. This point in the novel is hard enough to write. Now with them ticking me off it just makes it harder. Dalara's bestie is having issues with not wanting to be in this part and I need her here. It's almost as if she wants to be the MC now and I can't have that. I have had this issue before but she is stubborn. I am hoping by Friday she will start cooperating. I need wordies. 

I am going to word sprint with my lovelies over at @TheSprintShack on Twitter today, or at least try. Friday will be an all day and night sprint fest with @FriNightWrites for #writeclub. For those who are unfamiliar with either one check out their blogs. The Sprint Shack and FriNightWrites. The sprints are hosted by fellow writers. We write for a set time and see how many wordies we can get out of our fingers. 

I want this novel done and ready for my beta readers before April 1st. Camp NaNoWriMo begins then and I want to start the next novel in the series. I was thinking it would be Dalara's pack-mate but it might have to be her bestie instead. Which that is all fine and dandy with me. I know part of her story already and have tons of notes and research done. 

Camp NaNoWriMo is like NaNoWriMo I did in November; 50k words in a month. I won in November and I want to in April and July for Camp NaNoWriMo too. That's where the sprinting comes in handy. On a good sprint I have forced out 900+ wordies in 30 minutes. I wouldn't be able to live without my lovelies on Twitter. They keep me going with encouragement and ideas when I get stuck like I am now. 

Don't forget Friday I will be posting about another favorite author of mine. 

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"!

Challenge!

As you may know; I am at a loss as to what the title to my Lycan series should be. I am in need of suggestions. Starting January 1st I will start taking suggestions and on the 15th I will put them to a vote. In essence one of you will be naming the series. On the 1st I will post several excerpts and brief descriptions of the main characters. Plus a few things that will go on in the series.

The person who's suggestion is chosen will receive a $10 gift card to either Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

The people who made suggestions will receive a free copy of the 1st e-book published, 'Dalara'.  Hoping by November 2014.

So, start thinking and make sure you follow this blog. That way you will be ready come the 1st of the year.

Back to the 'Writing Cave' for me.

Back To The Beginning

So, after NaNoWriMo I realized that I needed to rewrite the first novel in the series. Basically delete 3/4 of it and make it flow better. That's what I'm doing. It is a long process but I am getting to it little by little. I really hate when my characters decide they aren't going to go along with what I had planned for them.
I have a title for the book but not for the series yet. The first book will be "Dalara". She is the main female character (MFC). She has had loss but yet is strong and independent. A family secret comes to light and she is courageous to embrace it. Along the way she finds love and tragic events.   Learning that she is Coveted by many and feared by most, she must learn not to let it go to her head. In "Dalara" we get a sense of a new world that is hidden to humans, yes Lycans or more like werewolves.

Here are the titles I have so far, though I have no idea what order they will be in.
Dalara
Tasmina
Naleena
Zakaira
Zacharius
Drewdon
Lucas

Any suggestions for a series title is much appreciated. Leave a comment or ask other things in order to get a better idea of what a good title would be. I think I will do a giveaway to the one with the title I choose. Not sure what's gonna be given away yet. Stay tuned to see.

1st Week of December!

As I sit here and wait for the 5th I am thinking back over what I accomplished in November. Though it is the hardest month of  the year for me, I wrote 3/4 of a novel hitting over 50k words. I won NaNoWriMo! I never thought I could do it, but with the support of @TheSprintShack, @WriteChain, @FriNightWrites and many others within them, it would take forever to list all that helped and are still helping me. Always pushing me to sprint and get those words out of my head and on the computer screen. You guys *ROCK*.
As I have not completed my NaNo novel, I have begun finishing up the PREQUEL to it.  It is a shorter process after doing 50k+ in 30days. I am so glad I took the challenge and if I hadn't won, it still would have been awesome.

With winning I get to purchase Scrivener from Literature and Latte at 50% off on the 5th. Along with AEON Timeline. Both helped me so much I would never had made it without their NaNo Trials. With Scrivener I had everything from places, character bios, and relationships all in one place. I didn't have to open another program. Aeon Timeline allowed me to track the timing of each event and I never forgot what day it was in my novel.

There are tons of tools for writers and these are the only ones I have tried and I don't think I will try anything else. This is it for me. Each writer has their own way of doing things and Scrivener and Aeon Timeline is what I need.

With all that said I will definitely be participating next year in NaNoWriMo! I only wish I could make a financial donation this year. If you wish to help out the non-profit organization of NaNoWriMo please do so on their website (Link is above). Thanks!

Possible Book Characters for New Series!

Here are some pics of inspiration for my characters. Let me know if the names fit!

In 4779BC six shifters were created; they could take any form but wolf, leopard and panther were the ones they preferred. When they bred they had whatever species they were at the time of conception. Nathaniel, Vera, James, Abraham, Lorily, and Margret were their names. Nathaniel lived the longest and was the most powerful of the six. As the race expanded they became ‘Council’, the ruling govern. They made laws and punished those who broke them, usually physical punishment.  All that survived were the wolves. Numbers have dropped and new wolves are not coming. 

They stop aging around 25 years or so.

239 years old. Warrior Wolf

26 years old. Raised as human. 1st glimpse into the world of  werewolves.

14 years old. Training to be a warrior. Son of an Alpha.

 19 years old Raised in a pack with a terrible alpha. Shy and withdrawn.

Drewdon is 519 yrs. old and raised in Zacharius’ pack. He is more out-going and has the ability to adjust quicker than Zacharius or Zane does. Has a sense of humor once he relaxes.

134 years old. Dalara raised to call her aunt.

217 Years old. Alpha

346 years old. Warrior to Zacharius, the ELDEST

39 years old

27 year old teacher thought to be human

Alpha

239 years old. Warrior

Sage's Beta

21 Years old Shy and distant

20 years old drama queen and acts like she has been very sexual 

Zacharius was born in 1369ad. That makes him approximately 643 years old...yeah he doesn't look it! Being the Eldest of his race his word is law. With "Council", his friends, they rule over everything.  With his long black hair and his dark eyes, he is a looker!!! Being as old as he is, his speech, behavior and expectations are "old fashioned". He says it, you do it... no questions asked. 

23 Years old strong and obedient

27 years old obedient and alpha prospect

Alpha

Alpha

Alpha

Zane is 519 yrs. old, raised in Zacharius’ pack. Zane is laid back and quiet. He listens and takes everything in, never speaking unless needed

*Disclaimer - I am not the owner of these pictures. I found them on the web for causal fun use on my blog for which I receive no compensation. If this picture belongs to you (you are the copyright owner) please let me know and I will remove it.

My New Series.....

"Shifters of Tamesville"

This is a  series of novels that will make you fall in love with each and everyone of the characters.


In 4779BC six shifters were created; they could take any form but wolf, leopard and panther were the ones they preferred. When they bred they had whatever species they were at the time of conception. Nathaniel, Vera, James, Abraham, Lorily, and Margret were their names. Nathaniel lived the longest and was the most powerful of the six. As the race expanded they became ‘Council’, the ruling govern. They made laws and punished those who broke them, usually physical punishment.  Numbers have dropped and new wolves are not coming.

Book 1~~~Sage finds a special wolf (Dalara) that was a fairytale he grew up listening to. The fairytale spoke of great expansion. What he never expected was to find love and compassion. Unknown his life is about to change in many ways; struggles, love, responsibility.

Sage

Series title is still up in the air as well as the book titles.

*Disclaimer - I am not the owner of this picture. I found it on the web for causal fun use on my blog for which I receive no compensation. If this picture belongs to you (you are the copyright owner) please let me know and I will remove it.

Distracted!!!

I'm a bit distracted writing. I am hoping to get to posting some of the passages. Until then Check out  Laura Wright, Alexandra Ivy, Patricia Briggs, J.R. Ward and Tina Folsom's works!

Plans for the weekend...

I am planning on completing the synopsis for the new series I'm working on. Hopefully I'll get it posted by Sunday. I also started working on character descriptions. I will start off with the major characters of the first book... We will have Sage, Dalara, Naleena and Takoda...maybe I'll even get to Zacharius, Drewdon, and Zane. Who knows, anything is possible. Still working on a name for the series...

1. Shifter Longings
2. Shapeshifters' Fate
3. Fate of the Shifters
4. Tamesville Wolves
5. Weres of Tamesville
6. Fate of the Shifters

'Inevitable Destinyz' is almost done with the second outside edit and edit. Then it will be on to publishing it. Hoping to have it available on nook, amazon, smashwords, sony and kobo. I am thinking of offering free copies to those who follow my blogs and maybe a cheap price of $1.99 for the first month or so. I don't know...my books are probably not very good. Though those who have read it think 'Inevitable Destinyz' is wonderful. I never thought about publishing until a friend read it, about 3 years ago. I only started writing it for my daughter.

Have a great weekend.

Blessed Be my friend!!!

Wednesday Reads

"Dead Until Dark" by Charlaine Harris had me after the third chapter. Yeah, it's the book series "True Blood" on HBO, was based upon. You may have watched it and fell in love with Eric, Bill, Alcide but the storyline was changed. I like the TV series a little better but nothing compares to the original characters in the books. Tara, Lafayette, and a few others are nothing like they are in the books. Yes, Lafayette is still a flaming drag queen! Take a look and compare.

Grab it at Amazon, BnN or your local library!

Publishing Schedule

I am hoping to publish 'Inevitable Destinyz' on or before May 1st 2013. I made a time line and hopefully I will stick to it.  'Unexpected Love' should be ready to publish by the end of August. I'm having issues with the seconds title, it might change to 'Dalara' and have the series titled 'Unexpected Love'. Who knows, maybe it'll be something totally different. I have no idea when 'A Cold Winter' will even be done.

Prologue:

In 1860ad a wise women of 110 years made a prophecy:

Once 'The Prince' descended from Vlad Dracula finds 'The Maiden' they will unite and produce the 'Pure Child'. They will be of both Solstices. They will be unable to stop from forming this bond. Their bond will be beyond anything that has ever been. They will bond in the physical, mental, and spiritual plains. 'The Maiden' will become “The Mother of All Witches” and then “The Crone to All”. It will happen in the year when three tens or three elevens fall in the same month. It is their destiny. Once 'The Prince' and 'The Maiden' find each other, hearts will bond for their loved ones. All bonds will be made by The Fall Equinox. Those affected will live together and help each other. All will help raise ‘The Pure Child’, who is to be born on the Spring Equinox and will be born before the prince is nineteen. All seven couples will raise their twenty-one children together and they will all have powers that are more than there has been before. With proper raising, they will unite all.

An updated Cold Winter!

The wind was blowing and the air was freezing as Shelana walked from her car into her house. She had barely made it home before the snow began to fall. If she had been still out she never would have made it. Her drive is a mile long and curvy which makes traveling in snow dangerous, but she needed food for the storm and ventured out.

After she put everything away she lit the fire and started the stew. While peeling the potatoes she heard a sound from the back door. It was almost a cry. After looking out and seeing nothing she finished simmering the stew.

She counted the logs of wood and knew she'd need at least four more so she bundled up. Opening the door she found a wolf that was iced over. He must have been out and couldn't make it back to where he slept she thought.

"Damn, if you were a dog I'd take you in, but being a wolf I don't think that's wise." She told it.

After hauling the logs in, she decided that the wolf would be fine inside the porch and out of the wind and snow.

"Come, it will be warmer on the porch." It followed slowly, almost as if it were afraid of her. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just don't want to find a dead wolf in the morning." The wolf tilted its head as if trying to figure out what she was doing. Once inside she laid out a blanket and a bowl of water. "I'll bring you something warm to eat in a bit." she smiled and went in the house. She heard nails scraping on the wooden porch floor as the wolf moved to the blanket and turned several times before settling down to rest.

She tended the fire and read while her dinner was cooking. Every now and then she’d hear the canine walk to the bowl for a drink and then back to the blanket. She wondered what would have happened to him if she left outside.

She finished her bowl of stew, refilled it and took it out to the porch. The wolf had thawed out leaving a tan male wolf with an under-coating of grey. There was a white splash on its nose. What a gorgeous wolf she thought to herself. “Here you go; it is stew. I don’t know what else to feed you so it’ll have to do. Oh my! You need more water; I’ll be right back with it.”

When she returned the stew was gone and the wolf was looking at her as if he was thanking her. “You’re welcome.” She said as she went back to reading.

The wolf began to pace back and forth across the porch. Shelana got up to check out what had him so antsy. He looked at the door as she opened it and he whined. “What do you need? Do you need outside?” she asked and went to open the front door. He lunged at her, knocking her down. “What was that?”  The wolf straddled her and sat down. Making a growly noise he shook his head. “Ok, I get it. You don’t need out. Get off now.” He didn’t move. “You’re starting to scare me.” That was what got him to move. “Do you understand me?” She thought it was silly but he was acting as if he did. The wolf just tilted his head. That’s when she heard a shot in the woods, too close to her house for the neighbors. She crawled into the house with the wolf on her tale. Reaching for the phone she heard another shot ring out. She dialed the sheriff’s number.

“Hey Robert, I have someone out here shooting off their shot gun.” She told him

“I know; there is a fugitive running out that way. Lock your doors and stay down. Whatever you do don’t let anyone in.”

“Thanks Robert.” Shelana hung up and repeated everything to the wolf while gathering blankets and her book so she could sleep on the floor. Once she was lying down the wolf came up sniffing her. Once around her and he lay down behind her knees.

“Oh, you think you are going to protect me, huh?” she asked. He just looked up and stared. “Ok, I see. That’s fine; just don’t go near the windows.” She fell asleep with his warm body heating her.

Shelana woke to something licking her face, not remembering the wolf she let in the night before. Opening her eyes, everything came back to her. “Thanks for the shower boys.” He whined and looked toward the door. “Let’s let you out.” Wagging his tail she let him out.

She got into the shower and was dressing when she heard the wolf howl. ‘Damn!’ she thought. ‘I better let him in and make sure he isn’t hurt.’ She always worried about the wildlife around her.

He came right in as she opened the door. “I’m going to check you to see if you’re hurt. OK boy?” He just whined. “It’s alright, I won’t hurt you.” She proceeded towards him, got to her knees and placed her hand on his head. Shelana petted him before moving towards his back. He laid down and exposed his belly. “Good boy.” She found nothing wrong; no cuts or blood. “You sure are a beautiful wolf. Your fur is so soft I could pet you all day. Now, I’m going to get breakfast. Will you eat eggs and bacon boy?” He got up and wagged his tail. ‘Gee, he acts as if he understands me.’ She thought.

Found New Author

This week I found a new Author... Vivi Anna! Her books, "Bad to the Bone" and "Hungry Like the Wolf" were great. A paranormal romance that is a little different from the norm! A human meets a  werewolf, falls for him after being captured due to seeing things she should not have. Then is abandoned by him, only to turn a month later. She leaves the country and returns months later to a rival pack! Of course they end up together in the end and have twins!
"Bad to the Bone" is free, for e-book, at Barnes and Noble and Amazon. "Hungry Like the Wolf" is only $2.00. Great for the tight money household.

I haven't written in the last few weeks, but plan on getting back to it this weekend. Check back Monday for an addition to "Cold Winter Day".

Have a great weekend... Spring will be here, in Iowa shortly!!!