Guest Post and Giveaway from author Terry Spear

Making Fantasy Characters a Reality

One of the greatest aspects of creating a new story is making up people who seem so real, we feel they truly exist. A way to make real people is to not only give them strengths, but weaknesses. Flawed characters are real. No one is perfect. Even though my dad always said he was. But he did it with a smile, and we definitely knew better.

When I write my stories, I don’t think: Okay, he’s got to have a profound fear of water and she’s got to have an awful fear of heights, and he has to have a gimpy leg and she…

Well, to me that’s forcing characterizations on them. So what I do instead is let them evolve as the story evolves. As the reader learns their quirks, so do I. As they have to deal with a conflictive situation, I think of alternative paths they can take. What would Jake Silver do in this scenario? His actions and reactions will be different than his brothers of Destiny of the Wolf fame. Because even though they are triplets, the three brothers are not the same. Each would handle a calamity differently.

Alicia Greiston is a human, bounty hunter, and seeking to apprehend the mobsters who killed her mother. Jake Silver, who knows he shouldn’t get involved in human affairs, can’t help but be intrigued by the woman. You’ve probably heard where cats are curious by nature, but so are wolves. And he’s definitely all wolf. When one of the Mob’s thugs approaches Alicia, Jake takes it upon himself to rescue her. That’s his strength. But his weakness is giving her up. He knows deep down he is not about to change her. He knows he can’t have any kind of a permanent relationship with her unless she’s a wolf. But he really can’t help himself where she’s concerned.

Alicia feels the same attraction for Jake. Her real drawback is she’s made a mess of her life with two bad marriages and now she’s after the Mob and she knows that if she gets involved with anyone like Jake, he could very well end up dead. But no matter that she knows this, she’s really stuck on him, wishing he’d come into her life years ago before everything was such a mess.

So here’s an excerpt that shows Jake’s concern when he first meets her, learns she’s a bounty hunter, and that she’s after members of the Mob.

Excerpt from Dreaming of the Wolf by Terry Spear

“Have you been a bounty hunter long?”

She shook her head. “I cashiered at a department store before this.”

Hell, he hadn’t expected that. “Sold merchandise?” he asked in disbelief.

“No. Cashed employee payroll checks, took payments on layaways and credit cards, sold fishing and hunting licenses, and gift-wrapped merchandise at Christmastime until we hired a professional wrapper for the season.”

Wrapping up mobsters in Christmas ribbon and bows came to mind. Just what kind of training did she have? Trying to get his disbelief under control, Jake frowned, hoping that he wasn’t jumping to conclusions and that she had been a bounty hunter for a number of years and was well prepared to arrest the most dangerous criminals. Maybe even that she’d served as a cop. Something that would have made her seem better qualified and prepared.

“Exactly how long have you been a bounty hunter?” He kept his voice even, without a thread of emotion that might antagonize her. Or at least he tried to.

She raised her brows just a hint. “Since a few months ago.”

At that revelation, he couldn’t stifle a grunt of disbelief quickly enough and revealed his true feelings. The knowledge that she hadn’t been doing this long filled him with rife incredulity. The woman had to have a death wish.

“Do you know how to use a gun?” He managed to cut off the “at least” part of his statement before he spoke the words, although they had been on the tip of his tongue.

At that point, the tension fairly sparked between them. Alicia’s hackles raised as her whole body stiffened beside him, her gaze riveted to her teacup, her fingers tightening around it. Her family must have mentioned how dangerous and perilous her job could be and warned her not to take part in such foolhardiness. He couldn’t imagine a woman whose appearance and training seemed so at odds with the kind of job she was determined to do actually accomplishing it.

But then she visibly relaxed. Her whole demeanor became coolly detached, rather than reflecting her anger because he was prying into her business and questioning her ability to do her job. In that instant, he sensed a disconcerting vulnerability. With her jaw set and her eyes examining her teacup, she seemed determined to see this through.

He would bet the homestead that she was somehow being forced into this venture. And he intended to find out why and stop it before she got herself killed.


And so you meet Alicia and Jake. Jake’s a protective wolf even when the woman he wants to protect is human, and Alicia’s bound and determined to accomplish her mission, no matter the high stakes involved.

But the relationship they share is definitely worth the involvement!

So what do you think? If you were a bounty hunter, would you give Jake a chance, even though he wants to shut down your operation so you don’t get yourself killed?

Thanks to everyone for commenting, and thanks to Paranormal Haven for having me!

DREAMING OF THE WOLF by TERRY SPEAR

A fierce hunter…

Alicia Greiston is a no-nonsense bounty hunter determined to bring a ring of mobsters to justice. Her dogged pursuit of the crime family has forced her to avoid relationships—any man would only become a target for retribution. Luckily, Jake Silver is more than a man, and his instincts are telling him to stop at nothing to protect her.

An animal passion…

However, the mob isn’t entirely human either, and soon Alicia must flee for her life. When Alicia and Jake’s passion begins to spill over into their dreams, Jake learns he will have to do more than defend her—he’ll have to show his mate the way of the wolf.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Award-winning author Terry Spear has written a dozen paranormal romance novels, with over 60,000 copies sold. She received Publishers Weekly’s Best Book of the Year in 2008 for Heart of the Wolf. A retired officer of the U.S. Army Reserves, Terry is a librarian by day. She lives in Crawford, Texas. For more information, please visit http://www.terryspear.com/.

You can also visit Terry on her blog and on Facebook or Twitter page. 


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