Bootcamp of Misfit Wolves

Every time I return to the Vanguard world, it’s like taking a trip down memory lane. I’ve never been the type of person who fits in with the popular crowd. I marched to the beat of my own drum, even now as an author. So why wouldn’t I love writing about the outcasts of the wolf shifter packs. Sometimes a woman just wants to root for the underdogs.   

Bootcamp of Misfit Wolves is a novella-length book of approximately 36,000 words. It released on October 14th and has hit the Top 100 Paranormal Romance list on Amz. I'll share the blurb after the links:

Amazon --> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B016IPTAU6

Amazon UK --> http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B016IPTAU6

Amazon CA --> http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B016IPTAU6

Amazon AU --> http://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B016IPTAU6

Amazon DE --> http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B016IPTAU6

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From the author of the bestselling Vanguards books comes a new series focusing on a new pack of underdogs who desperately need guidance to find their inner alphas. Full of humor, personality, and a vampire warrior outnumbered, the Vanguard Elite is rising.

BOOK ONE

Ian’s alpha tosses him out of his car at a training camp for worthless and weak wolf shifters run by a crazy vampire.

His only choice is to escape and go lone wolf.

Until he runs into Clare…

She actually volunteered for this gig.

Her wolf is all alpha but it’s crammed into a petite package, and she definitely has no mercy when it comes to him.

The work is hard.

The training dangerous.

Surviving is optional.

Clare can’t stand Ian’s disregard for her authority and he hates her driven ambition.

Sparks fly and teeth are bared. Opposites attract they say.

If they don’t kill each other first.

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New Releases

 Quinn is looking forward to her senior year at Poe University. She has big plans to hang out with her best friend, flirt with a certain boy genius, party at her favorite dive bar and figure out what she's going to do after graduation with her not-so-useful art major. But that's before she meets Luke, a hot townie who's moved back home to help take care of his dying sister. And it's before a weird epidemic sweeps across campus, mysteriously turning people's eyes purple.

Is it an odd side effect from a new party drug?

Is it a rogue virus developed in a campus lab?

Is it the mark of the devil?

Soon the town starts blaming the university and the student religious group becomes frighteningly aggressive in their on-campus accusations. Quinn and Luke are caught in the middle—until a tragic accident forces Luke to reveal the one part of himself he's kept carefully hidden. That he's so much more than the happy-go-lucky boy next door Quinn had believed him to be isn't a surprise…but this truth might be too dangerous for her to handle.

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QITIRIN 

Sensuous Paranormal Fantasy Romance
Music And Press
ISBN 978-1-941321-39-3
Word Count:  33.2K
$2.99

Scarred and traumatized, ex-Marine Sergeant Joshua Cobb can no longer function amid normal civilization. He's retreated to the mountains of Alaska to live in solitude, where he can battle his personal demons in peace.

Life is harsh in the untamed wild, especially when he has to face other creatures who are also trying to survive. But the bears and wolves and other dangerous animals are no match for the two-legged variety who see Joshua as easy prey.

He has no idea that the injured wolf he rescues will become more than a companion. It will also save his life, and show him a love he only believed was possible in fairy tales.

Because the wolf, Qitirin, is more human than anyone could imagine.

Warning! Contains ill-fitting clothes, inhumane traps, actionable threats, banishment, pissed-off bears, and a way of life that demands both undying love and the ultimate sacrifice.

Excerpt and buy links.

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MILESTONES:


Nicole Luiken's YA SF novel Violet Eyes has reached 1000 ratings on Goodreads!

Spooky Tails for Halloween

This is my first time blogging with the great group of authors at Here Be Monsters, I mean, Here Be Magic, and it appears we've got a scary, spooky, creepy Halloween theme going the past several posts. Nicole North wanted to know what you're afraid of http://herebemagic.blogspot.com/2011/10/what-are-you-afraid-of.html while Selah March listed a few horror-centric TV shows airing this October: http://herebemagic.blogspot.com/2011/10/tv-for-scare-junkies.html. Veronica Scott talked about acting on stage http://herebemagic.blogspot.com/2011/10/all-worlds-stage.html (which is pretty horrifying to an introvert like me!) and JK Koi is already getting ready for Christmas, which should scare just about anyone: http://herebemagic.blogspot.com/2011/10/antho-for-christmas.html.

(Image credit: Scaredy cat drawn by the daughter of Liz Kreger for an interview we did at my blog.)

I don't partake of many horror movies, and only made it few a couple seasons of Supernatural. Granted, I hear I should have stuck with it in order to witness the glory that was Dr. Sexy, MD, but my favorite episodes were always the funny ones. The ones where the frightening moments were relieved by humor (Jensen Ackles screaming like a little girl in the episode "Yellow Fever" comes to mind) so my blood pressure could have a chance to ebb to a healthier level. Tension and excitement, sure. Chases and fight scenes and heroes or heroines racing to the airport before their true love can fly off forever... Definitely.

But horror?

Thus it came as a bit of a surprise when the initial idea for my February 2012 Carina novel, Pack and Coven, occurred to me. Werewolves and witches -- and some of the werewolves are really bad news. There's chases and fight scenes and people getting hurt. The hero and heroine at one point sure wish they were taking off in an airplane, but the entire story takes place in a rural, mountainous area in West Virginia with no airport easily at hand.

The thing about this book, though, is that amidst all the chaos and tension, I leavened it with plenty of humor. Our hero, aptly named Harry, is a biologically "alpha" male wolf shifter in a world where two alphas are required to keep the bonds of a wolf pack intact. The local pack lost their male alpha, and they really want Harry to step up. Really, really want him to step up, to the point of trickery, coercion and force. Harry would rather chew his own foot off than be in charge of a bunch of wolves. He considers himself an independent and had never planned on joining any pack.

Just when it seems he's not going to have a choice, we meet our heroine, June, a powerful witch who's determined to help Harry escape the life he doesn't want to live. The trick is going to be making sure he doesn't realize witches exist...and keeping her ginormous crush on him to herself at the same time.

So while Pack and Coven has some of the trappings of a horror novel with werewolves, rituals and an ominous, rural setting, it also contains humor, sex and some really great pie.

So what are some of your favorite funny horror movies or not-totally-terrifying tales of ... tails?

Jody Wallace
www.jodywallace.com * www.meankitty.com

Why I Love Shapeshifters

I grew up on a farm and my whole life I’ve loved animals of almost any type. When I was a kid I pretended I was a cat quite often, for hours at a time. (Yes, I’m nuts about cats, large or small.) I suppose that’s why today I love writing human characters who turn into animals. To be able to shapeshift would be truly magical and amazing. Imagine soaring in the sky as an eagle or other bird and flapping your own feathered wings. Imagine swimming deep in the ocean like a seal or dolphin, no extra equipment required. Animals get to experience things humans never will. Sure, we can almost experience some of those things with the gadgets we’ve invented but it isn’t the same.

Several of my published stories feature shapeshifters, including my latest release, Blade of the Wolf, which features a werewolf or wolf shifter. Wolf shifters seem to appear in romance novels more than other types of animal shifters. I’ve come to the conclusion there has to be an ancient bond between wolves and humans, from many thousands of years ago when at times humans depended on wolves, and wolves depended on humans (for protection, help in hunting, one providing the other with food, companionship, etc). Back when man first started taming wolves and turning them into what would eventually, after eons, become dogs. Man’s (and woman’s) best friend. I can easily see how this relationship would’ve been mutually beneficial during the earliest times. Geneticists and archeologists estimate that some of the first associations between humans and wolves happened about twenty-thousand years ago. Others suggest that this relationship is far older, dating from 135,000 years ago. It appears that both humans and wolves followed herds of deer and other animals and this is probably how they first came into contact.

Wolves possess something that most of us greatly respect and admire. They live in a society structured somewhat like human societies with alphas or leaders and various other members with specific responsibilities and roles. They take care of one another, live in cooperative groups and are highly intelligent.

The natural world aside, when I wrote Blade of the Wolf, I wanted to create a whole new world with a lot of paranormal elements. A world that had existed for my characters since medieval times. I wanted to blend the ancient and the modern and see what kind of interesting concoction resulted.

My characters shapeshift from human to regular wolf at will… plus they can do other unusual things.

Since they have no human souls in their bodies because of a curse, they are immortal. These highly skilled warriors fight an endless battle against evil while protecting certain “special” humans. I could’ve written the warriors without the shifting, but their wolf halves add another dimension to their personalities and their lives that I find fascinating. They live in a pack-like, Scottish Highland clan society. The hero’s wolf side (even while he is in human form) is greatly affected by moon phases. Full moon brings on a more intensified libido and sexual cravings. This works well since the book is an erotic romance. His other wolf traits include super-senses. He can hear, smell and see as well as a wolf.

I enjoyed getting into the hero’s psyche and experiencing what he does when he’s a wolf, or simply his wolfish thoughts when he’s human.

Do you enjoy shapeshifter books? If so, what do you like best about them and why? Are you a fan of wolf shifters or some other type of shifter or “were”?
Thanks!
Nicole
www.nicolenorth.com

Ronan, immortal werewolf and Scottish Sgian Dubh Guardian, faces his most challenging, yet enticing, mission in centuries. He must protect sexy clairvoyant medium Syrena Ellis from an evil incubus intent on stealing her powerful life force. She awakens a raging arousal in Ronan, but if he gives in to temptation, he will be punished.

Dark and edgy, Ronan captivates Syrena. He is hot, hard and in control, yet his scorching glances and sinful kisses tell her he yearns for her. Even though she’s only a job, she finds a way past his iron-willed resistance. She’s determined to explore the depths of erotic passion with him. They’re unaware that their explosive sexual encounters are providing the enemy incubus with heightened energy, making him almost impossible to defeat.

Syrena’s forbidden desire and scorching lust for Ronan could destroy them both.

Read Excerpt.

www.nicolenorth.com