Interview - Terry Spear

Today Darque Reviews welcomes Terry Spear. She’s agreed to share a bit about herself and her writing.

Hi Terry, thanks so much for joining us!

TS: Thanks so much for having me, Kimberly!

KS: Can you tell us how long you’ve been writing, and what influenced you to write professionally?

TS: Forever! Really, since I was a child I loved to read and make up my own stories, create my own worlds to live in. When my children were young, I bought tons of books for them, read to them, encouraged them to read, and wanted so badly to create my own stories. So I did. One even made it to a senior editor! But then I switched gears and began writing a historical romance. My dad, my greatest advocate, who loved the story, was diagnosed with a fast-acting cancer and was dying. When he died, I couldn’t write. I was devastated. But then in tears, I began to pen his story, The Thirteenth Mission, about his last mission over Germany when he was shot down, which was published in Ex-POW Magazine. Fan mail from that free publication spurred me forth, from the Belgian who thanked me for sharing my father’s story and my father for helping to free his people, to the Ex-POW who sent me his book of consolidated ex-prisoner of war stories from his local chapter. Their own stories touched me so much, I’ve been writing both for nonfiction and fiction magazines, and novels and short stories ever since. J And Destiny of the Wolf was dedicated to my dad and all those who serve in the Armed Forces.

KS: You have an upcoming SourceBooks release, Destiny of the Wolf. Can you tell us about it?

TS: All my wolf titles are stand alone books, and I want them to really showcase something different about the wolf world in each so it doesn’t seem like the same old story told over and over again. In Destiny of the Wolf, the gray lupus garous actually run the town in Colorado from its inception as a silver mining town, whereas in most werewolf societies in my world, the werewolves live amongst the humans, keeping a low profile. So it was fun showing them in charge. :) And now, others want to model their own towns after Darien Silver’s. But his isn’t perfect, not when Lelandi Wildhaven shows up and turns his world upside down.

KS: Will we be seeing more of your wolves in the future?

TS: Absolutely! In Temptation of the Wolf, due out in the fall, we have the same world, only different location, and totally different pack dynamics. His people have abandoned him. His sister has run off with a pack of betas, and …well, he runs into the heroine when he’s not in his best form and things go downhill from there. :) Allure of the Wolf, title to change, is about an Arctic werewolf pack, set in the Canadian Arctic, which may come out in the fall also.

KS: What are you working on now?

TS: Plight of the Wolf and Night of the Wolf, Huntress for Hire.

KS: Which came first for you, Scottish Medieval Romance or Urban Fantasy?

TS: I first started writing a western romance when my dad became so ill. I did finish it, but then set it aside. I went from there to a ghost western, still working on it, set near where I live in an old stagecoach stop town. Then I switched gears and began writing Scottish Medieval Romance, partly because of my Scottish background and all the research I was doing into my roots. At that time, the heroine has second sight, so it was the first work I’d written that delved into the light paranormal. Soft core. :) Realistic enough to fit into the real world in Medieval times. Then I began writing hardcore paranormal—vampires, and from there, werewolves. But with my werewolf world, I wanted the world to feel real, and so I keep my werewolves and their actions as close to what real wolves mixed with a human half might be like.

KS: Which part of the writing process do you enjoy most? Which you part do you enjoy the least?
TS: I love coming up with the first meeting between the hero and heroine, and the first kiss. :) In each of the stories, I wanted the kiss to come unexpectedly. So I hope I was able to do that. :) The least? Saying goodbye to the characters. So in each one of them, you’ll get a glimpse of a character from a previous book. The mystery wolf in Heart of the Wolf makes his appearance in the next three books. Darien Silver from Heart of the Wolf makes a cameo appearance in Temptation of the Wolf also. :)

KS: What do you do when you manage a little free time?

TS: Garden, though I should say relandscaping. Major work, but I love to see the transformation. And reading. Whether I have free time or not. :)

KS: Do you enjoy reading the same genres that you write? Who are some of your favorite authors?

TS: I do. I love Leslie Lafoy’s historical works, Karen Moning’s Immortals, and Joy Nash’s as well and tons more.

KS: If you could have any supernatural trait, what would it be? Why?

TS: Vanish and reappear somewhere else. And time travel. With the ability to vanish and reappear anywhere else if I ended up somewhere that I really didn’t want to be. :)

KS: Is there anything else you’d like to share with readers, or do you have any advice for the aspiring writers out there?

TS: For readers, I love to hear from you! I’m on Myspace, Facebook and Twitters, so please join me! For aspiring writers, same thing. Just keep writing, keep revising, and keep submitting. Perseverance is the name of the game. :)
Thanks so much for sharing your time with us Terry, it’s been a pleasure!

TS: Thanks so much for having me, Kimberly!! :)
To learn more about Terry Spear and her books, please visit her website: www.terryspear.com

Kimberly Swan, Darque Reviews