by Jackie King
Today I have an early Halloween treat for you! Susan Shay, one of my favorite people and also a darned good writer, discusses her latest book, a Fantasy titled MAKE ME HOWL. She starts with an example of how her main character, Jazzy, takes over her computer and her life.
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| Susan Shay |
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Hi!
My name is Jazzy Cannis. I'm a successful
wardrobe designer and personal shopper. Lucky me! I was born with a killer
sense of style, biting sense of humor and an active Lycan gene. A very active Lycan gene.
I had life all figured out. I just had to
stay in control all the time. I couldn't get too angry, too wild or too excited
while making love or I'd wolf out. No prob.
Enter Chase Holliday, serious hunk. Mr.
Always-In-Total-Control is an animal geneticist who's out to eradicate every
werewolf on the planet. He thinks safety lies in making werewolves only the
stuff of fairytales. To reach that goal, he works every spare moment isolating
the Lycan gene.
Then he met me. The man in the iron will
thought he could handle this wild woman. Snort!
I
just made one little mistake—I forgot about the Blood Moon and, being in heat,
I lost control and made love with Chase. That's when I learned that all
wolves, even Lycans, mate for life.
Eternity
with an emotionally crippled, uber restrained cold duck who barely registers a
response when we make love? I don't think so. Even if it kills me, I'll find a
way out. Or I'll Make him Howl.
~~~~~
Susan Regains Gains Control:
Susan
here. Well, Jazzy got my laptop again. Sorry about that. J Not really.
Jazzy's fun to hang with, so I don't really mind.
I
don't know if non-writers hear voices in their heads, but writers definitely
do. (My critique partners laugh because mine are so real to me.) While some of
my inside-my-head characters are great to talk to when I need sleep, Jazzy
isn't one.
Why?
Well, she's always got some snarky remark, which keeps me on my toes. (Not a
great position for sleep.) In order to gain a thimbleful of control, I wrote
her book, MAKE ME HOWL, and I turned her loose.
Big!
Mistake! LOL.
Releasing
a werewolf on purpose is never a good thing. But it's—uh—interesting.
People
ask where I got the idea for MAKE ME HOWL. The truth is, Marilyn Pappano. She
send me a chapter of a light paranormal trilogy she considered writing and I
loved it. It was fun and funny. Just the kind of thing I wanted to write. But I
wanted mine to be different.
I
started brainstorming story ideas. What iconic paranormal characters could I
take over and give a twist to come up with a fun and funny story?
And
so, Jazzy was born. Once she came into being, she took off. Below is an excerpt
where Jazzy talks to her twin sister, Bella:
~~~~~
I
took a moment to settle myself, to find my center. Arranging my hair so I was
well covered, I got to my knees, then sat on my heels. “You know, last
night, when you and Doc abandoned me, Norman became a huge pest. He
kept at me, wanting me to dance with him.”
Bella’s “Um”
irritated me. Annoyance tingled my exposed skin, running along my collarbone
and down the insides of my arms.
“He wouldn’t leave me alone. It was so gross.”
I straightened as angry lightning strikes marched down my back.
“Then he insisted I finish my drink
because he wanted to buy me another. Bella, I thought I was going to have to
decapitate him to get him to leave me alone. I decided to just take off and let
you find another way home. But after I finished my drink—and I only had the one
Doc bought me—I don’t remember anything. It’s as if I got lost in the night.”
I gathered my fury
like a fiery orb in my chest. “You know I never have a memory lapse
except during a blood moon phase or if I lose control. I wasn’t that angry.” A
simple full moon hadn’t done that to me since I was three years old.
“That son of a cur
must have slipped me a roofie. Why else would I have been out of control?” I
allowed my rage to explode as I thought about the man putting a date rape drug
in my drink.
My body stung as the
bristles burst through my skin, but I exalted in the sensation as my face
narrowed, then lengthened. I loved the feeling of my body shifting from human
to wolf shape. There’s never anything better than the power surge as it filled
my muscles.
It’s exhilarating.
~~~~~
Thanks to all of you readers and to Jackie King for having Jazzy and me here on your blog. I love it here in
mystery world! It's a cozy, wonderful place to hang out. I'm giving away a FREE BOOK! To get your name in the drawing all you have to do is leave a comment here or on my MAKE ME HOWL Facebook Page. Links below.
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~~~~~
On
November 15th, 2013, MAKE ME HOWL will be on sale in other formats (including
real books!) I don't know the price, but it will be available on Amazon and at Wild Rose Press.
~~~~~
I'd
love to meet you! You can find me occasionally on Twitter--@shaywriter
And
more often on Facebook— http://facebook.com/susanspessshay
As
well as the Make Me Howl Facebook page— http://facebook.com/makemehowl
Or
come by my website and say hi. http://susanshay.net
~~~~~
Special Note:
Thanks so much to Susan and her delightful character, Jazzy. And to all my readers, HAPPY HALLOWEEN
I know it's a week early, but if you love a holiday, then you need to celebrate!
Hugs to all,
Jackie
Thanks again, Susan for being my Halloween guest, one week early.
ReplyDeleteThanks for having me, Jackie! Jazzy and I enjoyed it a ton.
ReplyDelete:)
Such a good book! And the perfect buy for this time of year.
ReplyDeleteI definitely hear voices from my characters. I even dream about them, but don't most writers? Your book sounds fascinating, Susan. I look forward to reading it.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear your comment, Rhenna and Jean. Thanks to both you for stopping by.
ReplyDeleteAnd Jean, I agree about the voices of characters in writers heads. And that enforces my belief that writers and readers lead much fuller lives than most other folk.
Hugs,
Jackie