Interview: How To Run With A Naked Werewolf by Molly Harper

UFI welcomes Author Molly Harper. Thanks for Joining us!!

What can you tell my readers about yourself that they might not know from looking on your bio or reading in another interview?

I’m married to my high school sweetheart, David. We started dating when I was 14 and he was 16. My parents wouldn’t let me go out at night, so we did lunch dates and matinee movies for two years. For two years. I think my parents thought he would eventually get annoyed, give up and go away. But twenty years and two kids later, we’re still together.

I like remixed music, but hate remade movies.
It took me two years before I’d agree to join Facebook. I'm the opposite of a hipster.
I like The Walking Dead, but I’m so frightened by the zombies, I can only watch The Talking Dead recap shows.

People who grunt and moan while lifting weights at the gym make me laugh hysterically.

What do you enjoy doing on your down time?

I started Brazilian jiu jitsu classes last year. It’s a great “equalizing” style of martial arts because it’s not about who hits harder, it’s about who’s faster and smarter. The downside is I can’t watch action scenes in movies or TV anymore because I’ve become THAT person who says, “Ugh, they’re doing it wrong.”

What is your Favorite part of writing?

When I find a way to connect all the random, quirky weird plot points I’ve come up with along the way. There’s this point when you’re writing when all of the tumblers inside your head seem to fall into place and you see how everything is related in a way your conscious brain didn’t necessarily see. Or you’ve just insane from sleep depravation. Either way, it’s a lot of fun.

Do you have any certain routines you must follow as you write?

It makes me sound so compulsive, but I have to have a bottle of Perrier (or some other bubbly water) plus a lip balm handy. Apparently, writing really dehydrates me.

Also, I listen to playlists for each book to help me set the mood. I put these on my web site under Fun Stuff.
www.mollyharper.com/fun-stuff/

What are some of your Favorite books or Authors in the Urban Fantasy/ Paranormal Genres?

I just started Nicole Peeler’s Jane True series and I’m really loving it.
How would you pitch the Naked Werewolf series to someone who has not heard of it before?
If you like hot naked guys who occasionally turn into werewolves, ladies who kick butt without super-powers, and wacky family hijinks, this is the series for you.

Can you tell us a little bit about the world that the Naked Werewolf series is set in?

Grundy, Alaska is based on my experiences while living in my inlaws living room, sleeping on a mattress in front of their fireplace for two weeks, when an ice storm knocked out power for thousands of homes in January 2009. My family was cold, hungry and cranky. I felt so claustrophobic that writing notes for a werewolf story was the only way to keep from going crazy. By the time the lights came on, I had twenty pages of notes which became HOW TO FLIRT WITH A NAKED WEREWOLF.

Can the books in the Naked Werewolf series be read as stand-alone books or would the readers be lost?

I would read them in order, just to avoid having the mystery elements spoiled.

Do you have a favorite scene in How to Run With A Naked Werewolf?

I really liked writing the scene where Anna has a fistfight with an exotic dancer and then has to save said dancer from a severe allergic reaction. It appealed my violent side and my inner medical nerd.
Which character was your favorite to write about? What about the hardest to write about?
Maggie is always my favorite werewolf to write because she’s the voice of the side of personality that is really angry and defensive and cranky. She says the things I wish I could say, but know that I should and could not.

Well, HOW TO RUN is different from my other books in that it involves an abusive ex. It was very difficult to write that painful history for Anna and to do it in a way that was believable.

What Other Projects can we look forward to reading from you?

My first ever haunted house story, BETTER HOMES AND HAUNTINGS, comes out in June 2014. I am very excited about it, because it’s my first “dual romance,” involving two different couples in one book.

I am also finishing a full length book based on the story started in my Half-Moon Hollow novella, I’M DREAMING OF AN UNDEAD CHRISTMAS. Gigi finally gets the name of her blond mystery vampire!

Find Molly and her books

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

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How To Run With A Naked Werewolf
Naked Werewolf #3

 Down, Boy

Anna Moder has just witnessed a shooting, seen her car pulverized, and rescued a wounded stranger only to discover he's really a werewolf. And by her recent standards, things are actually looking up. Lycanthropes don't faze Anna. Doctoring a wolf pack outside Grundy, Alaska, is the closest thing to home life she's known in years. But hitching a ride to Anchorage with long-absent pack member Caleb Graham that's a risk. Part of her itches to whack his nose with a newspaper. The rest is trying unsuccessfully to keep her own paws off every delicious inch of him.

The problem is, Caleb employs his lupine tracking abilities as a notquite-legal bounty hunter, and Anna is suspicious of both him and his profession. On the run from her past, with old problems closing in, she'd like to stay far, far away from anybody with connections to the law. Caleb, however, seems determined to keep her close. Are his intentions noble, or is he working a more predatory angle?

Anna's been dreaming of returning to a semi-normal life, but now she's experiencing a strange new urge . . . to join Caleb in running with the wolves.

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Promo, Review & Giveaway: Dark Cravings by Madeline Pryce

Dark Cravings
BUY LINK

 As a half-breed vampire, Ella Grey’s life sucks. She does her best to pass the time killing demons and secretly admiring her Shadow Hunter partner, Micah. He’s hot, dangerous and knows it. He’d be just Ella’s type if he weren’t likely to kill her the moment she put a toe out of line.

A chance encounter with a succubus changes everything. From the second the succubus’s spell washes over them, Ella and Micah are helpless to keep their hands off one another. The sex, when it’s not leaving them on the verge of death, is earth shattering and for the first time in ages Ella is connected with someone on a level she’d feared lost forever. But a dangerous prophecy has been set into motion, and if Ella’s not careful it’ll pull her straight from Micah’s arms and into the deepest bowels of the underworld.

A Romantica® Paranormal erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave

Publisher’s Note: This book was previously published under the title Blood Lust Rising. It has been revised and expanded for EC.

* My original review of Blood Lust Rising, has been updated for Dark Cravings

You can tell that DARK CRAVINGS is going to be a great read from the first Chapter. Ella and Micah cant stand each other but also have mad attraction. Ella is a born hunter and also happens to be a half vampire. Because she is now half vampire the hunters despise her and are always looking for a way to get rid of her. Micah her Shadow Hunting partner was sent to keep an eye on her and report on her back to his father the head of the Shadow Agency. Little does Ella know, he hasn't really told his father much.

There is non stop action and suspense going on in DARK CRAVINGS. Ella and Micah's hate for each other gets extremely complicated early on after they wake up together naked and covered in blood and sporting new tattoos. They tend to bicker a lot but it is extremely entertaining watching their relationship change and grow. Their love scenes are nice and steamy. There is a great array of interesting characters. Castro who happens to be a Demon Lord was one of my favorites besides the main characters.

Madeline Price brought a great cast of characters, an attention getting plot and a great romance. I enjoyed DARK CRAVINGS and look forward to what happens next.

I gave it 4/5 stars   

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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Madeline Pryce wrote her first novel when she was ten, penned with neon-pink ink in a loose-leaf binder. Captivated by romantic literature, yet intrigued by the paranormal, she continues to develop her own voice, writing the kinds of stories that inspired her as a teen.

Find Madeline and her books

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

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For a chance to win an electronic copy of DARK CRAVINGS leave a comment (be sure to include your email). Madeline will randomly pick a replier within three days for each blog stop. 

Don’t forget to enter the grand prize . One lucky winner will receive a $25 gift card from Amazon or Barnes & Nobles.

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New Releases: 1/12-1/18

Tue Jan 14th

 Stormbringer (Weather Witch #2) by Shannon Delany

 Vitro by Jessica Khoury

Happy Reading!!

Guest Blog & Giveaway: Sunroper by Natalie J. Damschroder

UFI welcomes Natalie J. Damschroder Author of The Goddess Rising series. Thanks for Joining us!!

Heroic Traits in Goddesses

 

A while ago, I joined author MJ Fredrick in an event called The Month of the Hero. We took turns exploring heroic traits in some of our favorite heroes on TV, in the movies, and in books. Of course, most of these traits are what make our female main characters heroic, too, so I thought it would be a good way to close out my blog tour for Sunroper (book 3 in the Goddesses Rising trilogy) with a similar exploration. So here are five heroic traits, as embodied both in the goddesses of my fictional world and in five of my favorite TV and movie heroines.

1. Belief

A heroic journey usually has to start with belief. The heroine must believe in what’s happening, or believe in herself, or believe in the cause. 

Belief plays a huge role in the TV show Sleepy Hollow. When Abbie was a kid, she saw a demon and denied it, tried not to believe in it. That damaged her relationship with her sister and ruined a lot of her life. So when she saw a headless horseman kill her boss and father figure she was a little more inclined to go with things. That belief—especially in herself—grows stronger every episode. 

In Heavy Metal, the second book in the Goddesses Rising trilogy, belief is difficult for Riley. Her whole life, she thought goddesses weren’t real. That they were shysters or worse. Even when her powers grow strong enough that she can no longer deny them, she has trouble believing she belongs in the Society.

2. Courage

Of course, at whatever level a heroine’s journey exists—save the world or save her heart—she has to have courage. Courage to trust, to accept help, to be independent, or to face demons and dangers. 

One of my favorite examples of courage is Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) in the movie Aliens. The very best line in any movie, IMO, is when Ripley gets into the robotic forklift, steps out of the bay, and says to the mama alien menacing Newt, “Get away from her, you bitch!” 

All of my goddess heroines have to have courage, but Marley has a really hard time finding it. She puts on a brave face after she screws up, but things just keep getting worse, helplessness and self-blame crushing her self-esteem. It takes a new purpose to turn that around, but still, in Sunroper she has more courage when her life is on the line than when her heart is.

3. Protectiveness

This trait can often be the one that prods a reluctant heroine on the path to the battle. Saving the world is sometimes too abstract. When a heroine’s loved ones are in danger, well, that’s when the ferocity takes over. 

Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor in Terminator 2 takes this trait to extremes. She wants to change the future destined for her son, but everything she does makes things in the present worse. She pushes her son away with her rules and her hovering and her paranoia, and even winds up in an institution. How can she protect him from there? 

Protectiveness is what drives Quinn, the heroine of Under the Moon, to go after the leech in the first place. Some might think being a target herself is the driving force, but it’s really her need to make sure no more of her fellow goddesses is harmed.

4. Compassion

A softer trait, compassion is vital for keeping a tough, courageous, protective, ferocious heroine from being too hard and unlikeable. She has to care about the people around her—what they’re feeling, what they need. 

This is the trait that makes Audrey in the TV show Haven so fantastic. She really wants to help the people who are Troubled, even when their weird issues hurt or kill others. This core trait is also what makes the recent season finale so painful for us who watch the show. (I won’t spoil it, but she’s become the opposite of what we know her to be.) 

Compassion is the reason Quinn works for three years to return the stolen power to the leeched goddesses, the reason she’s willing to suffer as Marley’s leeched energy turns poisonous inside her. Compassion is also why Marley secretly tries to take down a rogue goddess by herself.

5. Loyalty

This is the ultimate heroic trait, in some ways. It keeps heroes and heroines going when things seem hopeless. It keeps teams together when that means sacrifice and pain. 

Nikita is all about loyalty. When she turned around and began taking Division down, one of her goals was to rescue those inside who had been made, like her. Over the course of the show, she has others who are loyal to her in return, and that web of loyalty is why they achieve success. 

Loyalty is what brings together Quinn and Riley and Marley for the final battle in Sunroper, too. It’s what ties their heroes to them, and it’s also why their job is so hard. Because loyalty isn’t just a heroic trait—the bad guys have it, too. 

Your turn! Tell me your favorite heroines and what their defining heroic traits are. And if the Goddesses Rising sound like your kind of books, here’s where you can get them:

* Under the Moon by Natalie J. Damschroder , the first book in the Goddesses Rising trilogy, is on sale for just 99 cents from 12/26 to 1/8.*

This is a great opportunity to start the trilogy (book three, Sunroper release Dec 31)

http://www.amazon.com/Under-Goddesses-Rising-Natalie-Damschroder-ebook/dp/B009G1X1Z0/

 
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 Natalie J. Damschroder writes high-stakes romantic adventure, sometimes with a paranormal bent. She's published ten novels, seven novellas, and fourteen short stories, many of them exploring magical abilities, but all with a romantic core.

She currently lives in Pennsylvania with her perfect partner of a husband and two amazing daughters. Learn more about her at her website.

Find Natalie and her books

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

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Sunroper
Goddess Rising #3
Amazon Barnes and Noble

 Marley Canton is done being a victim. A year and a half has passed since she discovered her ability to nullify power in those who aren’t supposed to have it. She’s now on a quest not only to stop the brats who’ve become addicted to goddess power, but also to find the source of their addiction.

Like Marley, Gage Samargo is tracking down the goddess who went rogue decades ago. Insane with too much power from the sun, she’s selling that energy to Gage’s younger brother and his friends, who are no longer content to come into power naturally. While they work to find a way to neutralize the goddess, Marley discovers that every time she nullifies someone, she takes on some of the goddess’s insanity.

Gage falls for Marley’s sharp wit and intense desire to right wrongs. But once he discovers she’s turning into her enemy, is it too late to back away?

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 Tour Wide

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Week in Review: 1/5-1/11

Books Ive Bought/received

* Fury of the Demon by Diana Rowland- Purchased at BN

* Night Broken by Patricia Brigs- eARC- Publisher

* Killer Frost by Jennifer Estep- eARC- Netgalley

* Wild Things by Chloe Neill- ARC- Publisher

* Archetype by MD Waters- eARC- Edelweiss

* Love at Stake by Victoria Davies- eARC- Publisher

* Haunt Me by Heather Long- eARC- Publisher

Books I Read

Repossessed by Shawntelle Madison
Fury of the Demon by Diana Rowland
Night Broken by Patricia Briggs
Wild Things by Chloe Neill

Reviews Posted

Black Arts by Faith Hunter
Beg Me to Slay by Lisa Kessler
The Offering by Kimberly Derting

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* New Releases for the week. Was there anything you were looking forward to reading?

* Monday- Interview and Giveaway for Black Arts by Faith Hunter

* Wednesday- Interview and Giveaway for The Grendel Affair by Lisa Shearin

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* Did you know you can follow UFI on these other sites?

BlogLovin

Networked Blogs

Facebook

You can also add me (as in Stacy) to your friends on these sites if you're on them.

Twitter

Goodreads

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 * I love comments so if you see something you like (or not) please comment away and let me know.

Guest Blog: Witch's Bounty by Ann Gimpel

UFI welcomes Ann Gimpel Author of Witch's Bounty. Thanks for Joining us!!

Musings on the Paranormal Genre
 
I believe in paranormal phenomena. I actually believe it’s a prerequisite for anyone writing fiction with paranormal elements.

Let me kick this off by sharing one of my experiences. About twenty years ago, I was living in Shingletown, California, a small community a few miles east of Redding.  I took a shortcut one morning on back mountain roads to drive to Burney where I was scheduled to do a radio broadcast. Coming down Highway 44, the steering wheel of my Volkswagen Rabbit ripped its way to the stops. My car spun a few times and slammed into a snow bank leaving me shaken. I looked at the clock: 7:58 A.M. I hadn’t been speeding. The pavement was bare and dry. I was worried I’d developed a mechanical problem in the steering mechanism, but when I fired up the car and drove the rest of the way to my destination, it didn’t misbehave. I found out later that day a very, very close friend of mine—basically the brother I never had—died at exactly 7:56 that morning. I figured Don was trying to take me with him.

I’ve had other experiences over the years that defy rational explanations. I’ve also had many, many patients over my long years as a therapist relate fantastic events. One of the reasons I was drawn to Jungian dream work is its emphasis on the paranormal. It’s not widely known, but Jung was a mystic. Before he’d accept a patient, he insisted they have their astrological chart done. He’d look at his chart next to theirs (synastry) and decide whether he could work with them.

Dreams speak to us in symbols. But it goes far deeper than that. Symbols have archetypal value; they’re also unique to the dreamer. So, for example, snakes in my dreams might mean something entirely different than snakes in yours. This is why “kitchen table” dream books that list symbols and their meanings are less than useless.

I had a bad climbing fall once. Fortunately, I wasn’t injured beyond contusions that started with my forehead, extended to a very black eye, and covered one arm and both legs. It took a couple of months for the bruising to totally resolve. At one point, I dreamed I was standing by myself in the middle of an empty plain. It was twilight. A phalanx of snakes slithered toward me from every direction. They crawled up my body and wound around me. In the morning, I felt like I’d turned a corner and was well on the way to having my body mend.  In my dream, snakes were a positive factor. In many of my clients’ dreams, they’ve been portents of disaster. That’s what I mean by symbolism in dreams being unique to the dreamer. Interestingly, when I told my own analyst the dream, he clucked at me, went to a closet, and drew out a painting. It was an almost exact depiction of my dream, except instead of snakes, it was sea serpents swimming toward the central figure. One of his other patients had painted it years before. That would be a good launching point for a discussion of the Collective Unconscious, but this blog post isn’t the place for that.

If you pay attention to your dreams, over time you learn the language unique to your psyche. Years ago, Marie Louise Von Franz and Fraser Boa made a movie called the Way of the Dream. It’s available on You Tube. If you’re truly interested in Jungian dream work, this is a must see. It’s clearly dated since it was made in 1995, but Von Franz was Jung’s primary disciple. She joined Jung an analysand when she was 18 and never left. Oh, she attended college and graduate school, but she lived all her life at Bollingen, Jung’s retreat in Switzerland.

This blog post is long enough. I usually like to cap them at 500 words. If you have any questions about Jung or dream analysis, I’d be glad to try to answer them. I’d also love to hear about your paranormal experiences. Really, I would.

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Ann Gimpel is a mountaineer at heart. Recently retired from a long career as a psychologist, she remembers many hours at her desk where her body may have been stuck inside four walls, but her soul was planning yet one more trip to the backcountry. Around the turn of the last century (that would be 2000, not 1900!), she managed to finagle moving to the Eastern Sierra, a mecca for those in love with the mountains. It was during long backcountry treks that Ann’s writing evolved. Unlike some who see the backcountry as an excuse to drag friends and relatives along, Ann prefers solitude. Stories always ran around in her head on those journeys, sometimes as a hedge against abject terror when challenging conditions made her fear for her life, sometimes for company. Eventually, she returned from a trip and sat down at the computer. Three months later, a five hundred page novel emerged. Oh, it wasn’t very good, but it was a beginning. And, she learned a lot between writing that novel and its sequel.

Around that time, a friend of hers suggested she try her hand at short stories. It didn’t take long before that first story found its way into print and they’ve been accepted pretty regularly since then. One of Ann’s passions has always been ecology, so her tales often have a green twist.

In addition to writing, Ann enjoys wilderness photography. She lugs pounds of camera equipment in her backpack to distant locales every year. A standing joke is that over ten percent of her pack weight is camera gear which means someone else has to carry the food! That someone is her husband. They’ve shared a life together for a very long time. Children, grandchildren and three wolf hybrids round out their family.

Find Ann and her books

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

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Witch's Bounty
The Witch Chronicles #1

A demon-stalking witch teams up with a Sidhe, but their combined power, never mind their love, may be too late to make a difference.

One of only three remaining demon-stalking witches, Colleen is almost the last of her kind. Along with her familiar, a changeling spirit, she was hoping for a few months of quiet, running a small magicians’ supply store in Fairbanks, Alaska. Peace isn’t in the cards, though. Demons are raising hell in Seattle. She’s on her way out the door to help, when a Sidhe shows up and demands she accompany him to northern England to quell a demon uprising there.

Duncan swallowed uneasy feelings when the Sidhe foisted demon containment off onto the witches two hundred years before. He’s annoyed when the Sidhe leader sends him to haul a witch across the Atlantic to bail them out. Until he sees the witch in question. Colleen is unquestionably the most beautiful woman he’s ever laid eyes on. Strong and gutsy, too. When she refuses to come with him, because she’s needed in Seattle, he immediately offers his assistance. Anything to remain in her presence.

Colleen can’t believe how gorgeous the Sidhe is, but she doesn’t have time for such nonsense. She, Jenna, and Roz are the only hedge Earth has against being overrun by Hell’s minions. Even with help from a powerful magic wielder like Duncan, the odds aren’t good and the demons know it. Sensing victory is within their grasp, they close in for the kill.

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Review & Giveaway: Black Arts by Faith Hunter

Black Arts

Author: Faith Hunter

Release Date: January 7, 2014

Publisher: Roc

Jane Yellowrock Book #7

ISBN:   0451465245

ISBN13: 9780451465245

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Review Copy Source: Publisher 

Jane Yellowrock is a shape-shifting skinwalker who always takes care of her own—no matter the cost...

When Evan Trueblood blows into town looking for his wife, Molly, he’s convinced that she came to see her best friend, Jane. But it seems like the witch made it to New Orleans and then disappeared without a trace.

Jane is ready to do whatever it takes to find her friend. Her desperate search leads her deep into a web of black magic and betrayal and into the dark history between vampires and witches. But the closer she draws to Molly, the closer she draws to a new enemy—one who is stranger and more powerful than any she has ever faced.

When you see a new Jane Yellowrock book you know that you will get a lot of action, plenty of drama, hot and difficult men and lots of fun along the way. BLACK ARTS brings us some of our favorite characters all in one book. When Evan Trueblood shows up looking for his wife, Jane immediately goes on the hunt. Little does she know that more will go missing, there will be an attempt on her life and change will happen along the way.

I think BLACK ARTS is one of my favorite installments in the series so far. There's no doubt that a lot has happened since book 1, new friends have come in and out of the picture, Jane has learned more about her self and the people around her and the power structure in New Orléans seems to be constantly in flux. Jane always manages to intrigue and entertain me. Beast is a constant companion that I couldn't imagine not being there. The relationship drama is KILLING me. I so just want her to have a GOOD man and I know she doesn't need one but she has so many yummy choices I just can't help it. There is a hard part for Jane in this book regarding Rick and I cant help but be thankful he might be out of the picture for good now. I know she loves him but I was getting a little sick of his in her life/ out of her life storyline.

I really enjoyed having Evan and the kids in the picture. I know Jane missed them like crazy and I love their soft to her hard. I know Jane and Evan have had a really rocky relationship but I cant help but think that will be forever changed after BLACK ARTS.

Faith Hunter has no problems with world building and keeping a story flowing. Each book seems to get better and better and having each book have its own main conflict really helps you feel satisfied bu the end. With Jane Yellowrock you can never know what you might get and I look forward to book 8. There should be some nice changes in store for us.

I gave it 5/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

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