Dani Harper's Blog, page 16

Werewolves and the CANADA DAY BLOG HOP 2013

This is my opportunity to wish my home country a very Happy Birthday. Yup, it's true - I'm Canadian, and I lived most of my adult life in northern Alberta. That's where I first became acquainted with real wolves, and that's where my first werewolf series takes place.

As many of you know, Changeling Moon (2012 RITA Finalist), and Changeling Dream are set wholly in Dunvegan, Alberta. The third book, Changeling Dawn, begins and ends in Alberta but spends some time in Alaska --- just like me. This series is on temporary hiatus at this time (darn it), but the good news is that I haven't left you wolf-less:

Announcing a whole new pack of Changelings to love! 

October 15th is the release day of my new book, FIRST BITE. It's Book One of the Dark Wolf Series, published by Montlake Romance (Amazon). Check it out here - First Bite on amazon.ca  or here - First Bite on amazon.com 

Many of my readers have asked when the Macleod-Changeling series will continue. I don't have a date, but believe me, my characters would never leave me alone until I told their stories, especially professional smart-ass and prankster, Culley!

I've often related the experience of how a pack of wolves loped across my yard in full daylight, and what an impact that has had on me and my writing. That pack certainly helped inspire the Macleods.

But something I haven't mentioned much - maybe because I'm still absorbing the strangeness of it - is that the last time I worked on Culley Macleod's story, Changeling Shadow , we were on vacation visiting family. I was typing on my laptop in our old RV, enjoying the fresh air of the early morning.

I looked up just in time to see a black wolf top the ridge and come partway down the slope in my direction before disappearing.

Do you think Culley was checking up on me?  *cue Twilight Zone music!*

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Canada Day Blog Hop

Believe it or not, even though Release Day isn't until October 15th, I have ONE signed paperback ARC (Advanced Reader's Copy) of FIRST BITE to give away! All you have to do is leave me a comment about werewolves -- why you like them, a superstition about them, a joke, what you think of my black wolf experience, who your fav furry characters are, or even what other werewolf stories you're fond of. Anything you like, as long as it's about werewolves!

On July 2nd, I'll draw a winner at random from the commenters. Make sure you include an email address so I can contact you if you win!

NOTE - ARCs do not have artwork on the front - they are bound with a plain cover!

Happy Canada Day! Have fun checking out the giveaways on the participating blogs below:

Summer Fun Scavenger Hunt 2013 and STORM WARRIOR

Summer Fun Scavenger Hunt 2013
Find great authors and books in the Night Owl Reviews Summer Fun Scavenger Hunt!  EASY-PEASY TO ENTER - Read book blurbs and fill in the blanks to enter to win awesome prize baskets!
Quick Links:
ENTRY FORM - http://www.nightowlreviews.com/v5/Pages/Articles/Web-Hunt-EntryRULES - http://www.nightowlreviews.com/V5/Pages/Articles/Summer-Fun-Scavenger-Hunt-2013#rulesTWITTER HASHTAG - Twitter #NORSummerFun
RELEASE DAY IS AUG. 6, 2013
SQUEEE:
My August release, STORM WARRIOR, is one of the required stops of the Scavenger Hunt!!! I'm giving away a KINDLE PAPERWHITE and an e-copy of STORM WARRIOR to a lucky winner. 

So head on over to NIGHT OWL REVIEWS and start hunting!  Have fun! http://www.nightowlreviews.com/V5/Pages/Articles/Summer-Fun-Scavenger-Hunt-2013
Dani Harper www.daniharper.com 

Sirens and Mermaids --- Part of the SINFUL SIRENS BLOG HOP

Modern Siren - a femme fataleYou just KNEW I would find a paranormal side to the Sinful Sirens theme, didn't you?

In modern times we think of sirens as glamorous women who captivate men with their beauty, or deliberately lure and entice them into forgetting their own better judgement. Sirens might be innocent of the hearts they break but, more often, they are seductive temptresses who delight in using men for their own selfish purposes.

We get the term "siren" from good old Greek mythology, and from many stories in Greek literature. The Sirens were a group of women who were once handmaidens to Persephone. After she was kidnapped and taken to the underworld to marry the dark god Hades, Persephone's handmaidens were blamed for allowing this to happen to their mistress by her mother, the goddess Demeter.

The Mermaid
by John WaterhouseDemeter marooned the hapless women on a beautiful island somewhere between Sicily and Italy, surrounded by treacherous rocks. Any ship that ventured too close to the island would be wrecked. Rescue was impossible.

However, merely banishing the women wasn't enough for the vengeful goddess. The women were changed into strange half-human creatures. Still alluringly beautiful, they often had bird's wings and feet, or in many versions of the story, they became the first mermaids.

In addition to their exotic appearance, Demeter (who obviously should have attended anger management classses) gave the women unearthly voices and commanded them to sing. Sailors in passing ships would hear the sirens' song, and steer the ship onto the rocks, or dive from the deck into the sea and drown.

Any man that managed to survive the ocean and the rocks would make his way to the beautiful island, but find it far from a paradise. So enchanted were they by the siren's songs that they would follow the women wherever they went --- forgetting everything else in the world. The hapless sailor would even forget to eat and eventually starve to death! In some accounts, the women ate the sailors, and the island became covered with bleached bones. From these, the Sirens were said to make their musical instruments!

Ulysses and the Sirens by Herbert James DraperOver the centuries, the Sirens were embittered by their unfair fate and began to take great pleasure in their cruel task of luring men to their doom. The stories tell that they would often sing passing sailors into a deep sleep. The sirens would then board the ship and kill all the men as they slept, feasting on them for days afterward and tossing their gnawed bones into the ocean!

One of the few men to hear the song of the Sirens and live to tell about it was Odysseus (also known as Ulysses). He filled the ears of his men with wax and bound their heads with cloth, so that they would be able to row directly past the deadly island yet be unaffected by the music. Odysseus himself, however, had not plugged his ears. Instead, he had his men tie him to the mast, so he could hear the alluring songs and see the beautiful women, but not be able to jump overboard or steer the ship into danger.

Predatory Mermaids from Pirates of the
Caribbean, On Stranger TidesDemeter's magic had provided for the Sirens to live forever --- but only until the day came that a mortal was able to resist their song. After Odysseus's successful plan, the Sirens were said to have flung themselves into the sea and drowned.

Ever since, maritime superstition claimed that hearing the song of a mermaid is a sign of a particularly ferocious storm approaching, or even spelled certain disaster for the ship.

Strangely, despite cautionary tales of dangerous sirens and mermaids, it was also thought that the sight of a woman's naked bosom could settle an angry ocean. (Of course, all sailors were men at the time...) By the nineteenth century, most ships featured an amply-endowed female figurehead on the bow, breasts fully exposed to the salt sea air!

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SINFUL SIRENS 
BLOG HOP

Hosted by Guilty Pleasures and Under the Covers
The hop runs from 12:01 AM on May 15th through to 11:59 PM on May 20th, 2013.

Over 150 bloggers are participating --- that means LOTS OF GIVEAWAYS TO ENTER!

DANI'S GIVEAWAY

Leave me a comment about sirens, mermaids, smexy reads you've enjoyed or anything else you can think of.  I'll be drawing a name at random from the comments on May 21st!


In keeping with the seagoing siren theme, my prize is a DVD of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (not only do you get to enjoy Johnny Depp, but this  movie features some downright dangerous mermaids!). Also, I'm including a copy of Shana Abe's "The Last Mermaid", described as "three hauntingly beautiful tales connected by a legend, a locket, and a love beyond time". 

Giveaway is International.

Good luck, everyone -- hope you enjoy the hop! The Linky List of participating blogs is below.





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COVER REVEAL - STORM WARRIOR by Dani Harper

Enslaved for millennia by the masters of the Welsh faery realm, the fierce Celtic warrior Rhys is doomed to wander the earth forever. But when a brave beauty unwittingly breaks the enchantment, he is drawn into a strange new world…and an all-consuming desire.

Sensible Morgan doesn’t believe in magic—until a mysterious being saves her from a fate worse than death, and life as she knows it changes forever. Now the man of her dreams has become flesh and blood, igniting a spark in Morgan’s soul which science cannot explain. 

But even a love that transcends time may not be strong enough to withstand the power of an ancient curse.

Book One in a new series by Dani Harper, this hot paranormal romance will be released August 6, 2013.

http://www.amazon.com/Storm-Warrior-The-Grim-Series/dp/147780594X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367591141&sr=8-1&keywords=storm+warrior+dani  Ebook or trade paperback now available for pre-order.

I am SOOOO excited about this book. For those of you who have been following me for a while, you might remember a few years ago when I published a short novella called A Leap of Knowing. I swear the characters "hounded" me ever after to write more --- the story was soooo much bigger than the little novella could contain. And I'm thrilled to be able to say I DID IT --- it took a while but this paranormal romance is finally the rich full-length novel it was always meant to be. And it's kicking off a whole new series!!!

WHY DO WE LOVE TORTURED HEROES? A Blog Hop that attempts to answer this question...

James Macleod -- aka the White WolfThe Tortured Hero Blog Hop is the brilliant brainchild of fellow author Carrie Ann Ryan . She asked each of us to talk about our favorite characters in this heartwrenching category and why we love them so much.

Many of JR Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood characters qualify as tortured heroes (and I adore that series). But I'd have to say that James Macleod from CHANGELING DREAM, is the most compelling hero for me personally -- and maybe it's because I came to know him so intimately during the writing of that novel.

Here's the back cover blurb of CHANGELING DREAM:

Oh yes, James totally looks like
Chris Hemsworth in his Thor role.In times of stress Jillian Descharme has always found calm in her dream of a great white wolf with haunting blue eyes. But she is startled when the visions return and this time seem so real. Late at night he comes to her, speaks to her, touches her.... 

Thirty years ago James Macleod lost his wife and unborn child to a killer bent on destroying the Changelings. Though he longed for death, his animal instinct fought for survival and James has been a wolf ever since. 

Yet now a woman has reawakened the man in him, taming wild instincts but arousing still wilder needs. With his ancient enemy hunting the legendary white wolf, James must fight for new life, new hope, new love.....


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When I write a character, it's never a case of sitting down and deciding what that character should be like, who they should be. It's always a case of trying to get the character to talk to me and TELL ME who they are. 


Because of that, I don't always know why I'm writing a particular story. But James was both a powerful and a flawed hero for me, and that made him so, so real --- he'd been through hell and wasn't all that certain he wanted to return to a human world. Who couldn't relate to that?

After all, as a wolf, James didn't have to deal with painful things like human emotions, human grief. Of course, that meant he also had to miss out on family, on friends, and most acutely, on love. Changeling Dream follows his journey back to humanity. 

Which brings me back to the Tortured Hero theme of this blog hop. Perhaps we love them the most because they have the farthest to go....

And since we're on the subject of heroes with pasts to overcome, I can hardly wait to introduce my readers to a new Changeling hero in my October release, FIRST BITE, Book 1 of the Dark Wolf Series. I guarantee you will not forget Travis Williamson!  Check my website for more about this new story -  http://www.daniharper.com/NEWS_AND_NEW_RELEASES.html

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DANI'S GIVEAWAY


Meanwhile, I'm offering a giveaway --- this IS a blog hop after all!  You can win a signed copy of Changeling Dream, and a tote bag to put it in.

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!  To help remind you of my October release, FIRST BITE (Book 1 of the Dark Wolf Series), I'll also include a black plush Webkinz wolf. This cute little guy will guard your computer or your bookshelf.


To enter, I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!  Leave me a comment about your favorite TORTURED HERO or talk about why you think these guys are so popular. Or tell me if you hate them --- whatever your opinion is, I want to hear it. 
PS -- Don't forget to include an email address so I can contact you if you win. On April 29, I'll draw a name at random from the comments as the winner.
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CHECK OUT THE LINKY LIST BELOW TO VISIT ANY OR ALL OF OVER 300 AUTHORS PARTICIPATING IN THE TORTURED HERO BLOG HOP!

Creatures and Cryptids - the Undiscovered and the Unexplained

What in the world is a "cryptid"?  

A cryptid is an unknown animal, and cryptozoology is the study of such undiscovered creatures. The root of both words comes from the Greek word kriptos, meaning hidden. The term "cryptid" was first coined by John E. Wall in 1983, in the newsletter of the International Society of Cryptozoology (http://internationalcryptozoologicalsociety.wordpress.com/)

Hokkaidō wolfCryptozoology encompasses three fields of investigation. 

The first area of cryptozoology is the search for still-living examples of animals generally thought to be extinct. For instance, the Hokkaidō wolf is still being sighted in Japan, although it allegedly vanished in the 1860s. Stories of giant grizzly bears in northern regions have led some to theorize that there may be remnant populations of the giant short-faced bear – a creature that went extinct 12,500 years ago. In Africa’s Congo, stories of the mokele-mbeme appear to describe a species of dinosaur. And is the megalodon, a giant prehistoric shark, still swimming in the unexplored depths of our oceans?


The second area of cryptozoology concerns animals which are known to exist, but are being sighted in areas very far from their usual habitat. Are black panthers roaming the English countryside? And what about the stories of giant black cats in Illinois? In recent years, a few jaguars were confirmed to be present in Arizona and New Mexico – areas where the species once lived many years ago. So far the confirmed jaguars are spotted, not black. Still the sightings continue throughout North America and beyond. Read more about the black panther here:  http://waypastnormal.blogspot.com/2010/06/north-american-black-panther-myth-or.html  



Could this be the lake monster, Ogopogo?The third area of cryptozoology, which tends to capture most of the media attention, concerns the search for animals which are alleged to exist but are not confirmed. We’ve all heard of the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot, but these cryptids are just the tip of the iceberg. The Beast of Bray Road is a werewolf-like creature reported to live in Wisconsin. The Ogopogo is a legendary lake monster in British Columbia, Canada. The Mothman is said to herald death and disaster, while the Jersey Devil preys on livestock. You may have heard about the Chupacabra in Mexico, which allegedly drinks the blood of goats. And if you catch a whiff of something truly awful in Florida, it just might be the Skunk Ape.

Some cryptids verified

Many cryptids have been confirmed to be actual, living animals. The Mountain Gorilla, the Okapi, the Komodo Dragon, the Platypus, and even the Kangaroo were once thought to be A diver swimming with a Coelacanth fictional creatures. The coelacanth - nicknamed the "dinofish" - was thought to be extinct for millions of years -- until one was caught in a net off the coast of Africa in 1938. In 2013, National Geographic aired amazing footage of coelacanths in their natural environment. Tales of giant squid have been told for centuries and written off as sailors' tales. But in the 1870s several massive carcasses washed up on Newfoundland beaches! In 2004, the first live specimens were photographed. 




The Ulama of folklore is the
Spot-bellied Eagle Owl! The DingisoSri Lankan legends told of the Ulama, a terrifying horned bird that screamed in the night. In 2001, the Ulama was discovered to be a new species of owl! 

A similar thing happened in Western Indonesia, where Moni folklore featured the Bondegezou -- the "man of the forest". In 1994, an animal new to science was discovered there: the Dingiso. This tree marsupial spends a lot of time on the ground and often stands upright. 



Cryptids we'd probably rather not find  

Hopefully the Mongolian Death Worm will remain the stuff of legend. The residents of the Gobi Desert consider it bad luck to even mention this giant snakelike creature. Said to be attracted to the color yellow, the Death Worm itself is described as bright red, and able to kill at a distance by spraying an acid-like venom. In some stories, it kills by electrocuting its victims!

Myths abound of the Yacumama, a giant snake said to inhabit parts of the Amazon. Normal anacondas reach lengths of over 20 feet, but the Yacumama is said to grow to 150 feet or more!  Meanwhile, "Fangalabolo" is the name of a giant vampire bat, "the fear that flies at night", which is said to terrify the residents of Madagascar. Stories say it has a five-foot wingspan.

Giveaway 

I’ve always been a huge fan of cryptozoology – it sparks both imagination and wonder. I like
the idea that everything in our world hasn’t been documented and catalogued, that we don’t A field guide to cryptids, myths and legendsknow everything there is to know about the creatures who share the planet with us. How about you?

Leave me a comment about cryptids and you'll be entered in my draw. (Remember to include an email address so I can contact you in case you win!)  
A name will be drawn at random on Tuesday, April 9th, 2013.

The prize is a paperback copy of 
The Mythical Creatures Bible: The Definitive Guide to Legendary Beings 
by Brenda Rosen

SHAMROCKS, CLOVERS AND LUCK

This post was first pubbed
in March 2012, but I just HAD
to share it again -- kind like
the decorations you drag
out of the closet every year!When I was a kid, I used to hunt for four-leafed clovers in the belief that they brought good luck. I was unaware that one was only considered lucky if you found it by accident – the clover was useless if you looked for it on purpose! No wonder I didn’t get the pony I was hoping for….
It’s said that Eve carried a four-leafed clover out of the Garden of Eden (probably figuring that she and Adam were going to need all the help they could get). And the ancient Celts of Wales carried sprigs of clover as a charm against evil spirits. A four-leafed clover worn inside your shoe would lead you to either love or treasure! (If you put one in each shoe, did you find both?)
Druids esteemed the four-leafed clover as a source of protection, because holding one would allow you to see fairies and other supernatural creatures. A salve was sometimes made of four-leafed clovers and applied to the “third eye” area of the forehead, to bring out psychic abilities. Or the clovers might be sewn into a tiny bag and hung around the neck. This would reveal the fairy folk to the wearer – but it would only work once for each clover that was in the bag.
Common White Clover,
Trifolium Repens The four-leafed clover is a symbol of good luck in many countries, but is most associated with Ireland. The Irish claim that they have more of them growing there than anywhere else. Maybe, since both the Irish shamrock and four-leafed clovers are said to come from the same plant:  Common White Clover, also known as Dutch clover (Trifolium Repens). That’s right, it’s the same stuff that sometimes takes over the lawn on this side of the Atlantic.  True, there are some potted plants sold around March 17th that claim to be official shamrocks, but they’re usually oxalis or wood sorrel. Pretty, but apparently not brimming with good fortune.
St. Patrick with shamrockSt. Patrick made the shamrock famous by taking an ordinary clover leaf (which has just three leaves normally) and using it as a metaphor for the Holy Trinity which is the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. This is a prime example of Christianity adopting – and changing – the symbols of pagan faiths. The three leaves had previously been known by the Celts as the three phases of the Goddess – Maiden, Mother and Crone!
So if the three-leafed “shamrock” (clover) came to represent the Christian Trinity, what did the four-leafed clover come to mean? Early Christians saw the four leaves as creating the sign of the cross. Some maintained that the fourth leaf stood for God’s grace and it was a sign of favor if you found one. Others have named the four leaves as Faith, Hope, Love and Luck.
21-leafed clover So why are there four-leafed clovers when clover naturally has three leaves? Long thought to be a simple plant mutation, scientists have now found a recessive gene for the anomoly. In fact, there are no known limits as to how many leaves a clover can have. According to Guinness, the world record for the most leaves on a clover stem has been held by Shigeo Obara of Japan since 2002 when he discovered a clover with 18 leaves. He bested his record a few years later with a 21-leafed clover. And in 2009, he was credited with finding a clover with no less than 56 leaves!!!
How lucky is a clover with more than four leaves? In Ireland and a few other places, it’s said that it brings nothing but bad luck. In other places, there’s a different meaning for each clover according to leaf number:     Two-leafed clover = love     Four-leafed clover = luck      Five-leafed clover = attracts wealth     Six-leafed clover = fame     Seven-leafed clover = long life
Clovers with more than the standard three leaves are said to be lucky because they’re rare, and estimates place them at about one in 10,000 when naturally grown. They’re not evenly distributed, though – some patches of clover produce many of them (I found dozens in my yard as a kid), and others grow very few of the multi-leafed variety. 
Because the four-leafed clover is such a well-known symbol of good fortune, an entire industry has sprung up around them. You can buy genuine four-leafed clovers pressed between glass, embedded in resin, made into jewelry or just about anything you can think of – and to do it, some horticulturalists have refined the clover plant using the newly-discovered genes. In their specialized plots, four-leafed clovers occur about once in every 41 plants! How much luck these contain, however, is anyone’s guess.
One last word of advice:  Never iron a four-leafed clover. You don’t want to press your luck! 
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Do you believe in GHOST PETS? - Part of "Bloggers Help PAWS WITH A CAUSE"

Originally published 4/29/11Every dog owner knows the sound – the tick, tick, tick of toenails on the floor as Rover ambles onto the scene to see what you’re up to.
But what if you hear the sounds and there’s no Rover?

Three years ago a combination of old age and chronic bronchitis caused our dear old pug, Scooby, to pass on. It wasn’t unexpected, but I was devastated just the same. A couple nights later, I found myself awakened by the sound of canine claws on the linoleum. The sound proceeded up the hallway at a slow, waddling pace, accompanied by the jingle of tags. Thinking that my remaining pug, Fiona, needed to go out, I sat up – but discovered she was snoring beside me! All was quiet once more and I thought I’d dreamed the incident.

However, the distinctive doggy sounds continued to occur. By the third incident, I realized that Scooby was still checking in on us. This was confirmed when one of my daughters flew to visit us the following month and was awakened in the night by the same phenomena – and no, I hadn’t yet told her of my own experiences. Scooby had been especially close to her and I wondered if perhaps he had lingered in order to connect with her. After she went home, the pugly visitations decreased to once every few months or so.

Stories abound of departed pets visiting the people they were close to in life. A ghostly experience with one of her own cats caused Dusty Rainbolt of Lewisville, Texas to write a book “Ghost Cats: Human Encounters with Feline Spirits”. A month after her cat, Maynard, passed on, the woman felt something jump up onto the bed, walk across the blankets and settle at her feet. “I could feel the pressure,” recalls Rainbolt. “It was truly haunting but not in a bad sense. I was away from home when he died and I think he came back to say goodbye.”

So can animals really become ghosts? If we accept that humans can linger in another form after death, then it follows that animals can too. Some argue that animals do not have souls (obviously these folks are not pet owners), but it’s much more likely that animals possess the very same energy that we do. And, as with us, this energy is not extinguished by physical death – physics tells us plainly that energy can’t be destroyed, only transformed to another state.

There are almost as many motives for animals to “haunt” a place as for humans to do so. The most powerful reason would be emotional attachment – there’s no denying that our animals often love us as much as we love them. Intense trauma can also cause a spirit to linger, and this would be true for any creature, not just our species. And then there are some ghosts who seem to hang around either because they don’t realize they’re dead or they just prefer to stay in familiar surroundings. Again, this could occur in animals as easily as in humans. All of these are referred to as  intelligent hauntings .

But there are also  residual hauntings . Some researchers suggest that certain ghosts are not actual entities but a snippet of time being replayed over and over, like a loop of film. This may account for phenomena at the ancient Colosseum in Rome, where not only countless humans lost their lives but thousands of animals were killed. A steady supply of lions, wolves, bears, elephants and many more creatures were imported and used to perform tricks or pitted against gladiators. Over the centuries, there have been many reports of hearing and even seeing exotic animals in the abandoned structure. Today, many staff, workers, guards and visitors have reported that in addition to the sounds of swords clashing and chariots rumbling, they’ve heard the roaring of big cats and the trumpeting of elephants!

Former Civil War battlefields and camps are among the most haunted places in the country, the source of countless apparitions both human and animal. For instance, a Civil War re-enactor was surprised to discover a riderless horse standing a few feet behind him – but his company had no horses. The sound of many phantom horses snorting and pawing the ground has often been reported around Cashtown Inn in Pennsylvania, an area where Confederate soldiers stayed prior to the battle of Gettysburg.

As with the ghosts of humans, not all animal spirits are friendly. The “most haunted place in Maryland” is a house in Fells Point with five ghosts – and one of them is an angry cat. The story goes that a large cat belonged to a woman who was abused by her drunken husband. The man resented the cat and eventually killed it and walled it up in the cellar! Years later, the house was remodeled and the wall removed, revealing a feline skeleton. This likely explains the mysterious gray cat that has appeared in many rooms of the house over the years – and also explains its bad temper. Guests have attempted to pet the creature, thinking it to be a live cat, but it hisses and runs away. It has also been reported to run between the legs of people it doesn’t like, knocking them off balance.

Some phantom animals have a job or duty that they continue to attend to. For example, a church in Picton, Australia has a cemetery guarded by a phantom dog of enormous size. The story goes that a priest owned a St. Bernard, and when his beloved pet died, he buried it in the church graveyard. The ghost dog patrols the sacred grounds and has been reported to chase people out of the cemetery. The Martha Washington Inn in Abingdon, VA has a ghost horse which roams the grounds and startles guests on occasion. Legend has it that the horse is still waiting for its rider, a Union soldier who was shot in front of the building in 1864.

What if the pet owner is a ghost too? The Hotel Vendome in Prescott, Arizona has long been considered haunted, with numberless sightings of ghosts in and around the building. Among the “regulars” is Abby Byr, a woman who once owned the hotel before falling on hard times. And keeping her company is her cat, Noble. The pair have been spotted in and around Room 16 by guests and staff for decades. It’s become a tradition to bring gifts for Abby and Noble when staying in the hotel!

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DANI'S GIVEAWAY
This little guy reminds me of my
dear old pug, Scooby, who shared
my life for 14 and a half years.Leave me a comment about pets -- tell me a memory you have about your own or somebody else's pet. Don't forget to include an email address so I can contact you if you win. On March 9th, I'll draw a name at random from the comments. Winner will receive this adorable little Webkinz Pug! (NOTE - NO DONATION IS REQUIRED TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY)
Want a second chance? There's ANOTHER Webkinz Pug up for grabs over on the Bitten By Paranormal Romance site starting March 5th. Yup, my executive secretary, Fiona the Pug, is blogging over there on March 5th. Check it out and enter her giveaway too!
Want even more? If you make a donation to the Paws With A Cause® organization, you can enter to win one of the 4 awesome Main Prizes. See details below:

BLOGGERS HELP "PAWS WITH A CAUSE®" 
Hosted by B itten by Paranormal Romance and  Romance Book Junkies

We have a total of 59 blogs that have gotten together to help raise money for this amazing organization (See the Linky List below). 

By making a donation to Paws With A Cause® you become eligible for one of the following 4 awesome prizes:
     2 - $65 gift certificates to any online book store.
     2 - huge boxes of books and swag from Romance Book Junkies and Bitten by Paranormal Romance (for US residents only). 

The real winners are the clients of PAWS WITH A CAUSE. Clients pay no fee to apply for or to receive their much-needed Assistance Dogs from PAWS. But the sponsorship to train and place a PAWS Assistance Dogs is about $30,000 --- so donations are critical to this program! 

Here is a little about the organization that we are raising the money for:

Photo from PAWS website - www.pawswithacause.orgWhat is "PAWS WITH A CAUSE"?
Paws With A Cause® enhances the independence and quality of life for people with disabilities nationally through custom-trained Assistance Dogs.
PAWS® increases awareness of the rights and roles of Assistance Dog teams through education and advocacy.  Founded in 1979, Paws With A Cause is dedicated to helping its clients who are challenged by many disabilities, such as Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, Seizure Disorders, and Hearing Disorders to name just some.
Each of our dogs are trained to meet the specific needs of our clients. Tasks may include opening and closing doors, picking up objects, pulling a wheelchair, turning lights on and off, and alerting a person to particular sounds like a telephone, doorbell, smoke detector and many others. Our dogs change lives by enhancing the independence of our clients. 
By just opening a door, a dog opens up the world for a person with a disability and your donations will go to making that happen. PAWS thanks you so much for your donation and allowing us to open more doors.

HOW TO DONATE:1. Go to https://www.everribbon.com/PawswithaCause2. Click on "Make a Donation"
3. Enter a amount you wish to donate. Everibbon will add a small fee to your donation for processing. My fee for donating $5.00 was .49 cents. So keep this in mind when deciding your donation amount. You will receive 1 entry into the giveaway for every $1 you donate.  
4. In the box that says "on the behalf of" please put your name. This is the name that will be listed on the everibbon website so put a name you do not mind being visible to everyone. Do not check the box to make a anonymous donation because I will not be able to track your donation to enter you into the giveaways.
5. Next it will ask you for your credit or debit card information. 
6. Then it will ask for your email address to send you a receipt. This is so that you can submit it for tax purposes.
7. Ta Da! You're all done making your donation. Now you need to contact Danielle to enter the giveaway.
8. Please email Danielle at RomanceBookJunkiesDanielle@Yahoo.com with the name you used to donate your money. Do not send me your name off your credit or debit card because I will not be able to see this. Along with the name you used please tell me how much you donated and if you live in the US or are International.
9. You're now entered in the Main Giveaway for BLOGGERS HELP "PAWS WITH A CAUSE®". Thank you for donating! 

PS: Do not try to email Danielle the name and donation amount of another person that is not yourself. If Danielle recieves more than one email with the same persons name and donation amount she will have to ask for your copy of the receipt from everibbon to verify that you are the correct winner. Thank you.

How to Have a Supernatural Valentine's Day - part of the "LOVE IS IN THE AIR GIVEAWAY HOP"

For some reason, I've just never been able to get into traditional Valentine mode. Maybe it's a rogue gene, the same DNA that makes me love Halloween more than Christmas. Last Valentine's Day, I brought you ghost stories, five tragic tales of love gone terribly wrong. (http://waypastnormal.blogspot.com/2012/02/paranormal-valentine-5-ghost-stories.html)

This year, I thought I'd offer suggestions on How to have a Supernatural Valentine's Day. Share these activities with your significant other, your BFF, your mom, or your dog, but if you love the paranormal, you've GOT to do at least one of these!
1.  Here's the easiest one first -- Have a horror movie marathon, but not the slasher flick kind. I recommend movies that get under your skin and creep you out, especially if they hit you with a twist that chills you to the marrow. My favs of this type are The Skeleton Key (2007), Shutter (2008), and The Ring (2002). 
Prefer a straight-out monster flick? Go with a King Kong marathon -- there are no less than 7 incarnations of this movie (My fav is the 2005 version, directed by Peter Jackson and starring Naomi Watts and Jack Black). After all, it IS a ginormous love story! 
2.  Visit an ultra-creepy museum together. What constitutes such a place depends on what's most likely to keep you awake at night. As a kid I was afraid of ventriloquist dummies -- and I still give them a wary eye. Imagine being surrounded by over 700 of them, all staring and silent, at Vent Haven Museum in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. The only one of its kind in the world, there are dummies dating all the way back to the early 1800s, dummies with real teeth and real hair, and four dummies who washed ashore in a trunk after their ventriloquist died in a shipwreck off the coast of Texas in 1908. http://venthavenmuseum.com/ 
Or you could venture to the Mutter Museum (at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia) -- a display of human anatomy both normal and very, very abnormal. Think things in fluid-filled jars and countless skeletons.... Not for the squeamish!http://www.collegeofphysicians.org/mutter-museum/
3. Go on a supernatural walking tour as a couple. Almost every major city boasts at least one of these, and some have several. One such tour, offered by the New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum, includes a cemetery visit, highlighted by the tomb of Voodoo Queen, Marie Laveau. Known for her kindness, people have paid homage to her and asked for favors since her death in 1881. The tour also offers an opportunity to meet a modern-day Voodoo priest or priestess (live). http://www.voodoomuseum.com
Other tours include the San Francisco Ghost Tour , Occult New York: A Manhattan Walking Tour , Memphis Ghost Tours .... you get the picture. Most last from one to three hours as your host shows you sites of murder, mayhem and tragedy.
4.  Spend some quality time together in a site rumored to be haunted. The USS Hornet Museum in Alameda, California, is one such place. Stories abound of strange sounds and sightings in and around the decommissioned aircraft carrier -- including more than a few ghosts of sailors and soldiers. Visitors are allowed to take self-guided tours. http://www.uss-hornet.org/ 
The Soldier's National Museum is said to be the most haunted place in the most haunted city in America -- Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The museum houses a large collection of Civil War artifacts, but the building itself started life as the Soldier's National Orphan Homestead. Stories abound of mistreated and even murdered children. Adding to the unrest: a number of unmarked graves of Union soldiers on the site.  https://gettysburgbattlefieldtours.com/soldiers-national-museum/
5. For something romantic AND paranormal -- what about a stay at a haunted bed and breakfast? The Red Garter in Williams, Arizona, has had many roles over the years -- opium den, Chinese restaurant, boarding house and saloon, but it's most famous for its time as a bordello. 
The old building was completely renovated and restored in the 1990s, but ghostly incidents began even before it reopened as a hotel and bakery. Guests have reported their beds being shaken or bounced, or the sensation of someone sitting on the mattress beside them. Footsteps have been heard on the vacant staircase and doorknobs have been rattled when there is no one in the hallway. A few guests have reported seeing the ghost of a beautiful young woman, pacing the floor in their room before suddenly disappearing. redgarter.com/the_red_garter_bed_and_bakery.html


....................................................................................................
LOVE IS IN THE AIR GIVEAWAY HOP

February 7 to February 14, 2013



Over 100 authors and bloggers are participating, each hosting a giveaway on their own site. You'll find the complete Linky List to all of the sites posted below.

Dani's Giveaway

Leave me a comment - tell me about something supernatural you've done, or that you'd LIKE to do (and I can hardly wait to read them all!)  Be sure to include an email address so I can contact you if you win! 


The prize is a paperback copy of HAUNTED AMERICA by Michael Norman and Beth Scott (a grand tour of ghostly hauntings throughout the U.S. and Canada). Plus a sample of one of my favorite coffees. If the book fails to keep you awake, this definitely will  -- Dead Man's Reach!

I'll be choosing a name at random from the comments on February 15th. 

Good luck everyone!NOTE - The blog hop technically begins on Thursday, Feb. 7th.  I'm posting early (so I don't forget!) and you can enter now, but not everyone in the hop will have their posts up and running yet. Please be patient! 

The truth about the Wolf Moon

The first full moon of 2013 falls on January 26 in North America (or January 27th elsewhere in the world). 

According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, "January is the month of the Full Wolf Moon. It appeared when wolves howled in hunger outside the villages." (http://www.almanac.com/content/full-wolf-moon-januarys-moon-guide)

Wolves may assemble more often in winter in order
to bring down bigger game."The Wolf Moon" is only one of the many names for the first full moon of the year (which often referred to the month of January itself, not just the actual moon). Each Native American tribe had their own name for it, such as the Frost Moon, the Cold Moon, the Elder Moon, the Moon of Hard Winter, etc. 

Some, like the Algonquins, called it the Wolf Moon because it was the time of year when wolves became the most visible. Others called the month of January the time of wolves running together.
Wulfmonath - the wolf month, according to the Saxons.The Saxons called January Wulfmonath, the wolf month. According to the writings of Verstigan, “The month which we now call January, they called Wolf-monat, to wit, wolf-month, because people are wont always in that month to be in more danger to be devoured of wolves than in any season else of the year: for that, through the extremity of cold and snow, these ravenous beasts could not find of other beasts sufficient to feed upon.”

The Changelings in my PNR novels
left Scotland to escape the wolf
exterminations there.The month of January is called Faoilleach in Old Scottish Gaelic. The ancient word comes from faol meaning a wolf. Although wolves don’t live in Scotland at present, they did until 300 years ago. In fact, they were considered such a danger in the 1500s that it was made mandatory by royal decree for every landowner to hunt wolves three times a year. 
Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France, has a wolf month too – but not until February. It’s called otsaila (otsa = wolf). Also, the Dacians, a Celtic tribe, were occasionally referred to as the Wolf Moon People by some of their neighbors.  


It's true - wolves generally mate for life. It's a feature that
they share with my fictional Changelings.In some parts of Europe it was believed that if you said the word wolf in December, you would be attacked by one in January!
January may have been associated with wolves for other reasons. For one, it’s the beginning of the lupine mating season. Unlike dogs, wolves only breed once a year, and it’s usually only the alpha pair that produces pups. 


The howling of wolves is a sound I've been privileged to
hear often in northern Canadian winters. It is the
most primal sound I know of.
You're certainly more likely to hear wolves in January, or any of the winter months. Sound travels much further in the cold air. Plus the wolves might be more inclined to howl in winter, calling upon the pack to assemble to help bring down larger game. 

Today, the Wolf Moon exists mostly in popular culture. The only "official" titles for full moons in the year are the Harvest Moon, the Hunter's Moon, and more recently, the Blue Moon.

Wolves are more visible in the winter months.But January is still a good month for wolves, and humans stand a better chance of seeing them then. With the leaves of the underbrush gone, plus the contrast of their coat color against the snow, wolves are definitely easier to spot in winter. They’re bolder too, usually out hunting rather than curled up in a sheltered spot.



Wolves are beautifully designed to
run in the snow.Winter is usually a time of plenty for predators, and wolves are well designed for running down prey in cold weather. They have a long outer coat that sheds snow and water, and a thick undercoat that insulates them. Wolves have very large feet too, with front feet bigger than their hind feet. The result is good weight distribution on snow – they don’t sink into it the way that a deer or elk would. Plus the hair around each toe pad is very stiff and helps wolves to gain traction on ice.
So will wolves be howling at the Wolf Moon? In actuality, while wolves are often more active on moonlit nights - after all, they can see better - science says they don't howl at the lunar orb at all. Still, no one really knows what it's like to be a wolf, and I like to think that they do sometimes sing to the moon just for the pure joy of it.
Dani Harper is a published author, who writes about wolves and wolf-like creatures called Changelings. www.daniharper.com 


This is the recently released Black Wolf by Ganz.
Like all Webkinz, it's about 8.5" tall and comes with
secret code for the the "Webkinz World" website.
The code allows the user to own a virtual version
of the pet for online play.
Or, like me, you can just enjoy having this
cute wolf sitting on your desk!Draw - Leave me a comment telling me what you like about wolves, or what you think about the Wolf Moon, and you'll be entered for a chance to win a black WEBKINZ wolf! 

Remember to include an email address so I can contact you if you win. I'll draw a name at random from the comments on February 5th, 2013.