Aimee Easterling's Blog, page 24

Wooden wolf teeth

When I see things like these wooden wolf teeth in a Native American exhibit at a local museum, my immediate question is “Why?” What kind of legend makes wolf teeth so valuable that people would take the time to carve replicas out of wood and the coat them with precious copper?

Luckily, the internet is a mere click away. Pow Wows or the Long Lost Friend by Hohman suggests that Native Americans carried wolf teeth for various reasons. The teeth were believed to protect the bearer from unkind words and to create a wolf-like loyalty within a family. And if someone dared to steal from you, all you had to do was tuck your wolf tooth under your pillow at night and you’d dream out the thief’s identity.

It’s easy to see how actual wolf’s teeth would give way to wooden wolf’s teeth as the native canines were hunted to extinction in the eastern U.S. I guess the real question from an author’s point of view is — if I embed a picture of a wolf’s tooth into each of my books, will the titles in question no longer receive one-star reviews?

Romance as decadent as dark chocolate

I have a love-hate relationship with the romance novel. On the plus side, the genre is, by definition, full of character-driven stories — my favorite kind. On the downside, most romance novels leave me feeling like I gorged on cheap Halloween chocolate — sweet in the instant but more prone to leave me with a tummy ache than that happy book glow I’m going for.

Enter Laura Florand. Florand is on the very short list of authors whose books I’m willing to pay full price for. Her characters are perfect, but her settings and writing are even more engaging. For example, her Amour and Chocolat series is set in Paris and each hero is a top chocolate chef. From the first page, I was completely sucked into the high-action world of Michelin starred restaurants along with the intricate art form that chocolate becomes in that environment. The books are all standalone, so you can read them in any order — I recommend either starting at the beginning (The Chocolate Thief) or with my favorite (The Chocolate Temptation).

Or, if you don’t want to ruin your appetite with sweets, Florand’s La Vie en Roses series is nearly as good. Actually, I felt like the first book in the series — Once Upon a Rose — was even better than the chocolate books. I’m not a perfume fan, but the idea of a valley of rose bushes grown for careful harvest by the scent industry was immensely vivid and fascinating.

I’ll admit up front that Florand’s books aren’t cheap. But they’re worth every penny! I save them to be savored when I really need a boost and always come away feeling that I’ve gotten more than my money’s worth. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Last call on 99-cent deals

I just wanted to give you a quick heads-up that Half Wolf will be raising to full price Saturday. So if you want to nab it at the 99-cent fan rate, now’s your chance!

And while I’m telling you about 99-cent books, Paranormal After Dark (a 20-novel box set that includes my Complete Bloodling Serial) is marked down to 99 cents today too. This box set could provide a month of reading for a very low price. I hope you enjoy it!

Open acknowledgments

I generally don’t include an acknowledgements section in my books because I figure the average reader doesn’t particularly care how well my husband manages my pre-release meltdowns (“Everyone’s going to hate my baby! The sky is falling!”) and how ably my father hides his disdain of genre fiction when he picks apart plot holes in my second drafts (“That’s why you got an MA in English. Right?”). But I figured a blog post on the topic wouldn’t hurt — that way if you’re bored, you can skip it.

In addition to my ever-supportive friends and family, Half Wolf had an astonishing number of both enthusiastic volunteers and professionals helping turn my buggy manuscript into the (hopefully) polished product you might have downloaded to your e-reader this past weekend. First and foremost, I want to thank all of my early readers…and specifically Mel who found a typo that all of the professionals missed. Second, the enthusiasm and kindness of everyone who tried a copy of my book, told their friends, or left a review really helped me see that the sky wasn’t falling after all.

Next on my list — the blurb. Blurb-writing is an art that I’ve been practicing, but it still took several writing buddies and about a week to polish those all-important 160 words. Specifically, Name Your LinkDavid J. Normoyle and Name Your LinkSylvia Frost‘s sentences actually ended up on the Amazon page, while Name Your LinkLindsay Loucks asked just the question I needed to make the blurb (finally!) veer off in the right direction. Everyone else’s feedback washelpful too! (Yes, I did really have more writers that I can easily name in a single blog post look over those four short paragraphs.)

Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank the pros who turned my homemade story into a polished product. Chereese at Grammar Rules A to Z is always willing to slide my manuscript in at a moment’s notice for a thorough polish and Rebecca Frank is definitely the world’s best cover artist. If you’re a writer in need of some professional assistance, I can’t recommend these two ladies highly enough.

Still here? Then I want to thank you as well for reading all the way to the end and giving me the impetus I need to open up my laptop every day. You are why I write.

Werewolves in legend

In Of Wolves and Men, Barry Holstum Lopez digs deep into the lives and behavior of real wolves. Then (in my favorite chapter), he turns the tables and considers how humans have merged themselves with canines in the myth of the werewolf.

Actually, as a side note, I was entertained to see many other kinds of shifters well-represented in pre-modern folklore. Bear shifters are currently clogging up the bestseller lists on Amazon, but early Norwegians would accepted werebears as fact. Similarly, werehyenas were considered to be real in Africa, werefoxes were given a wide berth in Japan, werejaguars were alternately worshiped and feared in South America, and werewolves were both dreamed about and persecuted throughout Europe.

So what does it take to turn into a werewolf? European legend says you can don a wolf’s skin, swim across a specific body of water, drink from liquid pooled in a werewolf’s footprint, munch on special roots or apply special ointments, drink from magical streams, or wear a lucky charm. Take your pick! Interestingly, though, the author didn’t once mention the modern mainstay — being bitten by a similarly afflicted wolf/human hybrid.

Some werewolves were shapeshifters for life, but others only took on fur for a few days or years at a time. The shifters might be sorcerers who chose their fate, cursed victims of another sorcerer, or (less often during and after the Inquisition) a benevolent being out to do good. Alternatively, you might be a werewolf simply because you were born on Christmas eve, because you came out of your mother feet first, or because you were the seventh daughter (or son) born with no sons (or daughters) in between.

And that’s just in Europe. The Navajo belief in skinwalkers follows a different track entirely.

But I’ve rattled on for long enough. Time to go back to my own werewolf world where dual-nature beings are born and not made. Because, after all, it’s more fun to make things up than to stick to the rules.

Every werewolf knows the meek won’t inherit the earth

I’m excited to announce that Half Wolf is now available to buy or borrow on Amazon! I’ve set the price as low as possible — 99 cents — for the first week to make it easy for fans to pick up a copy. But don’t delay — Half Wolf will be going back to full price soon.

Early reviewers are calling the book “compelling and well paced” and “tense, dramatic, sexy, and intriguing.” “You won’t be able to put it down,” promises another reader. And, more personally, this is the book I’ve had the most fun writing. I hope you have just as much fun reading it!

Not sold yet? Here are answers to a few frequently asked questions:

Does this book follow Alpha Ascendant or can it be read alone? Both! Half Wolf is the beginning of a spinoff series with Fen at the helm and I was careful to make sure you don’t need to know anything about the Wolf Rampant trilogy to enjoy this book. That said, the book begins a month after Alpha Ascendant ends. So if you absolutely don’t want any spoilers for that earlier trilogy, then you should read those books first.

Can my kids read Half Wolf? The Wolf Rampant trilogy was often mistaken for a young-adult series because there were no open-door sex scenes. And while some of you enjoyed that version of romance, 96% of you begged for more. So, by popular demand, I’ve upped the heat level in this new series to what romance novelists term “warm.” If you feel comfortable letting  your kids watch an R-rated movie, though, they’ll probably do fine with this book.

What else is different about this new series? I hope you’ll think it’s even better than the last! Fen is younger but much more of a kickass heroine than Terra was, Hunter is trouble wrapped up in a mouth-watering package, and Fen’s shifter buddies are equal parts loyal and annoying. The main difference is that Fen is a half-werewolf and an outcast, which makes her lot in life even tougher than Terra’s. Luckily, she’s strong and smart enough to make it work.

Does the book end in a cliffhanger? Half Wolf ends a bit like Shiftless does — the main story is wrapped up in a nice bow…then I tease you about book two. But I won’t make you wait so long for the sequel this time around. Packless is due to launch in June 2016.

Sound interesting? I hope you’ll grab your copy today. And if you want to earn my eternal gratitude, please consider writing a review when you’re done — your kind words help others decide whether to take a chance on a new author and spur me to keep on writing. Thank you so much! You are why I write.

Two free books

I’m assuming this goes without saying since the signup form for my email list is peppered all over the site. But just in case you’ve been wanting to give some of my books a try without laying down any cold hard cash, here’s your nudge — I send e-copies of both Shiftless and The Complete Bloodling Serial to everyone who becomes a member of Shifter Secrets. Plus, you’ll always be the first to hear about other freebies, fun quizzes and excerpts, and new releases. So what are you waiting for? Click “signup” at the top of this page and come join our shifter family!

The BBW and the Beast

One of the exclusive offerings in the Happily Ever Alpha box set is Sylvia Frost’s The BBW and the Prince. I’ll admit that I almost didn’t start on this story because the abbreviation BBW (big, beautiful woman) in the title made me think it was going to be erotica — all sex, no story. But then I read a teaser for the second book in the series and was immediately hooked. I’m a sucker for a good fairy-tale retelling, so I immediately turned back to the box set and flipped to The BBW and the Prince.

I was instantly drawn into the interesting world-building, which was painted with a very light but elegant hand (no infodumps here!). The author’s writing is a notch above most paranormal romances and I ended up thoroughly enjoying the story. I don’t want to spoil anything, but suffice it to say that “Beauty” is legally blind and the beast is a werewolf. Expected and unexpected antics occur, the pages turned awfully darn fast, and I was ready for the sequel before I knew it.

Now I just have 19 more novels to enjoy in this high-value box set!

A bunch of SF/F books free on Kobo or via Kindle Unlimited

Are you searching for something to read? Look no further! Over 100 books in the genres of science fiction, fantasy, dystopian, and speculative romance are currently FREE to either download on Kobo or borrow on Amazon via Kindle Unlimited. Here’s the link to the promo site.

I’ve discounted Pack Princess (my contribution in the Kindle Unlimited section) to 99 cents for a limited time for folks who want to play along but don’t read on Kobo or subscribe to Kindle Unlimited. Many of the other authors have similarly discounted their titles, so this is a great way to pick up cheap books as well.

Which books do I recommend? I haven’t read a lot of them (yet!), but I adored C. Gockel’s I Bring the Fire in the free section and am really looking forward to trying some of the others. I’ll be curious to hear which ones particularly float your boat as you give them a read.

Zumba to smile to

I’ve you’ve read any of my books, you’ve probably gathered that I love spending time outdoors. I hiked a lot in the past but now I mostly garden…and as a result, the winter can sometimes give me cabin fever.

To combat that, I’ve taken up zumba this year…but not the regular zumba that’s all about shaking your booty. Instead, I’ve settled on dancing along to a few select youtube videos over and over that make me smile every time.

In case you’re interested in following along, here are my very favorites:

The title says it all — I always feel better when I’m dancing.

This one really helps me get into Fen’s head. I envision I’m practicing sword-fighting after dark just like my current favorite werewolf.

When I really need to get out of my head and into my body, this dance video hits the spot.

And this one picks me back up when an editing session goes badly and I think maybe this writing gig is too tough for me after all.

In case you’re curious, I dance alone in my room where no one can see me. Even the cats flee the house when it’s time to dance! It’s much easier to dance like no one’s looking…when no one’s looking. So come on, I dare you — give it a try!