A Few Minutes With Terry Spear e-interviewed by Martina Bexte (April, 2008) Terry Spear kicks off her paranormal werewolf series with a Sourcebooks Casablanca release, Heart of the Wolf. Terry is an award-winning author of urban fantasy, medieval romance, romantic suspense, plus true stories for adult and young adult audiences. In her spare time she creates teddy bears designed to commemorate books. When she's not writing or making bears, she's teaching online writing courses. A California native, she now resides in the heart of Texas. Her published books include Winning the Highlander's Heart, Deadly Liaisons, Relative Danger, and The Vampire ... In My Dreams. Q: Have you always been fascinated by wolves and werewolf mythology? A: I've always been fascinated by mythologies from our own Native Americans to across the world, Greek, Roman, African, Norseman, etc., from the time I was young. But I also am fascinated with true life stories and Jack London's Call of the Wild and White Fang. All of these strongly influenced my writing. Q: Why did you decide to incorporate actual wolf pack behaviour into Heart of the Wolf? A: It seemed like a natural extension of what I enjoyed reading from early on. The more realistic a writer can make a story, the more the reader feels a part of it. So from the beginning, I wanted to create a werewolf species that incorporated both the abilities of the wolf and some of the behavior in human form, and had the human's sensibilities as a wolf. It seemed natural that a person who had the ability to shapeshift would still be part wolf as a human, and part human as wolf. Q: Don't Cry Wolf is next up in your werewolf series - tell us a little about this story and when readers can expect to see it on bookshelves? A: In Heart of the Wolf, both the gray pack and red pack have major leadership problems, plus it was also a reunion kind of story. In Don't Cry Wolf, I wanted a different scenario. Darien Silver runs a gray wolf pack in Colorado that has existed in the same location forever. They run the town, which makes for a unique werewolf situation. Also, Darien has two loyal brothers to help him. So it's very much a family pack unit. He's just lost his mate; she's committed suicide and he believes he's driven her to it. Her sister comes to town, intending to find the truth. All it takes is one little red lupus garou to turn the town upside down, shake up the pack, as well as one very alpha leader as she turns his world on end. Don't Cry Wolf will be available Spring '09. Q: You also teach online writing courses - what's the most satisfying aspect of sharing your knowledge with other authors? A: It's just like reviewing books, or judging contests, or helping critique partners with their manuscripts. Everything we do, helps our own writing. When I'm teaching I'll suddenly come to realize something that would aid my own writing. So although I'm helping others, which gives great satisfaction, I always learn a lot too. The fact that others helped me early on to improve my writing gave me the impetus to give back what I've learned. I've always taught, (including homeschooling my kids and still work with them in college), to substitute teaching and teaching online classes. One great satisfaction is seeing former students making it big! One just finaled in the Golden Heart and is a finalist in the Dorchester American Title contest. I want to hear this about all of my students! Q: Your other furry critter passion is teddy bears - those you create for fellow authors. How did this sideline get started? A: Years ago, my folks were creating doll carriages for doll collectors. Buying porcelain dolls to display was expensive and difficult to pack for long trips. I was making cloth dolls and bunnies and so they asked if I could create an old-fashioned teddy bear. I did under the name of Wilde & Woolly Bears and we sold out at the Dallas Market. Right afterwards, my bears won awards for Best in Show at a teddy bear and doll show in Fort Lauderdale; Best Dressed, one for a wizard and the other a jester at two other shows; and Most Unique Bear, for a peg-leg pirate. At that show, the Spectral Vision Films producer asked if I wanted my bears to be included in The International Teddy Bear Connection. Yes! They've been featured in several magazines and newspapers and they have found homes as far away as Australia (Celtic Clan Scottish bears) and Russia (Patriotic Patrick), China (wizard bears), and of course our next door neighbor Canada. My mother is from Canada and I do a lot of genealogy research up there, so many of my distant Canadian cousins have taken the Scottish bears into their homes, too! Learn more about Terry Spear's books and short stories, her online classes and her special bears at TerrySpear.com. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons.