I’ve always loved wolves.  When Dr. Pinkola-Estes wrote “Women Who Run With The Wolves,” it was a landmark book about feminine mystique.  She is a Jungian analyst.  Carl Jung, Swiss Psychiatrist, saw symbolism in everything.  And in the book, she too saw the deep symbolism of the wolf with women.  After all?  They both start with a “W.”  Right?  Right.  And you can add the world “wild” to the mix, too.  Wild Women. Wild Wolves.  They are synonymous with one another.

There is a deep intuitiveness and natural wildness in all women, and maybe that’s why we vibe so strongly with wolves and wolf packs.  Wolves, by nature are not loners, nor are humans, really.  We’re social animals, also.  And social animals need group, clan, tribe, team, family or group of friends to be happy and feel fulfilled.

I’ve had the good fortune to photograph Timber Wolves in Canada.  The photo I’ve got with this blog is one of them.  It was an alpha pair, male (gray, right) and female (white, left).

Everyone knows wolves are pack animals and they work together as a team toward one objective.  I chose the wolf symbol for my latest release WOLF HAVEN precisely because of this symbolism and reality.  Having wolf energy means that one’s will to survive is always close to their skin and nature.   Further, it is the alpha male and female who procreate while the others do not.  They become babysitters, instead.

One little known fact about wolves is that most people think all wolves have yellow eyes.   In truth, they are born with BLUE eyes.  And as they begin to mature, the eyes will change to yellow.  But, even among wolves, there are the rare ones that will keep those beautiful blue eyes for the rest of their life.

Gracie, the alpha white female wolf in my book, has blue eyes and is instrumental in helping the heroine heal from her wounds and trauma.  But she also brings out the heroine’s will to not only survive. But thrive.  So typical of wolves, they are one of the toughest, most adaptable of all creatures.  Wolf symbolism, then, is a wonderful foundation to pen a story.

Wolf Haven, HQN, by Lindsay McKenna, Wyoming Series, 12.1.2014
Ebook/paperback
Audio book available at audible.com
Visit her website: www.lindsaymckenna.com

Are you ready for Christmas or Yule or whatever your faith calls the gift-giving season? Thanks to my dd’s diligence, all the children are taken care of. Now, I’m picking up items here and there for the adults. But I also like adding hand-made things to the mix. So no telling what I’m considering!

This year, I’ve polished up old skills (crochet), learned some new ones (jewelry-making techniques), so I’m having a hard time narrowing down the projects. I know I want to make bracelets and pendants. I’ve been searching for an amulet bag crochet pattern so that I can fill the bag with small tokens (stones, a carved animal totem, etc.)—nothing too weighty. And I want it to be wearable and attractive, so I may have to find some easy embroidery patterns. Maybe I’ll crochet a sari silk bracelet. Make a scarf or two (with embellishments, because scarves themselves have no bling, right?). I have to make up my mind now, because I’ll be making these things in my spare time.

Pinterest has become my personal mecca for gift ideas. I can remember stocking up on craft books and magazines, but now, I have boards on Pinterest filled with ideas.  Now the problem is choosing from among them.

I’ve been thinking about the new things I want to learn next year and eyeing an inexpensive bead loom on Amazon… I’m like a little kid. Too easily distracted by the “pretties.” I better put it in the “Save for Later” basket and close out that screen before I become too tempted!

Are you making any of your gifts this year? Is there something you wish you had time to work on for a friend or loved one?

Okay, it’s only dreary, not snowy, so I shouldn’t complain. And now we all have “Let it Snow” playing in our brains. I can stop now, right?

December is always a strange month for me. There’s the rush to Christmas. Thanks to my dd, presents are mostly bought and hidden away. I still have a few things to get or make. And it’s my planning month. I review 2014 and think about what I want to accomplish in 2015, and I start making plans.

This year, I decided to do some “mind-mapping.” I talked about it on Saturday, but here’s my first chart:

Since I do have some artistic goals I want to meet, I decided my map had to have some color—just for inspiration. Next, I’ll drill down in a couple of spots—Writing, Art—just because there’s so much I want to do, and I have to figure out how to spread it over the year, so I’m not overloading myself. That was the problem I ran into this year.

I mentioned that I’ll be teaching another little workshop, this one for free, this month. The dates have changed due to my sister’s travel plans. We’ll be conducting the “Write 50 Books a Year” workshop from December 6-11. If you’re interested, be sure to join the loop now! And no, we aren’t really going to teach you how to write 50 books a year. That’s a hook. But we can help you do some pre-planning that will help you make the best use of your time and we’ll talk about ways to be more productive when you do sit down to write.

If any of you have been working on your own mind maps or vision boards, please send me jpegs so I can post them to my Pinterest board!

It’s Monday, and the 1st day of December. Do you have a plan? Get ready, go!

One of the things I love most about reading and writing is the world the story is set it. It doesn’t matter if it is contemporary, historical, paranormal, sci-fi, mystery or any other genre build a world that will make me want more. LOL.

This is what makes some books automatic buys. Yes I love the characters but without the world they inhabit they are just a shell of what they can see. Books with a captivating world will make me want to read more. It’s all about the atmosphere that you set. Let me visualize that I am there in that world. Make me imagine that I am actually walking down the street with your characters.

When I create my own worlds in the books that I write I strive for a feeling. The feelings that will make you want to live in the world I created. There are so many intricacies to building a world. You have to engage all the senses. The sounds you hear, scents that make the place familiar, sights that you see, the feel of the place, and the taste of its local cuisine. Once these are engaged it brings richness to the world.

When I build series, I use many factors to create it. I take many parts of history, folklore and other interesting tidbits to create the world of a story. In writing the books, I sink into the myths that I was creating.  It’s fun to bring in various things I find fascinating into my writing. When I build, I reveal brick by brick and layer by layer. There are so many beings and things in that world to explore. As I write each book, I have a wonderful time laying down the layers of the world and going on each adventure.  The mythology of the world grows with each book.

Whenever I write a new book in any of my series ranging from contemporary to paranormal I’m excited to see where I go next.  I get to push boundaries of belief and bring the reader into the journey of the story. Each journey will be a thrill ride as we get to know more of the world I’ve created.  I’m having a great time being a World Builder.

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Bio:

Taige Crenshaw is a multi-published author with books available at Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Liquid Silver Books, Loose Id, and Totally Bound. Taige has been enthralled with the written word from time she picked up her first book. It wasn’t long before she started to make up her own tales of romance. With novels set in today, in alternate dimensions, or in the future she writes with adventure, fun sassy heroine’s, and sexy hero’s. Always hard at work creating new and exciting places Taige can be found curled up with a hot novel with exciting characters when she is not creating her own. Join her in the fun, frolic, interesting people and far reaches of the world in her novels. You can find out more about Taige at:

Website: http://www.taigecrenshaw.com/
Blog – http://www.taigecrenshaw.com/blog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Taige-Crenshaw/110652119026620
Twitter: @TaigeCrenshaw
Chat Group ~ Crenshaw Café – http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crenshawcafe

To sign up for Taige’s Newsletter ~
http://www.taigecrenshaw.com/newsletterandgroups.shtml

To email Taige: http://taigecrenshaw.com/blog/contact

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Firestorm Encounters (Phoenix Intelligence Agency, Book #5) – What do you do when you find a man who sets your senses aflame but being with him could cause repercussions?

Buy Here –
https://www.totallybound.com/author/taige-crenshaw#books

In this world when there are things that cannot be contained by humanities law.

When beings outside the scope of what humans can imagine decide to commit crimes, that are not only against the supernatural order but could effect the very humanity itself, who handles them? There is one place that stands between the human race and things that not only go bump in the night but make you even when you are awake be living in a nightmare.

For the agents of the secret agency sanctioned by the supernatural government it is a thin line between them and chaos. There are only a select few of the human race, which are in the ‘need to know’ category—not even the President of the United States is on that list. A PIA agent is equipped to handle whatever is needed of them. As they fight to keep the world from harm they find common alliances and enemies—new and old—who could even be a friend or family. Finding who to trust is a complicated thing. It can mean death or life.

For the agents fighting to keep the things we rather not know about at bay they will find themselves seduced by the most powerful of weapons—desire. Even as they work to keep our existence going these agents may find what comes beyond the initial uncontrollable passion. With their very breath, each beat of their heart and within their soul they will be reborn by love. Come inside and be embraced by the seductive power of the Phoenix Intelligence Agency.

Yes, I’m already looking past December to the New Year. I have the whole month of December to review my 2014 plan and figure out what the heck happened. There were projects I was forced to drop for personal reasons—illness being the main reason, lack of scheduled downtime the other. I don’t want a repeat of 2014. I want 2015 to be completely positive, maybe even a change of direction.

December 7-13, I’ll be running a planning workshop entitled “How to Write 50 Books a Year” through Roses Colored Glasses (ignore the dates listed on the page. Sis hasn’t updated and she’s on vacation at the moment. Use the link anyway to join the yahoo group!), and I want to be ready to work on my own plan while I lead other writers through the process. (BTW, the workshop is completely free, so if you’d like to plan your year along with a group of like-minded writers, please join us!)

Anyway, I am doing some pre-planning brainstorming. Not so much targeted toward specific projects (although that will be the next step), but a more generalized view of the year. I’ve been collecting Mind-Mapping and Vision Board tools on Pinterest and think I’d like to create a visual to list my goals/priorities for 2015. Something that might look like this (I found this on Pinterest, which led me to a website called Jenny’s Sketchbook where she talks about building this mind-map)…

Maybe on mine, I’ll add things like:

Revamp my writing process

• Plot
• Write
• Edit
• RECOVER

See that last step? I think that’s what’s missing from my process. Oh, and the plotting part, because I’m such a pantser, but I think the lack of plotting really took a bite out of the time I scheduled to actually write the books. So it needs to be there, and I need to get serious about doing it!

I’ll add some personal goals like “family time” activities or trips and adding exercise to my plan. I won’t plan on adding the “D” word (diet) to the map because I’ve had diet on my New Years Resolution list for years and it’s the first thing I always fail. So the D word does not make it to the map!

What else should I add? Some financial goal? Some organizational goal? Something targeted to my Etsy store, The Emerald Casket? I would like an offshoot circle for possible writing projects, maybe a brainstormed series list. Any suggestions for what I should jot down as possibilities? Any old favorites or new ideas?

Also, if you’d like to do something like this for yourself, whether you’re a writer prepping for “Write 50 Books a Year” planning or just a goal-minded person who loves the bright shiny possibilities of starting over in the New Year, be sure to share your map. Send me a pic, or a link to your map on Pinterest. If enough folks share, I’ll devote blog space or a Pinterest board to your efforts. 🙂

I’m definitely getting coal in my stocking this year. Yeah, it’s true. I try so hard to be good. I really do! But I have a demon sitting on one shoulder and she’s so much more fun than the angel on my other shoulder. What’s that? You don’t believe me? (Apparently you’ve never read one of my books!)

For you doubters, here’s a laundry list of my sins:

1. I torture my characters. Yeah, I really do. It’s part of my job. And to make things even worse, I enjoy it! LOL
2. I write dirty books. Yup, my characters are nice people but they’re always doing dirty (yummy) things. I don’t know how that happens. I really don’t.
3. When I’m in thrall to one of my stories, I sometimes go weeks without cleaning my house. I usually give in about the time fist-sized fur tumbleweeds skim across my floors when I walk through. (That doesn’t take as long as you might think, since I have 13 dogs!)
4. I corrupt others. I not only write dirty books, I entice others to read them. (cue evil grin and waggling eyebrows). In fact, I work really hard at enticing others into debauchery with me. You should try it, it’s fun and burns calories!
5. I’m totally, completely unrepentant. I’ll do it all over again next year. In fact I might double down on it. Because it’s how I roll. #:0)

Yeah, there’s a lump of coal in my future. Probably lots of them. But I look at it this way, diamonds come from carbon (as does coal). My lump isn’t really coal at all. It’s just a 10 karat diamond in its nascent form. Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!

Merry Christmas everybody!

He just wants her to take life a little more seriously. She’s decided he could have a point. Especially now that somebody wants her dead.

Dolfe Honeybun broke up with Blaise Runa because her party girl ways were driving him to distraction. Unfortunately, out of sight does NOT mean out of mind. And when his favorite party girl sees something she shouldn’t and finds herself being chased by a cold blooded killer… reason shuts down and Dolfe’s heart takes over. If only he can get to her in time!

Book page

* * *

I like big butts and I cannot lie…

Dolfe’s head jerked off the pillow, groggy from an unusually deep sleep. His heart pounded as he reached over and shut off the phone. Cursing Blaise. The ringtone had been her idea. She’d told him, grinning, that it would remind him of her every time it rang. Dolfe silently berated himself for not changing it to something mature and soothing.

She’d been right. The tone did remind him of her…of the lush firmness of her perfect backside…the velvet feel of her skin…the sensual tang of her delicious scent.

God knew he didn’t need any more reminders of Blaise. Her essence was infused in every fabric in his home. Her presence saturated every cell of his existence. A battered paperback behind the sofa cushions…a bottle of siren red nail polish shoved to the back of his medicine cabinet.

She was everywhere.

Dolfe had thought breaking up with her would be enough to exorcise her from his life.

What an idiot he’d been.

He opened his eyes and squinted at the clock. Three flippin’ AM. He groaned, flopping back to the pillow and closed his eyes, determined to ignore whoever the asswipe was who thought it was a good idea to call him in the middle of the night.

For a brief, enticing moment he thought he might be able to do it. Go back to sleep. His muscles softened…his thoughts clouded… He took a deep breath, expelling it softly…

I like big butts and I cannot lie…

Dolfe growled his frustration and grabbed the cell, stabbing at the button to answer it. “This better be fucking good.”

Silence met his growled, less than friendly greeting. No. That wasn’t completely right. If he listened carefully he could hear breathing, soft and staccato. “Who’s there?”

A tiny squeak. Panic swirled through Dolfe. “Blaise? Is that you? I’m sorry, honey. You woke me up. What’s wrong?” He didn’t know how he knew it was her. He just did, in that instinctive, age-old way of lovers who’d been, even for a short time, totally in tune with each other.

“He killed her.”

The simple statement, thick with tears, ripped through whatever grogginess Dolfe might still be feeling and tore him from the bed. He was reaching for his jeans even as he spoke again. “Who killed who, honey. Tell me you’re all right. Let’s start with that. I need to know right now that you’re okay.”

She pulled air into her lungs in a shaky breath. “I’m okay. But…” Another squeak, “He saw me, Dolfe. He’s coming after me.”

Dolfe scrubbed a hand over his face. “Shit. Okay, honey, listen to me. Get someplace public. A busy restaurant or something. Sit down at a table facing the door and wait for me. Watch for me. I can be there in minutes. Just tell me where you are.”

A soft sob, the sound of the phone dropping, crashing against something.

Dolfe’s guts heaved into his throat. “Blaise!”

Nothing.

Book page

Author Bio:

USA Today Bestselling Author Sam Cheever writes romantic paranormal/fantasy and mystery/suspense, creating stories that celebrate the joy of love in all its forms. Known for writing great characters, snappy dialogue, and unique and exhilarating stories, Sam is the award-winning author of 50+ books and has been writing for over a decade under several noms de plume.

If you haven’t already connected, Sam would love it if you Liked/Followed her wherever you enjoy hanging out online. Here are her online haunts:

Newsletter: http://www.samcheever.com/newsletter.html
Website: www.SamCheever.com
Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/author/samcheever  
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamCheeverAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/samcheever
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/samcheever1/

A quick note…

For you Americans out there, Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you’re spending the day with family and aren’t stuck in some airport. I’ll be sitting down to the table with mine and giving thanks for all my blessings. Now, on to our regularly scheduled program… 🙂

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3 Reasons to Let an Aircraft Mechanic Turn Your Wrench

Nothing is sexier than a book boyfriend who lives to keep others safe. Firefighters, military men, and police officers fill the romance genre—and for good reason. Aircraft mechanics don’t garner a lot of page time. Maybe it’s because the job isn’t glamorous or even one people care to think about. Mechanics are the grease-smudged faces behind the curtain, the unseen force keeping you in the air. Being married to one myself, I’ve seen every side of these mysterious men. Here are a few of the perks of the breed.

#3 Cocky calm.

Aircraft mechanics are a little like cardiologists. I’ve yet to meet one who wasn’t cocky as all get out, at least when it came to his job. On any given day these mechanics are responsible for the safety of hundreds or even thousands of people. No room for the wishy-washy in a field like that. And no matter how comfortable you are with the miracle of flight, when you’re cruising along at four hundred miles per hour and the airplane makes one of those godawful metal-grinding noises, it’s nice to have your man squeeze your hand and assure you that there will be no fiery death today. The phalange needs oiled, that’s all. On more than one occasion my husband even fixed the plane we were flying on before departure, saving us from a lengthy delay. If that’s not sexy, I don’t know what is.

#2 Joining the Mile High Club doesn’t necessarily involve a cramped lavatory.

Making love at 32,000 feet can be a beautiful thing. Yet every time I’m forced to step foot in one of those germ-ridden closets being passed off as a bathroom, I’m amazed anew that there even is a Mile High Club.

But fear not, amorous adventurers, I have two words for you: ferry flight. This is usually a short flight used to relocate an airplane. Say a plane lands in Cincinnati, Ohio, but needs to go to the airline’s base in Columbus for more extensive maintenance. A barebones crew then flies the jet to Columbus without paying passengers. The captain may permit certain people, such as a mechanic and his guest who are trying to get to Columbus to remain onboard.

The atmosphere on a ferry flight is completely different. No passengers to appease, fewer regulations to follow. The crew is at the end of a long day, most likely in the mood to either joke around or simply fly in peaceful silence. With the latter you and your mechanic are left to entertain yourselves. Hmm . . . All those empty seats and a flight attendant who’s only too happy to leave you alone. What’s a girl to do?

Which leads us to . . .

#1 He knows how to use his equipment.

There is no engine too complex, no G-spot too elusive for a man who knows how to use his quick mind and strong, calloused hands—and all other tools at his disposal. Le sigh.

Eva Siedler was born in Columbus, Ohio to parents who enjoy the kind of epic love most people only read about. She didn’t inhale books or scribble stories in a notebook during study hall. Because writing necessitated reading. And she HATED reading. Every paragraph was a battle, and she couldn’t seem to stay awake through the first ten pages. It wasn’t until her own love story unfolded and a colicky baby started keeping her up at night that Eva discovered what good fiction can do for the soul. Writing wasn’t the path she imagined. It’s the path she was born for, and so much better than she could have dreamed.

www.evasiedler.com

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Las Vegas Layover

Coastal Airlines mechanic Sebastian Brisbane is on his way to Las Vegas to fix a broken jet. But after one look at his sexy, travel-sized seatmate, he’s more concerned with revving her engine than fixing the plane’s.

Clara Howe will do anything to fulfill her aunt’s last wishes to have her ashes spread in Vegas. A one-night stand isn’t on the itinerary, but when Clara accidentally pricks Sebastian’s temper, along with his passion, only one thing is certain: It’s bound to be a bumpy ride.

Samhain | Amazon | Barnes and noble