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Monday, April 13th, 2009
Full Moon of Werewolves: What makes my werewolves different? & Prize!

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About today’s guest: Linda Robertson
Not only does Linda write Urban Fantasy novels, she’s an artist and a musician as well. She’s played the piano since she was eight, and the electric guitar since her rock-n-roll teen years . . . a bad-ass phase some would say she never completely outgrew.

Linda Robertson Prize From Linda: I wanted to do a little contest, but I don’t believe I’m getting advance copies! So, I’ll do something a little different. If you’d like to have your name go into the drawing for a journal and photo album set (see picture) then go to my website at: www.wolfsbaneandabsinthe.com

(yup…Wolfsbane and Absinthe) and see if you can find out how tall the character Johnny is. (There’s only five pages there, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find!) When you find his height, then leave it in the comments section of this post. At the end of the promotion, Lori will choose a winner at random from all the correct answers. Good luck!

Winner will be announced at end of Full Moon promotion. Last day to enter Saturday, April 25th at midnight central U.S. time.

So, how are my werewolves different? For one thing, mine are wærewolves.

I doubt I’m the first person to spell it wærewolf with the ligatured a-e, but I did so I can refer to them as ‘wæres’ without it looking like the verb ‘were.’ Typing reasons aside, if the wæres in my story get near a witch during spell-work the energies raised can incite an irreversible partial shift—usually the head and arms—but the mind suffers irreparably. The police are expected to shoot and kill any wære partially shifted. So…witches and wæres weren’t meant to mingle.

Now how about a sample?

EXCERPT from VICIOUS CIRCLE available July 2009 from Juno/Pocket Books:

In the back of my address book was a list of contact numbers for the wærewolves who kenneled in my basement for full moons. My finger ran down to the name Johnny. A last name wasn’t necessary to clarify this guy. There was only one Johnny.

I put quarters into the gas station pay phone and dialed his number. It rang twice.

“’Lo?”

“Johnny, it’s Persephone Alcmedi. I—”

“Hey, Red.”

That threw me. My hair wasn’t red, it was dark, dark brown. Though I tried going blonde in my late teens, a week later all the prissy cheerleaders at school started saying things like ‘Your Greek roots are showing’ and I went back to brown. Blonde hadn’t been me anyway. I’m a darkling. “Red?” I asked.

“I’ve decided I’m going to call you Red from now on.”

“All right. I’ll bite —no pun intended. Why?”

He snickered in a very masculine way and lowered his voice. “’Cause I like the idea of the big bad wolf visiting you and gramma.”

Vicious CircleI laughed so hard people pumping gas turned to stare at me. Johnny’s sigh made me imagine the satisfied smile he surely wore. He loved attention.

“I knew you’d call me eventually,” he said.

“This isn’t what you think it is.”

“Damn.” He breathed the word more than said it.

Quickly, I asked, “Busy tomorrow?”

“Never too busy for you, Red.”

“Don’t read into my words.” On full moons, the wolves let themselves into my storm cellar and locked themselves into the cages they wanted with whomever they wanted to share them with –an important choice, since these caged animals passed the time by mating, and furious mating by the sounds of it. However, when I went to unlock the cages at dawn, Johnny was always alone, and he teased me and howled at me, the pack clown, so to speak. He always had an innuendo ready.

“Aw, c’mon, Red. Go out with me just once. I won’t bite. I won’t even lick if you don’t want me too.”

I grinned but said, “No.”

He sighed.

“Busy or not?”

“I said I wasn’t.”

“Perfect. I need you to go to Cleveland and pick up something for me in, uh, well…your stage clothes.” He fronted a heavy metal band.

“In daylight hours?”

“Mm-hmmm. At four o’clock.”

“Awesome. I love scaring the white-collared types. What’m I picking up?”

“Probably a briefcase or something like that.”

“You don’t know?”

“Long story.”

“Sounds like perfect dinner conversation to me.”

I rolled my eyes. “Johnny.”

“Okay, okay. Where?”

“From the manager of the coffee shop two blocks down from the Rock Hall of Fame.”

“No way! Right down town?”

I had to smile. His enthusiasm never waned. I didn’t mean to be cruel, but if any man would make a good wolf, as in cousin to man’s best friend, it was Johnny. He had the personality of a tail-wagging leg-humper that had just gotten his treat. “Yep.”

“Cool.” He paused. “What’s in it for me?”

Going with the thought I’d just had, I said, “Treats.”

“Oooo baby.”

“Not those kind of treats, Johnny. I’m talking steaks.”

“Don’t blame me for trying, do ya?”

“Never.” I had to admit, I did like his attention –and his voice seemed sexier to me on the phone than it ever had in person— but I just couldn’t see myself dating him. He…he just wasn’t my type. And my personal rule was direct: Don’t flirt with the wolves you kennel. Kind of like no inter-office dating.

“So,” he drew it out. “Am I keeping this briefcase or whatever ‘til the moonrise or do I get to make a special trip to see you and gramma?”

In a mocking, child-like voice, I teased, “What big ideas you have.”

He growled low. “I got other things bigger than my ideas, little girl.”

My cheeks flushed red enough to suit the nickname. Johnny was different from the others, primarily because his looks terrified me; he had these tattoos that were just ominous. The others, in human form were just people. Johnny had such…presence.

I’d always thought he just flat out scared me, but talking on the phone for the first time, hearing him without seeing him, I realized it was all the looks. That made me feel bad, like I was shallow or something. I didn’t judge people on looks. Not usually, anyway.

“I’ll be home; bring it to me there.” I’d have to test my theory and see if he still intimidated me.

He hesitated. “I’m not complaining, Red. I’ll play fetch with you. But why aren’t you doing it if you’re just going to be home?”

I sighed. “I’ll explain when you arrive. Okay?”

“Okay,” he said brightly. “It’ll be about five-thirty or six by the time I make it through traffic and get to your place, so I’ll pick up something for us to eat. See you then.” He hung up before I could protest.

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Sunday, April 12th, 2009
Full Moon of Werewolves: Paranormal Boys You Can Take Home to Mom

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About today’s guest: Olga Kwak
Olga is the Junior Web Maintenance Technician for eHarlequin.com. An avid reader, in her spare time she blogs about life in Toronto at www.gloryfades.org and her obsession with the written word at Get Thee to a Punnery!

There’s something comforting about knowing your one true love is a werewolf. Sure, he might shed. Yes, he goes through clothing like it’s made of tissue. But even if he can tear a human limb from limb and barely break a sweat, you know he’s loyal to you and you alone. His love is intense and it makes you feel like you’re the only person in the world.

So what if he brings home the occasional flea?

My best friend and I are gaga over True Blood. It’s the perfect TV cocktail for girlies like us who have grown up watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But it’s even better because it has the added bonus of featuring a very sexy werewolf. Based on the Dead Until Dark book series by Charlaine Harris, it follows the story of Sookie Stackhouse and a variety of characters (both normal and paranormal) as they try and get through the day-to-day in Bon Temps, Louisiana. Of course there’s a little murder and intrigue thrown in to keep the viewer wondering.

And the best part about the show? Why Sam Merlotte, of course. Owner and operator of Merlotte’s, the local watering hole, Sam is an every-day sorta fella with a big secret—he can morph into an animal. Sandy haired Sam has a heart of gold and his border collie animal form makes you want to curl up next to him and take a nap. It also doesn’t hurt that he tends to be nekkid when he turns back into a human!

So you can see why I’m anxiously awaiting season two’s premiere (all the way in July!) ‘Til then, I guess I’ll just have to content myself with the books, which isn’t a bad deal for a bookworm like me.

It’s funny, growing up I was always more into the vampires. But my tastes have changed over time. These days I gravitate more towards these hunky wolfy men. I guess I’ve learned that vampires may love you and leave you, but werewolves will always follow the scent back home.

Saturday, April 11th, 2009
Full Moon of Werewolves: Werewolf Movies Rock! by Larissa Ione a Prize!

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Larissa IoneAbout today’s guest: Larissa Ione
Larissa is a fellow member of the Shape Shifter Romance blog and as of this week, a New York Times best-selling author!! Let’s all give her our congrats! :)

One lucky commenter will win a copy of either Desire Unchained or Taming the Fire (Sydney Croft,) Larissa’s werewolf books.. Just leave a comment on this post to be entered. Winner will be announced at end of Full Moon promotion. Last day to enter Saturday, April 25th at midnight central U.S. time.

I’ve made no secret of my “horror roots.” Oh, no – I cut my teeth on Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Gary Brandner, Whitley Strieber, Peter Straub, etc. I LOVED horror novels when I was growing up.

But I also loved horror movies. I gravitated more toward “monster” movies than “hack and slash,” so vampires, werewolves, and the blob were totally my thing. And my favorite? Werewolf movies!

Remember The Howling? Wolfen? American Werewolf in London? And who can forget Silver Bullet? Or the classic, The Wolf Man? Oh, Lon Chaney Jr., how I miss you.

Passion UnleashedThen, more recently, we have the Underworld series (which are probably my favorites,) Blood for Chocolate, Bad Moon, Hybrid. Man, I love the werewolf horror movies.

But have you ever noticed that werewolf movies ARE horror? It’s rare for the cinema to show werewolves in a positive light, a romantic light, the way books can and do. Oh, there’s a romantic element to the Underworld movies and Blood for Chocolate, but still, at their roots, they are gory horror-fests.

I can see, however, how these powerful creatures became the heroes and heroines in romance novels. They are strong, feral, and they possess a primal aura of danger that just makes a reader shiver. Plus, there is an element of unpredictability that keeps us on edge. What if the man (or woman) we’ve fallen in love with loses control and rips us apart? Yeah…that’s an issue.

So we watch these movies and feel for the characters who are good people, but who, once a month, are reduced to creatures who operate on rage and instinct, and who might just tap into our basest fears. Because really, could any one of us snap under the right conditions?

So anyway, this is windy way of saying that I love werewolf movies. I think my favorite is Underworld, but The Wolf Man comes in a close second, followed by An American Werewolf in London for third place.

What’s YOUR favorite werewolf movie? Tell me, and you’ll be eligible to win your choice of either Desire Unchained or Taming the Fire (Sydney Croft,) which are my two werewolf books.

Thanks for playing!!!

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Friday, April 10th, 2009
Full Moon of Werewolves: Love those Werewolves by Linda O. Johnston & a Prize!

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About today’s guest: Linda O. Johnston
Linda was born a writer. She can’t remember a time she didn’t write, though her earliest scribbles, while in diapers, were not decipherable even by her.

One lucky commenter will win an autographed copy of Linda’s Silhouette Nocturne, ALPHA WOLF. Just leave a comment on this post to be entered. Winner will be announced at end of Full Moon promotion. Last day to enter Saturday, March 25th at midnight central U.S. time.

Alpha WolfI love werewolves!

That’s why I write about them, of course. Not to mention other shapeshifters. But werewolves are my favorites.

Here’s why: Canines have always been dear to me. I got my first dog when I was eight years old after studying Dog World Magazine for quite a while, and have had them as pets ever since. I admit that the breed of dogs I’ve had for many years does not resemble my visualization of werewolves. Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are sweet, loving, adorable lap dogs. I feature my older one, Lexie, in my Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery series.

Werewolves, in their shifted form, look like real wolves to me.

One great thing about being an author is that you can take an existing legend and put your own spin on it. My werewolves are sometimes different from other authors’. For one thing, I write about Alpha Force, which is a covert U. S. military unit comprised of shapeshifters. My shifters must change during a full moon, and they have also developed a special elixir that allows them to change whenever else they choose. It also enhances their humanity while shifted. They use their abilities for national security reasons, and their assignments take them to many unusual locations. They can excel in missions that regular military personnel could never accomplish.

My first Alpha Force book ALPHA WOLF, a Silhouette Nocturne, was published in January and is still available on-line. I’ve also written a shorter Nocturne Bites, CLAWS OF THE LYNX, also about Alpha Force, but the shapeshifter is–you guessed it!–a lynx. She was fun to write about, too, but Alpha Force has more werewolves than other shifters, partly because that’s who I prefer writing about. And, yes, there will be more Alpha Force stories to come.

As I mentioned, other authors’ shapeshifters are often different from mine. For example, some only change during the full moon, and/or they may be able to change simply by deciding to do so. They may have more human traits while shifted and more wolfen traits when not shifted. Their wolf forms may even look somewhat human–traveling on two legs, for example, instead of four.

My werewolves can be dark and deadly, but they maintain enough of their human side to be sympathetic. And that human side is absolutely romantic… and sexy!

I have another theory, by the way, about why I love werewolves. I live in L.A., and once owned a piece of property formerly owned by Lon Chaney Jr., the original Wolf Man of the movies. I now live right down the street from that site. Could be that he somehow spoke to me! In any event, he inspired me to write about werewolves, and the result was Alpha Force.

I’ve had fun reading the other Full Moon of Werewolves posts so far. I’m in great company! One thing I gather is that all of us who write about werewolves do so with love. Love of the paranormal genre, and most particularly love of people who have secret abilities that govern who, and what, they are. Our depiction of our shifters may be different, but we’re all wrapped up in our stories–and our lycanthropes.

Long live werewolves!

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Thursday, April 9th, 2009
Full Moon of Werewolves: The Midnight Cravings Anthology & Win a Copy!

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About today’s guest: Lori Devoti
Well, you know about me. If not, this is my blog. I write dark paranormal romances for Silhouette Nocturne and urban fantasy for Pocket Juno books.

This month I am part of a couple of anthologies. One is Midnight Cravings–see the cover? Love, right? This anthology is a collection of Bites–short stories previously only sold as e-reads. There are six authors included: Michele Hauf, Karen Whiddon, Anna Leonard, Vivi Anna, Bonnie Vanak and Me! We were all pretty excited about the anthology and wanted to do something to share that excitement. We banded together and this week each of us is giving away a copy. So, while it says below that I am giving away a copy, by visiting the other authors blogs this week you can have SIX chances to win!

Midnight CravingsHere’s the schedule:

April 6th – Michele Hauf

April 7th – Bonnie Vanak

April 8th – Karen Whiddon

April 9th – Lori Devoti

April 10th – Anna Leonard

April 11th – Vivi Anna

One lucky commenter will win a copy of Midnight Cravings. Just leave a comment on this post to be entered. Winner will be announced at end of Full Moon promotion. Last day to enter (here, other authors may end their contests different times) Saturday, April 25th at midnight central U.S. time.

Now here’s a brief write up for each story. Oh AND this does fit in the Full Moon theme because most of the stories are werewolf stories. Although mine is a…hellhound.

Mahina’s Storm by Vivi Anna
She was a tough-as-nails cop, all business and always in conrol. But Mahina Garner was also lycan, with strength, speed…and a powerful primitave nature. So when she was barely missed by a silver bullet during a raid she led, it ate at her confidence and disturbed her peace of mind. Only was it the near brush with death that so unnerved her, or the fact that she’d been saved by Ren Calder?

Mahina had always preferred her relationships uncomplicated, temporary and lightweight. But Ren stirred something in her that made her seriously uncomfortable. Determined to get him out of her system, she escaped into the night and into her wolf form, to quiet the turmoil within her. So she was surprised…and surprisingly thrilled…to find Ren following her, equally determined to make her his own.

Racing the Moon by Michele Hauf
Dean Maverick, werewolf, is racing against the full moon when his truck breaks down in the middle of nowhere. A sexy female mechanic named Sunday assesses the damage–and Dean.

It’ll take a day for parts to arrive; Sunday offers the spare bedroom above her shop for him to stay the night. Dean doesn’t have a day, or even a few hours. When the full moon is high in the sky, his inner wolf will emerge–unless he can appease it beforehand with sex.

Being a familiar isn’t easy for Sunday–sex is a conduit for demons to enter the mortal realm. Most familiars can control this power, but Sunday can’t. Every time she climaxes, a demon bridges to this realm, and they’re not always friendly. But she can’t deny the feral need to helpslake Dean’s lust.

Can a cat and wolf get beyond their prejudices–and overcome their own problems–to bring the wolf to a howling submission?

Captured by Lori Devoti
The dark elf who slashed him must have graced the tip of his sword with a drug. Because that was the last thing Gray Barsk remembered until he awakened in a dark cell…and he was not alone. Immediately he sensed a female nearby. Then she attacked!

After years of captivity, Leve refused to surrender. This male was the latest in a series of hellhounds they’d forced on her. But Gray was different…unlike the others, he somehow had control over his primitive instincts and could not be manipulated by their captors.

Now, for a chance to turn the tables on their tormentors and escape the nightmare of Kamp Arena, where hellhounds were bred for fighting, Leve would have to overcome her fear and distrust, and join forces with this singular male. But to fool their captors, they had to pretend to be avid mates…and their ruse was stirring very real passion in both of them.
Read an Excerpt!

Dreamcatcher by Anna Leonard
Emma had always taken care of everyone else. But recently she’s too tired, too drained to even get out of bed. Her body aches, and her thoughts are confused… until one day she collapses at work, and is=2 0rushed to the hospital.

Her parents arrange for an at-home nurse to come and stay with her until she recovers. Expecting a no-nonsense woman in a white uniform, Emma instead gets Matthew — sinfully good-looking in jeans and a t-shirt. Matthew is determined to get Emma well again, whatever it takes…but does he have an ulterior motive?. Shaken by her attraction to him, and disturbed by lust-filled dreams he inspires, Emma and Matthew must fight their own desires in order to defeat a centuries-old curse that demands one of them die….

Mate of the Wolf by Karen Whiddon
Rule Number One–Date only Pack members. She knew he was definitely not part of the Pack, but the immediate intense attraction Allie felt for Kane overwhelmed her good sense and convinced her to toss her rules out the window. The fact that she couldn’t detect his scent did not concern her–she knew he was unlike any man she’d ever known, and she had to be with him, whatever the cost.

He couldn’t believe she didn’t recognize him–he’d known instantly what she was. After four hundred years, Kane had finally found his Svetla, his one true mate. But a union between their two races was expressly forbidden. So now it was time for Kane to break some rules of his own….

Broken Souls by Bonnie Vanak
She was forbidden by the Draicon to cast the blood-to-blood spell. But Katia was determined to find her father, and the spell was her only option. The Draicon had taken her into their pack when her own family had been destroyed by the Morphs. But Katia had never given up hope that her father was still alive, and refused to mate for life with her beloved Baylor until she found him. Now Baylor had given her an ultimatum, and Katia was forced to take drastic measures.

But when Katia’s spell summoned a Morph claiming to be her father, nothing Baylor said could convince her of the danger. Baylor knew too well the cost of trusting a loved one who’d turned and desperately wanted to save Katia the pain he’d lived with for so long. He also knew that if he spared the Morphy, it would destroy Katia, but if he killed this evil being, he risked losing her love forever.
Read an excerpt

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Wednesday, April 8th, 2009
Full Moon of Werewolves: You Can’t Spell Werewolf without Wolf by Maggie Stiefvater

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Maggie StiefvaterAbout today’s guest: Maggie Stiefvater
Maggie lives an eccentric life in the middle of nowhere, Virginia, with her charmingly straight-laced husband, two small kids, two neurotic dogs, one criminally insane cat, and a 1973 Camaro named Loki.

P.S. Note from Lori: I read Maggie’s debut novel Lament and highly recommend it!

I have to admit, I don’t do werewolves.

I was never really into werewolves before I wrote SHIVER. I knew as much about them as probably the next uninformed American. That is, they busted out furdom when the full moon came out, slavered a lot, and usually involved bad make up. Just about everything I knew was informed by a teen werewolf movie I had seen when I was about nine or ten. I caught the clip of Exhibit A: Teen turning into Exhibit B: Werewolf; I think now, as an adult, that the movie wasn’t meant to be scary at all, but to me . . . well, let’s just say that I refused to go outside on nights there was a moon for a few weeks afterward.

So that was me and werewolves.

But then I was working on conceiving a bittersweet, paranormal love story, and during the course of my brainstorming, I saw a contest for lycanthropic short fiction. Though I’d never had a werewolf idea in my life, I thought it would be fun to come up with one for a couple thousand words. Well, I thought all day and came up with nothing — but that night, when I went to sleep, I dreamt about this winter wood populated by wolves, and the girl who was in love with them. Wolves who were, of course, also people.

ShiverWhich was how SHIVER came to be. The thing about SHIVER that will probably annoy the heck out of many werewolf purists is that my werewolves are not very . . . were. They spend precious little time looking like both a human or a wolf. When they are a human, when it is warm, they are very, very human. And when the temperature drops and they’re forced into their wolf forms, they are very, very wolf.

The werewolves in my novel owe far less to horror and far more to the Celtic shape-shifting stories. Because I don’t do werewolves.

Wolves, on the other hand, now that’s something I can get into. And it seems to me that the legend of werewolves came about during a time when real wolves were feared. When Europe was far more sparsely populated and the beasts in the woods were a much bigger threat to livestock, children, and even lone travelers. A mythical creature that turned a human into a wolf would obviously give us something fearful and deadly.

But nowadays, when wolves are the ones hunted by us, forced into tiny corners of our map by suburbs, does a werewolf legend with a slavering wolf really speak to us? It didn’t speak to me, anyway. So my wolves are just that . . . wolves. And the threat is not that you will become a wolf and go on a killing rampage as the full moon watches up above. It’s that you will become a wolf and lose yourself; your identity, your uniqueness, all your human thoughts and accessories that make you you and form your soul. I think that’s something we can all wonder about in our homogenized culture.

It lets me explore concepts of identity and play with the idea of werewolfism as a disease and present beautifully angsty solutions that are equal parts pro and con, which, let’s face it, is what I love to do.

Plus it lets me write about wolves. Which is good. Because I don’t do werewolves.

For more on Maggie:
Novels: http://www.maggiestiefvater.com
Writing blog: http://m-stiefvater.livejournal.com
Weekly short stories: http://www.merryfates.com
Art blog: http://greywarenart.blogspot.com

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Tuesday, April 7th, 2009
Full Moon of Werewolves: Shape Shifters in World Mythology by Jenna Reynolds

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About today’s guest: Jenna Reynolds
Jenna Reynolds’ love of the unusual started when she was a kid reading fairy tales and myths. That evolved into a love of science fiction, fantasy and paranormal fiction, movies and television shows. She’s still very much interested in myths, particularly in how they have manifested in popular culture. Her love of the unusual has transferred into her writing, which encompasses erotic, paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, historical and contemporary fiction. She’s also published under the name Anna Black. Please feel free to stop by her website at www.jennareynolds.com

The belief in the transformation of humans into animals or animals into humans is as old as humanity itself. Two wolvesStories have been told down through the centuries of men and women who could change into animals or of animals that could become human. Whether the characters of such stories were gifted or cursed, these tales have continued to fascinate until our present time.

The word used to describe this phenomenon, lycanthropy, comes from the Greek lukos for wolf and anthropos for man. Theriomorph is another word used to describe those with the ability to shift between human and animal.

In countries and cultures from around the world, stories of shape shifters have been at the heart of many myths, legends, folk and fairy tales.

hist_medtt_shaman_cave_drgDeep in caves in France and southern Spain, paintings were discovered, which, it is believed, were created by tribes of Cro-Magnon men. One of these drawings is of a strange creature, which, although shaped like a man, has antlers like a stag and the tail of a wolf or wild horse. Speculations abound as to what the drawing represents. Most believe it is a shaman or holy man, using sympathetic magic to ensure a good hunt.

What’s compelling about the drawing is that not only is it of a half-man, half-animal creature, but it shows the close connection that early man had with the natural world.

Unlike today, where most of us live in urban areas and our only interaction with animals is with our pets, or with the animals we see in circuses or zoos, ancient cultures were much more involved with the natural world and the creatures that lived within it.

Animals were hunted for food, their skins provided clothing, and they were both prey and predator. Even when humans began to live cities and engage in agriculture, there was will a strong sense of kinship with the animal world. Creatures that were once wild were domesticated in order to plow fields or to provide a steady source of sustenance.

Consequently, for many centuries, our ancestors, scattered as they were across the globe, lived in both harmony and fear of animals. It was, therefore, inevitable that humans would begin to tell stories about the strange, beautiful, and frightening world that surrounded them, and that those stories would involve the shifting and blurring of the boundaries between the human world and the animal world.

The Egyptians, for example, worshiped gods such as Anubis, who had the head of a jackal. Or Bast, who sported the head of a cat. The ancient Greeks have numerous myths that involve animal/human transformations. The gods of Olympus were notorious for turning mortals into animals as punishment for having committed some transgression against them.

Athena transformed the mortal, Archane, who dared to challenge her to a weaving contest, into a spider. Another mortal, Actaeon, happened to observe Artemis and her companions bathing. Affronted by this outrage, Artemis changed him into a stag and he was torn to piece by his own hounds.

Zeus, king of the gods and, as described by Gaius Baltar in Battlestar Galactica, a serial rapist, often transformed himself into various creatures in order to have his way with the women he wanted to seduce.

Although not technically shapeshifters, maenads, who were the priestesses of the Dionysian cult, would worship their god, Dionysius, by engaging in wild, drunken orgies. They would whip themselves into such frenzy that they would tear animals and humans to pieces. It is said that some of them would even suckle wolf pups at their breasts.

Far to the north of Greece, Viking warriors known as berserkers were also notorious for their wild, beast-like behavior. Clothed in animal skins, these warriors would take on the qualities of animals such as bears or wolves. It is speculated that, like the maenads, the berserkers may have been under the influence of hallucinogenic plants. In any case, the berserkers would foam at the mouth like mad dogs, biting the edges of their shields.

During the Middle Ages, and fueled by the Church’s desire to root out witches, warlocks and others who served Satan, many were accused of being werewolves, vampires, or shape shifting witches. The hysteria reached such a frightful pitch that animals such as pigs, rats, moles, locusts, caterpillars, etc, were actually brought to trial, tried, and executed for murder.

As time went on, the witch-hunting hysteria was replaced by the age of Reason and Science. Stories or tales about shape shifting creatures did not disappear, however. Instead, they began to appear in stories and tales, usually Gothic in nature, which were set in dark, forbidding castles or in strange countries with even stranger-sounding names.

But even in modern times, belief in shape shifters persists. Some years back a woman in Haiti was arrested for turning children into animals and eating them. In Port-au-Prince, a man was hacked to death for supposedly being a werewolf. In Malaysia, a dog was beaten to death. It was believed the animal was a member of a gang of thieves who transformed themselves into animals in order to engage in their crimes.

Why do such beliefs continue to persist? If you take a psychological approach, it’s believed, especially by Jungians, that the werewolf, or any shape shifting creature, is humanity’s shadow self. That they represent the dark, animal instincts we’ve suppressed in order to live in a civilized society. All of us, according to this theory, contain some manner or measure of the beast inside us. Jung said that this shadow “is the primitive who is still alive and active in civilized man and our civilized reason means nothing to him.”

If we look at this from the perspective of a collective shadow that dwells within the collective unconscious of all humanity, it would explain why so many stories of shape shifting creatures appear throughout the world.

Below are a few of them. This is a small sample of the shape shifting stories and creatures throughout the world. Also, Native American shape shifting stories and mythologies have not been mentioned, as I believe that will be addressed in a later post during this month.

Europe

Aufhocker – From German folklore. A huge dog that walks on its hind legs and tears the throats out of its victims. Often found near crossroads, waiting for victims.

Andandará – Evil were-cats found in sixteenth century Spanish legends. They sought out human women with which to mate. Their stare is deadly and whenever they were about, crops failed, diseases spread, and bad luck generally followed.

Berserkers – Although not shapeshifters per se, the Viking warriors known as berserkers went into battle wearing only the skins of bears and wolves. They also considered the wolf their totem.

Büxenwolf or Boxenwolf — Having made a pact with Satan, these men changed into wolves when they buckled a magic girdle around their waists. Seeking arcane knowledge, wealth, and power, these were thinking werewolves. In its wolf form, the Büxenwolf holds on to its human intelligence. However, it is only as strong as an ordinary wolf and can be killed with ordinary weapons. No silver bullets needed here.

Ceasg – A mermaid that lives in the Scottish highlands. Her upper body and face are those of a beautiful, well-endowed woman. Her lower half is that of a salmon. Like the selkie, she may become enamored of a handsome young man. When captured she is said to grant three wishes.

Hamrammr – Another Norse legend. Hamrammrs would also wear the skins of animals and take on their qualities. Their power, however, was limitless. This was because with each life they took, they grew more powerful and they could, eventually, grow so strong and powerful as to be impossible to destroy.

Lamia – In Greek mythology, Lamia was a beautiful woman who was seduced by Zeus and bore him children. Hera, consumed with jealously, took away her children. Lamia took human children to replace them. Because of her actions, she was transformed into a beast with the head and breasts of a woman and body of a serpent. She soon began to feed up on the children she stole.

Rusalki – Beautiful girls who sing sweet, seductive songs in order to seduce young men and then drown them. According to most stories, the rusalki were fish-women, who lived at the bottom of rivers.

Selkies – Seal people who can shape shift and appear in human form. They often take human mates and have children, who are sometimes born with webbed feet and hands and a love of the sea.

Asia

Budas – In ancient Abyssinia, stories were told of ironworkers and potters who acquired the power to become werewolves on one specific day of the year.

Huli Jing – A Chinese fox spirit that usually appears as a beautiful young woman. It drains the life energy of its victims.

Kitsune – Usually appears in the shape of a woman. Kitsune are believed to possess great intelligence, long life, and magical powers. They are also trickster figures.

Kumiho – Fox spirits who appear in the oral tales of Korea and who can change, among other things, into beautiful young woman bent on seducing men and draining their life energy.

Santu sakai – Half-human werebeasts whom the Malaysian people call “mouth men.” They have large fangs and crave fresh, red meat. They attack villages, catching and killing their victims.

Africa

hyena wolvesBouda – Boudas are men of the desert who can transform into hyenas at nightfall then resume their human shape at dawn. Some African tribes believe the hyena form is a favorite form of shape shifting shamans or witch doctors.

Baka – In Benin, a Baka is a spirit creature. It is the essence of a dead person who, while alive, dealt in evil. The Baka returns to Earth after death and takes the form of an animal. No matter what animal shape it takes, however, it is very powerful. Whether a chicken or a lion, it can kill. The Baka can also be a vengeance demon, which returns to avenge its murder.

Crocodile People – Some tribes in Africa believe that the souls of murder victims reside within crocodiles and that those crocodiles may seek revenge for their deaths. They may change into human beings or shift between human and crocodile. Beast marriages with crocodiles are common in some African tales.

Jackal People – In ancient Egypt, jackals were associated with the souls of the dead. In Africa, the jackal is seen as a wise trickster. A person can become a werejackal by wearing a strip of hide across the forehead or around the waist. Witch doctors sometimes assumed this shape in order to travel about safely at night.

Leopard Men – In West Africa, a cult existed of wereleopards. They fed upon human flesh. They brewed a potion known as borfima, made from the intestines of their victims. They believed this magic potion gave them supernatural powers and changed them into leopards.

Mambu-mutu – A half-human, half-fish claimed to have been seen in Lake Tanganyika in the East African country of Burundi. These werefish grabbed hold of people in order to eat their brains and suck their blood.

Again, these are just a small sample of shape shifting creatures in stories, legends and myths from around the world.

As for contemporary tales of werewolves and shapeshifters, there are many, of course, but a listing of them goes beyond the scope of this post.

I will, however, mention my newest favorite when it comes to shape shifting characters.

Bigby WolfIn the graphic novel series Fables, written by Bill Willingham, the premise is that characters from fairy and folk tales, such as Snow White, Prince Charming, and the Three Little Pigs, have been driven from their Homelands by the Adversary. They now reside in our world and have their own hidden community in New York city known as Fabletown. They refer to themselves as Fables.

The Big Bad Wolf, who once terrorized Fables such as Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs, is now Bigby Wolf, the sheriff and spymaster of Fabletown. Looking like a cross between Wolverine and Columbo when he’s human, Bigby Wolf is able to shift between his human form and his Fable form as the Big Bad Wolf. He’s also hopelessly love with Snow White, who divorced Prince Charming when she caught him sleeping with her twin sister, Rose Red.

Anyway, I love the series and I love Bigby Wolf.

So, please, feel free to share some of your favorite shape shifters from myths, legends, fairy tales and/or novels, films or television shows. I’d love to hear about the ones I didn’t mention or have yet to hear about.

Some books and articles for further exploration.

The Werewolf: A Monster for a New Millennium

The Werewolf Page

The Encyclopedia of Vampires, Werewolves, and Other Monsters by Rosemary Guiley

Werewolves, Witches, and Wandering Spirits: Traditional Belief & Folklore in Early Modern Europe by Kathryn Edwards

Man Into Wolf – An Anthropological Interpretation Of Sadism, Masochism, And Lycanthropy by Robert Eisler

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Monday, April 6th, 2009
Full Moon of Werewolves: A Werewolf in Celtic Clothing & Prize!

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Natale StenzelAbout today’s guest: Natale Stenzel
Natale is offering one commenter a free copy of one of the two prequels to BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HEART PLACE (Dorchester ~ March 2009), the third book in her series of funny paranormal romances. Today’s winner will have a choice of either PANDORA’S BOX (book 1) or THE DRUID MADE ME DO IT (book 2). Just leave a comment on this post to be entered. Winner will be announced at end of Full Moon promotion. Last day to enter Saturday, March 25th at midnight central U.S. time.

First, thank you to Lori for hosting me today — I’m really excited about participating in a month-long celebration of the werewolf. I’m a huge paranormal fan and the genre just is not complete without our powerful, furry shape-shifter to liven up a plot and take the conflict to such a crucially primitive level.

Next, a confession: As much as I love them, I do not write about werewolves. Instead, I write about the more light-hearted, Celtic cousin to the werewolf, called a puca.

[Natale looks around, noticing lots of blank stares.] What? You’ve never heard of a puca?

Okay, okay. A definition. The puca (which can be spelled a zillion different ways) is a half-human, half-faery, shape-shifting trickster from Celtic and British folklore. In traditional mythology, the puca preyed on travelers, preferred the shape of a black horse with yellow eyes, and liked to take unsuspecting humans (or ones who ticked him off or just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time) on a puca ride. What was the significance of this? Who knows, other than that this ride supposedly changed the rider’s life forever after. I never could find any but the sketchiest of explanation. Also according to folklore, November 1 (November Day, a.k.a. the puca’s day) is the one day per year when the mischievous puca can be expected to behave civilly. He may even hand out prophecies and warnings to those who consult him.

Between a Rock and a Heart PlaceAlso interesting, if you’ve read or seen Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, you might remember the trickster Puck. He’s supposed to be the bard’s vision of a puca. In some cases, the puca also answers to the name of Robin Goodfellow, which, coincidentally (or not) is also an alias for the devil. Some say the legend of Robin Hood is rooted in the puca myth, as well. Perhaps the most well-known puca — but way different from my vision of one — was the six-foot-tall invisible rabbit in the movie Harvey, starring Jimmy Stewart.

So we have a shape-shifting magicky type with a mischievous bent and the ability to hand out prophecies. Tell me this doesn’t start the wheels turning in your head. Even better, given the dangerous lack of detail beyond these basics, I felt almost obligated to take wild liberties with the tradition, warping and elaborating on the myth to suit my own story purposes. I had a little fun with this, I admit.

Take, for example, my puca half-brothers, Riordan and Kane, who were born to human women but fathered by Oberon, the King of all Faery. In spite of the “sprite” classification and the puca’s traditional preference for the horse form (a bit unsexy, you know?), I decided my puca’s base form would be human in appearance and manner, if a bit larger than life. Okay, so not just a bit. We’re talking one sexy, nearly irresistible and utterly incorrigible human form. These uber-masculine brothers dominate the first two books in my series.
In Pandora’s Box, we meet Riordan, who was cursed by an angry Druid daddy (I’ll bet you can guess why!) to live in a cornerstone for 2000 years . . . unless he can break that curse with the help of his equally cursed guardian Mina. Then, in The Druid Made Me Do It, we have wickedly appealing Kane, forced to redeem himself for any number wrongs he’s committed over the centuries. Although sincere, he finds penitent to be an unfamiliar role for him and so he needs a mentor of his own: Janelle, a physician whose to-hell-with-self idealism gets her into her own brand of troubles. Especially when Druids compensate her for her mentorship with the gift of healing with just a touch . . . any touch.

With this third book, Between a Rock and a Heart Place, I twisted things even more. Without giving away secrets from the first two books, let me just say that we now have renegade puca powers suddenly finding a new host in accountant Daphne Forbes, a non-practicing Druid who wants nothing more than to start a new, seriously normal life far away from her weirdo upbringing. That’s hard to do when suddenly she’s cursed with magical powers she can’t control. One moment she’s a woman; the next she’s a cat. Even worse? She can’t shift back to human form without the magical help of enigmatic nature spirit Tremayne. His role’s a tough one, too. Fascinated by Daphne for months now — and newly convinced that she holds the key to his continued existence — Tremayne faces the monumental task of teaching her to control her new powers before they drive her (literally) insane. If he fails, he’ll have no choice but to put her down like a rabid dog. Or wolf.

So there you have it. A werewolf in Celtic clothing. The cool thing about my version of the puca is his (or her) ability to shape-shift not just into a wolf, but into nearly any living being. At one point in this last story, Tremayne asks Daphne to envision any creature in the world that she’d like to be. And then shift into that form. Given that same choice . . . what creature would you become (temporarily) and why?

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Sunday, April 5th, 2009
Full Moon of Werewolves: Of Demon Dogs and Golems

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Jeri WestersonAbout today’s guest: Jeri Westerson
Jeri Westerson grew up on the mean streets of Los Angeles and so always had a thing for noir. She also always had a thing for the middle ages. It was a natural fit. She tried her hand at acting but real life auditions were too brutal. She turned her attention to her other interest of art and design and became a successful graphic artist. After becoming a mom, she directed her passion again to writing and embarked on the long, slow goal of publishing her growing body of historical fiction. When she switched to writing historical mystery, she found success. Veil of Lies; A Medieval Noir is her debut novel.

I’m terribly fond of the paranormal. I enjoy a good, sexy vampire book and a good, sexy werewolf book. Haven’t quite got up the nerve to write one yet, myself, but there’s always time. The closest I’ve come is my new medieval mystery series beginning with VEIL OF LIES. My protagonist, Crispin Guest, is a dark and brooding fellow, and no wonder. He’s an ex-knight turned detective, of the hard-boiled variety but in a medieval London setting. And each story always involves some sort of mysterious religious relic with mystical powers, either something everyone is trying to get their hands on or something they can’t wait to get rid of.

So in my search for the next good relic, I’ve come across some quite interesting characters as well as fascinating creatures.

This one isn’t exactly medieval—it’s 17th century—but it has inspired its own familiar literature. This is the Demon Dog, or as it’s more famously known, the Beast of Gévaudan.

This is a wolf-like creature that prefers to attack humans, even over sheep and cattle, surely an easier quarry. It is supposed to be unusually large with strange coloration and a strangely-shaped head (indeed, sightings continue to this day, with a photograph of one of these beasts struck down by a car, not looking like any known canine).

Veil of LiesThe killings—over one hundred of them—occurred first (or were at least first reported) in 1693 in Benais, France. But it is in the mountains of Gévaudan, France, in 1765, that the creature gets its moniker. A fellow named Francois Antoine heard of the killings of women and children and hunted down the beast. He killed a very large wolf, had it stuffed, and sent to the court of Louis XV, but in December in a different locale, the wolf killings started anew. Was it a wolf? A dog/wolf hybrid? A loup-garou (werewolf)?

The fearful image of men transformed into beasts have terrified mankind as long as Man himself has existed sharing stories around a campfire. But other tales of manmade creatures have terrified, too, long before Mary Shelly penned Frankenstein.

In the third installment of my medieval mystery series, a Golem will make an appearance. A Golem is that fantastical creature born of man’s desire to create life from the simplest of forms (like from clay) and his need for supernatural protection. A Golem is a mindless creature, only given life when a Hebrew glyph is inscribed on its chest, forehead, or placed in its mouth, created by Jews to protect their community. The words of creation derive from the Kabbalah, but it is only through extreme desperation that the power of the Golem is invoked at all. It is only natural, perhaps, that the story of the Golem as we know it arose during the Middle Ages. This was the time when Jews were being kicked out of many European countries: from England in 1290, from Spain in 1492, from France…numerous times. Crusaders made no differentiation between the Saracen infidel and Jews they met along the way and so whole communities of Jews were wiped out by crusading knights. Every strange death in towns and in villages was blamed on Jews, and fearing for their lives, they found their hope in the defensive powers of the Golem, a large, silent and plodding creature stalking the dark streets. Scary enough, no?

Faced with such strange creatures and daunting relics takes a strong man, an avid detective. And so my ex-knight Crispin Guest prowls those dark streets as well, searching out the bad guys with his intellect, his fists, and sometimes through the beds of beautiful femme fatales.

Demon dog, indeed.

You can find out more about Crispin at his very own blog at www.CrispinGuest.com or read the first chapter of VEIL OF LIES at my website www.JeriWesterson.com.

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Saturday, April 4th, 2009
Full Moon of Werewolves: Why I write Werewolves & a Prize!

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About today’s guest: Teresa D’Amario
Teresa was born in Atlanta, the daughter of an Army Soldier during the early stages of the Viet Nam war. She spent her childhood traveling from state to state, finally ending up overseas in Germany where she graduated high school six months early. Her writing career began as a young Airman in the Air Force, writing monthly articles for the weekly base paper. Now she writes sexy shifter novels.

One lucky commenter will win an ebook of Teresa’s novel, SheWolf. Just leave a comment on this post to be entered. Winner will be announced at end of Full Moon promotion. Last day to enter Saturday, March 25th at midnight central U.S. time.

When I first considered writing about Shapeshifters, I swore I’d never write wolves. Why? SheWolfBecause everyone writes about wolves. I wanted to write about the Big Cats. But my best friend kept telling me no. Do what I know. I know wolves, and was always giving her advice on her short stories. They should be my first choice, not my last.

“Nope”, I said. “I refuse. I don’t want to get lost in the shuffle.”

But it was not to be. They say the mind is much more complicated than we believe, and no matter what your decision, it sometimes decides what’s best without your input. You see, for me, writing about wolves would be like writing about a true love. I have researched canine and Lupine behavior for fun for more than 20 years. It isn’t that I chose to write, then it became an obsession. No, animals have always been an obsession for me. Dogs and wolves were at the top of that list. I’d worked at training dogs for obedience competitions, and then later other varieties of performances, so I understood how the basic canine brain worked. The possessiveness, the natural instincts, the variety of “breeds” and how each was different. While the domesticated dog could be controlled, his wolf cousin was a bit more unpredictable. There were fewer breeds, yet more individualistic behavior.

So one night, I’m lying in bed, thinking. This is my best time for me to plot, just before I go to sleep. It’s what I’ve done since I was five years old. Plotting and visualizing a story helps me relax and doze off.

Anna came to me the instant I opened my mind, in a whirl of frustration and noise. She was in a bar, you see, and hated the smoke and the loud music. She was there to help celebrate a friend’s “turning of age”, not something she’d do normally. So when she stormed out into the night, relief washes the smoke and sounds right out of her. Peace. At last.

But danger lurked in that place. Sounds and movement surrounded her, threatening her. Hands grabbed her. Or were they paws?

The Moon: Tigress by the TailThen came Kieran. In an instant I knew he was a wolf. Damn it! I said no wolves. He merely looked at me with that intense gaze of his, and as clear as day I heard “Tough shit, deal with it.” Wo!! Okay!

So a week later, I’m telling this story to the owner of the local book store how they came to me, and insisted I write about them. A woman is eavesdropping, then shakes her head. “Why don’t you just make him someone else?” I look at Lori, she looks at me, and I can’t help it. I break out laughing. She turns to her customer and says, “No, it doesn’t work like that. An author goes with what comes to their head. Most can’t control it, it just happens.”

At times, I feel like I have come home. Putting my own spin wasn’t as difficult as I’d expected. My heroine helped me build my world probably more than my hero did. Other times, I find them the truly confusing, private creatures they are, hiding the best of a story right under my nose until I prove my worth.

So now I write the wolves, filled with true wolf behavior. From that sudden sniff of danger, to the rumble of appreciation. From knowledge about how scenting works to the instincts which drive them to mate. And to protect that mate.

Wolves have been feared all their lives, killed by hunters and terror driven families alike. Every continent, every nationality has it’s stories of wolves and werewolves. But it’s not the full story at all. Wolves are not only fearsome creatures. Yes, they have powerful instincts which drive them. Willing to kill and be killed for the ones they love. They have a tender side, driven to provide for their young. There’s no child abuse in the wolf society. All love and care for the babies.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s a tough world for these creatures, both real and fictional. The females admire strength and prowess. The males want a female able to withstand the rigors of living on the edge of a world who despises them.

Why do I write about wolves/werewolves? To show we can all be our own person, and yet still be loved. To show the beauty of an animal on the brink of extinction. To show the reader true romance. And because I love the sleek, sensual nature of the powerful beast.

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