Calliope's Writing Tablet: Wisconsin wolf man

Showing posts with label Wisconsin wolf man. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Marketing for Romance Writers Books Hooks

It's Wednesday and I'm glad to be participating in the new Marketing for Romance Writers Books Hooks mini hop! (see linky list below) The deal is to post 6-8 sentences from your novel. This time I'm offering a bit more from my award-winning Victorian polyamorous romance written with an unusual touch of reader-interactive art history: The Witchy Wolf and the Wendigo. (book 1 in the series ~ Ashkewheteasu)

Setting up the scene: His purpose gone, his solitude pointless, Ash begs the Manitou to let him die. Here he revisits the destruction of his wife's burial mound and suddenly wonders if other destroyed mounds had immortal guardians like him just hoping to die.

My 8:

He’d seen buildings go where other mounded graves had been. The thought made him pause.

Were there guardians at those graves, or were those mounds merely places of clan recognition? In his time, not all mounds in the earth were graves. In fact, most were made to celebrate the spirits of the place the clans dwelled in. He closed his eyes and saw them: otter mounds, bear mounds, and flying goose mounds for the Otter, Bear, and Goose clans. His people had belonged to the Bear clan — the people of the forests. Ayanna's people were the Otter clan — the water people.

Learn about the actual urban legend that inspired this story here

<<<<<<<<FREE>>>>>>>>

Sample all of my love stories, including
The Witchy Wolf and the Wendigo series for free
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/333971

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

What's up on Wednesday?

A NEW 100 Things Blog Challenge & Symbols in Literature
http://calliopeswritingtablet.com/

Horny Hump Day
http://theancillarymuse.blogspot.com/

First Kiss Wednesday *open promo*Come share your best 300-word kiss today!
http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

Hump Day Hook
http://calliopesotherwritingtablet.blogspot.com/

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

You'll LOVE Reading Rose!

Main Blog:
Subscribe on the Main blog for interesting posts, updates & more. http://calliopeswritingtablet.com/

Satellite Blogs:
http://calliopeswritingtablet.blogspot.com/
http://calliopesotherwritingtablet.blogspot.com/
http://theancillarymuse.blogspot.com/

Exquisite Quills:
Several authors & their romances.
From sweet to scorching.

Discover our author promo opportunities
http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

Exquisite Quills Recycled Reviews
A place for your old stars to shine.http://eq-recycled-reviews.blogspot.com/
Exquisite Quills Yahoo Group: Open to readers and writers
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ExquisiteQuills/

Romance Books '4' Us:
I blog the 4th of every month
Many great topics there all month long.
http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Rose-Anderson
I'll happily sign all ebooks with Authorgraph.

Social Media:
I'm everywhere. Come say hi. I'm busy, but I'll eventually follow back.
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/FollowTheMuse/
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Author Pages etc:
I have many author's pages and static pages around the web. Too many to list here! If you see me, do say hello.

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Sneak Peek Sunday

It's Sunday, I'm participating in the Sneak Peek Sunday mini hop! The deal is to post 6 paragraphs from a writing project, published or unpublished. This time I'm offering another bit from

Setting the scene: Because the old legends have more than a little truth in them, John returns to the safety he knew as a child; the loving home of his aunt and uncle.

My Six:

Absalom RedLeaf heard the ravens burst from the trees. Something had disturbed their roost. “Always trust your raven brothers,” his grandfather had advised years ago, and it was true, the ravens would tell you if they saw something unusual. Hurrying to dress, he grabbed his shoes and shotgun and went out in his wool socks to stand on the porch. He leaned on the post and put on his shoes, all the while peering into early dawn.

Sure enough, there was a car coming up the long driveway. Obscured by trees, Abbie couldn’t make out the vehicle, and any unexpected visitor at this hour made him uneasy. After the incident at Edgar Nauzee’s house, Abbie had been feeling on edge. The old storyteller said the Spider lived, that their legend had come alive and tried to kill him. Unbeknownst to him at the time, that malevolent supernatural being had sat at his kitchen table and was given the hospitality due a guest. Abbie now knew the Spider was in fact Eli White. He pumped his shotgun. The Spider would get more than May’s cobbler if he returned here.

The car drew closer and recognizing it, his unease faded. He cracked the shotgun, to remove the shells and went inside to put the gun on its hooks over the mantle. He was back out on the porch by the time the car pulled up to the house. John and Cora, his niece by marriage, got out. Not bothering to tie his laces, Abbie shuffled forward to hug them both. “I am surprised, but so happy to see you!”

Feeling anxious and drained after driving all night, John gave his uncle a hearty hug. “Boozhoo Zhishay.”

It was good to be here. Uncle Abbie was a steady calming influence and the security of family was just what he and Cora needed right now. John felt almost as unsettled as he had when Children’s Services left him and his sister Fay — two frightened orphans — on this doorstep nearly thirty-five years before. They’d lost their mother to diabetes and then their father, Abbie’s younger brother Samuel, had been murdered right before their eyes in a case of mistaken identity.

There was good reason to be unsettled. Unbelievably Livie’s dog was actually Ashkewheteasu, the ancient immortal Medicine Man of legend. And in reality Ashkewheteasu was Ash, the man who’d helped calm animals at the clinic. After the shape-shifter had transformed himself from wolf-dog to a man right on John’s kitchen floor yesterday, Ash had explained that they were all in danger. He’d sent them to the reservation, where they’d be safe from the immortal madman his people knew by legend as the Spider Eluwilussit. Incredibly, John had met that very man here in his uncle’s house days ago. He went by the name Eli White now.

Watch the trailers and discover the actual urban legend that inspired this story

<<<<<<<<FREE>>>>>>>>

Sample all of my love stories for free, including this one!
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/333971

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

What's up Saturday and Sunday?

Seductive Studs& Sirens & Weekend Writing Warriors http://theancillarymuse.blogspot.com/

A NEW 100 Things Blog Challenge & Funday Sunday
http://calliopeswritingtablet.com/

Set the Scene in Six Come share your backdrop or lead-up!
http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

My Sexy Saturday & Sexy Snippets
http://calliopesotherwritingtablet.blogspot.com/

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

You'll LOVE Reading Rose!

Main Blog:
Subscribe on the Main blog for interesting posts, updates & more.
http://calliopeswritingtablet.com/

Satellite Blogs:
http://calliopeswritingtablet.blogspot.com/
http://calliopesotherwritingtablet.blogspot.com/
http://theancillarymuse.blogspot.com/

Salon Blog:
Come start a great discussion or add to one. (temporarily inactive)
http://anotherstoneunturned.blogspot.com/

Exquisite Quills:
Several authors & their romances.
From sweet to scorching.

Discover our author promo opportunities
http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

Exquisite Quills Recycled Reviews Open to all romance authors
http://eq-recycled-reviews.blogspot.com/

Exquisite Quills Yahoo Group: Open to readers and writers
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ExquisiteQuills/

Romance Books '4' Us: I'm a featured blogger the 4th of every month
Many great topics there all month long.
http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Rose-Anderson/e/B004XDGWL6
I'll happily sign all ebooks with Authorgraph.

Social Media:
I'm everywhere. Come say hi. I'm busy, but I'll eventually follow back.

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/FollowTheMuse/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/roseanderson_
Tumblr: http://author-roseanderson.tumblr.com/
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rose.anderson.7524
About.me: http://about.me/rose_anderson_author

Author Pages etc:
I have many author's pages and static pages around the web. Too many to list here! If you see me, do say hello.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Sneak Peek Sunday

It's Sunday, I'm participating in the Sneak Peek Sunday mini hop!
The deal is to post 6 paragraphs from a writing project, published or unpublished. Today, I'm offering a small sampling from my legend-inspired romance ~ The Witchy Wolf and the Wendigo (book2 Eluwilussit)

Eli sees himself in the mirror

Behind the scenes: At this point in the story, Eli tried to enter the White Spirit world but found himself in the Red Realm instead. This is where the forsaken dwell on the other side of the veil that divides the spirit realms -- in other words, Hell. Through the veil he witnesses the shape-shifting abilities of Ash and their teacher Nawkaw. Outraged, he wants this gift for himself.

The forsaken ones had never met a shaman with the ability to enter the spirit worlds, and never one with murders attached to his soul. They tell him they too can bestow such a gift, but it comes with a price. Naturally, Eli says yes.

My Six:

Eli woke and found himself naked and wound up in tangled sheets. He ached all over and the stench of the Red Realm hung in the motel room like a fetid cloud. Sitting up, he realized it was he who smelled like rot because his lower half had shifted while he slept. No, he hadn’t slept, not really. He’d lived a second life when he’d fallen asleep. Feeling a tickle on his calf, he looked down and discovered a small wriggling maggot in an open sore. He picked it up and flicked it across the room. Disgusting.

A shudder ran through him as a question lodged in his brain: Was he fated to return to their foul abuses each time he closed his eyes to sleep? He’d kill himself first. No sooner had the thought come to him than did he remember he was immortal. There’d be no escaping the Red Realm. Panic gripped him. He needed that bird stone. It would fly him to the White World. Once there, he’d plead his case before Sky Father and the ancestors. Surely they’d overlook his indiscretions. He would show them his regret.

Feeling the need to wash, he headed to the bathroom. The floor to ceiling mirror took him by surprise. He stood there with the legs of an animal he couldn’t identify. Squeezing his eyes shut, his breath came out in a sharp hiss as he forced his legs into human shape. The painful transformation felt like his bones were breaking from within. He saw his naked reflection and blinked in disbelief. Feeling his aching sack, he discovered that one of his balls was missing. A sickening recollection of his nightmare in the Red Realm came rushing back. When he’d tried to run away, they held him down while the whore stepped on his testicles until he swore not to run again.

Tears of frustrated rage fell. How dare they do this to him! His anger transformed his body as he stood before the mirror, and he saw himself for the first time. Where his feet had been, he now had cloven toes tipped with curled claws. His arms and legs were thin and riddled with sores. Overall, he looked emaciated. His head was tipped in small peeling antlers and his face was a muzzle more deer-like than not. But the yellowed fangs belonged to a wolf or perhaps a bear.

He grabbed his head with his clawed hands and stared into his reflection. This was no wondrous transformation like Nawkaw becoming eagle. Eli was no proud wolf like Ashkewheteasu. He was a monster. He was a Wendigo. Would Sky Father let him in the White World now? He had to try, he had to.

Falling to his knees, Eluwilussit sobbed until he ran out of tears. Meeting his glowing eyes in the mirror again, he clutched the furry skin of his half-empty scrotum and rasped, “When I find you Ashkewheteasu, you will you die slowly as you watch me eat your body piece by piece.”

>>><<>><<<

Here's the story
The Witchy Wolf and the Wendigo
(book1 Ashkewheteasu)
Based upon Native American oral tradition and a modern urban legend

Discover More Here

(Book 2 Eluwilussit)

"Very good read with well developed characters, wanted more right away! Please read it, very very creative, imaginative and sexy! "
~ A Reader

Sample all of my love stories, including
The Witchy Wolf and the Wendigo for free
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/333971

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞<<<<۞

Weekend Happenings

My Sexy Saturday & Sexy Snippets

http://calliopesotherwritingtablet.blogspot.com/

Set the Scene in Six (open promo for all romance authors today)

Come share your 6-sentence back-drop or lead-up
http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

Seductive Studs&Sirens & Weekend Writing Warriors
http://theancillarymuse.blogspot.com/

100 Things Blog Challenge & all about Names
http://calliopeswritingtablet.com/

۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞<<<<۞>>>>۞<<<<۞

Love Waits in Unexpected Places

Exquisite Quills:
Several authors & their romances.
From sweet to scorching.
Discover our author promo opportunities
http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

Exquisite Quills Recycled Reviews Open to all romance authors
http://eq-recycled-reviews.blogspot.com/
Exquisite Quills Yahoo Group: Open to readers and writers
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ExquisiteQuills/

Social Media:
I'm everywhere. Come say hi. I'll eventually follow back.

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/FollowTheMuse/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/roseanderson_
Tumblr: http://author-roseanderson.tumblr.com/
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rose.anderson.7524
About.me: http://about.me/rose_anderson_author

Author Pages etc:
I have many author's pages and static pages around the web. Too many to list here! If you see me, do say hello.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Hot Halloween Heroes Giveaway Hop!

I've had major issues with blogger the past few days. If you're here for the paranormal blog hop. I had to cancel my participation because I couldn't access the blogger dashboard in time. If you're here for this hop, notice I've moved it here from my other blog. I had an old Grouch Day post up! I apologize for any confusion. So...without further ado...

Welcome to the Hot Halloween Heroes Giveaway Hop! Find the other participants by clicking on the picture.
◄◄◄◄◄

There are 127 authors participating so you have 126 chances to win something! I'm offering reader's choice of shape-shifters ~ The Witchy Wolf and the Wendigo (book 1 in the saga) or a copy of my newest Enchanted Skye. I'll introduce both.
~Be sure to leave a comment with your email to win~

It's said that most legends are rooted in truth. One such legend was the spark behind The Witchy Wolf and the Wendigo.

Several years ago while enjoying a much-touted artist's tour not far from our home, my husband and I stumbled upon an author selling her book at an artist's studio. I talked to her a while and ended up buying a copy. It wasn't the sort I'd normally read, not with its campy cover and B-movie topic of the Wisconsin wolfman, but I thought it would be fun to read passages to my husband while he drove us from studio to studio.

Apparently eyewitnesses had recently claimed to have seen a wolf walking like a man. The locations mentioned were minutes from our home, and according to this book, many of these sightings were from reputable witnesses. Beyond that modern urban legend, sightings of this creature had taken place for decades and well into the past. We learned the author was actually a newspaper reporter who covered the story. One eyewitness account in particular captured my fancy...

More than 70 years ago, a night watchman at a local convent saw something that chilled him to his marrow: a wolfman kneeling atop an ancient Native American burial mound. That correlation caught my attention. Wisconsin was once filled with burial and effigy mounds. Returning home unscathed, the night watchman told his family about his frightening experience, but swore them to secrecy for fear he'd get fired if people thought he'd been drinking on the job. Fast-forward to the late 1980s when his son read about the modern encounters in the newspaper and contacted the reporter. He passed on his father's experience and included a sketch of what his father had seen.

My imagination was on fire! Native legends in the Great Lakes Region mention magical wolf or dog guardians who watch over the burials of warriors. I learned the early French explorers in the area mentioned the Loup Garou (wolf man) in their journals. Interesting that legends of grave guardians around the world often take the form of wolves or dogs. The ancient Egyptians had jackal-headed Anubis (Lord of the Dead) and in modern times we have Greyfriars Bobby.

So I now had a story simmering in my imagination. I needed more information! My husband and I took the Great Mound Tour across Wisconsin to Effigy Mounds National Monument park in Harpers Ferry, Iowa. We drove from site to site and I saw these effigies and burials for myself, or what was left of them. Imagine my surprise when I discovered there are 3,000-year-old effigy mounds in the form of standing men with pointy upright ears like a wolf.

As a writer with a healthy imagination, there was nothing to do but write a story around these details. Written in two parts, my tale concerns Ashkewheteasu ~ an immortal Native American shaman of the Middle Woodland period of the Great Lakes Mound Builders (Hopewell culture). Awash with grief at the death of his wife, he makes a plea to the Great Mystery to be allowed to watch over her burial mound for all time. And for that, he's given the solitary life of a shape-shifting guardian.

I found this fun clip on youtube.

This reporter's book lit the fire for mine.

And here's my version of this curious urban legend:

My next shape-shifter is about a family of Selkie living on Scotland's Isle of Skye. This too is rooted in factual information.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When you've finished with all this fun hop has to offer, you can start at my author friend J.D. Faver's blog and follow the list she has posted there for the Snarkology Paranormal Hop. I'm no longer involved, but there are still great posts and prizes to be had. http://livingwiththemuse.blogspot.com/

You'll LOVE Reading Rose!

Main Blog:
Subscribe on the Main blog for interesting posts, updates & more.
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Satellite Blogs:
One hop or four, there's lots of action on these blogs!
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http://theancillarymuse.blogspot.com/
http://roseanderson4858.blog.com/

Salon Blog:
Come start a great discussion or add to one. (temporarily inactive)
http://anotherstoneunturned.blogspot.com/

Exquisite Quills:
Several authors & their romances.
From sweet to scorching.
>>See our Author Promo Opportunities<<
http://exquisitequills.blogspot.com/

Exquisite Quills Readers & Authors Yahoo Group (NEW)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ExquisiteQuills/

Romance Books '4' Us: I'm a featured blogger the 4th of every month
Many great topics there all month long.
http://romancebooks4us.blogspot.com/

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Rose-Anderson/e/B004XDGWL6
I'll happily sign all ebooks with Authorgraph.

Social Media:
I'm everywhere. Come say hi. I follow back.

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/FollowTheMuse/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/roseanderson_
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rose.anderson.7524
About.me: http://about.me/rose_anderson_author

Author Pages etc:
I have many author's pages and static pages around the web. Too many to list here! If you see me, do say hello.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Can 6 evocative sentences capture the imagination?

Can 6 evocative sentences capture the imagination? Without further ado, I present 6-sentence snippets from each of my novels.

Six from The Witchy Wolf and the Wendigo (Book 1 Ashkerwhetasu)
Setting the Stage: Ash, an immortal Native American shaman, has recently entered the modern world. Here, quite unexpectedly, he ends up kissing Livie in the restaurant parking lot after a dinner date. Never exposed to beer before, Ash is a little tipsy.

His lovely dark eyes sought hers and the passionate yearning reflected there made her feel dizzy with want. He spoke in his language again and she shook her head, not understanding. He smiled, picked up her hand and kissed her palm. Closing her fingers around the kiss as though it were a tangible thing, he told her, "You make me burn for you Livie, but this is not the place to love you as you deserve."

Not knowing how to respond, she took a breath and let it out slowly. If not for the fact she barely knew him, she'd ask him to come home and finish what he'd started, inebriated or not.

Six from The Witchy Wolf and the Wendigo (Book 2 Eluwilussit)
Setting the Stage: Cora asks Ash to show John's family what he looked like when Livi hit him with her car. The Redleaf's are stunned to see this venerated shaman of lore shape-shift.
A small brown snake slithered to the top of the pile of clothes. Winston took a step backward in a dog’s natural wariness of snakes. Suddenly the snake became a fat field mouse, then the mouse shifted into a small rabbit. Ears reducing, the rabbit became a skunk then quick as a wink it became a coyote. The coyote’s snout and legs lengthened and the wolf with the unusual markings took its place. He sat and gave them a very wolfish grin.

Six from Loving Leonardo

Setting the Stage: Nicolas and Ellie invite Luca to discuss Leonardo da Vinci, and realize they have more than one interest in common.

I believe we were all aware of a sexual tension growing in the intellectual-rich loam. There were little things at play now: the way Ellie moistened her lips and looked at us with eyes that lingered from one to the other. The way Luca's irises had darkened from snow shadow to moon shadow as he looked upon her. The way I'd catch myself with a reminder to breathe as my eye was drawn to these small distinctions. Like da Vinci's sfumato, our mutual attraction hung in the air, and I was struck by the notion that the smoky quality depicted in his art was desire. Desire like this.

Six from Loving Leonardo - The Quest (coming tomorrow!)

Setting the Stage: Nicolas and Ellie invite Luca decide to follow the clues in Leonardo da Vinci's book. Heading to Paris, they pass the Strait of Gibraltar and fall into a substantial North Atlantic storm. Seasick and miserable, Nicolas ponders his growing unease as his companions enjoy the storm.

In my opinion, Prospero himself would have found this passing too much, but they stood at the rail outlined by the pending wrath of Neptune and thoroughly enjoyed the wild wind and roiling waves. Conversely, I clung to my cushion and damp washcloth. Although the balcony possessed a high lattice to keep guests from tumbling into the drink, I felt an honest fear that had nothing whatsoever to do with the storm. I hadn’t voiced it to either of them, but I felt an increasing sense of unease, an unaccountable prickling at the nape of my neck as if something terrible was about to happen. I’d had several nightmares since Ellie’s abduction and Luca’s encounter with the fanatical Bruno. There were disturbing phantoms that jarred me awake and left me unsettled.

Six from Dreamscape

Setting the Stage: In her waking world, Lanie knows Jason Bowen as the Victorian era ghost who haunts her house. At this point in the story, she's entered her dream world, a world where Jason is very much alive and well in his time. In one world she loves a ghost and feels the hopelessness of that fact, in the other she loves a man doomed to die.

His eyes searched hers. He needed her to know. "I will love you through time. I will love you in your dreams and in the waking world. No matter what happens, no matter when." His lips found hers, and kissed her sweetly.

Six from Hermes Online
Setting the Stage: Vivienne receives an email from an enigmatic man known only as S. Together they embark upon the world of anonymous Internet communication.

They were only words, weren't they? If so then why could I see it, why could I feel this so acutely? I clicked send and waited.

"You've got mail" burst forth from the speakers. I discovered I had been conditioned to have an autonomic response to seeing the envelope and hearing the computerized words. Like Pavlov's dog, I began to salivate.

Love Waits in Unexpected Places

Find me here…
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there…
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