A huge thank you to Ilona for hosting me today. My new release, Death Mask, released on November 9th. It's a part of the Roughhouse Raiders collection from Less Than Three Press. Today I wanted to talk about the werewolf pups.
Every time I write about werewolves, I try to do something different than what I'd done before. Obviously, werewolves are popular in paranormal romances and urban fantasies. I'm sure that there are stories with every conceivable concept hashed out about them. It's a subject that is hard to find fresh ideas for. But I still try to insert something different—which means something that I haven't read in a while in the new releases—and spritz up the paranormals, at least a little bit.
In Death Mask, I inserted a hint of how the packs had changed as society and humans evolved over the years. I moved some of the focus from adult weres to their offspring, the pups. There are four of them introduced in the first chapter. The blurb tells you they are a cause for great concern.
The twist to the story is the werepups cannot take human form until they turn a year old which limits their ability to communicate in a conventional fashion. They are expressive in other ways. Even though they are young, the pups are still much more mature than a human babe their age, showing personality here and there while other times simply acting like a pup.
Blame this on all the cute baby animal videos that I watch on Facebook. I think most everyone enjoys the adorable antics of the very young. Sometimes, those little guys are the one bright light in the occasional craptastic day. The videos sometimes makes me yearn for another puppy. I have two very big dogs already and I really, really don't need another animal. About a month ago, my husband had a friend who had Chihuahua puppies. I gave him a quick no. We could probably manage a small dog with our big ones but Chihuahuas are a one person dog. They are jealous and don't share well, can be mean and vindictive, and the little guy wouldn't be a good fit for our family. Then last night Jason came across an Australian Shepard mix at an animal shelter who looked like my Hoover who is Akita and Australian Shepard. I immediately wanted him even knowing how big he would grow to be. I'm still trying to figure out how we could pay for extra vets and grooming bills for one more dog… Oi! I think I went off on a tangent. Back to the topic!
Where I was going with that was the antics of the werepups in the books adds a lightheartedness to the story. I worried that the theme (death, obviously) would draw the story down a darker road than intended. Though, if you've read me before, I don't write truly dark plots because I love feel good stories. You could say that I used the pups as a plot device to keep the brooding in Death Mask from going below a certain level. Because really, who can stay pissed off when there are puppies around?
With Death Mask a part of a series (each book will be a standalone), sometime down the road, the werepup will be seen through another character's eye/perception. At some time they'll change into their human form and I have no idea how old they'll be or what they'll be like. I really haven't thought about it yet. Several ideas have come and gone and none of them have enticed me into choosing one idea over another. It's kind of exciting because I've rarely read about werepups and their growth in other books. So this area might be some way to develop that "something different" that I'm always trying to achieve when it comes to werewolves. That would also mean that Grim and Griffin might get a short story here and there. Maybe. Perhaps. *side-eyes writing schedule* We'll see. :)
Thank you of stopping by and reading!!
Thank you Lexi it's been interesting to learn about your dogs, and more about Death Mask, you certainly made me want to read it.
Readers if you want to read an excerpt and/or try to win a copy just read my previous post and enter the giveaway.
Thank you for hosting me!!
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