So my blog posts have fallen off for the month, I figured they would. Trying much harder to have a successful NaNo more than anything this month. It’s been so long since I had a successful NaNo that I’m throwing most of my free time in it. And as Day 4 comes to an end…I broke 13 k tonight. So really hoping I can keep this up until I break 50 k. I have no intention on stopping when I get there, as long as I’m writing like this I’m going to see how far I can take it.
I’ve decided to keep Howling Moon on sale until the end of the year at .99 cents! Check the link out to get it!
I’ve also drawn something for the first time since…well, first time in over five years. Very much inspired by Howling Moon!
Another thing. The other day I did a blog post all about Werewolf Movies and Media…and how I was probably going to feature them a lot in the coming year on my blog. I came to that decision after see just how much attention I was getting on Facebook from my Werewolf movie posts. And though I loved the traffic I was getting there I came to me that I couldn’t really feature as much werewolf contact here as I was wanting. It, in my opinion, would take from my writing…So, I started a 2nd blog to completely focus on all things Werewolves! I still intende on featuring some stuff like it here but mostly I’ll be doing little short reviews of movies, books and tv shows. Featuring art and news… And Short Stories. Even the thoughts of hosting a short story contest next Halloween. And may even be looking for contributors So check that out.
As I’m about to call it a night, stopping the day with 2200 words written. Don’t really have any sort of insight into the story as of yet. No curves, etc. Just too early. I’m not going to update every day. Just happy to get the year kicked off with already more words than I wrote the past two years combined during NaNo.
It goes without saying, well to anyone who knows me just a little. I’m a fan of Werewolves. My favorite horror movies, heck, favorite horror anything. Just something about them has always fascinated me. Just looking at my works in progress folders….I have an assortment of werewolf related projects beyond just the Howling Moon series.
And if you’ve been following my author page on Facebook (hey, if you haven’t, there’s a link to it at the bottom of the page here). I’ve been posting about werewolf movies all month. Just random posts, no reviews, just trying to post one a day for the month. For the most part I’ve succeeded. I’ve also now realized, though I had no problem coming up with a list of movies I’d seen. It turns out, there a lot, I haven’t. So I’m thinking on a little project for 2022, just to keep my blog active. Doing at least a few werewolf blogs here and there. Movie, book, tv reviews. Even have a couple short stories I may post to the blog.
So I have a question, what is your favorite Werewolf movie???? Werewolf book, or even tv show!
Mine, hands down is Bad Moon! I even think it is one of the coolest posters out there!!! I need to read the book it is based off of, i’ve had it on my to read list for years.
Books…I honestly love the Mercedes Thompson books by Patricia Briggs. And well, the old 90’s Werewolf tv show!
So, yeah, you can expect a lot of werewolf related blogs to come in the next year!!
I believe the last time I successful completed NaNoWriMo was 2015, I’m sure I can go back and look at the site or my manuscripts and get a better idea when it was. It was a steampunk superhero novel that I haven’t looked at again since. In fact, before this year, it was the last time I successfully completed a rough draft on any project. I had made up my mind way back in January I was going to try it again this year. All the while I approached the year trying to put as many words to page as I possibly could during the year. And I’ve done quite well at the mad rush of writing.
I hadn’t quite decided what I was going to write this year. I’ve been on a fantasy kick since March where my writing is concerned. Dwarves, Orcs, and Elves….gladiators, giant tigers and a mad half Orc, half Ogre as strong as 10 men…. Oh and Magic. And truth is I had figured I would once again try an write the Wild Hunt novel that I’ve been scribbling on since really last years NaNo. But one night last week I decided it was a good time to stick to something familiar. Emily Meyer. And Werewolves….
So yeah, this years NaNoWriMo is going to be the fourth book in the Howling Moon series. I can’t spoil book two or three…but the fourth book finds Emily in a very dark place. A place she may not be able to claw her way out of and keep her humanity in the process…. Depression is a bitch but could you imagine going through it while being a Werewolf?
Be sure to give my blog a follow at bottom of the page. I’ll be positing some updates from my progress for this years NaNo during the coming month!! I’m not sure if there will be any snippets considering this is the fourth book in the series and book 2/3 aren’t out yet.
It’s not Monday…. But here is this weeks Howling Moon Snippet. And I’ve made a decision of doing at least one more piece from my debut novel next week as the pieces have seemed to move along with the story.
Here it is, this weeks piece from Howling Moon….it goes without saying, spoilers ahead. And this section from the novel is a little spicy. Hope you enjoy. Leave a like, a comment, a follow on the blog. 🙂 Or even link above and check it out, Howling Moon is currently on sale!! Also remember I’ve been posting snippets all month, feel free to go check those out!!!
“Maybe…I don’t know what I mean. Mathew Bradley told me something that I can’t get out of mind.”
“Not to take away from what he did for you, but Mathew Bradley is an old drunk and you should take everything he said with a pinch of salt.”
“All of these deaths and I am the only person to live. The authorities have no idea what it is. Bradley said he saw something that night as he sped away from the scene, after he pulled me into his truck. Something as tall as any man and it howled, Colin.” She leaned back, placing the beer on the table. “It fucking howled.” She was having a problem fighting back tears as her heart thundered inside her chest.
Colin laughed as he set his own beer down beside hers. “So, we are talking werewolf?”
“I don’t know what I’m talking about. The attack, my seizure, the dreams….the damn dreams,” she said holding her head in her hands and leaning forward on the couch. “And the other night at dinner…I was feeling perfectly fine, and then I had a hallucination and saw everyone I care for with their throats ripped out.”
Colin got up and crossed the room. Sitting down beside her, he pulled her back against him, her legs still pulled up against her body.
“Em, listen to me…you have been through a lot and you are letting the ramblings of an old man drive you…”
“Crazy. I know how I sound…it is how I feel as well,” she quickly replied as tears began to flow freely.
Colin wrapped his arm around her pulling her closer against his chest.
“Werewolf…” It was the first time she’d said it out loud even though she had thought about it a lot since she spoke to Bradley. Emily could never bring herself to say it. Saying it made her feel ill, as if she had knowingly lost her sanity. “It does sound crazy.”
“You are going through a rough time,” he proclaimed. “This will all pass and we will laugh about this conversation one day.” There was long pause of silence, only the crackle of fire filled the room. “About the other night…we have been friends since our senior year in high school. And I would be lying if I said I’d never thought about us in that way, but I could not take advantage of you.”
She shifted her head looking back at him. “You would not have been taking advantage; I wanted you…very badly.”
“And now?” he questioned.
He got his reply in the form of a soft kiss on his lips. She shifted where she could look into his eyes in a more comfortable position. “Only if you are comfortable with this,” she stated, not waiting for a reply as she shifted into a cradling position on his lap.
His hand drifted up her legs just under her loose dress. “I think I am,” he replied.
Emily felt his soft lips on hers. She pulled away for just a moment as his scruff tickled, and then kissed him again. Their lips parted as they kissed allowing a hint of tongue. His hands rested on her legs just under the dress, while hers fought with the belts around her. The first fell to the floor behind them followed shortly by the second—freeing the dress and allowing her to breathe easier without the binding leather.
Emily pulled at his shirt until he raised his arms allowing it to come free. She tossed it on the floor behind the couch. She kissed him on his neck, softly and repeatedly. Emily felt his body fall lower into the couch, a comfortable position as she kissed his chest. She let her teeth graze skin feeling him flinch. She smiled.
Just a quick note, you can find Howling Moon on Good reads at the link above!! Be sure to visit the link and add it to your too read list!! Or if you have read it, give it a quick review or rating. 🙂
But this evening I was trying to make a tiktok…yes a tiktok. Something I had completely forgot in the process, was the date in the novel when Howling Moon is starting! So I just thought it was funny and worth posting. Also remember, it’s on sale for .99 cents for the rest of October! Also, remember, hit that follow button to get more updates from blog.
Remember Howling Moon is currently on sale on Kindle for .99 cents through the rest of October.
This weeks snippet is one of my favorites from when I was writing the book. Also remember I’ve posted two others this month so go back through the blog and check them out. Spoilers ahead obviously.
“So you are here because you want to know what an old man saw.”
“You did see it, didn’t you?” Emily watched him return to the counter and begin to pour a couple more shots.
“To be honest, sweetheart, I don’t know what I saw that night,” he replied with a glance back over his shoulder. “I almost didn’t see you there in the road.” He took another drink of his own before he refilled both their glasses and approached her. “I wasn’t driving fast or anything of the sort when I came into those curves, but see…my judgment may have been slightly obscured.” Bradley lifted his glass into the air with a smile. “What happened in that last curve was enough to sober up the drunkest sailor on leave.” He finished off his drink and watched as Emily did the same.
Bradley took both glasses back to the sink but did not refill them. He walked past her taking a seat at the table. “I never actually saw the animal, miss. It was more of a feeling as I came out of that last curve—somethin’ kept my attention off the road and drew it to the embankment where you wrecked. The truth is I never even saw your car until after I picked your broken body up from the pavement. I only saw shadows. I was nearly on top of you before I saw you there—swerved to miss and was several car lengths past before I even realized you weren’t some deer carcass.”
Emily was shocked by his account of the events.
“Somethin’ about that night, in that moment…I almost couldn’t make myself get out of the truck. I was startled but it was more than just about hitting you—somethin’ inside scared me shitless. I backed my truck up and opened the door for only a moment before I closed it and locked it. I remember my daddy telling me stories of the war and fear—in those moments when you grow numb and you just don’t know how to deal. I saw war myself. I saw war, myself. I saw things back in my day that would scare the hell out of most, but none of those memories give me the feeling I got that night. That moment, all I could see was darkness—but you just know somethin’ isn’t right. Somethin’ is there…waiting to get you.”
Emily knew the feeling. She could remember it well from that night, knowing there was something out there she just could not see.
“I scooted across the seat. I wasn’t outside of the truck…a handful of seconds. I scooped you off the ground and put you in the truck. Even bumped your head on the door in the process. I never looked at your wounds—you were covered in mud, blood and who knows what else. I just knew I had to get you out of there. Even over the roar of my engine, I heard it in the darkness—the intense hate filled growl. It was like no dog’s growl I’d ever heard. I pulled the door shut and locked it, crawled over top of you back to my seat, I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. You just kept muttering for God to help you, dear.”
“I’m thankful you were there.” Emily moved from her position just inside the door of the cabin. For the first time she saw the papers at her feet—scattered and opened— they were all about the attacks.
“That’s not all…” the old man looked ashamed to finish.
Emily could see him shake and the fear set in on his face.
“As I drove, I saw somethin’ in my rearview. It was mostly just a shadow but at the very spot where you had lain. As tall as any man, it stood and stretched and—I swear I was a mile away, music on…the sound of your wounded breathing and mumbling, my own heart—I still heard it howl out in anger over a missed meal.”
If you’ve been curious about the book, check out a couple of the recent snippets I’ve posted here on the blog! Also, very important, remember to click follow on the blog!!! Hope everyone is having a great October!
Steven Paul Watson, Author 