Tour! Author Interview and a Review of Silver Wolf Clan by Tera Shanley

Silver Wolf Clan (Silver Wolf Clan #1) by Tera Shanley
Genre: Adult (Paranormal Romance)
Date Published: August 4, 2014
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp

Loving him will be legendary...if she can survive it.

What happens when monsters turn out to be real? One summer night while camping in the woods, Morgan Carter finds out in a big way. A tall mysterious stranger, Greyson Crawford, risks his life to try and save her sister from the vicious wolf attacking their camp. When he’s bitten and disappears into the night, Morgan can only assume the worst.

Greyson shows up a year later, and he’s a different animal altogether. His eye color shifts constantly and the rumble in his throat sounds more animal than human. She hasn’t any idea where he’s been all this time, but a good guess as to what he’s become.

Grey is determined not to let the darkness of his new existence affect Morgan and the little girl in her care. He hasn’t been able to stop thinking about Morgan but knows he should stay away and let her live a normal life. That’s easier said than done, though. A new danger pulls him from the shadows to keep her safe, and he’s no wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Can she accept what lurks just below his surface? More importantly, can she survive him?

Silver Wolf Clan is the first book in the Silver Wolf Clan series by Tera Shanley. It's told primarily from Greyson's point of view, but we are given bits of Morgan's point of view as well. There is a mate bond, so the romance starts pretty quickly. The wolves are very in touch with their inner wolf, even in human form. It seems they have to work at controlling it at times, especially Greyson. I felt like this story was a good introduction for what's to come. I have some theories of what to expect in future books, so we'll see. I also have a theory about the first wolf we see in this book, but I can't say any of my theories as they will give away spoilers too! We can't have that!

I found Silver Wolf Clan to be an enjoyable and entertaining read. I would like some more information about the wolves, but I'm not worried. I'm sure we'll learn more in the upcoming books.

Silver Wolf Clan by Tera Shanley was kindly provided to me by Bewitching Book Tours for review. The opinions are my own.

Grey’s arms and legs were on fire, burning from his very veins, blistering every nerve ending on the way out. Why was the pain tearing through his chest? He tried to hail the woman but nothing came out except a quiet groan. Was he dying? He arched his neck toward her sister. Her body was so mangled it was all but unrecognizable as human. The girl’s eyes were open, fixed, staring back at him. She was dead. Would he die, too? What was that thing? That monster?

Maybe this was all a dream. Maybe he still slept, back in his campsite a quarter of a mile away. He’d been sleeping there only a few minutes ago. Maybe he was just having a vivid night terror and he’d wake at any moment to the relief that this wasn’t real. The girl slid over to him, but he was already panting in pain. Fire in his blood burned him up.

Her mouth moved, but he couldn’t hear anything over the roaring in his ears. Like helicopter blades, the sound drowned out everything. Her lips were full, and when his vision blurred, he tried to focus on her face. She was beautiful. Tiny. Delicate like a hummingbird. Even through spilling tears, the moss green color of her eyes was clear and compelling.

Her voice overcame the screeching in his ears. “What’s your name?”

“Greyson,” he rasped. “Greyson Crawford.” Someone should know who he was. Notify Dad what had happened there in the woods of Enchanted Rock. “What’s yours?” It was getting so hard to breathe. He had to know. He’d leave the world on her name.

“Morgan. My name’s Morgan.”

How long have you been writing?
I’ve been writing poetry and songs since I was in grade school, but I didn't write a novel until November of 2011. I only remember that because I had challenged myself to National Novel Writing Month that year to see if writing books was for me. Now, as a nod to the start of it all, I try to do something with NaNoWriMo every year.

What inspired you to write Silver Wolf Clan?
My deep love for reading shifter romances. Every book has different lore and I’ve always been enamored with the relationships between humans and werewolves.

When you first started writing Silver Wolf Clan, did you plan for it to be a series?
I didn’t, actually. It started out as a giant book. When I went to submit it to Lyrical Press though, it was so much longer than books they usually contracted that my editor suggested I cut it into shorter stories. 

So we went through several drafts of the novellas before finally delving into edits. It was a long process, but I like the books better this way and it made room for future novellas.

Which of your characters do you relate to most and why?
I probably relate to Morgan best. I don’t envy her for being the only living silver wolf, because being special in her case brings nothing but trouble, but I identify with her trying to eke out a normal existence among chaos. Her biggest struggle seems to be her independence, and the fight to maintain it as her new status requires her to lean on other werewolves to stay safe. I’m independent too and imagine I’d make a lot of the same mistakes she makes trying to keep it.

What is a secret about you that nobody else knows?
I also write under a pen name, and have found success with it. It’s exciting having this secret author life and identity that no one knows about.

If your real life as a teenager was a fictional book, what would you, the main character, be like?
Boy crazy but shy with a few close friends. I’d be a mega tomboy (still am). Quiet until you get to know me, then a total cut-up.

What book have you read too many times to count?
Twilight and Outlander

What is the best piece of writing advice you ever received?
To be bold. The first editor I had took the time to teach me to whittle out the unimportant words and say what I mean - to say what the characters mean without the fluff. Still to this day, when I edit, I can hear her in my head saying, “Be bold, Tera!”

If you could hop into the life of any fictional character, who would it be and why?
Claire Fraser from Outlander. So many adventures!! Plus, Jamie Fraser is delicious and Scotland sounds beautiful and otherworldly. I’ve always wanted to travel there.

What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?
I was surprised to learn how important a sense of belonging is to me. My characters are often finding their place among new people, or new family, or a new environment. For some reason, those are the most satisfying storylines to me. I’ve moved around a lot, and I think my characters finding a sense of home with the people they love reflects my own want to settle and find that.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?
If I’m not writing, I’m outside. I love the outdoors! I have a few go to places where there is no cell phone reception and where I can’t get to technology, and I lose myself in being away from everything. I need it. 

Going off the grid a day at a time recharges me.

Are any of the things in your books based on real life experiences or purely all imagination?
I like to write from experience, but with shifter romance, there is a lot of room for imagination. The story is based in a place that I’ve lived for several years, so the environment is all personal experience. 

It’s the only book I’ve written set near my home base.

Born and raised in small town Texas, Tera Shanley grew up in books. Her cousin gifted her a signed copy of Beauty by Bill Wallace when she was young and that was it for her. So smitten was she with getting lost in a story, that while other eleven year olds her age were groaning at the accelerated reader program in school, she was racking up the points just for fun.

Balancing chronic book-wormyness is her devotion to the outdoors. Hunting, fishing, hiking, horseback riding, camping - her soul is happiest out of doors. And lucky for Tera, her family feels the same. She grew up a wild child helping her grandma ranch cattle, and has a hundred memories out in the wilderness which tend to influence her books.

When she's not eating chocolate, slinging rifles, or soaking up some sun, she's lost in a book, but these days it's more often one she's writing. From historic western romance, to paranormal romance, to apocalyptic (zombie) romance, the genre doesn't matter quite as much to her as the love story.

She currently lives with her husband and two young children, and is owned by two crazy mini-cujos.

To learn more about Tera Shanley and her books, visit her website.You can also find her on Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter.

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