Wolf's Rage Cover Reveal

Wolf's Rage: Book 7.5 in the Texas Ranch Wolf Pack Series Cover Reveal

After Wolf's Enemy, I fully intended to write Wolf's Quest, which is Snarl's search for his kidnapped mate, Freya. However, my characters did not cooperate.

Flora Garrett and Dottie Paddock decided that their wedding was more important than a footnote. It was being planned at the end of Wolf's Queen. Wolf's Enemy opened the morning after the wedding. Flora and Dottie staged a sit-in on my keyboard.

Until I wrote their wedding story, they refused to leave me alone to work on Snarl's search for his missing mate.

So, Wolf's Rage, Book 7.5, came about. The happenings in this book occur in the two weeks between the end of book 7 (Wolf's Queen) and the beginning of book 8 (Wolf's Enemy). The women are happily in the act of preparing for the wedding, purchasing gowns, and planning decorations when they come across a woman (Violet) being forced into an SUV by two men. When they rescue her, the fun begins.

Now, not only is there a wedding to prepare for, there is Violet's family to save from a deranged kidnapper.

I have just over 25,000 words written, and write more every day, so the book should be done soon. 

At least that's my hope. I really, really want to get back to Snarl's search. And he's a bit impatient, too.

Other News

Karen Doctor has spotlighted book 1, Wolf's Man, on her Karen's Killer Fixin's blog page. Check it out. Be sure and comment for a chance to win a cool Wolf in Fog Journal! And get the great Lemon Bisque recipe, too. Thanks, Karen!

Update: And the winner is . . . Donna! Your journal is on the way! Thank you, everyone, for entering!

Later,

Veronica Snoopsalot Interviews Nate Rollins

Veronica Snoopsalot Interview with Nate Rollins, the owner, and manager of the Rollins Ranch.

Veronica Snoopsalot:

Good afternoon! This is Veronica Snoopsalot and the Snoopsalot Report on your local radio station! Today, we have an interview with Nate Rollins, a retired Marine, and former San Antonio Police Detective. Welcome, Mr. Rollins. May I call you Nate?

Nate Rollins:

Good afternoon, Ms. Snoopsalot. You can call me Nate if I can call you Veronica.

Veronica Snoopsalot:

That’s fine, Nate. First off, I’m sure my audience would like to know more about you. Please tell us a little about your early life.

Nate Rollins:

I was orphaned at an early age. My dad died when I was eight; my mother passed when I was 10. I lived with my step-dad for a while, then went into the foster care system. Eventually, Major Thomas and his wife Cynthia became my foster parents when I was about 13. I lived with them until I graduated high school.

Veronica Snoopsalot:

That’s interesting. How did you wind up in the foster care system?

Nate Rollins:

My step-dad couldn’t take care of me due to some . . . issues he had to take care of.

Veronica Snoopsalot:

What kind of issues?

Nate Rollins:

The kind I’m not willing to discuss, Veronica. What else did you want to know?

Veronica Snoopsalot:

Well, I’m sure our listeners would love to know more.

Nate Rollins:

No.

Veronica Snoopsalot:

Very well. Tell me about your arrest when you were seventeen.

Nate Rollins:

Those records were sealed. How did you find out about that?

Veronica Snoopsalot:

According to Georgetown police records, you and your foster-brother, Eli, were arrested for beating up several other teenagers. I just want to let our listeners know about your past so that they can better judge your present.

Nate Rollins:

Charges were dropped. We were protecting a girl a group attacked. That happened over twenty-five years ago, Veronica. I don’t see the relevance to today.

Veronica Snoopsalot:

Interesting. So, you think of yourself as a hero?

Nate Rollins:

No. I think of myself as someone who helps those who can’t help themselves.

Veronica Snoopsalot:

Well, let’s continue, shall we? You were active duty in the Marines for twenty-five years. The next fifteen years, you were a detective with the San Antonio Police Department. So, what would make you give up your service career to manage a ranch?

Nate Rollins:

Let’s just say there’s more work to do there than I could get done after hours if I was still with SAPD.

Veronica Snoopsalot:

I see. I heard some strange rumors about what goes on out at your ranch. Some of the neighbors hear gunshots quite often. They also say there are a lot of wild animals roaming your property.

Nate Rollins:

We have a shooting range on the ranch. Sometimes, there are shooting contests among the employees. As far as wild animals go, I haven’t seen any wild animals other than deer, rabbits, skunks, and the ever-present armadillos.

Veronica Snoopsalot:

So, you deny having wild bears and big game cats on the ranch?

Nate Rollins:

I haven’t seen any large wild animals. Maybe they’re hiding from me.

Veronica Snoopsalot:

I don’t appreciate you being facetious.

Nate Rollins:

Sorry. I didn’t mean to offend.

Veronica Snoopsalot:

How about a change in topic? You are the owner and manager of Rollins Ranch, formerly called the Hynson Ranch. Few retired Marines and police detectives make the kind of money to purchase a ranch that size. How did you become the owner?

Nate Rollins:

My wife’s brother, Randall Hynson, left the ranch to her husband in his will. So, I guess you could say I inherited it.

Veronica Snoopsalot:

How does your wife feel about you owning her family ranch? I mean, shouldn’t it have been left to her? Why would her brother leave the ranch to her husband?

Nate Rollins:

Those are questions you’ll have to ask my wife and her deceased brother.

Veronica Snoopsalot:

There’s something fishy going on out there. What’s going on out there? Do you practice witchcraft?

Nate Rollins:

We’re a ranch with employees who work the ranch. We raise cattle, horses, chickens, and occasionally goats. We farm sections of the ranch. It’s a working ranch, Veronica. I don’t personally know any witches. Do you?

Veronica Snoopsalot:

You didn’t mention the oil wells.

Nate Rollins:

We have several pump jacks working. It’s not really part of the ranch work, though.

Veronica Snoopsalot:

And what do you do with all that money you have rolling in, Nate?

Nate Rollins:

I maintain the ranch and support my employees. What do you do with your money, Veronica?

Veronica Snoopsalot:

No need to get snippy, Nate. The public wants to know.

Nate Rollins:

The public can take a flying leap off a tall cliff. I run a business. I protect and provide for my employees and their families. I abide by the law in my business activities. I pay my share of taxes.

Veronica Snoopsalot:

Calm down, Nate. No one is accusing you of any wrongdoing. I have just a few more questions. How many people are on the ranch?

Nate Rollins:

That’s rather fluid since employees come and go.

Veronica Snoopsalot:

Is the ranch hiring?

Nate Rollins:

No. Not right now. We have a full roster of employees, right now.

Veronica Snoopsalot:

Many of your employees live there with their families. Why don’t the children on your ranch attend the public school?

Nate Rollins:

We have a private school on site. As far as we live from the nearest town, the children would be on the bus for a minimum of three hours a day if they attended there. Nine hours for sleeping, eight hours for school, and three hours for the bus. That comes up to twenty hours a day. If the four hours was in a lump, it might be okay, but it’s spread out through the day, ten minutes here, twenty there, another thirty somewhere else. By attending school on the ranch, the children have more time to pursue their interests and to enjoy being with their families.

Veronica Snoopsalot:

What are the educational standards for your private school?

Nate Rollins:

We meet or exceed state requirements. All our teachers are certified to teach by the state of Texas. The ranch provides textbooks and school supplies for each child, as well as classroom supplies for our teachers. Our children receive an excellent education.

Veronica Snoopsalot:

I’ve heard reports that your teenagers are forced to take military training. Why? What are you expecting?

Nate Rollins:

I was in the military for twenty-five years, Veronica. There isn’t a better basis for physical education classes than military training. And it gives them the added benefit of being able to take care of themselves if they ever get into a bad situation.

Veronica Snoopsalot:

But what about sports? Football, etc.? Why doesn’t your school participate in sports with other area schools?

Nate Rollins:

Those teens interested also work on the ranch. You know, for money they can spend on whatever they and their parents or guardians deem appropriate. We have football games, baseball games, and basketball games on the ranch. What we have is a community of people of all ages. They enjoy the normal activities of communities. Potluck meals, ice cream suppers, and even video game contests. We’re not so different than other communities.

Veronica Snoopsalot:

What about the weird stuff that goes on out there? You know, strange blue lights that flash across the sky or loud thunder when there are no clouds in sight.

Nate Rollins:

Weird stuff happens everywhere. Thank you for having me on your program, Veronica. I’m afraid I have another appointment and can’t stay longer.

Veronica Snoopsalot:

Wait, Nate! I didn’t get a chance to ask you about . . ..

Nate Rollins:

Good-bye, Veronica.

Veronica Snoopsalot:

Well, that’s it. Mr. Rollins has left the building. Let me know if you have weird stories about the Rollins Ranch. There’s always a nugget of truth in the strangest story, you know! That’s all for today, folks. This is Veronica Snoopsalot and the Snoopsalot Report signing off until next time.

---

Thank you for reading Nate's interview with Veronica!

You can learn more about Nate Rollin's adventures in the Texas Ranch Wolf Pack Series!

Too bad Veronica didn't know to ask Nate how he became the king . . ..

Later,

If You Love Dragons: Arwen Chandler Interview

Here Be Dragons!

If you're like me and love to read books about dragons, check out Arwen Chandler's book, Remnant: The Clans of Arcadia. Arwen Chandler is one of my favorite authors, but she's still new enough that many people don't know about her, yet.

Book Blurb:

With one dark spell, life in Arcadia changes in the blink of an eye.

Yesterday, Karn had it all. Today he has nothing.

No longer able to watch from the sidelines, the goddess Lorna reclaims her champion, Karn Elohite, as her chosen warrior. The second son of a battle-hardened chieftain, Karn Elohite, was content to lead a life away from his clan until he met her. She changed his entire world, and now his world is crashing at his feet.

The Viper of the Maekel clan has unleashed his mage Magnus upon all of Arcadia leaving a path of destruction in their wake. Now, Karn must find the strength to stop them, and choose between honoring the woman he loved or finding solace in the arms of the enemy – a woman, who finds herself struggling at her own crossroads.

The goddess has called for the reign of dragon riders to begin again, but will Karn accept his fate, or stay trapped in the past?

Remnant is a story set in a world as dangerous as George R.R. Martin's Westeros, and as magical as J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth. Not since the dawning of Anne McCaffrey's Dragonflight, has a story hatched from the world of dragons like Remnant. Do you dare come inside?

Fans of A Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, and Dragonflight will love Remnant!

Remnant is the first book in The Clans of Arcadia series.

Why did you write Remnant?

After doing some research into family genealogy, I came up with this idea. My husband’s clan and my clan were at war around 400 years ago, and that led me to the question, “what if?” You know, what if grandpa so and so found out that we had actually united the clans through marriage. What trouble would it cause? What would happen? I just played with the idea and that’s where Remnant came from. It really blossomed from there. It’s kind of a Romeo and Juliet thing, but it is so much more.

Tell us about the major characters in Remnant:

There’s Karn Elohite. He’s the star of the show, so to speak. He’s strong, honest, and completely flawed, but he is one of my favorites. The story really centers around him and how he reacts to the situation forced upon him, and how he overcomes.

Then, there’s Ian Elohite. He is Karn’s cousin and a complete ladies man. He is probably my favorite character because I like his personality.

Also, Lilia Maekel. She’s the daughter of King Anwell, and fierce, educated and opinionated.

Annielie Maekel is really a side character right now, but she will become crucial through-out the series. She is a follower and is always in the shadow of Lilia.

Tiernan Maekel is Lilia’s brother and commander of the Maekel troops.

Fridtjof Maekel, known as the Viper, is the main antagonist and a ruthless guy. He’s Lilia and Tiernan’s uncle.

And lastly, Magnus Maekel is the Maekel mage and right-hand man of Fridtjof. He aspires for greatness and will try to attain it at any cost.

Do you identify with any of your characters?

Yes, a little bit with all of them. I’d like to think Lilia and I have a lot in common, or at the very least she’s somehow an alter ego. I also feel like I identify with Karn, because I try really hard to be the best person I can, but sometimes my flaws are obvious. 😊

Will there be sequels following Remnant?

Yes, Quest is the sequel and will be out July 17, 2018. It's on pre-order now. After that, I hope to release the third book before Christmas. I’m not sure how long this series is going to be, but I love it and as long as I do, I’ll keep writing.

Is Remnant complete or does it end on a cliffhanger?

I think all good books in a series should end on a cliffhanger. 

For instance, Paolini’s books do, and I love them. Also, consider some recent movies like LOTR, I finished The Fellowship of the Ring, and what like, what I need more NOW! That’s the feeling I wanted to give the reader when they finished this book. I wanted the plot to resolve, but still have some unresolved issues, and I think I did that pretty well. I know I want to read more. 😊

How can your readers contact you?

Twitter: @arwenchandler

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/default/e/B00PL7WMBC/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp6vaH_4ou5wh7JPcGb7bNw?view_as=subscriber

Mailing list:  https://mailchi.mp/5d75e965f622/arwenstribe

Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/authorarwenchandler

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Thank you for the interview, Arwen! I loved Remnant and can't wait for Quest!

Later,