A Hunted Sneak Peek

Bear Naked Three: The Hunted is up for preorders here. Here is a sneak peek at the opening scene, from Connor Leidulf’s perspective.

The Hunted

Connor rolled over in his bed and inhaled. He groaned in frustration. There was no way he was going to be able to get back to sleep, not with her scent in the air. It wasn’t fair. Amanda, his alpha mate, was in the next room. Did she toss and turn as he did? Or did she sleep?

Why couldn’t she be in here, with him? She had been staying with them for the better part of winter break, but Mom felt it was inappropriate for the two of them to share a room, since they were both still in high school and not married.

It wasn’t like they were kids. They were seniors. Connor was eighteen and Amanda would turn eighteen this spring. Adults. And they were bonded. What had happened at the end of summer had done it, somehow. They had the alpha bond. Since then, intimacy had become comfortable for Amanda, less triggering. Even though she still couldn’t control her transformation, they could be affectionate, even have sex, without her losing control.

Down the hall a phone rang, the landline. Who calls on the landline?

Maybe it was Mitch or Darren checking in. They were in Idaho somewhere. Unable to continue his winter hunting trips without his friend Carl, Darren had instead found work as a different kind of guide, taking a group of boy scouts winter camping. Mitch had volunteered to help.  The two of them had spent just over a week in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, teaching the kids camping and survival skills.

They had checked in briefly earlier today. They had brought the kids back down and saw them safely on their way home. They intended to go back to the winter camp for one last night, to clean up the site and break down their own camp in the morning and head home.

Connor heard his Dad padding down the hallway, towards the kitchen and the phone. Surely Mitch would have just called the cell?

The thought of Mitch and Darren’s return reminded Connor of his own internal complaining. It wasn’t fair. He’d been so busy with senior year, pack responsibilities and with being named ambassador for next year’s assembly of all the werewolf tribes of the Central United States, Connor hadn’t much time left over for his alpha mate. Not nearly as much as he wanted, at any rate. Then he got a whole week with her right here with him, where she belonged. But Mom didn’t want her sleeping in here.

He groaned again and climbed out of bed. He wasn’t going to sleep for again for awhile. He might as well go see what the call was about.

Don’t forget, you can pre-order the book.

Why I Write

There are more reasons to write then there are writers. Yes, you read that right. I was going to say “as many reasons as writers” but that’s not the truth of it at all. I write for more than one reason and I am sure many of my fellow writers do to.

Some write for fame or fortune. Many of the greatest writers concur that this is a bad reason to write. Fame and fortune come only to a handful of writers. A quick look at writer’s bios will show that even many of the best known authors of history had day jobs for much of their lives.

Even those who have attained both fame and fortune will tell you that’s not why they write. For one thing, fame and fortune take their own sweet time coming. If they are your only motivation, you are likely to give up long before you get there.

I would love to see at least a little bit of fame and fortune in my life. I don’t have grand designs on being a billionaire or winning some huge literary awards, but I would like to be able to support myself as a writer some day.

So why do I write?

My YA writing is written for the teenager I used to be and to the young LGBT people out there. If even one LGBT kids reads my stuff and feels life might be worth it after all, then I’m happy. I would gladly give those books away for free. Selling them to adults is more a fundraiser to help me connect with the teens then a business venture.

My motives for writing science fiction and fantasy are even simpler. I love those genres. I love reading them and I love writing them. I am happy just to be a midlist author contributing to the genre I love.

But at the end of the day my reason for writing has become both simpler and more obscure. I have discovered that when I write, other aspects of my life become less soul sucking.

I work on an acute mental health ward. I love my job — as a job. As a career, as a purpose for living, it sucks. Mental health is a fascinating field. Working with the mentally ill is always an adventure, the people are among the most diverse and interesting portion of our population.

But day to day interactions with personality disorders can be draining. Many chronic mental illnesses, like schizophrenia, can be managed but not cured. Relapse is a part of addiction. Diseases like bipolar disorder and major depression are often recurrent. As a result we often see the same patients over and over and treatment might be two steps forward and one step back. Mental health workers need to cling to small victories and let many backslides roll off their backs.

When I write regularly, I float above the stresses of my job. After all it’s just my job. It earns me money so I can get by while I write. It’s good, as jobs go, and I enjoy the work.

When I don’t write, suddenly my creative contribution to the world comes down to whether or not this alcoholic makes it through detox, or this schizophrenic stays on his meds. If that’s the only contribution I am making to the world, the job becomes a soul sucking drain on my life. I quickly come to hate it.

The same dynamic applies, to a lesser extent with other aspects of life. I love my house. It’s perfect for me. But am I proud to have owned a house? Is this my legacy?

I love my son. But do I want to be one of those parents who live vicariously through their children’s accomplishments? No way.

I think most writers struggle with motivation at times and I am no exception. Writing is hard work. Writing a novel requires sustained work over a long period of time. But the toughest part of being an author is that most of the work is required upfront, with no guarantee that it will ever lead to success.

What keeps me coming back is this; if I gave up writing today what would happen? The answer is that my life would slowly be drained away by a million everyday stressors. Stressors that for whatever reason, writing seems to make go away.

If I knew for absolute certain that I would never achieve any level of financial success or fame from my writing, I’d still write. I might reprioritize some things, but I would still write. And I think most other writers would to.

That said, I would still like to have financial success and would be honored if you purchased any one of my books. 😉

The HuntedSign up for my newsletter today to receive two free books and be informed when Bear Naked 3: The Hunted goes on sale.

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Some Hunted Teasers

As we work towards getting Bear Naked 3: The Hunted out, here are a handful of teasers for fans.

The HuntedThis book was multiple points of view, for the first time in the series. The last two books have been from Amanda’s point of view. One of the struggles I had with this book was solved when I realized I needed to tell parts of it from other character’s points of view. I think the book and series is much better for the change and I will continue the next three books to have more points of view.

There are a bunch of new characters. The main events occur far from the packs home territory, amongst the Skinwalkers. The Skinwalkers are the Native American cousins to the werewolf. They have a not entirely friendly relationship with the other tribes.

There will be more revealed about Jay and his gender identity. He’s been vacillating, unsure if he’s merely a feminine boy or a transgender girl. Many, if not most, transpeople knew from a very long age. But not all, and I wanted to create a character that struggled with the decision to transition. Jay’s stubbornly developed his own character and he’s taking his own sweet time with this decision. We all wish him luck.

I will continue to post updates, teasers and tidbits about the novel now until it’s released.

If you haven’t read the first two Bear Naked books, you can get them both, for free by signing up for my newsletter now.

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The Hunted: Cover Reveal

Bear Naked 3: The Hunted is in production. And now, the big moment…

My new cover:

The HuntedAmanda and the pack are back. Uncle Darren has gone missing on a camping trip to Idaho. Uncle Mitch is in a coma.

The obvious culprit would seem to be their known enemy: The Sons of Garm. However Idaho is home to the Skinwalkers, Native American cousins to the werewolves. Could they be involved?

Want update information about the release? Join The Hunted. Sign up for my newsletter today!

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