Interview: Convel

Today I’m going to be shaking things up, and thought that maybe you’d like to hear from a character in Echoes of Winter. Convel is the main character, and the one wolf that we’ve been with from the beginning of the book. This is only able to be done with the help of a special machine from Japan – the canine translation machine. Batteries were included.

*Upon hearing clicking upon the ground, our interviewer puts down the pad of paper with her questions on and rushes to the tap, filling a bowl of water up and then adjusting a machine on the table. She soon hears scratching on her door and stands up, opening the door to welcome the large black wolf into the room. He walks straight to the bowl and drinks thirstily, her eyes anxious as she waits until he is settled before turning the machine on. On the side reads the words Canine-translator.*

“Afternoon Convel, I’m hoping you didn’t have to travel too far from your pack today…” *As the wolf begins to growl, the machine converts his sounds into words, thus forming intelligent sentences in a masculine voice. As soon as it’s up to speed, the answers come through thick and fast.*

“Travelling is fine, thank you. They think I’m on a hunting trip or that I need some space.”

“I’m glad! I’m sure you want to get back home, so I’m just going to get on with the questions, so feel free to answer them with as much or little as you want.”

Interviewer: Are any other people living with you? Who are they?

Convel: There are quite a few others living with me now, my brother Faolan and his friend Baker, plus my pack-mates, Tikaani, Teira, Amore, Morte and Draven.

Interviewer: Tell me about your parents. How well do/did you get along with them?

Convel: Until I was ready to leave my pack, I was really attached to both my parents, but I’ve not seen them in more than a year. My mother was my favourite parent though- she had more patience than my father, he was the Alpha so he didn’t spend much time with us pups when we were growing up.

Interviewer: What was your birth order? How many siblings did you have? Older? Younger?

Convel: There were a lot of us! I’ve got a younger brother, Faolan. He now lives with me, plus four sisters! One of them is older than me, the rest were younger. I’ve got Ayame, she was always one of my favourites. She used to cuddle with me when it was cold, then it was Larentia. She was the dominant one in our litter – the one who most liked to be the winner of our play fights.

My last two sisters were Waya and Tala – but Tala was the one I never really got along with. She was the odd wolf out in our pack…

Interviewer: Who else was in your family while you were growing up? How did you get along with them?

Convel: I grew up with Steam being my closest ‘relative’. I think she was my father’s mother, but I can’t really remember. She wasn’t too fond of familial bonds. Otherwise there were three other wolves, none of them related to us. There were Nuntis and Otsoa – the Beta male and Beta female and then Lyall, our Omega, the most submissive wolf in the pack.

Interviewer: What were three things you liked to do when you were a puppy?

Convel: I loved to practise my hunting, play-fight and howl. Just typical puppy things, you know! I just loved spending time practising the things that would make me stronger.

Interviewer: What were you afraid of when you were a pup?

Convel: I was only really afraid of strangers. And the Humans that mother told us about – they sounded really scary! Until I met one, that’s when I got this. *Convel turned to the interviewer and showed off the black collar which was mostly invisible where his fur meshed over it.* Both myself and Teira wear these, we met the Humans and ended up with them.

Interviewer: How did you respond to the physiological and psychological changes in your life as a teenager?

Convel: I don’t really know- I got bigger quick and had to assert my dominance quicker- that’s when I discovered I was nearly as strong as my father was. I didn’t know what to do about it though!

Interviewer: What makes you happy now?

Convel: Running with the pack, hunting and running through the territory. We are the only wolves in that area, well…apart from Singer’s pack, but they live higher up than us.

Interviewer: What is your greatest fear?

Convel: Losing more of my pack. I’ve lost enough of them as it is, thanks to those who were around us.

Interviewer: What would you change about yourself if you could?

Convel: I wish I could see into the hearts of those around me. I hate the way that I’m able to be deceived because I want to see the best in everyone.

Interviewer: What is it that you have never told anyone?

Convel: I never wanted to be an Alpha as a pup. I saw myself as more of a Beta, helping the Alpha keep control of the pack.

Interviewer: What do you want?

Convel: To keep my pack and future pups’ safe and to protect my territory from any intruders. Getting the Humans to leave us along would be good, too.

Interviewer: Who do you look like? Your mother, father, or someone else?

Convel: Definitely my father. We have the same eyes, coat colour and build – but I’m taller than he is. I’ve always been bigger than he was.

Which Word Do You Think Describes You Best?

Nervous or calm? Calm when I can be.

Teacher or student? Both, but mostly teacher.

Leader or follower? Leader. I’m an Alpha, it’s what I do.

Brave or fearful? Brave – I’ve had to be.

Religious or superstitious? Both and neither. Lightning and Boulder are the ones who watch out for us, and I respect that.

Humble or proud? Proud.

Tall or short? Tall.

Long fur or short? Long, at the moment. It’s the winter coat, you see.

Honest, stretch the truth when necessary, or all out liar? Stretch the truth when necessary. The pack don’t need to know everything.

Introvert or extrovert? Introvert.

*As soon as he finishes the final word, the machine stops it’s gentle whirring and just clonks, leaving the room silent apart from the breathing of our interviewer, and the panting of the wolf. She gets up and refills the water bowl, placing it in front of the black wolf and stepping back. He drains the bowl then moves to stand by the door, waiting for her to open it expectantly. She opens it, then watches as he slinks down the hallway until he is out of sight, before returning to examine the translator machine.*

“Damn it, the batteries died!”

The Death of a Sibling (flash fiction)

There was silence in the forest, the same silence that was almost deafening in its intensity. Something was about to happen, because the world was holding its breath. Through the trees, something approached, because the birds stopped singing in the trees. As a body was hurtled through the bushes, a flock of birds took off, their wings beating together noisily as they escaped the dogs hunting through the forest.

They weren’t the best of hunters though they were sleek, lithe and deadly, but just not the best adjusted for the stalking yet. They were too young yet, a mere nine months old and mostly grown, though still gawky, looking out of place.

Three pups, two female and one male growled as they slipped from between the trees, the two females instantly rounding on their helpless brother.
“It’s your fault! You made us lose the rabbits. I’m telling mom on you. You know we’re the better hunters.” The first female Doberman spoke, her fur the rather odd mixture that occasionally appeared. Her shiny coat was chocolate brown, with the typical markings of muzzle, ears, eyebrows and legs in tan.

Her sister was almost identical to her, though the classical black and tan appeared on her body, a look mimicked by her brother. As it was, she kept quiet for a moment, her brown eyes watching the interaction as though she were puzzled. Her head even cocked to the side slowly before she shook herself off and growled softly in the back of her throat.
“She’s right. You are silly, too loud to be hunting with us, Hunter. All you do is thump about like a clumsy Human! You know that we need to feed ourselves as much as we can. They can’t spare the food and mom will get angry with us.” She snorted as she turned her back on him, her short tail standing at attention. “Hunter in name only. That’s all you are.”

She ignored the pleading voice behind her, one of her upright ears twisting back as she heard the soft whimper of her more submissive, less blunt brother.
“But…Baker! You know mom said we had to stick together, and that we needed to practise hunting in a pack. And Brier, you told me you wouldn’t ever leave me behind.” The sound of his whining got on Baker’s nerve enough that she turned back around, her sister at her side. Brier growled softly, her head dropping down as Baker bared her teeth and began to slink towards the shaking form of their brother.

He was still with fear, not noticing the lynx sneaking behind him. A snarl from Baker had the cat pausing then continuing on. The tawny coat was specked with silver, gold and tan and the lynx paused. As the pair of young dogs sped up, the cat leaped, pouncing upon the hapless dog-pup on the ground. Blood spilled from between her claws as she raked her claws along the short-furred sides, Hunter screaming as the pain blossomed through his body.

The lynx sprang away, as cool and cocky as a cat could be when the two dogs crouched over the form of their brother, their eyes glaring hatred at the feline who sauntered away without a care in the world. Baker whined the second the cat was out of sight, and nuzzled at his cheek.
“Come on, Hunter. You need to get up so we can get you to our Human. He’ll make you better.” She kept nosing at the still body of her brother until horror filled the expressive brown eyes and she let out a ringing howl, shaking her head. “No, no, no. Brier, he can’t be dead. He just can’t be! He’s our only brother!”

As the pair mourned their brother into the darkness, a pair of sullen eyes watched them, the angry look in its eyes turning triumphant and proud as they hesitated, not wanting to leave him before their mom and their Human got there to help.

 

This is part of the story of Baker, the Doberman who appears in Echoes of Winter. Baker was raised with her brother and sister in a Human village. This is something that is unusual in the setting – most humans are dead, and only very few individuals in each breed of dogs remain ‘pure’. Baker is based on a friend of mine, who has the same mock-mean outlook on life.

 

Now this is the part I’m honestly not liking- I have to ask a favour of everyone who is reading my blog posts. In order to make my giveaways and launch amazingly special, I need to have money to do so. The only way I can do that at the moment (mainly because I’m a carer, which means money is tight) is to hold a fund-raiser and the best way to do that is here – and the best part is if I don’t make my target, you get your money back! If I do, then you also reap the rewards, gaining some of the swag I’m going to be making/buying with the money!

The Death of Trust (flash story)

Tikaani snarled softly as she slunk along the ground, her nose twitching lightly as she paused. One paw lifted up as she tipped her head to the side, her nostrils flaring slightly as she shuddered before shaking her head and then growling, the sound rumbling deep in her throat and chest. She was an imposing sight for such a small she-wolf. Her fur was completely black, from nose-pad to tail tip and her eyes were so gold that they had green glints, giving her a rather steely gaze whenever she saw fit to offer it to one of the pack who were currently clustered behind her.

She wasn’t the Alpha yet, but the Beta of the pack, the one who ruled with her teeth and her head. Never had she let herself losing her mind to anything that could approach anger- she never needed to. The pack was more than aware of the fact that she could have torn each of their throats out as soon as look at them. As it was, her prey today wasn’t ordinarily on the menu for a wolf such as her.

Those cold golden eyes gleamed, then glistened as she dropped her head and stepped forwards menacingly, her lips wrinkled back to reveal the white daggers which were seated in the maw now gaping open threateningly. The ‘prey’ in front of her backed up a step, confusion filling the amber eyes as the Alpha female tilted her head to the side. A pretty wolf, she was mostly white with just the hint of a silvery grey which travelling over her cheeks. Black tipped her tail, which promptly trailed against the ground as she growled menacingly.

“Tikaani? And…the rest of you? What is the meaning of this? You do know that Amoux will leave you out for the carrion eaters if you harm one bit of fur on my body, don’t you?” Tikaani’s grin widened at Arinaya’s speech, the hatred inside her burning deep. She stepped to the side as soon as she felt the heated gaze of Amoux on her back, dropping her head deferentially as the male wolf stalked past her to his mate.

“That’s what you think, my dear. You are old now, and I need a bitch by my side that will be able to produce pups. You have a choice- become an exile or face down Tikaani here. You know you are no match for her, your teeth are blunt and you haven’t hunted in moons.” Soft snarls rumbled through the she-wolves, their ears perking as they locked their eyes on each other.

“I’ll fight…” Arinaya’s voice was soft, trailing off as she looked at the lean, toned frame of her chief huntress. The one wolf she had thought she could trust, especially since she was only young- two year old wolves weren’t meant to be so ambitious. As it was, they both took their time with stretching, Tikaani running her tongue along the sharp teeth which she was so eager to plunge into flesh.

It only took a moment for the two wolves to clash, Amoux standing amongst his pack and snarling softly in excitement as he watched. Their teeth snapped at each other, the sound of fangs crashing, each sound that was each she-wolf trying to get the upper hand ringing out over suddenly silent lands. Tikaani landed the first blow to drag blood out, her teeth clamping on Arinaya’s cheek and jaw to seize a tight hold.

Arinaya was an experienced fighter however and as soon as she felt blood dripping down onto the ground she twisted her own body, her whole body writhing in her grasp before snapping back at Tikaani’s face. The blood spurting between her jaws fired up that primal heart which stirred inside her, her spine arched as she stepped back and made a show of licking the blood from her jowls.

Tikaani howled, the rage in the sound evident from the way she dropped her head. Her tail curled in against her stomach, her eyes narrowed and the snarl currently disfiguring her face. Arinaya felt a quiver of panic, deep in her stomach at the demonic look of the other wolf, the Beta who was taking over her position. She flicked her amber eyes to Amoux, something in her gentling despite the betrayal she felt.

Her distraction was all that Tikaani needed. She was fast, she had to be to be chief hunter and that was what made her next move so clever. She slipped across Arinaya’s body, seizing her by the hip and suddenly heaving her over, all the muscles under her summer-short coat tensed and hardened as with sheer will the smaller wolf forced the larger one onto her back.

Arinaya met the gaze of Tikaani, pain and betrayal clear as she submitted to the relentless female. She was straddled by her in an instant, the black body topping the white easily.

“How could you do this to me? I know he’s not your father, but you do know he’s using you, right dear?” Her voice was rather unconcerned for what she was facing, the love in her eyes almost making Tikaani turn her head away in shame, though she dare not turn her face away from her mother.

“Oh, I know mother. He won’t stay Alpha alongside me long enough to even get close to the breeding season. But that means you need to die mother, which is why I let you die with dignity. You know you’ll be dying the way each wolf should, under the fangs of another rather than the hooves of the prey.” Arinaya nodded, lifting her chin and bearing her throat to the savage teeth of her daughter.

She didn’t disappoint either, sinking her teeth in deep and shaking her head until she pulled her face free with blood and gore clinging as high as her brow. She watched the final death throes, felt the convulsions in the body below her and rode them out. She only stepped free of the body when  it was both still and the almighty heart no longer managed to beat, the body almost immediately beginning to cool. The fur of her face was spiked with blood and as she looked down at her mother she sighed a little. “Goodbye mother. Run free…and I’ll name a pup after you.”

As soon as her voice broke, she disguised the whisper as an attempt to clear her throat of the clinging fur which littered her tongue, her head lifting in a howl that just oozed with triumph, pride and contempt. One by one the pack she now ran lifted back their heads in soft calls, Amoux last of all. His howl became strangled as Tikaani fastened her jaws around his jugular, slowly crushing the life from the dominating, manipulating male who seemed to fade in size as she tightened her jaws, bit by bit until he was limp and choking at her paws.

She stared down at him, lowering her head down to whisper into his ear as the last sparkles of life faded from the darker gold eyes, helplessness and pain sparking briefly before life failed in his body, the crushed windpipe meaning he suffocated quickly.

“You were never good enough for me. Worthless male, needing a wolf bitch to do what you didn’t have the guts for. You learned your lesson in the end, you didn’t watch out for the silent killer. Did you really think I’d suffer you to live after what you put us all through?

This was a scene from Tikaani’s life, which quickly sprang to life and went from a flash fiction to being even longer. I’m loving writing lately, really getting to enjoy these small snapshots into the amazing lives of the characters who sustained me during the writing of Echoes of Winter. Echoes of Winter has become my literary baby, hopefully the first of many, and what a difference it has made to my life! Far more disciplined, I’ve learned more than I thought possible and it’s something which I truly have enjoyed and I AM looking forward to writing book two.

Now this is the part I’m honestly not liking- I have to ask a favour of everyone who is reading my blog posts. In order to make my giveaways and launch amazingly special, I need to have money to do so. The only way I can do that at the moment (mainly because I’m a carer, which means money is tight) is to hold a fund-raiser and the best way to do that is here – and the best part is if I don’t make my target, you get your money back! If I do, then you also reap the rewards, gaining some of the swag I’m going to be making/buying with the money!

The Death of Innocence…(Flash Fiction)

This piece centres around Amore and Morte, two wolf-dog characters from Echoes of Winter. This is a scene from when they were both only young, and back in their birth-pack…

Morte growled as she pounced onto her sister, snapping gently at her shoulder before flopping beside her, panting lightly. Her breathing rattled her rather stocky rib-cage as she tipped her head at the limp body of the young wolf-dog who was the utter opposite of her – slender where she was stocky, lady-like where she was tom-boyish. Their eyes and coats were even the same opposites, light on one and dark on the other. Her voice was sweet, high-pitched in its youth and innocence.

“We need to go back to the den, Amore. Dad’ll be home soon, with the hunting party…and I’m hungry!”

The female nestled beside her sighed lightly, twisting to her feet in a single movement before shaking off her coat and then lapping away as much off the mussed up, dirty pelt down as she was able to. Morte watched her sister carefully, frowning a little when she noticed how quiet she was, when normally getting her to shut up would have been like trying to get a crow to stop cawing, or a rabbit to stop thumping; you’d need to really make yourself heard for that to happen.

It made Morte frown, before she slunk closer to her sister and prowled along at the side of her smaller twin, her head swinging about as she played at being a guard – the position in the pack she could see herself occupying easily enough. They were the first line of defence in the pack, the first ones to answer a threat and put them down completely.

The pair brightened up swiftly, as yearlings often were. Their tails wagged as they chased each other around the territory, trusted now to do things like that – their pack was strong enough to withstand those on the outlying borders, and they were in the very depths of the woods. Morte often bounded at Amore, who was more agile, darting out of her way and developing a stinging nip which was forgotten moments later.

It didn’t take long for them to end up at home, despite the playfulness. Their tails wagged constantly as they licked lightly at each other’s cheek before composing themselves. Their heads lifted proudly, their ears were perked and their paws lifted high as they trotted forwards, containing their excitement and presenting themselves as they should be – the heirs of the pack, growing well and with all the manners they had been taught to show.

It was only as they neared the den that Morte hesitated, one of her paws lifted as she growled uncertainly, her head swaying before her whole body went slightly limp. There was something about what was waiting for them ahead that had her breathing get faster, her eyes go cloudy – and Amore rush back to her side with a gentle nuzzle that did nothing to bring her from this fugue.

It seemed to be almost timed. As Morte lifted her head up, focusing her eyes on her sister, a grieving howl rang out ahead of them.

—-

I’m also going to announce the name of the series Echoes of Winter is the first book in. Keep an eye out for….

*drumroll please*

Seasons of the Wolf!

Find out all new details concerning Seasons of the Wolf on the brand new page found here

For information on Echoes of Winter, the first book of Seasons of the Wolf, look here

And finally, if you are interested in me as an author, check out my OWN page here

The Big Cover Reveal…

 

 

…won’t be happening just yet. I know, I know. I’m a tease – but I  have received the cover and I just happen to know that you’ll all LOVE it when I do reveal it. I’m really pleased though, it’s been done perfectly, with the scene showing the tension that I’ve wrote in the book. The artist is just wonderful – she’s done everything how I pictured it, and I can almost see how Echoes of Winter would be as an animated film (God…if it came to that…)

 

I’ve also received some fur, and even some support from places with wolves – which means, all willing, I’ll be up and running with some wolf-fur pendants soon. Just need to work out the best way to tie the thonging, so if anyone is artsy, let me know on your experiences!

 

Otherwise I’ve just been biding my time, working on other projects and trying to work out the way forward with book two of this series. (And yes, it has a tentative name for the series AND the second book, but no reveal for that, either yet!)

 

I can’t help being a tease, can I?

 

Won’t be long before you all see the cover…and fall in love with it…

Kindle…

My blog post today is a rant.

Why do Kindle’s have to be so expensive?! And I know what you are thinking. £89-£139 (or the $$ equivalent) isn’t expensive – but my income per month at the moment is about £75. I have to feed my dog, hedgehog and snake on this so it renders getting a kindle impossible.

And guess what the one thing I win frequently? That’s right. I keep winning eBooks – and it occasionally makes me want to cry since I won’t be able to get one until at LEAST September but more likely 2013…that’s only if none of my pets have a medical emergency.

I know I don’t need a Kindle, or that I can download the app onto my computer…but when I want to read in bed with the light off, or when out and about – I can’t. Even my so-called android phone won’t let me download the app for it to become an eBook reader. *sigh*

Rant over for the moment. Short one, I know!

Wrote a poem today

I had a kinda stressful day today…or a stressful evening after a fun day. Only real upside for today was getting a birthday present – 5 months early!
Wrote this thanks to being so stressed.

A lonely cry sounds
Filling the air with such emotion
Heart-broken renditions
Lost without a packs firm devotion.

Memories and feelings abound
A hunter’s fierce hunger aroused.

The moon shone brightly
Lighting up the sky and ground beneath
Highlighting the lonely hunter
With his bright teeth.

Lonely hunter runs silently
His head lowered and his eyes keen.

His vengeance burning ever brighter
The wolf, his heart beating, burning
Grows ever fleeter, head raising
Uncaring about the way he’s changing.

Hunter’s anger knows no bounds
Breathless, heartless – caution held.

Images of his family stay in his head
Their deaths a waste, unneeded
His voice no longer calling
Thoughts of his revenge seeded.

A snarl, a growl
A snap of teeth in the darkness.

A body collapses in the night
A flash of white, nothing more
Soft growls sound slowly, getting loud
The hunter, no longer heart-sore.

Hunter’s revenge attained
His lonely howl rebounds…unanswered.

81% of you…

81% of people picked the cover image for Echoes of Winter. I’m not revealing which cover it is until it’s been finished now, however! I’m really impressed with the amount of votes I received this last week and a half! The hours of time, sitting to get my images up on a poll, sharing the posts and getting people to vote have paid off!

Also up for good news – at 2am this morning, I completed Echoes of Winter – all 114,450 words are currently waiting to be winging their way off to the editor! That means I’m one step closer to being able to announce a release date for you!

I’m currently physically exhausted, not enough sleep and a little too much writing…but I could even write a little more of Echoes of Winter, settle down the masses – but there are some loose ends that won’t be tied up until the next book (if it comes to that!)

My way of relaxing at the moment is to sit and do pretty art pictures…and since I know you’d all like to see them…here they are (well…three of them, anyway!)

This is a human eye, with a wolf and a moon in it, mysterious and I hope pretty!

Next up we have butterflies and a vine, inside and on an icy-looking eye.

and finally, my favourite. Just a wolf in an eye – the beast within showing itself, maybe.

All these images and little tid-bits shown – I still might go back to EoW today and make some small edits. I think that could work well!

This isn’t to do with writing…but it made me tearful…

A POEM FROM A POUND DOG…

Today is the day that I shall die
My life was short and I don’t know why
I don’t yet know that this will be my fate
The humans just stood there at my gate

And in their eyes I saw their sorrow
They told me I had no more time to borrow
My seven days have been and gone
And I’m yet to know what I’ve done wrong

I greeted the humans with a waggling tail
But with this their resolve seemed to fail
I did not understand why they cried
They told me again and again they had tried

But rescues are full and I’m on death row
And this meant that I had nowhere to go
Except for that room and the end of the block
It was only then that I took stock

I’ve seen others go in and never come out
And it was at this point that I had no doubt
Today was the day that I would die
And yet still I did not understand why

As they led me kindly into that room
I knew my life would be over soon
And again the humans tears began to flow
Another life to be lost on dog death row

I know I’m not the only one
One dog an hours dies as I have done
The needle comes out and the drug takes effect
The human holds me kindly and with respect

This is the end and I’m going to die
And then suddenly I understood why
I was bred without care, without thought or reason
Only because my mum came into season

I was bred to be sold, bred for the money
At first my new family thought my antics were funny
But as the days past by and the bigger I grew
Left home alone all day I began to chew

Soon they said this is not the place for me
So up went my ad onto Gumtree
Family dog free to good home
Five months old, no fault of her own

This next place was even less fun
Kept in a cage with no hope of a run
Soon came the day of my first season
And now I was the one bred without reason

My pups were soon sold and I was alone
I really hope they all found a loving home
Shut up in a cage, alone and in the dark
For hours on end I would just bark

Once again I became too much trouble
So up went my ad on the double
Work commitments forces reluctant sale
Only ten months old, it’s a familiar tale

The next people seemed nice at first
But it was not too long before the bubble burst
In this place I was to be trained to fight
But they gave up on that as I refused to bite

They spoke me as I was taken back to my crate
‘If you won’t fight we’ll use you as bait’
I was chained to a post by my collar
When the other dogs attacked I would holler

This life went on like this for quite a time
But I was soon told I was past my prime
I thought we might have been going for a walk
Yet in the car there was no talk

And slowly as the car came to a halt
I was thrown out of the door with a jolt
I stood and watched as the car sped away
It was cold and dark and I had nowhere to stay

It was by this road that I was eventually found
And I was taken away to the local dog pound
And here I lie as I take my last breath
I have one thing to ask as accept my death

You can help save others from my fate
Spay or neuter your dog before it’s too late!