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Baby Squirrel Rescue!

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Today, we had an overload of cuteness courtesy of a baby squirrel.

I found him in the front yard, confused and weak. I snatched him up from a feral cat, who was approaching him with bad intentions, took him inside, and began the process of Baby Squirrel Rescue.

Here are the highlights of the day:

  1. Baby squirrels like cashews.
  2. They can drink pedialyte and water as a mixture.
  3. They SNORE, and it’s insanely adorable. I know this because Noah (my son named him) fell asleep in my hand when his tummy was full, and he snored. It’s the best thing ever.

After he was strong enough, and stabilized, I put him under his tree and stood watch. Unfortunately, it became clear he was an orphan, but we had a wonderful solution. After a series of calls, I drove Noah to Walden’s Puddle, a wildlife sanctuary about an hour away.

It’s like heaven on earth. I met owls, squirrels, turkeys, possums, birds, snakes, and a pair of sassy turtles. Here’s the site– I’ll be supporting them from now on.

https://waldenspuddle.org/

Here’s an action shot of Noah enjoying his second cashew, which led to a nap.

He’s safe, happy, and on the road to recovery. It’s been an excellent Saturday, and Happy St. Patty’s Day to all my friends.

Some other news: We had a photo shoot for the new book, and it was AMAZING. Jade and Quinton were the perfect people, and Dottie Rainwater captured their essence perfectly. I can’t wait to show you the results. A Touch of Frost will be available on April 7th. and I hope you love the characters as much as I do.

Meet Jade (Sammie) and Quinton (Gideon).

Coming soon– trading cards, postcards, and posters. It’s going to be a fantastic release week!

Cheers,

Terry

Halfway Bitten: Cover Shoot

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With over 1000 images to look at, I’ve got a busy weekend.

Kat Bradshaw makes my ideas look good. My model, Alexis, makes a potato sack look good. 

Together, they combined forces to create Carlie McEwan’s  First Official Photo Extravaganza. You can tell it’s serious because of the italics.

Here are a few shots from behind the scenes. What do you think?


“What do you use for such amazing skin, Alexis?”

“I eat a lot of Taco Bell.” #truestory

Here we see her in the wild.


“Do you own Docs?” I asked her, and yes she did. Unlike me, her socks match. That’s art, people.


Tea with Gran. A big part of the series. *note the Mad Scientist shirt* I had that made, we’ll be giving a few away as gifts.


Magick is at hand. Love this one. 

So, I’ll get to work, pick a hundred or so, drink more coffee, and then, uh, repeat said process until we’ve got the cover, some teasers, and a lot of postcards.

LOTS of postcards.

Until next time. Cheers!

Terry

Hiring a Unicorn as a Model. (Halfway News)

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UNICORN!

That’s what my friend Staci said when I mentioned I walked into the grocery store and saw a young woman who looks exactly how I pictured Carlie McEwan (White Witch, Monster Fighter, and Maker of Waffles).

“You found a unicorn,” Staci said.

“I did?” I asked.

“Yes. It’s a one-in-a-million thing. Get it?” Staci responded.

“Oh, Ok,”I confirmed. 

There was an awkward pause in our chat.

“Well, I better go do. . .something else. Don’t scare the girl. Make sure she knows you don’t have a creepy van or anything,” Staci admonished me. I found myself nodding at the laptop where our chat was scrolling. 

“Think I should have my wife ask her to be on the book cover?” I asked. It seemed plausible to me.

“No. That might be even weirder.” Staci’s answer was quick and decisive.

“Ok.” I agreed, but still thought that when shaved, I look relatively harmless.

That about sums up the process. The results, though, are spectacular. Allow me to introduce Alexis, the model who is going to bring Carlie to life. She’s unique, owns Doc Martens, and has that uniquely beautiful quality that Carlie embodies. So, yeah. Unicorn.

This is Alexis:




As you can see, she doesn’t look frightened at all, so I don’t know why Staci told me to “approach calmly, hand her my business card, and take two large steps back.” I think I should be offended, but I’m not, so everything is cool, and we have our Carlie, and take that Staci. 

But I’m not bitter.

So join me in welcoming Alexis, because this Halfway series is just blooming. I love these characters.

Until next time!

Terry










Layers of Vision. The Making of a Cover.

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My artist Amalia Chitulescu works with me as if she’s psychic. She understands the mood and tone I want for my covers, and the results– if I may say so– are spectacular.
When I was sending her notes about the direction for the cover of The Forest Bull, she immediately keyed on what I was attempting to describe.
We began with the forest primeval. Simple enough, but the quality of the first image is stellar.

So the mood is set. It’s deep, ancient, and a touch threatening, just as it should be. Then, we needed a model who was elegant, thin, but in motion. She had to possess the quality of beauty that was both threatening and disdainful.

That, as the story goes, is Elizabeth. We had to remove some of the accessibility and warmth. Fair enough. By using blues and cool tones, we end up with a mystery and a woman who is at the very heart of it all.

 And with that, the danger and unknown come to life. The Aurochs walks behind Elizabeth, regal in his domain, but we can tell there is much more to the story.

And much more to Elizabeth.