Tom Hiddleston’s smirk has nothing to do with my werewolves…

Really.

When I began researching werewolves in January 2010, the movie Thor hadn’t yet been released and wouldn’t be for over a full year. As a would-be paranormal romance and fantasy author, wolves interested me for their extraordinary beauty, intelligence, and grace. I wanted to find some way to put my own unique spin on wolf shifters… Optimistically, that take would produce something fresh and original.

“No story is original.”

As authors, we hear this all the time. Until we’re sick of it. Whether it’s true or not. Yeah, sure, it’s a valid statement but only to a point. Writers struggle to put words on the page in a way that conjures images. Following years of frustration and tears, one of two things happens.

1. You go mad.
2. IT suddenly happens.

What is IT? It is the magic of storytelling. Transcendent moments when words become images become scenes become movies playing out in the reader’s mind.

Am I off topic?  Allow me to return to my quest to breathe life into my werewolves. I’ve always had an interest in legends and lore, so it was a natural development when my muse turned to Norse mythology.

Nordic oral tradition tells of a monstrous wolf named Fenrir. He is the son of the Trickster god, Loki, and in turn he is also the sire of the wolves that devour the sun and moon. Fenrir, imprisoned for all time, will break free of his bindings and rise up to swallow Odin whole.

During the tumultuous years that comprise Ragnarök, many tragic events play out. There are many players including Norse gods, monsters, and giants. Wolves happen to play a huge and vital role in the story. So far as epiphanies go, Loki’s Wolves crept up on me gradually until one day I perceive the whole, wonderful vision. And I knew then–that was my story to tell.

Now, I’m struggling to put the stories to paper one word at a time.

My heroine, Victoria Storm, sprung fully formed into my head. She is a priestess of Freya and a Valkyrie to Odin. She’s also a wolf shifter and the head of a pack on the verge of extinction due to a violent conflict with a group of hunters. Her story begins a couple weeks following the violent murder of her lover…

#0 Loki’s Wolves Series

A thirty-year alliance that aligned wolves and hunters has shattered.

Victoria Storm leads a few surviving members of her pack in a desperate flight. As the only surviving child of their leaders, the she-wolf inherited the role of Alpha. The violent deaths of her parents and the man she loved left her devastated, and the lives of her followers depend on her decisions. Simple survival often conflicts with the demands of preserving her Norse heritage, so she must struggle to balance her duties as Freya’s priestess and Odin’s Valkyrie. When innocent children are abducted, she must set aside her differences and work with her worst enemy to rescue them.

ISBN   978-1-942193-05-0
ASIN: B00BWBOQNI
Published:  Jan. 23, 2015
Genre: Urban Fantasy/ Norse & Viking Folklore
99 cents on  Amazon   

Subscribe to Melissa Snark’s newsletter for new releases, prizes, and lots of fun. http://eepurl.com/LteNP (Just copy & paste the link into your browser.) You’ll get a free ebook just for signing up! Author Melissa Snark lives in the San Francisco bay area with her husband, three children, and a glaring of litigious felines. She reads and writes fantasy and romance, and is published with The Wild Rose Press & Nordic Lights Press. She is a coffeeoholic, chocoholic, and a serious geek girl. Her Loki’s Wolves series stems from her fascination with wolves and mythology.

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