Shhhhh......

THE WEREWOLF WHISPERER WAS RELEASED FROM PHAZE ON MONDAY AUGUST 4th! And yep, I'm so excited I'm shouting about it!

This whole week has been BIG for me. On Monday, I had my first radio interview. I'm hoping I don't sound like a dork as I gibber mindlessly (Oh, I mean talk) about my writing. It should be available as a podcast at PIVR (http://www.internetvoicesradio.com/home.htm).

I was a guest blogger at Bitten by Books and am a featured author at the Whipped Cream site of Long and Short Reviews. I'm giving away a free download of The Vampire Oracle: Chalice and a lovely set of wine glasses.

Oh AND - I signed a contract for Phone Calls from the Dead from Cobblestone Press. It's the sequel to Postcards from the Dead and I'm hoping it will be edited and ready for Halloween. AND (wow, can this week get any better?)- Cover Art Christmas. Yep. I received a very hot cover for Breathless, my first M/M romance. Designed by Dan Skinner...all I can say is I think I'm in "lurve"...



But, back to whispering about my book. Last September, The Werewolf Whisperer was only available for two weeks before StarDust Press closed it's doors. So, I'm super excited that it's available again! It has a sexy cover (designed by Stella Price) and was totally re-edited, so there's a few new surprises tucked inside the cover.

The Werewolf Whisperer by Ericka Scott

The full moon peeked up over the horizon already lighting
the yard as if it were daytime.

Her shoe bumped something and it fell with a clatter. Shit!
She looked down to see what she’d stumbled over. Blessed God.
It was a shotgun! She hadn’t fired one in years, not since she and
her brothers had made soda cans quake in fear on the back fence.
But with a shotgun, she wouldn’t need perfect aim. Heck, when
they saw she had a gun, maybe they wouldn’t mess with her.
Okay, so she was fooling herself. But she couldn’t help a quick
rush of joy when she picked up the gun and saw that it was
loaded.

Surprisingly, no one had come running at the sound of the
clatter. Serena didn’t pause to wonder why. It only took her a
few more strides to reach the front of the house and peer around
the corner.

What she saw nearly made her drop the gun. Ben and the
man were bent over. Had they poisoned themselves? Then,
icicles of fear rushed through her veins. What was happening?
Ben’s form was suddenly covered in silver grey hair that
almost sparkled in the moonlight. His ears had elongated and his
face! She shuddered and stepped back, resisting the urge to run.
The whole frontal section of Ben’s face elongated into a muzzle.
Then, with shock, she realized the wolf’s savage gaze was
locked on her. She stifled a scream as the thing’s mouth split
open in a wolfish grin. Serena stepped back and pulled the gun
up.

The wolves crept closer. Didn’t they see she had a gun?
Perhaps they didn’t think she would use it. Well, they were
wrong, she would.

As she ran forward, she could hear their growls. This had
better work or she was dead—or worse than dead. Pulling the
trigger, there was a pause when time stood still. The blast nearly
deafened her. The wolves scattered.

One disappeared. She’d have to watch her back. One dashed
off around the house, possibly to leap on her from behind or cut
off her retreat. The other had been hit fully in the face and was
now pawing at his muzzle and whining.

She ran toward the car, expecting a heavy body to leap on
her at any moment. It wasn’t until she was sitting in the driver’s
seat with the keys in the ignition that she stopped to take a
breath. A roar at the window made her jump. The third wolf,
which was the largest, was launching himself against the
window. Again and again, it leapt at the door, its claws
screeching as they scratched against the glass.

She started the car and gunned the engine. The animal
didn’t even flinch. Fingering the can of mace in her pocket to
make sure it was still there, she backed out. The wolves followed
her, stalking the car.

The little Beetle couldn’t do more than twenty-five miles
per hour on the washboard road. Any faster and she’d knock the
whole bottom out of the car and then where would she be?

In eerie silence, the wolves ran alongside the car. Then, they
began howling. Ice cold panic filled her veins.
Suddenly, another figure came dashing along the car,
snapping and barking at the wolves. It was Tucker. The wolves
turned their attention away from the car and toward the
Labrador. Serena felt a surge of pity. The poor old dog would be
torn to shreds. She had to do something.

Rolling down her window an inch or two, she pulled the can
of mace out of her pocket. “Here doggie, doggie,” she called.
The wolves turned as one toward her. Faster than she’d
expected, they were almost through the window. Startled, she
pushed the button on the mace. It didn’t fire. Oh, my god. She
leaned back as snapping muzzles filled the opening and she
could feel their spittle sprinkling her face, neck, and arms. Then,
there was a loud hiss and the wolves were gone. They rolled in
the dirt, pawing at their muzzles while Tucker pranced around
them barking. She called to him, but although he came over to
the car, he refused to enter.

“Oh, well, buddy. Don’t say I didn’t try,” she told him then
rolled up the window and drove away. Tucker’s fierce barking
faded into the distance.

It was a momentary victory, but she pumped her fist in the
air anyway.

Now, to get into town and find Jackson. Something bad had
happened to him. But he was still alive. Ben and Doc Brown had
talked about sending someone back to the jail to question him.
The town was silent. There were no lights on in any of the
houses, no sounds of televisions playing behind closed curtains,
nothing but the roar of her car’s engine. Something really bad
was happening and she knew she couldn’t stop it.

And above all, she had to find Mike. Please, God, don’t let
him be dead. But he couldn’t be dead. Jackson had gone through
all the trouble of calling her out to this god-forsaken place to
help find him. No, she had to believe that Mike was still alive.
And Jackson was the key. He knew what happened to her
brother. He was the one who’d arranged the helicopter and set up
the fake hospital story. Damn it, she’d make him tell her where
Mike was. She grabbed the shotgun and left the car unlocked and
running, just in case.

Pushing open the station door at a run, Serena started
yelling his name. “Jackson, hey, Jackson.” Waiting a heartbeat in
between her calls, she listened for a reply, for any noise. She
pounded on the counter and rang the bell. Still nothing. Damn it.
He had to be here or at home. She started to turn around
when she spotted a door marked Staff Only. She ran around the
counter, slipping a little on the linoleum in her haste. Grabbing
the knob, she twisted, half expecting it to be locked. It opened
easily in her hand and she felt along the wall inside for the light
switch. She didn’t want to be surprised by any wolves in the
dark.

The overhead lights flickered on and she stared. It was an
old-fashioned jail, just like in the movies, complete with three
cells. The first two were empty, their doors standing wide open.
The third one had an occupant.

“Jackson?” she called, walking quickly forward. “You gotta
tell me where Mike is. Where are the keys? I’ll let…you…” The
words caught in her throat and she could only stare. It was a
wolf, large and black, with amber eyes. There were clothes
scattered on the floor of the cell, the same clothes Jackson had
been wearing the night before. So, either the wolf had eaten
Jackson and not left any blood or…

“Jackson?” Serena approached the cell.

Hackles rose on the wolf’s back and the creature growled.
Saliva dripped from his fangs and it snapped at her, pacing back
and forth from one end of the cell to the other. Serena felt her
eyes go wide and she backed up. “Alrighty then.” Maybe there
were notes or something in the files out front to tell her where
Mike was.

Damn it. Howling. Right outside. They had found her
already. Gripping the shotgun in her hand, she took another look
at the wolf. She’d never make it to her car now. And if the
wolves came pouring in, she’d be trapped. She looked around.
Trapped and safe.

She stepped into the cell next to the black wolf and pulled
the door closed behind her. It locked with a click and she had the
unnerving feeling that it was the sound of her fate sealing.
Serena cowered against the back wall. If the wolves could
open the door to the cell, she was a dead woman.

End of Excerpt

If you go out to the Phaze site, you can find a very hot excerpt of the book as well.

The Werewolf Whisperer - Phaze.com

Have a great Friday!

Ericka
www.erickascott.com