Dani Harper is Running With The Wolves! (And she’s got a fun giveaway, too!) Back to Blog
Update: So many great responses–thank you!!! The winner of CHANGELING MOON, CHANGELING DREAM and that cute plush wolf is…Keisha Talley. Congrats, Keisha!
Okay, this giveaway is just fun. (Thank you, Dani!) Our next guest is Dani Harper, author of some great paranormal romances with Kensington Brava. Ah…I do love paranormals. 🙂 She’s sharing a cool post about wolves, and one commenter will win two of Dani’s books (one is a hot-off-the-presses release!) AND a plush wolf that is in need of a home. See–told you it was a fun giveaway. Welcome, Dani! And congrats on your release!
RUNNING WITH THE WOLVES … Dani Harper
Happy Release Day, Cynthia, and thanks for allowing me to share it with you! Today, the second book in my shapeshifter series is released from Kensington-Brava, CHANGELING DREAM.
In my world, Changelings walk among us, and can change from human to wolf at will. But they were inspired by a real event.
I owned a small farm in northern Canada and one morning I was stunned to see a pack of wolves – about 7 or 8 – run across my yard. No mistake about what these big dark creatures were – I’d seen hundreds of coyotes before and these clearly dwarfed them. The wolves ran with ease and grace, seeming to float along rather than touch the ground. Teeth gleamed white from grinning black lips, their tails were great plumed banners and they ran with purpose.
And then they were gone. They vanished like smoke into the timber that flanked my property. I have never felt such a wild yearning in my life. A wish that they would come back? A wish that I might go with them? I didn’t know. I still don’t.
Ever since, however, I’ve run with the wolves on paper. And the result is my new series, beginning with Changeling Moon which was released May 31st. Book Two, Changeling Dream, is out TODAY, June 28th! Book Three, Changeling Dawn, will be released in January. I’m working on Book Four right now. www.daniharper.com
TODAY’S GIVEAWAY
One lucky commenter is going to get a wolf in their mailbox! Really, I have a cute plush wolf that needs a home, and he’s bringing along a copy of CHANGELING MOON (Book 1) and my newly released CHANGELING DREAM (Book 2). To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment and tell me..would you like to be a changeling? Would you like to run with wolves?
EXCERPT FROM CHANGELING DREAM (Kensington-Brava, ISBN 978-0758265166)
The full moon called and the Pack answered. The lights of the town of Dunvegan were left behind as seven creatures ran silently, effortlessly, mile after mile. Nothing could cover distance as efficiently as a wolf’s perfect form. Charcoal and tawny, gray and silver, gold and black, the wolves were a diverse group, yet they moved as one with the smooth grace of long practice. Eventually a white wolf joined them, easing into the band without a ripple.
The Pack loped along the game trails at the very tops of the coulees, high above the Peace River valley. The wolves’ path seemed almost suspended between sky and water, moon above and moon reflected below. Joy, fierce and bright, was all around.
Stars wheeled overhead, revealing the constellations of the early morning as the Pack leader turned towards Elk Point. There, she slowed at last and picked her way along the rocky promontory until the trees parted to reveal a sweeping view. Tongues lolling, sides heaving, the wolves flopped down on the stone plateau just as a sudden wind gusted up from the valley. Dry leaves swirled into a lazy vortex around the group. The air crackled, flashed here and there with tiny sparks, as static electricity began to collect. The power built until the ground thrummed with it, until the very rocks vibrated.
Sudden silence burst as loud as a thunderclap. Human laughter and human words flowed in quickly to fill the vacuum. The breeze died away, the leaves fell to earth. Where eight wolves had been, there was now only one. A lone white wolf and seven human beings.
Connor Macleod automatically reached out a hand and ruffled the thick soft fur. His older brother was not just the only one in the family with such a snowy pelt, but the only Changeling that Connor had ever seen with that coloration – not an albino but a true white. Their father had often called James a winter wolf, but there was always a touch of sadness in his voice when he did so. Connor had pressed him for an explanation once. It’s a verra long journey until spring for a winter wolf, lad. A verra long journey. Connor had been too young to attach any meaning to his father’s words. Now he saw that they had been all too prophetic.
He spoke to his older brother in his mind. All of them had that ability; it was part and parcel of being Changeling. Good to see you, bro. Have you eaten tonight?
Old moose, lame. Easy hunting. Full now.
James’ words were always clear in Connor’s mind, but they were few and labored, as if it were a strain to use human words at all. As if running as a wolf for thirty years made it difficult to even remember the language. Seven words in a row nearly counted as a speech.
It might have given Connor a tiny glimmer of hope, but he hadn’t allowed himself that luxury in many years. His hand fell away from the thick white pelt as he automatically blocked the rest of his thoughts from his brother. What possible good could it do to tell James how much he missed him, ached to talk with him, to joke and laugh with him, hell, even to fight with him? How the whole family grieved for James, as if he was dead. And he was dead to them. Even as a wolf he very seldom ran with the Pack or came near any of them except Connor on occasion. James had forsaken his human self entirely, and it was unclear if he was bound to the Macleods by remembered human ties or merely a wolf instinct to be part of a Pack.
But not one of us blames him for it. Good Christ, how could we? We weren’t there. We were too far away, all of us too damn far away. He shook his head. By the time they’d arrived at James’s farm, the house was a heap of blackened beams and cold ashes. Too damn late to do anything but bury poor Evelyn. It had nearly been too late for James as well. The Pack had tracked him through deep wilderness for two days, unable to catch up with him until he finally collapsed from his horrific wounds. Over thirty years had passed and still Connor shivered at that memory. He had barely recognized the blackened and battered creature that once was the white wolf. Changeling or not, it was a flat-out miracle James had lived.
But the miracle was incomplete. The wolf came back to them, but not the man. Connor glanced over at his brother. The massive white creature was stretched out on the ground beside him as if relaxed, but the vivid blue eyes flicked from person to person. Alert. Ready, Connor knew, to disappear. Everyone else knew too. Connor noticed that each member of the Pack, family and friend alike, would glance over at James and then turn away quickly, not knowing what to do or say. Fearing to break some unknown spell, fearing that the white wolf would leave them even sooner than he usually did.
Find Changeling Dream on Amazon now at http://www.amazon.com/Changeling-Dream-Dani-Harper/dp/0758265166/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1309210126&sr=8-1
EXCERPT FROM CHANGELING MOON (Kensington-Brava, ISBN 978-0758265142)
The Dunvegan Herald Weekly was silent except for clocks ticking and the dripping of the staff room faucet. She liked having the place to herself. How on earth had she ever gotten anything done in the middle of a big busy newsroom? It was so much easier to work when it was quiet. Easier, until she played her phone messages and found one from Connor. It was nothing much, just a simple request that she call him, but his deep melodious voice did strange things to her insides. God, he even sounded hot. Did he do that on purpose?
It ruined her concentration for writing. She’d barely get a sentence down before she began thinking of Connor. His eyes for instance, and how they were almost silver at times. With such a color they should have seemed cold, even icy, and yet they were anything but. There was warmth and ready humor in them. Until–
Zoey contemplated the glimpse she’d gotten of another side of Connor Macleod. The one who’d stood in her kitchen ready to do whatever was necessary. His eyes had been different then, darker. The warmth was gone, replaced with a decided coolness. Yet there was no chill directed towards her. Of that she was certain. It was more like the coolness of metal armor, the determined chill of a sword, as he readied for battle. As he stood to protect her, even from herself.
She shivered at the sheer sexiness of it, of him. Ran her hands through her hair and rubbed them lightly over her face, feeling the heat that had flared in her cheeks. Heat. In his truck, she had awakened to the sensation of Connor stroking her cheek. In her kitchen, he’d placed that big hand over hers. She could still feel the unusual heat that had radiated from his skin on both occasions. Not the parched heat of a fever but more like the banked coals of a campfire, something that beckoned her to relax, to stretch out and simply bask in the pleasure of it.
Sitting behind her desk as she had sat at her bistro table, her hand resting palm down on the smooth surface, she smiled. The table had been so tiny, she could have reached out and touched Connor easily. Could have indulged the urge she’d felt to brush the glossy dark hair from his face, indulged that wish to slide her palm over the stubble on his jaw. She imagined stirring her mocha slowly, lazily, and skimming the chocolate froth onto the spoon. Licking it off with quick little flicks of her tongue while he watched her with silvery eyes….
Find Changeling Moon on Amazon now at http://www.amazon.com/Changeling-Moon-Dani-Harper/dp/075826514X/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b
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Dani Harper is a newspaper editor turned paranormal author. There isn’t anything she likes better than exploring the supernatural — unless it’s writing romantic suspense. Of course, all of her stories have at least one foot in the netherworld…
To find out more, please visit Dani’s website at www.daniharper.com Or stop by her Facebook page at http://on.fb.me/DaniHarperFanPage and say hello! She always has time to chat with a reader.
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Who wouldn’t want more wolves? I can’t wait to read these!
Hi Connie – well, Montana ranchers probably wouldn’t want more wolves, but they have good reasons. LOL
I would love to be a changeling! I could give your wolves a good home! 😉
Good to know, Colleen! 🙂
Who wouldn’t love to be a changeling and run with the wolves? I’d love to shift and howl at the night
I LOVE the sounds of wolves howling. I wonder what it feels like?
who wouldn’t love to run with the wolves…..sometime I feel like a changeling and not the cool kind…series sounds awesome, would love a chance to win them..Thank you
Hi Leisa – I think we all feel more than a little strange at times. There have been moments where I was certain I’d been dropped off on the wrong planet… Good luck!
Who wouldn’t want to be a changling? I think it would be a very freeing and exhilarating experience to run with wolves.
I think of the word exhilarating too!
I would love to be a changeling–especially if it means I would have my very own Alpha Wolf!!
That would be a terrific benefit!
Oh yes, I think it would be awesome to be able to change into a wolf, and run with the wolves through the night.
Or through the day! Changelings can shift at any time they choose.
I would love to run with the wolves.
I just got my copy of Changling Moon. Looking forward to starting it!! Really glad the second is out now too so I wont have to wait as long to read it. 🙂
Hope you enjoy the story! I was really happy too to have the first two books come out so close together.
Oh, yes, definitely! Happy release day!
Thanks Chelsea! It’s been a lovely day through and through.
I would love to run with the wolves.
This sounds like a really great book.
Thanks – I’m hoping that my readers enjoy it. I had a wonderful time writing it!
I would love to run with wolves. I love the sense of pack and family that is connected to wolves and changelings.
Hi Stephanie – The family and friend connections play a very powerful role in my stories.
I would like to win Changeling Moon and Changeling Dream because I love anything Paranormal, especially books about changelings 🙂
Hi Tanya – I love all things paranormal too! Changelings are my favorite but I also enjoy ghosts, vamps, faeries etc.
I read the first one in one day. Can’t wait for the next one. Loved it and would love to see more of this series.
Wow, you’re a fast reader! I’d be hard-pressed to keep up with you. Really glad you enjoyed it.
This is the first time I have ever heard of you, I mean that as no offense, but I can say these books sound amazing, and I’m glad I found you!
If I could be a changeling I would love to be a one. Being able to be free of all the stress of the world to go out and explore. I wouldn’t want to do it alone so I would love to run with the wolves.
Hi Tiffany – I’m glad you found me too! I agree that becoming a Changeling would be a wonderful way to let go of stress.
I think it’d be amazing to be able to change into a wolf! Being able to shift and run would be a great way to escape reality for a little while (especially on those crappy days.) 🙂 Congrats on the release!
Thanks Rachel! Shifting would be a perfect antidote to a bad day, wouldn’t it?
I wouldn’t wand to be a changeling unless I could fly with the owls.
Oooooo – I like that! Have you seen “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole”? I thought the movie was absolutely beautiful. I hadn’t thought of becoming an owl, but I have thought of being an eagle – they mate for life too.
I want to be changeling and running with wolves. They live at pack and I’m envy with their bonding. I want to have my own pack too..
Hi Ren – I think it would be neat to start your own pack too.
I think it would be interesting to have the power to shift between the two planes, but a lot of dangers come along with being a wolf. I would want to belong to the strongest protective pack, and even more so belong to the strongest most protective alpha male! The books sound absolutely amazing and I hope to win! Congrats on your newest release!
Hi Heather – Thanks for the congrats. That’s a good point about the life of a wolf – it isn’t completely safe even though they’re apex predators.
Fantastic giveaway!!! Wolves are my favorite creatures and shifters are my favorite paranormals, so OF COURSE I would LOVE to be a changeling and get to run with the wolves. Who wouldn’t, the men are all smart, sexy and amazing and the woman are all smart, sexy, amazing and appreciated for having strong personalities. If only…
Thanks for hosting – congrats on your release day!
bevsharp@desch.org
Thanks Beverly — it’s a great fantasy, isn’t it? I think more men appreciate strong women than we think, though, even if we’re not as sexy as we’d like to be.
I definitely would be a changeling! and yes on running with the pack!
I think running with a pack would just amplify the joy of being a wolf.
Being able to run with the wolves would be fantastic. I would love that. 🙂
Hi Larena – I think most people WOULD love it, based on the comments alone. There’s a wildness inside all of us!
I’d love to be a changeling and run with the wolves!! That would be an intriguing and fun thing to do! 🙂
Hi Nikki – I think it would be intriguing too. To experience the world through a wolf’s senses would be very different – and probably very intense!
Wow!! I love were wolves!!! Better yet i love various versions of were wolves. The beauty of wolves in the wild. Do any of your books touch up on the subject of wild wolves and the loss of habitat?
Hi Nancy – My stories so far don’t discuss the habitat question because there isn’t a problem in northern Canada. Trust me, there’s a LOT of wilderness and the wolf population is estimated to be between 50,000 and 60,000.
I would enjoy being a changling and running with the wolves. To be able to let loose and be wild and free as only animals can do that would be so nice.
I think part of every human being yearns for that kind of freedom.
Love wolves there my Favorite Shifters
sasluvbooks(at)yahoo.com
Hi Stacey – they’re mine too!
Sounds fun, but the local farmers -the few we still have left here- wouldn’t like it.
Predator problems are tough to deal with if you’re a farmer. I know, I’ve dealt with them too. So I have empathy for both sides.
I would love to run & chase like the wind….
Wolves love to play by chasing each other. I think it would be fun if my family and friends could be wolves too.
That would be alot of fun!! To run and feel free!
I think it would be fun and also emotionally powerful.
Being changeling would be really fun. The freadom to run through the night. The only thing I would not like is the hunting (chasing OK, killing not OK).
You’d have to be one of the “relay” wolves, the ones that take turns chasing the prey towards the wolf that’s waiting in ambush. The Changelings in my stories are very matter of fact about hunting, I think because they see it as necessary and also do not waste any of the animal.
Oh, oh, I want these! LoL
I would love to run with the wolves, it would be so much fun! Especially at night under the moon.
I think it would be wonderful at night – wolves see very well in the dark and the world would look so different to us.
I would love to run with the wolves–imagine the freedom and the power of being able to slip into an animal form and GO! Thanks for the intro, Dani, and congrats on these titles!
Thanks Fedora – I’m so excited about this series. And I also love to imagine the ease of simply changing form at will.
Yes! I’d love to be able to be a changeling. The exhilaration of running free & wild like a wolf & with wolves would be thrilling.
Can i be a vegetarian wolf tho 🙂
I think a number of people would prefer to be veggie wolves. And it’s possible, you just have to eat a LOT of calories as a human to compensate.
Loved the excerpts, your characters are all so alive and relatable. Can’t wait for more!
Hi Jordan – it was really nice of you to come over and comment. Thank you! I’m glad you’re enjoying the stories.
I think it would be awesome to roam free with a pack of wolves. To be free and one with nature would be awesome.
Hi Danielle – I like that “unity with nature” aspect.
Hi Dani,
have to confess that I haven’t read your book so far, but I added it to my tbb list. I love wolves and their are my favorite animals. So I would love to run with them
Hi Danny – Thanks for adding me to your list. (My own list is getting reeeeeeally long — I added even more to it after Cynthia’s party blog today!)
I would def. be a changeling and running with the wolves!
Hi Van – I could build a pretty big Pack with just the number of people commenting on this blog! Do you know that the Druid pack of Yellowstone once boasted 37 members?
HI Dani,
I’m not sure if I would want to be a changeling, but running with wolves sounds like fun.
Oh, but Changelings live for several human lifetimes!
I love shape shifter stories.
I would love to be a changeling, to be able to change into a wolf anytime and run with the wolves and have that freedom would be wonderful.
Wolves are such free spirits and beauitful.
Hi Deborah – I find them very beautiful too!
It would be awesome to run with wolves! No bill of everyday stuff to worry about! If you had a bad hair day you could just change into a wolf till it went away! Or would you have a bad fur day instead? Lol!
ROFL Carlyn – Now THAT’S something I could use today! My hair won’t do anything I tell it to because it’s humid outside.
I got chills reading about your inspiration, to be that close to a pack of wolves… I can’t even imagine. I’m glad you chose to write about the adventures you might have had, could you join them.
I would love to run with wolves, that sense of freedom they must have yet belonging to a pack. I’ve always been fascinated with that closeness and protectiveness. Give me an alpha to frolic with any day! 🙂
Hi Michelle – The hair on the back of my neck still stands up when I think about the wolf pack that visited me. It was a once in a lifetime experience.
I never really thought about it until now but I think I might like being a changeling as long as I had control over when to change. It would be cool to run with the wolves and experience all that freedom.
That’s the key part of being a Changeling – having the control to change when YOU wanted to.
What a great giveaway.
Hi Carol – Thanks! I love to hold contests and giveaways whenever possible.
ooops, don’t know what happened. Comment posted before I finished. 🙂
I’d love to be a changeling and run with the wolves. The Freedom :)But being a wuss when it comes to pain might make me hesitate during the change. lol I’d certainly love to give a home to that wolf, especially if he changes for me. lol
Carol L
Lucky4750 at aol dot com
That happens to me sometimes too! With Changelings, it’s only the first change that hurts. After that, the body knows the way.
I would absolutely LOVE to be a changeling and run with the wolves! To get to be that wild and free would be a dream come true!!
It’s certainly been one of my dreams – a daydream anyway!
I’m not so sure I would want to be a changeling. I would be afraid that I couldn’t keep up with the others
Hi Victoria – Well, in my human form, I couldn’t keep up with anybody! But when you’re a Changeling, you have all the powers that the others do and you’d be fine.
I think it would be cool to be a changeling. I would love to run with wolves. Your books sound great.
Thanks Crystal! I enjoy writing these stories.
Great prize! I would love to be a changling and run with the wolves!!
Hi Shelly – thanks! I wanted it to be extra special since I have not one but TWO new books out.
I thought I had commented last night. Thank goodness I double checked this morning. I would love to be a changeling and run with the wolves. Maybe even find a hot alpha for myself.
Hi JoAnna – I noticed that some of my comments vanished on me. Maybe you DID comment last night! And yes, I think every gal would like to have a hot alpha of her very own.
Yes, I would love to be a Changeling! I know wolves have their purpose and I also understand why farmers and ranchers aren’t fond of them but I still think they are fascinating animals. Thanks for the giveaway!
Hi Maria – I find wolves fascinating too. But I know from experience that it’s tough to be a farmer and have to deal with predation of your livestock!
The freedom of being a wolf is very appealing.
Hi Lori – I think wolves really symbolize freedom and that’s why we like them so much.