Berman's Wolves
Gretchen SB
Genre: Urban Fantasy
When a scientist runs an
experiment on three separate college campuses that goes horribly wrong, several
hundred students find their lives altered forever. They must learn to adapt to
their new lives as Werewolves. Immediately after the incident a government
program was put in place to keep track of these unwitting subjects. After a
year the program falls apart as those in charge argue on how to proceed.
Without the programmers
constantly looking over their shoulders the werewolves have now started to
organize themselves. Creating their own hierarchy and alliances.
Jack is the Alpha of Pacific
Northwest University's pack F. He thought the government had finally taken a
step back and let him and the other Alphas run their packs. Recently, however,
he has been hearing rumblings about the programmers wanting to reinstate the
program. He thought they were just rumors until he finds out one of his pack is
being threatened by several of the lab assistants that took part in the
original experiment. Now Jack must scramble to find allies and hunt down those
threatening his pack. The more he goes looking the bigger the plot becomes.
Excerpt:
Lyra knew the Weres who jumped her were members of pack L,
former lab assistants of Berman’s from Pacific Northwest University. They
hadn’t tried to negotiate this time, but had simply jumped her as turned the
corner on her way home from the off-leash dog park in her neighborhood.
As soon as she smelled her attackers
approaching, she turned to Hazel and pretended to have lost her cell phone.
Hazel hadn’t questioned it, just taken Fizgig’s leash from Lyra’s outstretched
hand and continued walking to Lyra’s apartment.
Lyra double-timed it toward the park.
She knew her attackers would follow. All she needed was enough distance between
them and Hazel. Lyra loved Hazel like family, but the other woman was not a
fighter. Hazel would try, but she would only be hurt or used against Lyra. It
didn’t really help matters that Hazel and Lyra knew all of each other’s
secrets. In Lyra’s case some of those secrets could get them killed.
Lyra knew leading the attackers away
from Hazel and the dogs was her best and only option. As the outskirts of the
forested trail closed in around her, Lyra spun and braced herself for the
attack. She could smell the malicious intent like rotting meat rolling off of
them. She had one advantage: they didn’t know how well she could fight. Growing
up in a predominantly male social group, Lyra had honed her skills. They
thought girls were weak. They would underestimate her. Lyra gave a small grin as the three Weres
came into view around the bend.
Lyra posed as if she’d been off-guard
and was helpless, widening her eyes and shrinking away in horror. The tallest
guy headed toward her. Lyra counted, waiting until the last second when his
arms stretched out to grab her. She roundhouse-kicked him in the head. The Were
crumpled. Weres could take and dole out major damage and Lyra was stronger than
most. The blow had landed perfectly, and he’d be out of commission for a few
minutes.
The other two men didn’t make the
same mistake; they rushed her. Lyra backed up. She needed more room than the
thin nature trail provided. She was able to get one punch in to the guy on her
left before the other man grabbed her.
Panic began to rise as a strong arm
banded around her throat. Screaming to herself, she pushed the panic aside. She
struggled to remember the course of action for this type of attack. Using the
heel of her shoe, she stomped on her attacker’s foot. Inwardly she swore as she
connected with a boot—she couldn’t do any damage that way. His arm tightened,
and she knew he meant for her to lose consciousness. That would be bad. She
felt the loss of breath acutely and Lyra knew she had maybe thirty seconds to
get out of the hold before she was incapacitated.
She gave one swift kick behind her as
she dug both her thumbs at her throat to relieve the pressure. Her kick hit
true and her attacker cried out as her heel connected with groin.
She felt the man back up and she
moved the opposite direction, scanning for the Were she’d punched in the
stomach. She didn’t see him, not at first, but what she did see made her curse.
About
the Author:
Gretchen happily lives in
Seattle, Washington where she spends her time creating new characters and
situations to put them in. She also enjoys cheering on her local sports teams,
even though it sometimes seems they are allergic to winning.
Gretchen has spent most of her
life in Washington state. She graduated from Central Washington University with
a BA in History and a BA in Philosophy. Though there was a brief stint after
college where she lived in Florida and worked for the mouse (Disney World). She
loves that Washington provides a large range of activities, from Shakespeare in
the park to rodeos.
She has had a love of reading and
telling stories as far back as she, or anyone else, can remember. Currently, she loves to read the same genres
she writes. She also loves exploring her home state. At the end of her
adventures she unwinds by curling up on the couch, knitting while catching up
TV shows via Netflix.
https://twitter.com/GretchenSB
Interview:
Please welcome author Gretchen
SB who has stoped by to tell us about herself and the Berman's Wolves.
What is your favorite
part of the story, Berman's Wolves?
My favorite part of the story…hmm. I enjoyed writing the
prologue. The initial prologue was ‘meh’ at best. So when it was suggested that
I rewrite it I struggled at first but as I watched the scene playing in my head
I began to enjoy it and got really into writing it. Since I initially wrote the
story in 2008 it is hard for me to remember what parts were most enjoyable.
How long did it take
you to write Berman's Wolves?
From start to finish, nine months. Berman’s Wolves was the first
story I ever wrote from start to finish. Before then I would write as much as
60 pgs before my imagination would wander off and want to do something else. At
the time I was having weekly coffee dates with a good friend of mine. She was
Beta reading for me, so her asking ‘what happens next’ was more incentive to get
the book done.
Who or what inspired
you to be a writer?
I like to create new things. I like to say to myself ‘well, what
if this happened?’ then play out the response. The most fun part of writing
fiction for me is that I create the world I am writing in from scratch. I
decide what rules I do and do not want to follow. That is what inspired me to
write instead of act (which was my goal for a long time) I got to decide the
world I played in instead of playing in someone else’s.
How do you overcome
writer’s block?
Maybe I am strange but I do not often get writer’s block. I get
writer’s laziness or a wrong turn in the plot. Both of those stop me from
writing more than a block ever does. Some days I will come home from the day
job and just want to veg on the couch and watch something ridiculous on TV. All
I want is to relax. Writing is not in the forefront of my mind. That halts my
writing the most often. I have yet to figure out how to overcome that. It is
hard to push myself to write when my imagination is acting like a small child
throwing a tantrum. But when I am sitting at the computer and cannot figure out
what should happen next. I go backward. I find that the block is coming from
boxing the characters into a plot that does not work with their personalities
or with the overall story.
Can you share a little
of your current work with us?
Sure, I am working on a detective story about a homicide cop
that stumbles in to the paranormal world that has always been around him. He
spends a chunk of the book in denial but eventually realizes that he has to
embrace the paranormal if he hopes to catch the killer.
What book are you
reading now?
I am reading a handful of free chick lit books from Amazon on my
Kindle. I tend to read mostly on my bus ride to and from the day job. I think
the one I am reading right now is called Morning
After. It is a thriller romance about a woman being stalked and the man
that is trying to keep her safe.
What do you prefer paperback, hardcover, or ebooks?
It is a tie between paperback and hardcover. While I love
hardcover books, they are more expensive and the dust jackets can be a pain. I
thought I would hate ebook readers. I was adamant for a long time. Then I
bought one for my bus rides, because it was getting hard to juggle the books
and my coffee and get enough light. Now that I have one I like it, but nothing
can replace the excitement of cracking open a new book, feeling and smelling
the pages, and being able to visually follow your progress through the book.
Do you have anything
specific that you want to say to your readers?
I would like to say, I hope you enjoy my books! And thank you so
much for taking the time to read them! I hope you enjoy the characters and the
worlds as much as I do. Also I am sorry that I am so atrocious at updating my
social media.
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