Desktop: How to Howl at the Moon

It's release day for "How to Howl at the Moon", the first book in a new m/m romantic comedy series about dog shifters. I had a blast writing this book, and I'm so excited that it's now out there available to the public. Fly little bird, fly! Or maybe, run, little dog, run! It's my tradition to share some of my photo inspiration on release day. So without further ado, here are some images that I found to use as mind candy while working on this story.

NOTE: These are all images I googled. I don't own the rights to them and they are not used in the actual book.

TIM WESTON

Tim is our shy gardener, a full-blooded human who moves to Mad Creek by chance and has no idea that dog shifters exist (or any other shifters for that matter). Tim is tall, lanky, and a bit gawky. I looked for a long time to find the right 'mind model' for Tim physically, and I fell in love with the photo below. Love those bangs! (so does Lance)

SHERIFF LANCE BEAUFORT

The other MC is Lance, a border collie shifter who is the sheriff of Mad Creek, and a determined protector of the town. I didn't find the perfect photo of Lance. He had black hair and brilliant blue eyes, he's compact and muscular, and intense with a capital I! But here are some images that come close....

(THE HAIR!)

(THE TUDE!)

CHANCE (aka Lance in dog form)

Lance is a shifter descended from border collies. In dog form, he's all black with just a touch of white on his chest and a dot on one ear, and he has brilliant blue eyes. He's very intelligent looking. This is the dog photo I used for Lance. He actually looks quite a lot like the dog that ended up on the cover, no?

MAD CREEK

For my setting, I wanted a small town, someplace remote and someplace that felt a bit interesting or exotic. My husband suggested the California mountains. We lived in Oakhurst, California for about five years, a small town in the mountains up the hill from Fresno but before you get to Yosemite. Mad Creek is technically further up into the mountains than that, but I based Mad Creek on Oakhurst. Here are some photos.

RENFIELD (aka "Renny")

Renfield is a puppy that Lance gives to Tim. He's a 100% dog (not a shifter) and he's mostly Bernese Mountain Dog.

LILY (Lance's mother)

Lance's mother is also a border collie shifter with black hair and blue eyes. She's wiry, energetic, and basically a whirlwind of manipulation and buttinski-ness. Julie Louis-Dreyfus is a great comic model for her.