Silhouette Shadows
May 1993
ISBN 0-373-27008-9

Reprint Dreamscapes
April 2002
ISBN 0-373-51189-2

Enter the story of Rand Garner's haunted house attraction, with its tale of love, horror, and werewolves... if you dare! (Bwah-hah-hah-hah-hah!)

Here it is--the official website for my first published novel, Waiting for the Wolf Moon. This book has a special place in my heart, and not just because it launched me as a professional writer. It also told a story I had been hungry to read, with witches and magic and friendship and strong characters battling evil-- and finally I just had to write it for myself. The whole Silhouette Shadows line provided food for similar hungers. I am thrilled that many of these books--not just mine--are being re-released to a new audience.

Click on any of the following links to find out more about what I call W4TWM, including:

• The prologue and part of the first chapter
• Reviews
• Where I came up with my ideas for WOLF MOON & other Trivia

Purchase from Author, Author!

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"Beware the full moon. Even a witch can run into trouble when a werewolf is stalking the Louisiana night. Add to this a House of Horror with its mysterious owner and you have the makings of a really good book. The Circle: Four friends, four magical gifts, and four loves. Read this for tingly horror and a love story that is as real as it gets. Try it, I think you will like it! "
--Empress, The Ridiculous Book Store

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Where I Got My Ideas for Waiting for the Wolf Moon (and Other Trivia)

Waiting for the Wolf Moon, like most creative works, is a mesh of many elements in my life and my imagination.

ELEMENT 1: During the late 80's and early 90's, I dated a dangerously charming man who was very into horror--horror novels, horror movies, and yes, haunted house attractions and special effects. He worked a great deal on Lance Pope's Haunted Verdun Manor in Forney, Texas. He and I also, with our close friends, played a role-playing game called CHILL, which has strong horror elements.

ELEMENT 2: I was already a member of Romance Writers of America, and had been writing and submitting romance novels--well, one romance novel, a historical, over and over--for some time. At one conference, I learned from LaVyrle Spencer the importance of being published as a "launch" book for a romance line (she helped launch Harlequin Temptation, if I remember right). I often considered writing contemporary, but only if there was a twist to it; building an entire story around JUST the romance takes subtleties I don't credit myself with possessing! We used to joke that if only a line called "Harlequin Horror" was created, I would have the perfect arena to write the kind of books I really wanted.

ELEMENT 3: Not long after my boyfriend and I broke up, I discovered two authors and series in particular--Mercedes Lackey's "Diana Tregarde" books and Tanya Huff's "Vicky Nelson" books, both shelved under horror, and loved them. I wrote the publishers asking where I could find more "strong woman hunting down the occult evil that's threatening her city" books, and both ladies' editors had to reach to make their helpful suggestions. It wasn't enough. I wanted more.

ELEMENT 4: I began exploring Wicca and very much enjoyed what I found. How had this incredible world of magic been out there, all along, with me never seeing it? Why were there no more novels written with witch heroes or heroines? The "Diana Tregarde" books helped, but again, I wanted more.

ELEMENT 5: Word got out among the romance-writing community that Silhouette was set to launch a new series called Silhouette Shadows--and I decided that not only was this the perfect place for me, but that, like LaVyrle Spencer, I would help launch a line. (At the time, I didn't realize that first-time authors RARELY get to launch). So I had to come up with an idea for a romance FAST, and I wrote what I knew and loved--witches, haunted house attractions, and a werewolf thrown in. I made it a "strong woman hunting down the occult evil that's threatening her city" (in this case, "her town") book, because darn it, I wanted to see more of those. I made the hero look like an actor in my favorite guilty-pleasure TV show of the time (a CBS "Crime Time after Prime Time" series called SWEATING BULLETS, starting Rob Stuart). I made the heroine a bookworm like myself (in spirit, anyway), someone who had learned a great deal about magic from books, and then I ran with it. First I sent in a query letter, then frantically brainstormed until Silhouette wrote back and requested a two-page synopsis. By then I could send it, and kept writing until they asked for chapters. I had some by then, so sent them, and kept working, so that by time they actually asked for the whole manuscript, I was about ready to send them one. Months later, I sold my first novel--and although it was not one of the four "launch books," WOLF MOON was #8, which isn't at all bad. I may not have launched Silhouette Shadows, but it most certainly launched me. And my fourth and last Circle book FOREST OF THE NIGHT, was the very last Shadows published, which I take as an honor.

WHY LOUISIANA?

I lived six years as a child in a lovely, small town called Pearl River (which, yes, is very close to the fictitious town of Stagwater). It is a beautiful, beautiful place--but also somewhat claustrophobic, with high, sky-darkening trees and air so humid it clings to your skin. When I tried to imagine a scary place, that's what came to mind.

WHY A BOOKSTORE?

For one thing, I helped pay for extras while getting my Master's degree in English Literature by working at a used bookstore in Arlington, Texas. I think it was called General Bookstore. That meant I didn't have to research the details of Sylvie's workday. But more than that, I pictured Sylvie Peabody as being representative of the element of Air.

THE ELEMENT OF AIR???

Yep. When I envisioned my four witches, it made sense that each one should represent one of the four elements (Air, Fire, Water, and Earth). Air is the symbol of mental skills and communication. Thus, a bookstore. If you read carefully, you'll notice that I use a lot of air-images in describing Sylvie (a friend once said if I wrote "feathery hair" one more time, he'd throw up). I also mention the color yellow quite a bit, because in standard Wicca, yellow is the color of air. The tarot suit for Air is often considered to be Swords, so Sylvie's card is the Queen of Swords. This also fits because the Queen of Swords is often distant or cut-off, and has often suffered a betrayal (like Sylvie's).

WHY THE NAMES?

I chose the name Sylvie because it made me think of Sylphs--air fairies. I chose Peabody because rumor has it there may once have been a so-called "warlock" in my family named Henry Peabody, back in Colonial times. I chose Rand as short for Randall (and my wise editor suggested it need not be a nickname)-- Randall, and Randolph, both mean "house wolf," "protector," or "shield wolf." Garner was an Anglicized form of Garnier, the famous werewolf Sylvie researches. Her friends names are all some form of their element (Brigid is a fire goddess; "Mer" means ocean in French; Cypress is a kind of tree, and thus an earth element). As for Sylvie's dead ex-fiancé, Eddie Michaels... I still don't know if a certain Mike has ever figured that one out, but it was pretty cathartic.

HOW 'BOUT THAT MAGIC?

I decided that, since my books were not going to be shelved in either horror or science fiction/fantasy, I wanted to keep my magic very realistic, which meant making it work by Natural Means. Besides, I believe magic does work that way. So I will often have characters perceive something visually or aurally, but I made an effort never to have them actually levitate, or pop themselves from one location to another, or such. Does that mean it couldn't happen? I'm not about to say that! But the magic I wanted to show was more subtle.

ANY OTHER TRIVIAL DETAILS WE MIGHT FIND INTERESTING?

Uhm... two of my best friends, a married couple, lived in the same apartment complex as me as I was writing W4TWM, which is what gave me the idea of Sylvie living in a duplex beside Brie and Steve. One of my college friends drove a Pinto, so I chose that for Sylvie's car. I had inherited a cat who resembles Romeow (he's never been my MAIN cat, but he had a good look for the story).

DO THE FULL MOONS REALLY HAVE NAMES LIKE THAT?

(And why isn't there a Wolf Moon in the story?)

In some magic traditions, the thirteen full moons of the year are named after trees; in others, after elements matching the time of year--so the early harvest, when one gathers herbs, is the Wort Moon; the moon during the full harvest is the Harvest Moon, etc. The Wolf Moon hits, if I remember right, in February--well after this story takes place, and well before. See, Sylvie's fiancé, Eddie, died during the full moon. The Wolf Moon. So the fact that she hesitates to trust Rand, and fears something awful is going to happen, is in part because she is waiting for the Wolf Moon. Get it?

WAS THAT YOUR FIRST IDEA FOR A TITLE?

It was the first one that hit; I have no notes in which I call it anything else. I loved it, and Silhouette kept it, and I will always be grateful for that.

DO YOU CONNECT ANY MUSIC TO THIS BOOK?

Okay, so you weren't really going to ask that, but it gives me a chance to mention that yes, of COURSE I think of W4TWM whenever I hear "Bad Moon Rising;" I imagine most other authors of werewolf stories think of theirs when they hear it, too. I also like the 60's song about "Little Red Riding Hood" ("You sure are lookin' good/ you're everything that a big bad wolf could want... arooooh!").

SO WHOM DID YOU IMAGINE AS SYLVIE OR RAND?

It's odd... usually I do not have a specific actress or model in mind when I write a romance, but I almost always have an actor in mind. In this case, that actor was a man named Rob Stewart (not Rod--Rob), who at the time I wrote this was in a CBS late-night series called Sweating Bullets. I had recently gone through a bad break-up (though not as bad as Sylvie's!) and watching that weekly series, with it's cheerful private detective named Nick Slaughter, helped me cope. So Rand ended up looking a great deal like "Nick." That's where he got the ponytail, and the wicked sense of humor!

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