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Skhye's Ramblings... published a new entry entitled "Karen Nutt: Creating a Were-wolf Legend~" on 2/26/2010 7:22:49 AM, written by Skhye Moncrief.
Karen Nutt: Creating a Were-wolf Legend~
***Please welcome Karen Nutt! She's going to reveal how she created a were-wolf legend. ![]() That's so up my alley. Get ready... She's hosting a contest!!! ~Skhye
CREATING A WEREWOLF LEGEND
Hello, Skhye. Thank you for having me here today to chat about my research I did to create my werewolf tale, Moon Shifter. Short or long, all tales have a background story. Follow me on my journey in how I discovered my werewolf clan.
There are many werewolf tales from all over the world. I did most of my research on the Internet, reading about different legends and how the werewolf behaved. Some werewolf tales stated the person was cursed, while others swore it was a medical condition and still others claimed it was a tribe of wolf men.
I was fascinated with the Irish werewolf tales and decided my werewolf clan would be from Ireland. The werewolves weren’t beasts that had no control when they shifted. They were a human clan that had the ability to shift into a wolf.
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To add to the background story of my Irish wolf clan, I did a little more research about wolves in Ireland. The English are responsible for depleting the forests. The wolves had no home, no place to hunt and turned toward livestock. To survive, the people of Ireland hunted the wolves that roamed on their land. However, Oliver Cromwell was responsible for exterminating thousands of wolves. He gave the order that wolves were not to be exported from the country, but they would be hunted instead for sport. As of today, wolves no longer exist in Ireland.
With my research, I also found an interesting Irish reference to the wolf, giving the animal the name mac tíre (mock tee ra), which translates to means son of the land.
In my story, humans use the term werewolf, but my Irish wolf clan call themselves moon shifters of the Mac Tíre clan.
Now I had a background story. The Mac Tíre escaped from Ireland in 1652 to avoid persecution from Cromwell.
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Plantation of Ireland
Encyclopedia
E-book: A Social History of Ancient Ireland Vol. 2 by Patrick Weston Joyce
The moon shifters have a human side, but they are also part of the wolf, a fact I didn’t want the reader to forget. Wolves are fascinating animals with their own social structure, including an alpha male and an alpha female to manage the pack. It isn’t uncommon for a female to run the pack. If the wolf chooses a mate, they stay mated for life. I also researched territorial fighting. If a trespasser refuses to leave, the alpha leaders will fight. The wolf pack members on both sides will stand by to see who will win. I intertwined the behavior of the gray wolf with the moon shifter’s attributes to give an authentic feel to the Mac Tíre world.
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Moon Shifter takes place in Click here. I did some research online, but most of what I wrote about was from experience. Tahoe was a vacation spot for my family with special childhood memories. What a better way to revisit the magical place. I combined a few of the hiking trails and a resort layout to set the scene.
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Well, this is where the trail ends. I hope enjoyed the behind the scenes in creating a new werewolf legend.
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Purchase
I love to hear from readers. Come by and visit:
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CONTEST: win an e-book copy of Moon Shifter
To be entered in the drawing, all you have to do is:
1. Leave a comment or ask me a question.
2. Post your email so I can contact you
That’s it. You’re entered. The drawing will take place at the end of the day. Good Luck! ~Karen
***Whoa, Karen! Methinks you are as big a nut for research as I! ![]() After 3 years of writing my Time Guardian series, I had 4 single-spaced pages of references and decided to stop keeping track of them. LOL. Oooo, and that's a really sweet cover. ![]() Thanks so much for sharing your research links with everyone.
The process of creating a legend packs quite a surge of power on one's writing odyssey. Or that's how I rationalize my addiction. ![]() And I snatched the wolf quiz in my previous blog post from Karen's blog! Thanks for the fun diversion, Karen. ~Skhye
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