Amanda Alvarez Hunting Human Blog Tour with Guest Post

I am so excited to have Amanda Alvarez here to talk about Werewolf Mythology in a guest post here at Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews.

Amanda is currrently touring to promote her new book Hunting Human which features good and bad werewolves.

Thanks so much Goddessfish.com for connecting us on this blog tour!

Please take it away, Amanda!

Werewolf Mythology

Mythology – the thing that made writing Hunting Human at times incredibly easy and at times intensely difficult. On one hand, I had a never ending amount of mythology from which to research and world build. On the other hand, I had to really wonder about how my mythology was different, interesting and unique. Ultimately, the question came down not to how to make my mythology brand new (I’m not sure such a thing is possible) but rather how to apply it in a new way.

I started by assembling a list of some of the classic traits and tossing out the ones I didn’t want to work with in Hunting Human. Silver bullets, for instance. I decided that a bullet was a bullet and, if shot in a major organ, dead was dead. Turning on the full moon? Absolutely, that just made sense to me. I couldn’t see myself not tying the mythology to the lunar cycle; some cornerstones just shouldn’t be messed with. But what would happen on the evening of the full moon? Could a werewolf resist the urge to turn? Would they lose their minds and become the slobbering, rabid beasts of legend? That question ultimately led me to one of the largest realizations I ever had regarding Hunting Human. The mythology, though important, was ultimately not the story I wanted to tell. There was a reason my main character was as ordinary as you or I. There was a reason I wanted to write about a woman with no experience with the supernatural and reason to believe werewolves were anything but Hollywood staples. I wanted to write about a person who became a werewolf against her will, with no resources, support or information to guide her way. That’s what my story was about and that’s what the mythology had to serve. One of the most important things I decided when writing Hunting Human was that after the chance, though instincts were heightened, the mind remained human. To me, this was integral and colored every aspect of the way I wrote and plotted the book.

For Beth Williams, a woman who is kidnapped, savaged and turned against her will while on vacation in Europe, the night she became a werewolf is the worst night of her life. And each subsequent full moon since her initial change has been nothing short of torture. For Beth, the night of the moon begins with the initial, extremely painful change, followed by a night spent alone and isolated in her apartment and finally, the equally painful shift to human in the early morning hours. Throughout the evening, Beth retains her human mind and she’s left alone to think about what’s happening to her, to feel the uncomfortable brush of instincts she doesn’t understand, to dread the coming change back to human in the morning. The entire night passes in a strange combination of anticipation and dread. I’d liken it to that hour before your trip to the dentist for a root canal. On the one hand, you pray for the hour to last forever because you dread the dentist’s chair and on the other hand, you pray for the hour to fly by so you can just get on with it, over it, and get back to your life. This is how Beth feels about being a werewolf on the nights of the full moon. Unfortunately for Beth, unlike a trip to the dentist, there is no end in sight. There is no moving on with her life; there is no light at the end of the tunnel. She’s trapped in a never ending cycle of fear, pain and self loathing that has effectively frozen her out of life. She’s seen firsthand what werewolves are capable of that fear rules her life and her ability to adjust to her wolf.

In contrast, Markko Bolvek, the villain in Hunting Human, is a polar opposite to Beth. He’s confident and comfortable. A werewolf since his teens, the shift no longer torments him. The latest in a long generation of werewolves, he views his wolf as a gift, a birthright. He feels entitled. And though he too keeps his mind during the shift, he revels in the instincts of the wolf and he uses them as an excuse to torture, torment, maim and murder. In a lot of ways Markko is like a junkie. He eagerly awaits his next shift, his next high. In the hours preceding the chance, it is all he thinks about, all he craves. He throws himself into the shift, anxious to undertake his new, more powerful form. He spends the night in a blur of chaos, the thrill of the hunt, the taste of the dead, the ultimate power he wields in his wolf form all feed his addiction. In the morning, when the moon releases its hold, the world is less bright, less sharp, and less stimulating. He spends the next weeks salivating for his fix and thinking of ways to make it better, more intense. Markko has effectively weaponized his wolf, turned into a weapon as deadly as any gun. But at the end of the day there is a man behind the wolf, calling the shots, wielding the weapon. These are the actions of a man. A deeply disturbed, socially deranged man, but a man all the same.

For the most part, I kept my mythology simple and fairly straight forward - not because I didn’t think there was an interesting story there, but because it wasn’t the story I wanted to tell. I wanted to tell a story about people, about how they adjusted to an ability that marked them as special and powerful. And I wanted to talk about how people would adjust to such an ability. Would they fear it? Would they abuse it? Every choice in mythology I made eventually boiled back down to that one concept: how would a person, given their life, morals and ambitions, react to becoming a werewolf?

About Hunting Human:

For two years, Beth Williams has run from the past, and the beast that dwells inside her. She is haunted by memories of being kidnapped and the savage attack that killed her best friend. Now Beth finally thinks she's ready to move on...with Braden Edwards, a charming, irresistibly sexy man who tempts Beth to embrace the present.

But the past lurks closer than Beth realizes. Markko Bolvek, one of the werewolves who kidnapped her, has tracked her to Portland, Oregon, his pursuit fueled by a hunger for vengeance. Only Braden, a werewolf himself, senses the danger shadowing her steps. The Edwards and Bolveks have been enemies for centuries — and despite the instant connection he feels with Beth, Braden isn't sure which side of the war she's on.

With suspicion at odds with their attraction, Beth and Braden must learn to trust one another to stop Markko for good. Can Beth accept the wolf within—and love a man who embodies everything she fears?

You can buy Hunting Human at: Carina Press, Amazon, Barnes and Noble

About the Author:

Amanda was born and raised in Texas - and due to an unfortunate three year stint in Michigan - doesn't plan to ever live anywhere where flip-flops and sweatshirts don't constitute winter attire. Often audacious and adventurous, she tends to find herself in a slew of dangerous (and hilarious!) predicaments (law school and fighting raccoons in dumpsters) and thankfully has many friends ready to lend aid (while they laugh.)

When not lawyering, writing, or thinking about going to the gym Amanda is often caught sampling local cupcake offerings and planning to someday co-open an evil bakery and sell dastardly desserts. She currently lives in Dallas, Texas with one regular-sized cat and one jumbo-sized cat, and can be seen writing in public places frequented by hot guys (strictly for research purposes, of course!) with her friends and fellow writers Killer-Cupcake and Pantherista (names omitted to protect the not-so-innocent).

You can find Amanda: On Facebook, On Twitter, On the Web.

Anyone who leaves a comment today will be entered in a drawing to win a $25 Amazon Giftcard.

Please follow Amanda on her blog tour to win the $25 Amazon Giftcard:

http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2011/03/virtual-book-tour-hunting-human-by.html