When we started Grizzly Attraction, Frankie and I knew our main character was a grizzly bear shifter. Emma is Joe’s and Brett’s (Bear Moon) younger sister. She is a strong willed woman preparing to challenge her own mother for the position of alpha within the Elliot clan. The stress of everything going on in her life has her wound a little tightly, so we knew we needed someone to soften her up.
The great thing about writing in the Whiskey-Verse? There are infinite directions we can go. We already have wolves… and a LOT of bears. So, the question became, what kind of animal – any animal – would be fun to write about.
And when you have the entire animal kingdom at your disposal, that is kind a daunting idea. Do we want him to be able to fly? Is he a predator? Is he some kind of creepy crawly? (I’m gonna leave those ones to Frankie… so definitely not in this book.)
I tend to like woodland type creatures, and at one point threw out the idea of porcupine. Which immediately had us both wondering, “What would happen if a porcupine quilled a grizzly bear?”
And, Mason the porcupine shifter was born.
Once we have our spirit animal picked, the little details start building.
I googled pictures of porcupines and immediately knew that he would be a crested porcupine, because they just look… epic. I certainly wouldn’t want to tangle with one.
Porcupines have poor eyesight, so even though Mason can heal quickly and has enhanced strength, he still needs glasses. They like to collect bones, which is both a source of contention between Mason and his porcupine, and then also a bonding point.
The more I researched, the deeper Mason’s story–and Emma’s– became.
And who doesn’t want to write a scene where a porcupine shifter picks a fight with three grizzly bears?
Meet Mason and his animal spirit, Bones, in Grizzly Attraction, coming November 20th.
Kindle: http://bit.ly/GrizzAttZon
Nook: http://bit.ly/GrizzNook
Kobo: http://bit.ly/GrizzKobo
iBooks: http://bit.ly/GrizziTune
GooglePlay: http://bit.ly/GrizzPlay
Alivia Patton 