Samhain Publishing Ltd Weblog

Werestags and Other Legendary Man-Beasts

I’m so excited to announce that my first Samhain release, The Legend of the Werestag, is available today! No, it’s not a paranormal shifter story. It’s a funny, sexy historical romance that takes inspiration from one of paranormal romance’s most enduring themes: Men are animals.

I love to people-watch while I travel. Last year, I was boarding a flight alone and reveling in the simple joy of air travel without Benadryl or Goldfish crackers (moms out there, you know what I mean!), and this good-looking young guy with broad shoulders and an aw-shucks smile came and found his seat right next to me. I’m happily married, but a girl can’t help but notice when a hot guy sits next to her and whips out a New York Times crossword puzzle—and then starts filling it in as well as he fills out his Hanes pocket T. I mean, sexy AND smart? My romance-author alert was chirping: “Potential hero inspiration in the aisle seat!”

The plane took off, and we struck up a friendly conversation. We talked about our hometowns, my family, his girlfriend. I asked him what he does, and he tells me he owns a plumbing business. He’s been attending a conference on increasing profit margins. Hmm, I’m thinking—business savvy AND handy around the house? Hero quotient climbing….

He asked me what I do. I told him I write romance novels, and I was on my way to a writers’ conference. His mouth quirked, and he said in a deep voice, “Oh, really?” For a moment I thought I was going to get the eyebrow waggle and that corny “Must be fun doing research” line. But no. He says, “You know, I heard something about that on NPR.”

Blame it on the altitude, but my heart skipped a beat. Public radio will get me every time.

But wait, there’s more. A few minutes later, the flight attendant announced, “Today’s in-flight movie will be Elizabeth: The Golden Age.” And I kid you not, the guy said, “Cool!” and immediately started digging for his earphones.

By this point, I was convinced my motion sickness meds were making me hallucinate. A smart, sexy, successful guy who is not only willing, but eager to watch historical costume dramas? This guy had passed “Potential Hero” and entered the realm of “Mythic Creature.” Men like this really exist? Next, I half-expected to see a unicorn walk down the center aisle and nuzzle up to Elvis.

It was a late night flight, and we both eventually fell asleep. Once the plane had landed and we were preparing to grab our bags, this paragon of enlightened masculinity turned to me and said, “You know, I was having the weirdest dream. I dreamed that I was belching the world’s loudest belch and it went on for, like, hours.”

Uh.

Okay, then. That would be the sound of the universe mocking me.

I want to thank you, anonymous hot plumber with a poet’s soul, wherever you are—for reminding me that guys will be guys will be guys. And paranormal or not, all romance heroes are, in a sense, legendary man-beasts.

To learn more about The Legend of the Werestag and Tessa’s other books, please visit TessaDare.com.