Rinda Elliott's Blog, page 8

I revamped my entire website, made fun banners for the new slider (Except for the Sisters of Fate one. Fellow Dame, Karen Mahoney, made that banner and I just love it!) and even added a page about the pen name I’ve been using for my erotic books for years.

Also, my friend and upcoming co-writer for a new project made an announcement about a new project we’re doing together! Read about that here.

Reviews for Raisonne Curse are trickling in and so far, so good. I’m glad readers seem to be enjoying this southern Gothic. I’m having a blast writing about the Bernaux brothers finding love! The next two books are in the works and I should have publication dates on those soon. Until then, it’s still 30% off both ebook and print at my publisher’s website.

 

My next book release just went on sale for 30% off at my publisher’s website. Both ebook and print. They are coming out at the same time for the first time in my writing career. Cool, right?

This is the absolute best place for readers to order books because you can get any format you want at the cheapest price available. Yes, I earn more royalties at that website, but don’t let that influence you. Buy my books wherever you like. As long as they aren’t being pirated, it all works for me–even library loans work for me.

https://www.samhainpublishing.com/book/5503/raisonne-curse

There is also a nice, long excerpt up at that link…

I certainly don’t mind anyone wanting to spread the word with this banner. If you do, let me know in the comments. I’m very excited about this book and hope you guys have fun with it. Review copies have been going out and I sent out a couple on my own to some. One nice review is already up at Goodreads if you’re curious about the book. It says spoilers, but they aren’t terribly bad.

I had an absolute blast at the Romantic Times reader convention. Spent most of my time with Deadline Dames, my agent and Jocelynn Drake. Here are some of my favorite pics!

Jocelynn Drake at the bar where everyone spends a LOT of time.

With Keri Arthur and Jocelynn Drake. We had coffee then went for lunch and waited so long for food, I thought about eating the table. Keri and I have been friends on our Dame loop since 2008 and this was the first time we met in person. We ended up spending a lot of time together. She’s seriously wonderful!

Rachel Vincent and Keri Arthur.

 

Jenna Black and Keri Arthur.

 

Rachel Vincent working hard on copy edits in our hotel room. They were due that Thursday!

Author Jenny Trout at our Irene Goodman Literary Agency cocktail party. We said she looked like the perfect Coca Cola ad and snapped this great shot.

This is so dark and author Heather Snow had no idea I was snapping this shot. She is also with the Irene Goodman Literary Agency. I was trying to get a good image of the wall of nudes for the hubby. This bar had a cool sixties bohemian vibe to it. Was called the Midnight Rambler.

Jenna Black and Rachel Vincent the first night at our Deadline Dames meet up. We all ended up spending most of the trip together. Loved that!

Me about to leave for the cocktail party!

With my agent, Miriam Kriss. Got to spend a lot of time with her as well and it was great!

Working hard in the hotel room with Jocelynn Drake. We spent all of Wednesday and part of Thursday plotting like mad women!

Jocelynn Drake and Rachel Vincent. We had soooo much fun that night at dinner. In fact, Rachel snapped this next one of me and called it “I like gin.” Yeah, I had just said that.

The poster I thought of stealing…

 

 

So, tomorrow Rachel Vincent and I leave for our trip to the Romantic Times Convention in Dallas. Unfortunately, I won’t be doing any official signings, but I will be carting around some books to give away to any readers who happen to spot me.

We’re meeting up with Deadline Dames Jenna Black and Keri Arthur and Wednesday, my good friend and possible co-writer, Jocelynn Drake, is flying in for some time together.

Watch my Twitter account for occasional updates on where I’ll be with signed books and hopefully, I’ll remember to take a few pictures!

So, my very wonderful critique partner suggested I come up with something I could give her to put in her books at signings, etc. I’m going to RT next week in Dallas, but can’t actually go to the convention itself. So,  she’s doing signings and wanted to be able to share about my books as well. So I designed some cards. (Fronts and backs below.)

This trip to Dallas next week is a working vacation with Rachel and Jocelynn Drake. Jocelynn and I became friends online because she’s a fan of my pen name work and we really hit it off. She’s also a good friend of Rachel’s, so we’re planning lots of fun! This will be the first time Jocelynn and I get to hang out in person. And… we might do a project together, so we’ll be hanging out around the hotel working.

(BTW, I will also occasionally be tweeting that I’m a specific place and will have signed print copies of DWELLER ON THE THRESHOLD and BLOOD OF AN ANCIENT (And a pen name book) for readers!)

I’m also extremely excited to be hanging out with other Deadline Dames. Jenna Black and Keri Arthur are going as well and we already have dinner planned.  I’ll get to see my agent, Miriam Kriss, too.

 

I’m thrilled. It’s the first writing related trip I’ve taken in many years. Rachel also made this possible for me. I’m very lucky to have the friends I do. Very.

So, here are the designs I did. I ordered a LOT of these babies, so others can give them out and I’ll have things I can sign for readers.

I’m excited and nervous about this one. Revisions are done and it’s off to copy edits. Comes out July 14th this year! How about a surprise excerpt?

She felt eyes on her and looked down to find a Siberian husky sitting in the doorway. Poor thing looked like he’d been through hell, was covered in scars and missing a tail. He also had two different colored eyes. One brown, one ice blue.

“Don’t mind Moochon. He likes pretty ladies just fine.”

A blue T-shirt appeared in the doorway, followed by the smile she was beginning to think might be a big part of this magic he was supposed to wield so well. She managed to repress the shiver of awareness it caused as she reached for the shirt. “Thanks.” Smirking, she clutched it to her body and eyed the dog Pryor had named nub. She was such a sucker for a sense of humor.

“While you change, I’ll get us some iced tea. Just turn left and follow the hall all the way. It spills into the kitchen.”

She nodded, watched the door close, then eyed the sweaty bra she’d pulled off with her shirt, shuddering at the thought of putting it back on. Her top had soaked up enough blood to transfer it to the white back strap. Hoping his shirt would be roomy enough to hide the fact she wore no bra, she hurriedly pulled the T-shirt on. The short sleeves hit her mid elbow and the shoulders sagged an inch or two below her own, but it was soft, dry, and it smelled good. Like morning sunshine.

After splashing a little cold water on her face, she stuffed her bra into her short’s pocket, and followed his directions. She slowly walked the hall, taking in the family photographs that covered every available surface.

Quite a few were black and white, and after about ten feet, she stopped and stepped close to peer at the small photos. Looked like every generation had three brothers and in each full family portrait, there was a brother who looked eerily like Pryor. A knot formed in her chest, and she put her hand under her breast, trying to calm the sudden eerie awareness that she stood in a house with more history, and from the expressions on their faces, more family suffering, than seemed fair.

“That was our father.”

Elita jumped when Pryor’s hand moved past her head to point to the man she’d been staring at. “He looks just like you.”

“Wait until you meet Mercer and Wyatt. They look like our uncles. In every generation, there have been three boys born to one brother.”

“You must have strong family genes.” She turned toward him, accepted the tall, cold glass of iced tea.

“We do.”

“So, where’s the rest of your family then?” She waved a hand over the walls. “With this many people and this big house, I would have expected a houseful.”

This time, he didn’t grin, just offered a small, sad smile, one that tore into her heart because it reminded her so much of her Ma’man’s expression when she was thinking of her daughters.

“We have a few cousins left but they moved away from the area years ago. The rest haven’t made it through various disasters—health and weather. It’s just Mercer, Wyatt and me now. I’m here most of the time. They run their businesses from here, but go out of town once a month.”

“So you stay here and paint the outside of the house?”

“That and a few other things.”

She sipped the tea, smiled when she found it didn’t taste like the usual sugar water tea folks preferred around here. It was lightly sweet, just the way she liked it. She switched the glass to her other hand and wiped the now wet one on her shorts. “So you don’t want to wait for your brothers to try and break this curse?”

He shook his head. “We’ll try one on our own, but it’s possible it won’t work without them.”

“Thank you. For helping me.” She crossed her fingers behind her thigh before sending out a silent wish that her accidents didn’t hurt this gorgeous old home or the even more striking man about to help her.

“You’re welcome. Come into the kitchen.” He suddenly chuckled, a low sexy sound that made her shiver.

“What?” she asked.

“We’ll try a hex breaker that doesn’t require nakedness first.”

She choked on a sip of tea. “First?”

He threw her a heavy-lidded glance over his tattooed shoulder. “Yeah. First.”

Such a long absence from me on this blog.  I’ve been hard at work on different aspects of my life. In writing, I turned in Raisonne Curse and already went through one round of revisions. My editor has it now for round two.  I’d planned for this book to be longer, but it capped off around 65k to 70k. So, it’s a full length book, but shorter than the original goal. I personally love this length of novel. In fact, I really like this book. I’m usually hard on myself when it comes to my own work, but this one feels good at this point. Can’t beat that. I think you guys are going to love the Bernaux brothers. I hope so.

For now, I’m working on the proposal for Beri O’Dell #3. I honestly could not help putting this book off, and to be brutally honest, I really can’t  afford to be working on it now. The only reason I am is because I love the world, the characters and I do pretty much ADORE the very loyal fans the series has.  But it will still be slow because I have to work on projects that might actually bring in an income for me at the same time.  So many authors have told me that it’s pointless for me to continue a series when it isn’t earning what’s needed. Yeah, I do know this and my family sure as hell knows it, too. Heh. My problem is I fall in love with the worlds and have to be dragged kicking and screaming out of them. So, I try new projects, cross my fingers that this one will sell better and then I can devote time to wrapping up threads on ongoing series. (For my pen name readers who are patiently waiting for the next books in two different series, too. )

Now, don’t think I’m being negative here. I’m not. This is just real life and facts are facts. We have to make a living to buy food and a roof over our heads.  We have to deal with our books being stolen way more than they’re purchased.

Despite all this, I’m honestly in a pretty good place right now. I’ve been battling health issues for a few years but feel I might finally have a handle on them. I’m working out, getting healthy, getting outside–excited to be gardening again. I’m working on a secret project with a good friend and we’re having a blast. Lots of good stuff coming up, so stay tuned!

Tagline:

Breaking her curse will cost him his heart…and possibly his life.

Blurb:

The Brothers Bernaux, Book 1

For the past five years, Elita Raisonne has been on the run from a curse that started with her grandmother, and gradually reached out evil tendrils to kill her mother and her aunts. Now, healing from another nasty accident, Elita can feel the curse coming for her like icy breath on the back of her neck.

Her only hope: trek deep into Louisiana’s Atchafayala Basin and ask the mysterious Bernaux brothers for help.

Pryor Bernaux takes one look at the black smudge clinging to Elita like a shroud, and recognizes the work of a powerful hex worker. Together, all three Bernaux brothers could easily break it—if Mercer and Wyatt weren’t away.

As the curse sinks deeper into Elita’s soul, Pryor realizes time is running out for the beautiful redhead who makes him want things he and his brothers swore they’d never have. He has no choice but to help her. But the magical backlash is torture. And without his brothers’ help, it could even be deadly.

Warning: Keep a cold beverage on hand, because the bayou isn’t all that’s hot and steamy in this book. Deadly hexes, naked spellworking, mouthwatering court-bouillon, and sexy Cajuns will curl your toes…and maybe your hair.

We have a treat for you! 13 Harlequin Teen authors and over 20 books!  This giveaway includes books from:


Katie McGarry–an ARC of Nowhere But Here
Adi Alsaid–an ARC of Never Always Sometimes and a copy of Lets Get Lost
Karen Hopkins–copies of Temptation, Belonging, and Forever
Kady Cross–A complete set of The Steampunk Chronicles (books only, not digital shorts)
Clara Kensie–Run to You book one which was released in three installments (Run to You–First Sight, Run to You–Second Glance, Run to You–Third Charm) *digital copy
Michelle Madow–The Secret Diamond Sisters and swag
Dawn Metcalf– Indelible and Invisible
Cara Lynn Shultz–Spellbound , Spellcaster, The Dark World
Robin Talley–The Lies We Tell Ourselves
Rinda Elliott–Sisters of Fate Trilogy-Foretold, Forecast & Foresworn *digital copy
Liz Fichera–Played
Sabrina Elkins–Stir Me Up *digital copy

Tracey Martin–Another Little Piece of My Heart *digital copy

Go here for how to get your entries in.