Hayley Rae Johnson's Blog, page 3
December 26, 2021
December Giveaway!
I know I said this before, but I couldn’t help doing one more Goodreads Giveaway for the year.
Don’t forget, Queen of the Ràej is still 99 cents, so this is the perfect time to enter a giveaway for the first book of the series! There will be 50 lucky winners and I will be writing book three while this giveaway is underway.
Good luck everyone!
Goodreads Book Giveaway
Blood of the Raej by Hayley Rae Johnson Giveaway ends January 02, 2022.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
Enter Giveaway
December 22, 2021
An excerpt from Queen of the Ràej
But, first…
Have you ever heard of Murphy’s Law? Basically, if something is going to go wrong, then it will. And that is usually how my life tends to go. It’s not always a bad thing, but it makes for an interesting life.
Shortly after I recovered from COVID, I flew out to see my grandmother for the last time. If I hadn’t made that last-minute trip, then I would have carried that guilt around in my heart for an unknown about of time. She died 5 days before her 90th birthday, just three months after I saw her.
In that brief, few month period, I had a cute little mole checked for skin cancer. They scraped it off with a scalpel like you would scoop your favorite ice cream from its tub. Oh, Murphy, Murphy, Murphy. I went back in on Monday. Yes, just a couple days ago. They had prepared me for getting some stitches, maybe 3 or 4, but that was not the case when I sat in the chair under the doctor’s solemn gaze. My ten-year old mole was malignant with two types of melanoma!
Now, 14 outer stitches and 6 inner stitches later, I have a 2 1/4 inch line stretching horizontally across my abdomen. The mole itself was smaller than a dime, but they had to take out all surrounding skin. It’s swollen and black and blue and green and purple and red and oh so tender! I will be going in for quarterly checkups. Unfortunately, the specific mole that the doctor will be watching closely has grown in the hole of the ‘d’ on my tattoo: “And to his miracles, there is no end”.
A little ironic, huh? But, there is no end to his miracles! Yes, the first time I ever went to get my skin checked, I ended up having a serious melanoma, but it could have been SO much worse.
Well, that’s my update. I hope your holiday season is off to a great start and, speaking of holiday season, below is a little treat!
Queen of the Ràej: Chapter 6 Excerpt
My use of power caught everyone’s attention, and Pebbles were hurled at me with amazing speed. Linnus and Aunt Chloe helped me wave them away while Davis was trying to block more people from coming up the road. Renny and Tim were distracting Nathan. I still hadn’t been able to find Lenetta.
“Blood of the Ràej!”
Someone from the mass of people shouted and a fire erupted. Screams of surprise and pain came from all sides. I could no longer see any of my traveling group or Aunt Chloe. The number of people in the street and around my house was increasing. It didn’t seem like we could survive this.
“Blood of the Ràej!”
Another voice shouted. More and more people were echoing the battle cry.
Bursting Pebbles and Ràej power lit up the street in front of my childhood home. Across the way was Natalie’s house, with the peephole from my inability to pinch a Pebble. And the tree we used to play hide in seek in. I wondered if her parents were somewhere in this crowd.
It was easy to identify the Officials. They were dressed in black, hair slicked back with oils, and they pinched the Pebbles quickly and deftly, facing one person at a time. They hadn’t been surprised by us arriving in Hilltown.
I spotted Lenetta, flying high, looking down with her sharp-sighted eyes. Then colors started falling from the sky, startling not only me but several others. It was fairies.
“Blood of the Ràej!”
The battle cry came from the fairies. It had always surprised me when Lenetta’s voice had seemed so loud at the Academy, and I was equally surprised to hear how loud this group was. Lenetta was leading the fairies down, wings tight to her body, and I felt the urge to protect her.
“Blood of the Ràej!” Aunt Chloe shouted. The energy of the battle was growing in favor of the Ràej, but it was attracting more people. Pebbles were now bursting with no discrimination of who they hit.
****
Blood of the Ràej and Queen of the Ràej will BOTH be on sale through December! Don’t forget to leave a rating/review and share with those who may enjoy a dark fantasy romance. Remember, this is not your Harry Potter magic book :)
December 2, 2021
Queen of the Ràej is here!
Almost…
Book Two of the Magic of Omneth series is available for pre-order as a 99 cent ebook! Though the book will be live and available to all Saturday, December 4th, I am going to keep this sale going through December 12th.
Get yours now before the sale ends!
If you haven’t read book one, then you can get that now here!
Don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter to get freebies, including deleted scenes!
September 21, 2021
Last one of the Summer!
It has been a busy month. After becoming a couch potato due to COVID (I advise not getting COVID; I was fully vaccinated and I still lost my sense of smell and taste, had a 100.8 degree fever, chills, sweats, horrible muscle pains, sore throat, headache, cough and I was using an inhaler for a month!), I’ve been having to play catch up on so many projects. One of these being Book Two of the Ràej series.
Now, I am in the midst of landscaping our corner lot, front yard: brick, mulch, decorative rocks, bushes, bulbs, and a flagstone walkway. It has kicked my butt! In the end, it will be beautiful and I’ll be extremely proud.
I am flying out of town on Friday morning for almost a week and I am burning both ends of the candle in order to finish this second book. My favorite part about writing, is that even I don’t know what is going to happen until I write it! I always start with a loose plot, but something always happens or I create something new that changes my plot. This next book will answer questions from the first book, while creating a few more. You will meet more people, new creatures and explore all sides of Omneth in Rise of the Ràej.
Again, I have partnered with a large group of other authors for a virtual book fair and giveaway. Click here to enter!
For those who have not yet purchased Blood of the Ràej, it will be 99 cent, or free on KU, through September 27th! You can get it here at Amazon.
Time to get back to work!
Have a great Tuesday :)
August 17, 2021
Come join this ultra giveaway!
While the Rise of the Ràej is being written, I have joined up with some other authors to do a huge giveway!
If you love fantasy and/or science fiction, then come take a look! Tell your friends and family because this a great opportunity to see new authors and start new series!
eBook & Paperback Sweepstakes!(2) Winners of eBook "Gift Baskets" of ALL ebooks
Other Winners of individual ebooks or paperbacks (randomly selected)
This giveaway is a limited time only. Sign up for the newsletter to learn more about this fun things!
—Hayley Rae
August 12, 2021
Work, work, work, work, work, work - Rihanna
Who else was recently ripped out of their COVID-forced, stay-at-home, work-in-pajamas life?
I never realized how much my life had changed by working from home. It saved me a three plus hour commute, allowed me to sleep in, save money by having lunch at home, and gave me some time to play fetch with the dog outside or catch some rays of sun. I work in a small office…let’s rephrase…I work in a large office that someone decided to furnish with four cubicles and desks for the three employees that almost never work on the same day. If you haven’t heard me stress this before, I am all about efficiency and efficacy and I do NOT understand this arrangement (lol). The more inefficient I am at the office, the more annoyed I get and the more I want to rush back to where I have everything I need to be comfortable and productive in my uncluttered home office.
Yes, I do have a cat that loves to sit on my desk and, at times, roll off the desk, bounce over the keyboard and land on the sleeping German Shepard at my feet. But, hey, that just serves to break up the monotony of remote work!
Anyways, the largest difference I have noticed is my energy levels. I am an extroverted author, almost an oxymoron, and it is wearing on me. The 90 minute drive to and from work has been difficult, not to mention the fact that I have to leave my house by by 5:30 and I don’t get home until at least 6. In the midst of the drive, I am in a cluttered office by myself.
Hello? Hello? ECHOOOOO!
When I do get home, I want to “scream and shout and let it all out”…I may be in a musical mood today…but the last thing I want to do is sit at my computer in my office, by myself, and stare at the screen. Do not worry! Book two is still scheduled to launch December 6th. My working title is Rise of the Ràej, so I hope that gets you a little excited :)
I have joined up with some other sci-fi and fantasy authors (about 25) and we are going to be doing a GIVEAWAY! It is coming up soon and it will last for 7 days. To get the dates, and not miss out, you will have to sign up for my Newsletter - this is where ALL the juiciest things will be going ;)
What was the hardest part of resuming life, post-stay-at-home-from-COVID, for you?
August 5, 2021
Long time, no write!
Hello, hello again :)
I do apologize for not dropping in for almost two weeks! Due to the slow down of COVID (or so we thought) and the increase of vaccinated people, my downtown office re-opened and I was asked to start commuting a couple days a week. This has turned into a HUGE lack of energy or motivation on part because my commute is one hour without traffic. To avoid traffic, I wake up at 5:15 and leave my house by 5:45, then I don’t get home until 6pm. Needless to say, it has been difficult to focus on the multiple moving parts that I have right now that require staring at a screen, while I still need to cook dinner, want to workout and shower and relax…
I’m getting the hang of it though! I just needed some time to get used to this new schedule. Over the past week I have outlined the first 20 chapters of Book Two, Rise of the Ràej (working title) and I have written about 6000 words. You’ll never guess what happens to Terhese after the cliffhanger in Blood of the Ràej, but I am so excited to get this finished and have you see!
My book cover is with a new designer - my previous cover designer had her second baby and may not have time to finish! I cannot wait to reveal this one :) Book Two will be with my editor September 6th, then maybe I’ll start dropping some teasers.
If you are wanting to keep up-to-date with the book progress and get those teasers, as well as some free stories, sign up for my Newsletter!
July 23, 2021
Mailing Books Today!
The e-books are now on sale through Sunday so everyone else gets a chance and getting the book at a lower price - it will return to the full price of 4.99 on Monday.
Have a great Friday!
July 15, 2021
Congratulations!
A.P. from Washington
V.K. from Illinois
T.B. from Michigan
R.S. from Texas
S.E.B. from Ohio
B.L. from New Hampshire (my birth state!)
D.S. from Pennsylvania
E.W. from Illinois
R.L. from Louisiana
R.G. from Washington
Thank you EVERYONE - 1275 people! - for entering this Giveaway. If you sign-up for my Newsletter below, then you will receive updates on discounts, flash fictions, and updates on the Book Two of the Blood of the Ràej series.
I will be sending each winner a signed paperback of Blood of the Ràej this weekend. As a consolation prize for everyone that entered (or didn’t) and did not win, DON’T WORRY! I am discounting the e-book by 25% from Friday, July 16th through Sunday, July 25th.
ALSO - I’m building my street team! Comment below, join the Newsletter and respond with your interest, or reach out to me via your favorite social media platform on the Social Media tab. My team will be closed for Book Two the beginning of August.
July 14, 2021
News, news, news!
Okay, today is the last day for the Goodreads Giveaway! There have been over 1000 entrants, and I’m only giving away 10 copies. But, do not worry, I am going to do something special for those who did not win.
This is a LIMITED TIME deal! I will be listing the ebook for $2.99 for ten days before it goes to full price of $4.99. This sale will start Friday, July 16th and end Sunday, July 25th.
Lastly, I am building my street team for Book Two! The first requirement to join my team is to read, rate and review Book One, Blood of the Ràej!
Please comment below or message me on your favorite social media platform if you are interested in learning more about my street team.
