Nicole Eatough's Blog, page 4

Mystery Series Week

Sometimes I lightly joke or poke fun about there being a day or a week or a month for SO MANY THINGS. It’s impossible to keep track of it all. But do I take advantage of it for posting ideas when one catches my attention? Yes, yes I do. Though I’m behind the curve, this time! Last week was Mystery Series Week, which was when I meant to write this post . . . but I was so excited to post about the bonus stories for The Hidden Hotel being up on my website that I forgot all about it 😅

Inspiration

Anyway, I wanted to use Mystery Series Week to highlight some of the mysteries found within The Hidden Hotel. It isn’t focused on mystery, though an advertising promo I ran for book one labeled it as supernatural suspense, so there you go. I don’t think the book is particularly suspenseful (I write light-hearted fantasy stories, after all), but there are some mystries. Why was Dahlia hired at the hotel? What is Dahlia if she’s not entirely human? And . . . is someone really trying to hurt the hotel? If so, who?

I’m curious how many readers correctly guessed the culprit behind certain events in the trilogy. One of my beta readers listed this person as a possible suspect after reading book two . . . then rationalized why it couldn’t be that person, which certainly made me happy! It’s hard to strike a balance between making it so readers can guess at something like this while also not making it obvious. There’s no satisfaction if it’s not even possible to guess who the culprit is, but you often take away the suspense if the reader knows who it is long before the story reveals it. 

I initially planned to make the mystery aspect of the trilogy a bigger thing, with Dahlia (internally) falsely accusing some guests and then discovering they couldn’t be behind things, but I ended up putting more of the focus on Dahlia’s customer service skills instead, which I feel is a really fun part of this series. I love that Dahlia’s people skills combined with her not being powerful is her greatest strength in this supernatural world. 

Fun fact: last week was also customer service week, so how could I not give a shout out to the customer service star of The Red Alder? Obviously something I also planned to post about last week that fell by the wayside with my excitement over bonus stories . . . However, I wanted to say I really do appreciate good customer service from places, and I loved writing a character who had a passionate for it. And, more than that, who saved the day through it 😉

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Hidden Hotel Bonus Story!

Happy Wednesday to you all! Like with my Genie Whisperer series, I plan to write bonus stories whenever the Enchanted Races books meet review/rating milestones, and I’m so happy to say that the first bonus stories are up on my website!

Inspiration

The first bonus story for book one is titled Disciplinary Action and covers what happened to Kylee, The Red Alder employee who called Dahlia bad luck for the hotel because of Dahlia’s human blood. Remember her? And then she got called into Zavion’s office . . . and Dahlia never saw her again. This bonus story covers what happened during Zavion’s conversation with Kylee. 

The second bonus story for book one is titled Following Orders and covers the conversation Dante had with Clara regarding him being not so pleased over her decision on how to have Dahlia trained. Remember how angry he was about that at the end of book one? Yeah, that had some not so fun repercussions for Clara, though it sure was fun writing about it! Maybe that’s just my vengeful side coming out. 

The first bonus story for book two is also out and is titled Coming Changes. It covers Cynthia’s thoughts on The Red Adler’s momentous decision to hire a human mixed blood. 

I think it’s so fun to get a sneak peek at scenes that weren’t covered within a book, so I hope that you enjoy! Especially getting to see Zavion mentally waver on what’s best for the hotel and if he’s being unduly influenced because of certain feelings he may or may not have . . . 

I have two bonus stories planned for each book in the Hidden Hotel trilogy, and am so excited to share the rest with you! The first bonus story for book three will post when it reaches 25 ratings/reviews on Amazon, and the second bonus stories for books two and three will post at 50 ratings/reviews. They’re a lovely excuse to revisit The Red Adler and harass . . . I mean enjoy . . . these characters again. 

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Whispers of Truth Release

The third and final book in The Hidden Hotel trilogy, Whispers of Truth, is now available! 

Inspiration

It’s time for Dahlia to discover the truth of what Zavion knows about her past and heritage . . . could you tell from the title? Not to mention it’s the last book in the trilogy, so of course it has to come out now 😂  The question is, will Zavion own up to what he knows on his own and be honest? Or will Dahlia find out some other way? 

The races focused on in this book was already revealed in the second book – a conference between the light and shadow phantoms! Dante’s, Zavion’s, and Clara’s people. And the two races have hated each other for as long as anyone can remember, so don’t you think this will be a fun conference? Especially if that person who might not be so fond of The Red Alder is still lurking in the background . . . 

Book three also provides a bit of a more in depth look at the vampires, the most classic supernatural race included within the enchanted races world, along with werewolves, but neither have played a very big role as of yet. Vampires and werewolves are both a culture favorite among the fantasy community, I would say, but TBD on whether they become fan favorites within this world! And I have a feeling the vampires won’t be coloring themselves in glory for anyone in this book. 

As for the book itself, you can check out the summary below.  

Dahlia has proven herself a valuable employee of The Red Alder, even gaining the approval of the enigmatic – and annoyingly captivating – hotel owner Zavion. And just in time, because she’ll need all the support she can get for the hotel’s latest conference, a meeting between light and shadow phantoms, two warring races who’ve hated each other for as long as their history exists.

But this conference isn’t Dahlia’s only concern. She’s more convinced than ever that The Red Alder has a hidden enemy looking to bring them down, and a conference between two nearly feuding races seems like the perfect time for them to strike. But who could the culprit be? Clashing vampire coven leaders? A vengeful guest from a past conference? Or someone Dahlia has never met?

As Dahlia works to balance her responsibilities and concerns, Zavion does the unthinkable – offers himself up to help however she needs. While the two become closer in ways Dahlia never expected possible, she can’t let go of one thing: What does Zavion know about her past that he refuses to tell her?

I hope you’ll enjoy the final installment of The Hidden Hotel trilogy! 

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Hidden Hotel Research

Writing novels often comes with research. No matter the genre, there’s probably going to be research involved. (Though I admit that part of what I love about writing fantasy is that I get to make up a whole bunch of things.) For creating the enchanted races world as a whole, I did some research into different supernatural races to pick out all the races I wanted in these stories. What did I research specifically for writing The Hidden Hotel? Conflict resolution. 

Inspiration

Customer service is a big theme in Whispers of Enchantment, and when I was writing it and realized I’d just come home from a non-fiction book run to the library and hadn’t grabbed any books on customer service for research, I was rather disappointed in myself. But not enough to correct it. Luckily, like many people, I’ve worked in customer service, so drew on my own experience for the book. 

Though I admit my own experience was rather NOT like Dahlia’s, even when she worked in fast food. I spent much of college working at the craft store Michaels, which has pretty tame customers. And then I worked in training for a company where I needed people to be comfortable coming to me when they screwed up so I could fix it. And I am rather proud to say that after only a few months in the department, people started reaching out to me over someone else because I was so nice about things. (Customer service for the win!) 

But conflict resolution is NOT something I have experience with, and I wasn’t comfortable trying to wing that for Whispers of Danger, so I did some research on basic conflict resolution principles which made their way into the book. And I have to say that though conflict resolution never came up in my line of work, it might be a rather handy skill for someone in customer service who has to frequently deal with difficult customers. 

And it’s kind of fun to research random topics for my writing now and again. Mostly what I look up is baby names to help me name my characters whenever I don’t already have something in mind. 

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Whispers of Danger Release

It’s already time for the next release! Whispers of Danger, the next book in The Hidden Hotel trilogy is out into the world! 

Inspiration

Book two features a new race from the enchanted races: the sorcerers. I supposed they’re not one hundred percent new, since Oliver is half sorcerer, but that was about the only representation they had in book one. The sirens also play a fairly big role in book two, though they didn’t even come into my mind as deserving a mention when I started writing this post . . . which I guess reveals an embarrassing bias toward the sorcerers on my part 😅 In my defense, I have a trilogy planned around the sorcerers, while I don’t currently have one planned for the sirens, so the sorcerers are on my mind a lot more. 

Regardless, you get to learn a little about the cultures of both the sirens and the sorcerers in this book! And see that the celestial guardians very much aren’t the only enchanted race with an arrogance problem. Though at least with sorcerers, their arrogance stems from actual accomplishments achieved through their hard work. (Though does that really make it better? Maybe I’m just showing my sorcerer bias again.) But not being arrogant is really the exception than the norm when it comes to the enchanted races. Hence why Annika felt Dahlia was so valuable with having no power – no one needs to posture with her. 

As for the role Dahlia – and her, currently, less than charming love interest play in this book – you can check out the summary below. 

Being the only human at a hotel for supernatural beings comes with all sorts of potential problems – especially when you’re now their customer service expert and asked to ensure their latest conference goes smoothly.

Despite Dahlia being unsure if she wants to stay at The Red Alder hotel longer than necessary, she’s determined to prove she’s up to the challenge of her latest assignment. She doesn’t need special powers or abilities for her job, just an unbeatable arsenal of customer service tactics. But when problems arise at the hotel, like they did during the last conference, she can’t help wondering if someone really is trying to sabotage The Red Alder.

Except that’s not her only problem. Being a human made her a target for blame the last time things went badly, and half the time she turns around the hotel owner with his obnoxiously captivating voice is standing there, waiting for her to mess up. This time can she prove someone is working behind the scenes? Or will she be thrown out homeless on the street before proving her worth?

I hope you’ll enjoy this next installment in The Hidden Hotel trilogy! 

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Borrowing from Real Life

You know that saying, “Art imitating life”? It’s always felt like way more of an artsy saying than I feel like I am and therefore I wouldn’t normally use it, but it came to my mind as I was writing this post. Which is all about how a saying from one of my best friends made it into my latest book, Whispers of Enchantment. 

Inspiration

When the poor heroine Dahlia is thrown into being the only human employee at a hotel for supernaturals after her own carefully laid plans fall apart, she tries to pump herself up by assuring herself, “I can do anything temporarily!” Because she only plans to work at the hotel for as short an amount of time as possible before going back to her real life plans. 

This quote comes from my friend who is a nurse – who often uses that saying in connection with her work. Nursing, unsurprisingly, can be quite the high stress job, so that mantra helps keep her calm when things are rough. Or at least she pretends like it helps sometimes ;)   

I’ve always really liked that saying, and it felt like it fit perfectly not only with Dahlia’s personality, but with the situation she’s in. And they say the best stories take inspiration from real life! Even in urban fantasy because, at their core, stories are about the human experience whether it’s set in a small town with a tight-knit community or in the fae realm with dragons flying overhead.

At least that’s how I feel about things. As the writer Neil Gaiman has said, the magic of stories isn’t that they tell us dragons are real, but that the dragons in our lives can be conquered. 

Usually my real life inspiration and borrows in my stories come more from myself, so it was fun to include something from one of my friends. And it can be good to remind ourselves that a tough situation is only temporary . . . though the advice doesn’t work so well for situations that aren’t temporary. Maybe I’ll find a quote someday that helps with that!

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Whispers of Enchantment – Now available!

Whispers of Enchantment is now available on Amazon! And on sale for 99¢ until Friday. 

Inspiration

I’m so excited for this book. Not only is it the start to a new trilogy, but the trilogy itself is the beginning to a whole new world – the world of the enchanted races. Which is why The Hidden Hotel was the perfect place for me to introduce readers into this series where they get to meet a variety of these races, whereas most of the other trilogies will generally focus on just one or two of the enchanted races. 

As the picture shows, inside you’ll find enemies to lovers, slow burn romance, a protective MMC, and he falls first (I’m an absolute sucker for those last two tropes). And to remind you of what Whispers of Enchantment is all about: 

What happens when a powerful supernatural with a grudge against humans must take one in to fulfill a promise?

Left injured on the side of the road with no memories at ten years old, Lia has never known anything but the foster care system. Now that she’s aging out, she’s ready to write her own story for her life with a job and apartment all lined up . . . until she loses the job before even starting.

Desperate to not become homeless, she ends up accepting an offer for a job she doesn’t remember applying for at a hotel she’s not sure exists. Once she arrives, she discovers a hotel catering to supernatural beings, as well as a captivating hotel owner who hates her on sight. Which adds to the mystery of why she’s there. Was her hiring at the hotel an accidental fluke? Or does the obnoxiously charismatic hotel owner know something about Lia that he’s not sharing?

As Lia attempts to uncover these answers, she may discover that in a supernatural world filled with constant posturing for power, being only human might just be her greatest strength.

And you won’t have to wait long to discover what happens next, because the second and third books in the trilogy will release September 16 and September 30!

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Get to know: The Hidden Hotel’s Newest Employee

With the first book of The Hidden Hotel releasing next week, it’s time for the final of these character intro posts! And the main event has been saved for last: our main character, Dahlia Lille, the poor hapless heroine who has suddenly been thrown into being the only human employee at a hotel for supernatural beings. 

Inspiration

Growing up in foster care, Dahlia has always been painfully aware that once she graduated from high school, she would be all on her own with no support. But our darling heroine is responsible, resourceful, and a planner, so she’s got everything all worked out! That is, until she suddenly loses her job before even starting, taking away her ability to pay for the apartment she had lined up.

So Dahlia simply can’t refuse when she gets an offer for a job she doesn’t remember applying for at a hotel she can’t find any record of online. Nor can she run away when she discovers the hotel is for supernaturals – and ones who are none to fond of humans to boot – given she has nowhere to run to. 

Not that this will make our plucky heroine give up! She’s sure she can make it through anything and still carve out a life of her own planning. Though the handsome hotel owner hating her on sight makes things a little more complicated . . . 

Just a few more days until the release of this book! And it will be on sale for 99¢ until September 6.  

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Get to Know: The Hidden Hotel’s Owner

Only two more posts until the first book of The Hidden Hotel releases! We’re back to covering our main cast intros and today is the second most import character of the series, the love interest. Who just happens to be the owner of the hotel for supernaturals: Zavion Arrowright.

Inspiration

Because of course our love interest has to be big, important, and powerful, right? I mean, it’s not a one hundred percent requirement . . . but it’s pretty close. My theory being that when we read we place ourselves in the role of the main character and many of us would enjoy the attentions of a man like that, hence why it’s so popular. Or maybe that’s just the books I choose to read. (But I’m not changing any time soon!) 

There was also an element of that in The Genie Whisperer. We had Tavor, who was both a universal genie and one of the most powerful beings alive. Darios, who was an exceptionally powerful shadow genie – and highly feared. And Garan, who was also crazy powerful, though chose to hide his true strength because he didn’t care about stupid power posturing (until he felt he needed all his power to protect Ali, of course). 

As for Zavion, I can’t say too much because I want him to be an enigma to readers when they start out the series. But what I can say is that he is a powerful supernatural within some circles, and he is the owner of the prestigious – and only – hotel in the entire world that caters to all of the enchanted races, making him quite the visionary among supernaturals since the races generally don’t mix any more than they have to.

Oh! And one more thing. He is not interested in having a filthy human around his hotel. Especially not because of a promise he felt he had to make.  

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The Ice Queen

The countdown to the release of The Hidden Hotel trilogy is on! So I wanted to remind readers who aren’t already part of my newsletter that they can enter the urban fantasy world of the enchanted races early by subscribing to my newsletter to receive the free novella The Ice Queen. 

Inspiration

It’s an adorable story about a young woman who’s just become leader of her clan and the bodyguard who won’t leave her be. Annika (the heroine of the novella) makes a minor appearance within the first book of The Hidden Hotel and will appear again within the next trilogy that takes place within the enchanted races world. She’ll play a bigger role in that trilogy, since the focus is the celestial guardians – which is one of the races I created for this series and the race that Annika comes from. 

As for the listed tropes, I admit that wolf pup isn’t exactly a trope . . . but who doesn’t love wolf pups? He’s nearly as adorable as the romance between Annika and her bodyguard. Or maybe more adorable. You’ll have to read it and let me know what you decide ;) 

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