Thea Harrison's Blog, page 9
December 4, 2017
Amid the Winter Snow: a Holiday Anthology is now available for pre-order
Grace Draven, Elizabeth Hunter, Jeffe Kennedy, and I are very excited that AMID THE WINTER SNOW is now available for pre-order! The pre-order sale price is $4.99, for a limited time only. The full price of the anthology will be $5.99 after release on December 12, 2017. The anthology is available for pre-order at the following retailers:
As the snows fall and hearths burn, four stories of Midwinter beginnings prove that love can fight its way through the chillest night…
THE DARKEST MIDNIGHT, by Grace Draven
The mark Jahna Ulfrida was born with has made her a target of the cruel and idle all her life. During the long, crowded festivities of Deyalda, there’s nowhere to escape. Until a handsome stranger promises to teach her to save herself…
THE CHOSEN, by Thea Harrison
In her visions, Lily sees two men fighting for her tiny country’s allegiance: the wolf and the tiger, each deadly, each cunning. One will bring Ys chaos and death, one a gentler path—but she’s destined to love whichever she chooses. The midwinter Masque is upon them, and the wolf is at her door…
THE STORM, by Elizabeth Hunter
When her soul mate died in a massacre of the half-angelic Irin people, Renata thought she’d never feel happiness again. She’s retreated to the snowy Dolomites to remember her hurts—until determined, irrepressible Maxim arrives to insist on joy, too. And before she can throw him out, they discover a secret the Irin have to know…
THE SNOWS OF WINDROVEN, by Jeffe Kennedy
As a blizzard threatens their mountain keep, the new Queen Amelia of the Twelve Kingdoms and her unofficial consort Ash face their own storm. Ash knows a scarred, jumpy ex-convict isn’t the companion his queen needs. But when a surprise attack confines them together in their isolated sanctuary, the feast of midwinter might tempt even Ash into childlike hope…
December 3, 2017
Ruminations at the end of 2017
I have this blog that I almost never post on, so I’ve decided it’s time to start using it again.
Recently I’ve been thinking about milestones and such, and as I’ve been looking back over the last eight years, I realized I’m coming to the end of an era and starting a new phase in my life.
I wrote DRAGON BOUND just after finishing grad school while I was looking for a job. The economy had tanked, and my degree was in Library Information Science – which was not a good degree to shop around with during the Great Recession.
One evening, as I had dinner with family, they asked, “Do you think you’ll ever write another book again?”
“Oh, sure,” I said with a shrug. “I always wanted to one day.”
Then I realized “one day” was here, so I got to work. And I got a three-book contract offer from Berkley. Berkley wanted to release the books in such quick succession, I realized I couldn’t write them while working another job. They offered me a tremendous opportunity but also a difficult one. I couldn’t accept it without help.
So my family (the ones who had asked if I would ever write another book again) offered to take me in until I got my writing career off the ground. The joy and gratitude I felt for their generosity was overwhelming. I said yes.
That was the beginning of an era.
In the last eight years, I will have moved seven times. Yes, that’s right, seven, and each move has been necessary for one reason or another.
During that time I’ve written twenty-four stories – books, novellas, and a few short stories.
In the course of writing, I’ve hit the USA TODAY bestseller list seven times, the NYT three times, and I’ve won some awards. I paid off my student loans, and I’ve paid off 2/3 of my daughter’s student loans. It’s been a very, very rewarding, scary, exciting, and incredibly dynamic time.
I also received a diagnosis for Sjogren’s disease, and I’m tired.
Okay, fine, you say. You’ve had a lot going on. But why is this the end of an era?
Thanks for asking. I’ll tell you.
Next week I’m supposed to close on a cute mid-century house back in the town where I did a graduate assistantship in Indiana. I’ll be blunt – if I didn’t have Sjogren’s, I would have stayed in Colorado to be near family, but unfortunately my autoimmune disease and the dry altitude in Denver are not suited for each other. So while I have been hanging out and writing by the beach in Southern California, I’ve been laying plans for what my new life is going to look like.
And in some ways, it looks like my new life is coming full circle, back to the place where it all began. There’s a kind of symmetry to it that is pleasing to me, like I’m closing one door to open a new one.
I’ll still be writing in the new place. I’ll be creating stories. December’s going to be chaotic, but then things will settle down. And I can’t help but wonder how those new stories will be.
Because of a deluge of unexpected roadblocks with the purchase of my new house, I won’t be finishing Planet Dragos the way I had hoped, so I’ll have to write the story on the other end of the move. After that, I’ll be writing LIONHEART, which is book three of the Moonshadow trilogy. The order of what I’ll be writing hasn’t changed. The timeline just has to be moved back a month or so.
And after that? I might want to write a space opera. What if I want to write a fantasy? I really liked the world building I did when I wrote The Chosen (to be published in AMID THE WINTER SNOW on December 12th with Grace Draven, Elizabeth Hunter, and Jeffe Kennedy). Maybe I’ll write more in that corner of the Elder Races universe.
Maybe I will want to write about Death, and about Life, and maybe I have some stories I want to tell about a dragon boy who needs to find his way in the world, and I always want to build hope, HEAs (happy every afters) and HFNs (happy for now endings) into every one. The possibilities are fabulous and endless, and I’m excited for what 2018 will bring.
But first I need to complete my eight-year circle and get through this next house move, and then hopefully I will be able to set aside my nomadic lifestyle for a good long time. I’ll be taking a break from writing until January, and after that?
I can’t wait to see what this new era brings.
October 30, 2017
Teaser excerpt from The Chosen
Earlier today, I published a newsletter that was supposed to have a link to this excerpt in it, but apparently that link was broken. Huge apologies!
Here are the first three draft pages of The Chosen. Hope you enjoy!
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Magic blew in on the winter wind.
As Lily stepped through great iron-bound doors and onto the slippery dock outside, the wind tugged at a lock of her hair. She breathed in deeply. The air was cold and damp, and the briny scent of the sea filled her nostrils.
Margot and the rest of the group followed her, instinctively clustering together for warmth.
Inside Camaeline Abbey, a rotation of priestesses kept a constant web of protections cast over the people who had taken shelter within, as well as the entire island. Camael was the goddess of the hearth, and the abbey was full of brightness, warmth, companionship, and comfort.
Inside, the magic seemed little more than a nuisance.
Beyond the abbey walls was a different story. Here in the open, the atmosphere felt edgier, more perilous, as if imbued with malice.
Margot paused by her elbow, glancing at the sky.
Damned weather magic, Margot said telepathically. The caster has a hell of a range. It feels diffuse, lacking a central direction. I can’t get a clear read on where it’s originating from; can you?
Over the past six months, she and Margot had developed the habit of carrying on telepathic conversations. As long as they stood within twenty or so feet of each other, they could share insights and compare opinions in complete privacy, which was a useful trait, especially when they were around other people.
, Lily spoke slowly, feeling her way through the problem. I would need to travel some distance to be sure, but I think it’s likely several weather mages are working together. If they’re scattered across the countryside, we wouldn’t be able to track the magic back to a single source.
Several weather mages working to cast banned magic? Margot’s jaw tightened. Sometimes I hate it when you make sense.
Lily gave her a rueful smile. You only hate it when you don’t like my conclusions.
True enough. Margot made a face. Who do you think is behind it—Guerlan or Braugne?
Tension pinched the back of Lily’s neck, threatening to turn into a stress headache. I truly have no idea. It could be coming from either one—or perhaps even another kingdom is behind it.
Margot gave her a brief, grim glance. Curtly she gestured to the group, and everyone settled into their assigned positions.
Shivering, Lily tucked the errant strand of hair behind her ear with a gloved hand as she stepped into place. Along with the rest, she turned her attention to the large, squat barge that had launched from the docks of the coastal town of Calles.
The barge’s blunt prow crunched through the thin sheets of ice floating on the shallow sea around the island of Camaeline Abbey. Winter solstice was still a week and a half away.
Usually it was a season of celebration, culminating in the Masque of the Gods. This year the weather had turned unseasonably bitter, fueled over the past month by the bouts of magic cast by the unknown mages, and nobody felt like celebrating anything.
Within the next moon, the water between the island and the mainland would be frozen solid for the first time in generations. According to reports, the harvest in all the six kingdoms of Ys had been sparse, and now the kingdoms faced lethal temperatures.
Lily thought of the small farmsteads dotting the countryside. If the weather mages weren’t stopped, many of those farms would lose much-needed livestock this winter. Probably family members as well.
There was a reason why weather magic was banned. According to international treaty, weather mages were supposed to cast only under royal decree to avert natural disaster.
With Braugne and Guerlan at the brink of war, the implications behind the current weather spells were frightening. Had the king of Guerlan broken treaties and brought a cursed winter to Ys, or had Braugne?
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Copyright 2017 Teddy Harrison LLC
All rights reserved
October 9, 2017
Excerpt from my upcoming novella, The Chosen
October 8, 2017
Writing snippets, anyone?
Quick question for you: Is it too soon to start sharing snippets from the novella I’m writing for the December anthology AMID THE WINTER SNOW, with Grace Draven, Elizabeth Hunter and Jeffe Kennedy? Or do you think it’s best to wait until November? Just a reminder, the projected release for the anthology is December 12th, and we expect to have preorders up by mid-November. Some of you will have already seen the anthology cover art, but I’m including it here again for those who haven’t.
The title of my story is The Chosen. After some discussion, we picked a few characteristics that would pull the anthology together. We decided to focus on a high(er) fantasy setting, with a heat/sensuality level of around 3, and set around the time of a mid-winter festival. Because of that, the setting for The Chosen will be in an Other land in the Elder Races universe.
After the anthology has been on sale for 90 days or so, we’ll break it apart and publish our stories separately. I already cover art for it, although it’s probably a little too soon to do a cover reveal for that. Anyway, please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts.
August 5, 2017
Small publishing updates
Google Play – Many of you will remember that I had to pull my titles from the Google Play website because of a disagreement I had with their pricing policies. I’m happy to report that Google Play and I have come to an agreement that will allow me to publish all my titles on their website. If you like to buy from Google Play, all my Indie titles will be going up on their site over the next few weeks!
July 26, 2017
Thank you to Charlotte
The time has come to say goodbye to Charlotte who has acted as my assistant for almost two and a half years. She’ll be exiting out of various tasks over the next week or so, and will soon stop posting on my behalf on social media.
Since I have come to rely upon her good sense and dedication, it’s a difficult parting for me. The good news is, we’ve become friends, and that will continue after she finishes her job.
I have found a new assistant… Her name is Angie, and I’m glad to have her come to work for me. But that’s for the future.
For now, I just want to say to Charlotte, thank you. Thanks for meeting deadlines, for always chipping in with a professional attitude, for your unwavering support, and for everything you have done for me. You made my work better, and I want you to know I will always wish you the best. And also, this isn’t goodbye!
With much love and gratitude,
Thea
July 18, 2017
Spellbinder Interview
Thea’s Spellbinder interview for USA Today’s HEA blog is live!
Must-read paranormal romance: 'Spellbinder' by Thea Harrison (interview!)
July 17, 2017
July 10, 2017
Moonshadow sale!
To celebrate Spellbinder‘s upcoming release, Moonshadow e-books are on sale for 99 cents (USD). This is a limited time offer, so grab it before it’s gone! 
