Rae Rivers's Blog, page 9

Meet Archer and Sienna!

 I've had many questions sent my way since I wrote Archer and the one that crops up the most is who I picture as my hero and heroine. Considering that The Keepers series is about three brothers who are all sexy handfuls in their own way, finding the right fit for each brother was tricky.  Sienna was an easier choice and I've had her pinned from the start.  Feisty, red hair, pale skin, tall and slim ... any guesses who that could be?   Sienna Beckham  Sienna is on the run from her destiny as a powerful Beckham witch and the three Keepers who protect her.  But she can't hide forever - especially with a an evil warlock and her three Keepers hot on her heels.   She's independent, feisty, and stubborn but she's as protective of her Keepers as they are of her!    Nicole Kidman“You said it yourself, Archer.  I’m a powerful witch.  You might want to keep that in mind when you threaten to caveman me home.”
Archer Bennett

The eldest of three brothers, he's strong, muscular, handsome ... everything a powerful warrior should be, but he has one weakness.  Sienna.  As her Keeper, he's duty bound to defend her and will fight to his death to protect her.


Channing Tatum makes a great Archer“If anyone so much as lifts a finger to Sienna, the Bennett brothers will retaliate with so much wrath that it’ll make hell seem like an attractive place.”

The Bennett Estate in Rapid Falls

Rapid Falls is a small, mystical town surrounded by mountains, forests, rivers, and endless grape vineyards.  The town is renowned for the production of Ice Wine, a very unique and special wine made from frozen grapes.  Why wine?  Because wine farms are my stomping grounds!  I live surrounded by the most breathtaking wine farms and for us, a meal without wine is like tequila without the lemon! (Not that I drink much tequila!)


Here's a quick peek at my daily view
So with the above pic in mind, I developed the fictional Rapid Ralls, a small but thriving town amongst this beauty.  Set to one side of the town and surrounded with vineyards and thick forests perfect for all sorts of magical rituals and some Keeper chaos, is the private and spacious Bennett Estate, complete with the gorgeous mansion that houses three handsome Keeper brothers. 

And if you think this picture looks tranquil, don't be fooled.  There's all sorts of evil warlocks and warriors lurking that are itching to create some havoc! 

Thanks for stopping by!  I love to hear what you think so please leave a comment - every comment will give you a draw into our giveaway.

Aimee has some sinfully gorgeous characters to reveal on her blog shortly so be sure to pop in there and say hello! 

Rae Rivers


 

We're having a Party!

Release day is finally here for The Keepers:  Archer, and Sinfully Summer  and Aimee Duffy  and I are super excited.  To celebrate this wonderful day, we're having a joint party on our blogs and you're all invited!  We have several fun posts and sneak peeks scheduled with two $10 Amazon Gift Cards to give away, so stay close and join the celebrations!

Aimee and I will posting throughout the day and all you have to do is visit our sites (and don't forget to stop by at Harper Impulse) as prompted and leave a comment.  The competition is open until midnight on Wednesday 26 June 2013 and every comment gets you an entry into the draw so feel free to comment away!

All the names will be put into a witches cauldron (or something similar) and pulled at random and the winners will be announced on our blogs next week Thursday.

Thanks for sharing this with us and best of luck to all our readers participating in the giveaway!

Rae Rivers

Release Day Celebration!

How time has flown since Harper Impulse snagged The Keepers: Archer for publication and after a few book revisions and lots of planning, release day is upon us!

I've been so fortunate in that my book is going to be released along with Aimee Duffy's Sinfully Summer and since it's freezing cold and wet here, I'm itching to get my nose stuck into this summer read!

Aimee and I have had loads of fun since Harper Impulse announced that they'd acquired our books.  We've shared so many ideas, emails, and had some interesting chats about tattoos and sexy men. 

Together with our team of wonderful editors, we've decided to celebrate our release day by having a joint party on our blogs tomorrow.  There'll be some brief excerpts, pics of our hot heroes, and giveaways so if you want a sneak peak at both books, come and join the celebrations!

Looking forward to seeing you here tomorrow!

x Rae

The Keepers: Archer is currently on tour!

Whilst I'm celebrating the release of my first book in the Keepers series, Archer is currently on a blurb tour.  Thanks to Lisa from Tasty Book Tours, who arranged this tour from start to finish, I've met some lovely new people and appeared on some wonderful blogs.

The schedule for the tour is as follows:

June 17th- Literal Hotties Naughty Book Reviews
(Stop 2) Rose Wynters

June 18th- Toots Book Reviews
(Stop 2) Romancing the Readers

June 19th- Romancing the Books
(Stop 2) Queen of All She Reads
(Stop 3) Urban Girl

June 20th- Storm Goddess Book Reviews

June 21st- Racing to Read
(Stop 2) Tattooed Book Reviews

June 22nd- Romance Bookworm

June 23rd- Reading Bliss

June 24th- Faerie Tale Books

June 25th- Jany's  Book Blog
(Stop 2) Reading is my Time Out

June 26th- Busy Mom's Book Reviews

June 27th- Paws and Print

June 28th- For the Love of Bookends
(Stop 2) Red Wine and Books

Thanks to Lisa and all the hosts from the above blogs who have offered to have me for the day!

There's an Amazon Gift Card Voucher up for grabs at the end of the tour for one lucky person so please stop by, leave a comment on any of the blogs and enter the giveaway!!

x Rae

My Call Story

I’ve always enjoyed reading a good call story and sharing the excitement and joy with my author friends. It’s been a week since I announced my publishing contract with Harper Impulse and I promised to follow up with my own call story:

I spotted Harper Impulse’s call for submissions as I was heading off to the airport and immediately submitted the idea for my Keeper series. I went on holiday and a few weeks later, during a very calm and quiet morning alone at home with my daughter, I received an email from Harper Impulse thanking me for my submission and asking me if I’d be free to chat further.

Like I’d say no. Of course! I immediately sent an email with my contact details and then went outside to play with my daughter, the cordless phone in hand. (I don’t remember a word of the conversation we had in the sandpit!)

And I waited. Longest wait ever.

A million things were going through my head and I tried not to get excited but I kept coming back to the thought that publishers don’t call to reject a submission. I eventually got on with my day and got so wrapped up in my kids and their afternoon activities that at one point, close to five pm, I realized with a jolt of excitement that I was still expecting a call! I sent off another email asking them if they still wanted to chat (i.e. please call me or I won’t be able to sleep tonight) and quickly received a reply with a promise to call within half an hour.

I organized my kids by banishing them upstairs so that I could chat in peace, bribed my son with dessert after dinner if he’d play quietly with his sister without interrupting me whilst I was on the phone (desperation?), and I waited.

The call came moments later and to hear the words “We’ve read your book, we love it, and we’d like to offer you a contract for the series” was like a dream come true. I took a deep breath and tried to act professional when all I wanted to do was squeal!

I don’t remember much of the conversation as my mind was racing but we spoke about what they loved about the book, the contract, the editors, etc. It was such an easy conversation and I felt so comfortable – an indication that I’d done the right thing. When I ended the call, I phoned my husband to tell him he had to come home as I had champagne waiting. He’d just acquired an exciting deal of his own and thought the champagne was for him. Double celebrations that night! Needless to say, my kids received a huge hug for being so well behaved during “my moment” and of course, they got their dessert!

Since the call, my life has taken a busy turn as I’ve been writing up a storm whilst working on book edits and cover briefs with my wonderful editors. I can always see when I’ve been absorbed in my writing: I’m permanently distracted as my mind is constantly spinning, my house is a mess (sorry kids), my husband has to beg me to go shopping, my friends think I’ve immigrated, my admin pile has grown to mammoth proportions, and I’m so behind on my reading and TV series that it’ll take a long holiday to catch up.

But I’m having so much fun!

Thanks for stopping by and for sharing this with me!

Rae Rivers

A Three-Book Deal for The Keepers!

I’ve always seen myself as a writer of contemporary romantic suspense novels until one day, over a discussion about paranormal romances during lunch with a dear friend, a heroine came to mind that begged me a pretty please to write her story. I was a bit hesitant at first when I realized that she’s a modern day witch, as I’d never attempted writing a paranormal romance before. But she insisted, so after lunch, I went home to a very quiet house (a novelty for me with small children around) and started writing. She neglected to mention at the time that her story came with three very handsome, very powerful, and strong warriors – who I very soon realized each needed their own story. Tall order, lady.

There was no planning involved, no plot line, (that all came later) and I had no clue where she was headed. I just knew that I had to write her story. So I did. A powerful witch and three handsome warrior Keepers who are her fierce protectors, her friends, and her allies in maintaining the balance of nature. A paranormal romance story simply snowballed from there.

After a bit of advice from some helpful people along the way who boosted my confidence in my work, some enthusiastic support from my wonderful hubby who has spent the last few months sharing me with my imaginary friends (three warriors at that!) and with a lot of fun brainstorming sessions over lunch with my dear friend, I finished and revised the book. Once it was ready for submission, I took a deep breath (more like a gasp) and submitted the first book, along with the synopsis for the entire trilogy to Harper Impulse.

So … now that you know the background of this book, here’s my news …

I’m thrilled to announce that Harper Impulse, a romance imprint of Harper Collins, has offered me a three-book contract for my Keeper trilogy!

I knew from the moment that I spotted their call for submissions that they were the right publisher for this series and I wasn’t wrong! Their energy, enthusiasm, dedication, and passion for my warriors have been amazing and I will always be grateful to them for this and for the opportunity to have my Keeper series published. It was wonderful to receive a call from a publisher to say that they love my idea and would like to offer me a contract for it, but there’s nothing nicer than knowing that they’re as passionate about my books as I am. So, for the team at Harper Impulse – thank you for this!

I’ll be posting the heart stopping, over-the-moon-with-excitement call story soon so watch this space, but for now, I’m going to rush off with my family, pop the champagne, and celebrate this moment.

Thank you for reading and sharing my joy.

Rae Rivers

Book Review: Blood Shadows by Lindsay J. Pryor

My goal this year is to write more, and read more.  They both inspire me and feed my love for words and storytelling. In light of meeting this goal (and writing more book reviews over at Honest Reviews Corner), I opted to start with Blood Shadows by Lindsay J. Pryor.  

Amongst many other things, I have two small children constantly vying for my attention and often struggle to concentrate on a book.  Blood shadows held my attention (sorry, kids!) right to the end.  Well plotted, an easy read, dark, and sensual, and filled with fabulous complex characters.  A great read!

My full review of Blood Shadows, can be read here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Reading and writing with joy,
Rae Rivers

The Sunshine Award

Ooh, another award! And this time it’s a lovely sunny flower to brighten up my blog. The Sunshine Award is a sunny flower that bloggers give to other “bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere”.

The rules for this award are simple:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award in your blog post.

2. Do the Q&A below.

3. Pass the award to other deserving and inspiring bloggers, inform them, and link to their blogs.

I was tagged for this award by Lindsay J. Pryor who is the author of the Blackthorn series. Not only do Lindsay and I share a love of books and writing, we also share a love for The Vampire Diaries. Thanks for the tag, Lindsay! (And I must apologize for taking a while to respond to this tag – I’ve had three warrior characters that have been monopolizing my time!)

For some info about me …

Favorite color:
Definitely blue.

Favorite animal:
If I have to choose a wild animal, it would be an elephant. They’re so gentle, wise, and passionate about their families. (Sounds a bit like me!) If it’s a household pet … at the moment, I find this one a difficult one to choose as my husband and son have created a zoo at home and all the animals are driving me a tad crazy at the moment!

Favorite non-alcoholic drink:
Water (boring but essential for me!) and Coke Light. I also love coffee and tea.

Favorite number:
7 (and don’t ask me why, it’s the first number that came to mind).

Facebook or Twitter:
I enjoy both but find that Facebook tends to slow down my computer (I really should upgrade, shouldn’t I?) so I tend to get frustrated when I’m online. Twitter is fun and so much more easily accessible from my phone. I love, love, love the friends I’ve made since joining these two social networks. (And yes, I’ll list a few of them at the end of this post.)

Your passion:
My kids, my husband, writing, reading, and chocolate.

Giving or getting presents:
Brightening some else's day is always wonderful so I enjoy giving presents - especially when they’re appreciated. It’s always nice being spoilt and fortunately, I have the most adorable hubby that tends to spoil me a lot! Sigh. Lucky girl.

Favorite day:
Of the week? Saturday. Favorite day ever? I have a few … my wedding day, the birth of my two cutie children, and the day I recently received “The Call”.

Favorite flowers: 
Daisies. They’re so friendly and last longer than most other flowers – a necessity for someone like me who tends to admire them but forgets to nurture them!

So, in light of spreading this award to others who inspire me and brighten up my day (and who love The Vampire Diaries as much as me), I'm going to tag a few of my favorite ladies.  They've been tagged by others for this award already, but here they are:

Tracey Rogers
Alexa Fiennes
Fiona Chapman
Incy Black
Jane Hunt
Alison Lodge
Aimee Duffy

Thanks for stopping by and reading my post!

With love,

Rae Rivers

The Very Inspiring Blogger Award

Blog tags are always fun. It gives me an opportunity to get to know my author friends a little better and to meet a variety of different authors whose blogs give me a glimpse into their world. The lovely Lindsay J. Pryor, who is the author of the fabulous Blackthorn series, recently nominated me for this Blogger Award. Thanks for the nomination, Lindsay!

The rules for this award are quite simple …

• Display the award logo on your blog

• Link back to the person who nominated you

• State seven things about yourself

• Nominate other bloggers (the numbers vary) for this award and link to them

Most of my blog posts so far have revolved around my writing and my new book, Cat Got Your Tongue?, so it’s a nice change to include some fun, random facts about me that most of you won’t know yet. Here it goes …

1. I’m terrified of large, hairy spiders. Where I live, there are too many of these spiders for my liking. If I spot one, I freeze, gripped by panic and fear, and then promptly burst into tears. I also have sensitive radar for them – probably because I’m constantly on the look out for them. I’ve often bolted out of bed in the middle of the night from a dead sleep because I “sensed” there was a spider on the ceiling. Needless to say, my poor hubby is the one who has to remove these hairy visitors – even at 3am in the morning!

2. I love the outdoors – water skiing, hiking, walking around the neighborhood, sailing etc. Give me exercise in this form any day. The gym? Not such a fan. I’m always finding ways to incorporate my children and husband into outdoor activities – combining exercise, fun and a family outing is always a winning combination.

3. I despise having my car washed, long queues, and a slow computer – all time wasters. Seriously, I loathe time wasters!

4. For me, in most instances, quality is better than quantity. Whether it’s friendships, chocolates, clothes or Twitter contacts. I’d rather have less of everything providing it’s packed with quality.

5. I love watching TV series and I’m an avid Grey’s Anatomy and The Vampire Diaries fan. I’ve never missed an episode of either show and watch each episode alone at night when my family is in bed so that I don’t miss a single thing!

6. I married my high school sweetheart. He’s a gorgeous, caring, funny, kind man and I adore him – he’s the hero in my own story. We met in high school and have been together since – happily married too!

7. When completely engrossed in writing a book, my characters take over, constantly having conversations with each other in my head. This happens anytime; anywhere - whilst driving, cooking, walking, shopping – they’ve even woken me up in the middle of the night with their endless chatter! Sounds odd and my best friend finds it very amusing that I have “voices” in my head, but it’s fun and means my characters are alive for me. After all, I love writing great dialogue!

I’m tagging two inspirational bloggers and authors, Zee Monodee and Charlotte Phillips. I’ve never met either one of them (maybe one day) but since stumbling across each other through the social network, I’ve come to love their blog posts, friendliness and easy chats!

Thanks for reading!

Rae Rivers

What Sparked "Cat Got Your Tongue?"

I was honored to be invited by the lovely Zee Monodee to appear as a guest on her blog.  Zee asked for a post relating to my debut book, Cat Got Your Tongue?, and athough there's so much that can be said about this book, I decided to focus on what sparked the idea behind the story.  My post on Zee's blog can be found here. and I've also reposted it below:

Since Cat Got Your Tongue? was contracted for publication, I’ve had several fellow authors and friends ask me how I came about the idea for the premise of this book.

The world of art theft, cat burglars, museum heists, and priceless artifacts has always fascinated me – more so since I realized that art theft and art trafficking is a global reality and not just something we see in movies like Entrapment, The Thomas Crown Affair, and Ocean’s Twelve. (Great movies, aren’t they?)

So, for those of you who aren’t art collectors or familiar with the shady underground workings of the art world, here's some interesting art info...

Art crimes that include fraud, theft, and trafficking are a thriving criminal goldmine with an estimated annual loss running in the billions. Billions! Wow.

With the number of art thefts increasing over the years, law enforcement agencies worldwide have developed and maintained special "squads" dedicated to investigating art theft and recovering stolen artworks. The FBI has a dedicated Art Crime Team for thefts of this nature and they run the National Stolen Art File (NSAF), which is a computerized database of stolen art and cultural properties available for use by law enforcement agencies around the world.

Museums, who are often hot targets for art theft, have taken special precautions and preventative measures to protect their artifacts.

Dedicated private art collectors who spend fortunes on their collections of priceless artifacts are also largely at risk by any lurking art thieves. According to Bonnie Magness-Gardiner, who manages the Art Theft program at FBI Headquarters, more than half of the thefts are from private homes.

Nude, Green Leaves and BustConsidering how valuable many art pieces are, it’s understandable the high demand for them by private collectors – and art thieves. Nude, Green Leaves and Bust , Picasso’s painting of his mistress, Marie-Therese Walter, sold at auction for US$106.5 million. For a painting. Although this was recorded as the second highest world record price for an auctioned piece of artwork, it’s quite a reality check to see what some of the art pieces sell for. I’m curious to know what security measures the new owner of Picasso’s painting has taken to keep out any unwanted intruders!

All the above makes for a fascinating dinner conversation, and an even more fascinating foundation for an exciting story, don’t you think? Thanks to my interest on this subject and many hours spent studying various cases on art heists, my fun and flirty romantic suspense story was born. I took a handsome billionaire art collector, a sexy security expert, a few art heists, and created heaps of havoc! What fun!

Thanks for reading!

Write with joy,

Rae Rivers