Elaine White's Life in Books

TBR for Netgalley

How We Sell Our Souls (In the Darkness #1) by Emilie Lucadamo

Blurb: 

When George Soto turns twenty-six, his life is less than perfect. Stuck in a dead-end job, watching his friends pass him by, it’s quickly starting to feel like he’s going nowhere. When he finds a strange ritual meant to contract a demon, he doesn’t imagine it could possibly work.

Until there’s a demon standing in his living room.

George doesn’t know what a contract with a demon entails, but it seems like a great opportunity to get revenge on his awful boss. Gradually, he and the demon—an abrasive entity who calls himself Jack—form an alliance.

But as things heat up between them, George almost doesn’t notice the increasing darkness in his life. The nights are longer, the shadows grow heavier, and the world around him seems to be distorting.

A Royal Craving, Book 1 in The Royal Series, by Elaine White

http://smarturl.it/ARoyalCraving

Some men are pawns, some are Kings, and others are something else entirely.

#Mpreg #TheRoyalSeries #lgbtq #indieauthor #mmromance #supernatural #authorsofig

I detest promoting myself, but it's a necessary evil. Promoting yourself is one of the hardest things a published author will ever have to do, in my opinion. There's a fine line between promoting yourself and screaming “buy my book” at anyone you come across, in real life or on social media. It's hard to find that line, at first, but it's also rewarding when you find how to find a promotional schedule that works for you.

I'm an introvert, which makes it even more awkward. An awkward, introverted, loner, loser, who has no life outside of books. And I have no problem with that. When I'm not writing, I'm reading. I'm also disabled, so going out isn't really something I do. I'm a homebird, through and through, so I don't go a lot of places, see a lot of people, or do anything exciting that I can share with my readers or followers, like some other authors. I don't have a flamboyant personality and I wouldn't know how to fake it, if I tried, so there's another barrier between me and my readers.

I'm a thinker. A planner. A reader. And nothing about me, as a person, screams “social butterfly” so it's hard for me to connect to people I can't physically be in the room with. I do my best, by trying to make my social media pages at least interesting – sharing my love of all things Marvel, Harry Potter, geek, Black Butler, and memes. I try to show as much of ME as I can, to show *some* personality, outside of what books I'm currently fangirling over.

But, I do believe it's important to be true to who I am. So, even though I find it hard and awkward, and sometimes uncomfortable, to share bits of me with the people who care enough to follow me, I do what I can and I share what I've got to share. Because my readers share their valuable time with me, by reading my books or following my pages, and it's the least I can do in return.

#teasertuesday

A Touch of Danger

Coming: Summer 2019

Going undercover might expose more than he expected.

#indieauthor #urbanfantasy #shifter #ninestarpress #lgbt #authorsofig

~

My Book Boyfriend, by Elaine White

http://smarturl.it/HopeLove

Hope & Love Anthology: 100% of all proceeds go to support the MKE GLBT Center

#HopeandLove #CharityAntho #MM #lgbtq #indieauthor #mmromance #authorsofig

As an author, I'm a bit of a night owl. My optimum time for writing is generally between 12am-2am. Mostly, this is because I still live at home, so either one of my parents is in until 2pm, then I have until 4pm before the other one comes in, or I have all day until 4pm to myself before they both come home. Any time after that, I generally don't have the time or quiet I need to write. So, it waits until I go to bed at 11pm. I usually spend the first 30mins-1hr unpacking my laptop etc and fiddling about with last minute fixes/checking msgs etc, but by 12am I'm ready to get back to work. And depending on how into the story I am, I can work until 2-3am, losing track of time, though I generally tell myself to stop at 1.30am, so that I still have time to pack my stuff up for the next day, before I actually go to sleep. True, staying up so late means that I sleep until 10am the next day, but it works for me, and it's the best way to get the most out of my creativity.

#teasertuesday

The Bright Side Brigade

Coming: February 1^st, 2019

http://smarturl.it/BrightSideBrigade

In a zero tolerance school, the only weapons are hope, friendship, and love.

#anthology #YA #indieauthor #contemporary #lgbt #authorsofig

~

Blurb:

A handsome naked man. Unconscious on a bathroom floor.
He’s lost his memory, and someone’s out to kill him.
Who is the mysterious Luke?
British TV anchor and journalist Rupert Pendley-Evans doesn’t do long-term relationships. Nor does he do waifs and strays. But Luke is different. Luke is a talented American artist with a dark secret in his life.
When Rupert discovers Luke, he’s intrigued, and before he can stop himself, he’s in love. The aristocratic Rupert is an ambitious TV reporter with a nose for a story and a talent for uncovering the truth. As he falls deeper in love with Luke, he discovers the reason for Luke’s amnesia. And the explanation puts them both in mortal danger.

~

Review:

** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Reviewed for Divine Magazine

~

For the Love of Luke 
★★★★☆
200 Pages

POV: 3rd person, multi-POV
Would I read it again?: Yes!
Genre: MM, Mystery, Suspense, Romance
Content Warning: homophobia, conversion therapy, torture, mental health, suicide, mention of MS


I happily admit that I asked to read/review this book based on the fact that it was written by David C. Dawson. Full stop. I'd read/reviewed The Delingpole Mysteries earlier this year and loved them, so it was no question that I'd enjoy this one too.

Right from the start, I got the feel of a long, slow suspense. It had that James Patterson “Murder Games” vibe, with a distinctive British flavour, and the promise of so much more to come. We jumped straight into the action, with Rupert returning home after a long day to find that his apartment had been flooded by the upstairs apartment. Going to investigate, he finds his new neighbour, hunky Luke, lying on the bathroom floor unconscious and naked. After seeing that he's taken care of, the pair allow their immediate attraction to draw them closer, with Luke offering Rupert his spare room, since his apartment's only bedroom was ruined by the flood.

Thus begins a steamy and intense romance between Rupert and Luke. At first, I wasn't sure how advisable it was. I wasn't sure if Luke had been attacked, if he'd genuinely slipped and fallen, or if the amnesia he confessed to would reveal a dark secret. Six months ago represented the beginning of the only life Luke could remember, leaving more than twenty years unaccounted for. That is a lot of potential history to uncover, with no knowledge of whether he had a boyfriend waiting for him, looking for him, or if he was straight/bi/demi and his attraction to Rupert was his first attraction to another man. At least, that was a possibility until things heated up in the bedroom and Luke seemed to be more than adept at proving otherwise.

I'll admit that the previous books I'd read by this author were full to the brim with fast-action and life-or-death scenes that I assumed this book would be the same. It's not and that's not a bad thing. For less than 200 pages, it gives a really amazing quality of storytelling, characterisation and plotting. The romance is, primarily, the dominating plot point, which makes sense since it's through their relationship that Rupert helps Luke rediscover his past. Without that bond, that building of trust, Luke would never have been able to untangle the shadows clouding his past, so the 70/30 split between romance and suspense, leaning in romance's favour, was logical. It did make the story drag a little, before the 30% mark when things kicked off for real, but during that time we got to know Rupert and Luke a little better, so it wasn't too bad. I loved the organic way that Rupert explored his past through their dinner date conversation, then the drop-the-bomb reveal of Luke's amnesia. A typical reporter, Rupert was suspicious and wanted to dig deeper.

When it came to secondary characters, I liked the snarky coroner, the bitchy boss, and the intrigue of Ty, the NCA best friend and his husband. I got a bit frustrated with fag-hag Sandra, who wasn't my cup of tea at all, but that's mostly down to personal taste.

Quite honestly, I'm in editing mode at the moment and, for an ARC, I was expecting at least half a dozen niggles to pop up. It happens to everyone in the ARC before the final pre-publication edits. I noticed two things. Two full stops missing in one paragraph. That was it. In the entire book. I can only applaud the author and whatever editor(s) worked on this book, because that is seriously immaculate condition for an ARC.

Overall, I enjoyed the slow building suspense, the trickle of revealed secrets and the hints that this was one big story waiting to be exposed. I liked the main characters, loved the chemistry between Rupert and Luke, and how Rupert's family situation developed, that Luke had finally found someone to trust and confide in. It was a great story, with great characters, and an intriguing plot. I'd read more, if there were further books with these characters.

Last, but not least, I absolutely love the impact of the cover/title and how it makes more sense, becomes sweeter and more perfect, once I'd finished the book. Both are a perfect representation of what this story is about, and the love that you'll find within the pages.

~

Favourite Quotes

“However equal the law now makes us, the reality is, outside the metropolitan areas, they still don't give a damn.”

Deal With the Devil, Cacodemon Book 1, by Elaine White

http://smarturl.it/Cacodemon1.DWTD

Created by a demon, can Perry bring out the angel within?

#RockStar #MM #Cacodemon #lgbtq #indieauthor #mmromance #supernatural #authorsofig

I'm a sprint writer – which you probably guessed when I talked about my 8-day writing sprint for Ascension. However, what I mean by sprint writer isn't that I write quickly, it's that I work best in short bursts, getting an entire book written in one go. So writing a book in 8 days is great, but the after effects are awful. If I can write a book continually for a month, with only an occasional day off for myself, with the family, or whatever then it's much healthier for me.

I find that writing in a sprint means that I don't have time/or the inclination to go back and read over what I've written so far. This means that I end up writing a more cohesive plot, more consistent grammar and characterisation, and I don't get lost in the plot – not sure what's going to happen next. And, if I end up with less mistakes by sprint writing, then that means I can take time off when I'm finished, do less editing overall, and use that time to work on other projects.

A Royal Legacy: Part 1, book 4 in The Royal Series, by Elaine White

COMING April 12th

http://smarturl.it/TheRoyalSeries

#Mpreg #TheRoyalSeries #lgbtq #indieauthor #mmromance #supernatural

~

Blurb: 

Dance Academy reject, Archie Corrigan, resents the stereotype guy ballet dancers are gay. Because he isn’t. At all. Forced to reassess his life goal at Camp Crystal Cove, it’s by sheer dumb luck he meets Landon Summers, who turns everything Archie was sure of into chaos. 
Poor boy turned teen heartthrob, Landon Summers, is the name on everyone’s lips. With his unexpected leap to fame, his agent advises him to keep his bi status on the down low. Not a problem! Until Landon meets Archie. 
Their unexpected friendship leads to an inevitable kiss, but their moment is caught in high definition and used as fuel for blackmail. If the truth gets out, Landon’s career could be over, and Archie will be forced to acknowledge the one thing he’s fought to deny. 
But how do you go back to your average life once you’ve experienced That Feeling When ... you’re finally happy?

~

Review:

I absolutely devoured this book!
Truthfully, it's been on my watch list for a while now, but I always convinced myself to get other priorities first. What was I thinking?
Luckily, book 3 in the #lovehim series came up for review so I couldn't resist convincing myself that I just had to read the first 2, before I started. And I'm so glad I did.
I'm not usually a fan of 1st person, present tense, but it really worked for this book. Along with the gorgeous presentation, Archie's natural snark, and the most adorkable teen romance you've ever seen, there wasn't anything I didn't love about this book. Nothing.
There was a sweet and tender start to the romance, after much snark and teen angst, and it completely sucked me into the teen, camp, romance feel of the novel. The slow realisation of self, the subtle chemistry, the self-discovery. It was all so beautifully done. The awkwardness of teenagers was so brilliantly written that it took me straight back to being in high school.
Landon was a complicated mess; Archie was sweet and lost; Landon's mother was incredible. Owen and Brittany, Kelly and Meredith, were incredible supporting cast. I loved the struggles over self - being aboriginal, being gay, being confused, being famous - and the logical fear that what they had might only last as long as the camp did.
I cried. I loved it. It was perfect. Adorkable. Sweet. Ridiculously beautiful. And exactly what I needed.
That Feeling When...is an adorkable story of young love, blushing romance, self discovery, and growing up, wrapped in a summer camp, teen angst, and the absolutely awful hormones of teen life. I can't wait to read more.

~

Favourite Quote

"And there he goes, holding my stare for that beat longer than he probably means to before letting loose this adorable, little smile. I'm putty. Just a gloopy, gooey mess. This guy is a menace."

Preacher's Son

http://smarturl.it/Strength.PreOrder

Part of the 'Strength' Anthology

#anthology #YA #Strength #indieauthor #preachersson #lgbt #authorsofig

Before 2018, my quickest time for writing a full novel was one month. Then, this year, I managed a whopping 8 days! That was a full novel, of 100k word count, that needed very little editing, all in 8 days.

And I would never do it again.

As great as it was to get the words out of my head, because it was haunting every moment of my waking/sleeping life until I got it out my system, it also killed me. I was utterly exhausted by the time I finished. All creativity was gone. I was over-tired from very little sleep, and I felt as though I may never write again, I was so completely disinterested in writing another book.

I tried to make myself write the sequel after a week's break, but it was a no go. Then I gave myself a month off and tried again. I got a dozen chapters written, but even now – a few months later – I don't feel like they do the story justice.

It was only this month, October, that inspiration once again hit me like a lightning bolt. The story had already existed in 1-2 pages of notes, but the story was by far set or secure. In fact, it had a beginning concept, but no middle or end, and I had only the barest information about the characters or the general plot.

Within the first 3 days, I'd written about 10 pages of notes, including detailed character references, chapter headings, made a mock cover, designed a logo, and created promotional banners. In between all of that, I did a little writing. About a chapter, all in all.

Once all the design concepts were finished, that was when I really got a good crack at writing. Only, this time around, I knew that I needed to take a break, to procrastinate a little throughout the day, to make sure I didn't end up back where I started.

I still managed to write nearly 150k of "The Boys Who Didn't Love Me" in just 17 days.

Writing a complete novel in so short a time is great, especially when the story needs little editing afterwards, but when it interferes with your physical and mental health, then even as an author you have to take a step back and reevaluate what a completed story is really worth.

NEW RELEASE

Like parents, the one questions authors never want to answer is “which one is your favourite?” Well, like a parents, each book is like my baby. It's something I created, I sent out into the world, hoping that people would treat it well and that it would grow.

There have been books that were a joy to write, books that were difficult, some that were utterly exhausting to write.

The Trade, for example, was a book that didn't start out the way it ended up. The story was planned as a short, so was only about 5 chapters long before I realised that I wanted to make it into a novel. Even then, the story I wrote and submitted was a little more “direct” and to the point than the final version. During my first-of-ten-final-edits before sending it to the editor, it grew a chapter at a time; adding one extra chapter to elaborate, one extra chapter to expand on the friendship before it became a relationship, and another chapter that helped make the relationship a little more natural. In the end, I think I added a good 30-40k words to the novel, before sending it to the editor.

This is something that happens a lot. Decadent book 1, Decadent, ended up nothing like the original story that I submitted. When I ran it through a group of beta readers, once I knew it was going to be published, I had feedback that the relationship was too insta-love, and after reading it, I realised that was true. So I reworked the plot, to make the relationship much more gradual and offer growth and build the chemistry between the MC's. It became better for it.

Decadent was also meant to be a solo novel, until I did my final edits and realised that I wanted to give Konnor his own story – originally planned to be a short. That became a full novel, then my beta reader (the same as above) suggested that Tam deserved his own story. I wrote that and created Giovanni, who also needed his own story, and the series grew from that simple editing choice.

For the reasons above, The Trade and Decadent have always been in my list of “most rewarding” to write. I'd say that A Royal Craving was my most terrifying, because I hadn't written anything that required complete new world-building. Around that time, I'd written Cacodemon, which had been an idea I'd been batting around for a few years and which took place in the human world, so adding in the angels/demon elements was simple.

To date, my most challenging story was the one I least expected: The Bright Side Brigade. It originally began as a lot of little short story plots, but I put them all together to make an anthology of YA stories. For me, the hardest part was writing Cinder, Smoke and Ash, the final short of the anthology, which involves a young teenager attempting suicide due to bullying. It was an unexpected story, one that I'd never really planned to write, but one of the MC's came from a previous story and, like Tam and Giovanni, I knew I wanted him to have his own story. I just never thought it would be so heartbreaking.

Perhaps, for that reason, The Bright Side Brigade – my first solo YA novel – has a special place in my heart. But to say it was my favourite would be to do a disservice to all the books that came before, and will come after, which have helped me grow as an author and evolve my craft.