It took a bit of mulling over the idea of going back, but then, when I realized I was already re-reading everything and jotting down ideas every free moment… yeah, it was time to go back. Side note, though: I am not stopping the other series I have in process. This is just a pause while I spend some time in New Orleans. 

At Bell, Book, and Candle! 

Returning and New characters. 

Because this is technically Book 10 (huge technically), this series begins 5 years after Elemental Dreams. Which means this book has to bridge a gap between those who read The Eldritch Files and those whose first book will be Arcane Rising. I hope I manage to do that. 

Certain characters are not there. For TEF readers, Samantha, Crwys and Lizzie are not in New Orleans. Kyle, Jack, Arden and Tasoula are. A lot can happen in 5 years. Remember that.

An old/new character has joined the gang. Jason Lawrence is now a mainstay, taking the reigns left empty at the NOPD by Crwys Holliard. 

There is another old/new character, but I’ll leave that for the story. 

Meet Janet Harper, Harper to her friends. Earth Elemental Witch. She hails from a small town in Georgia and isn’t as schooled in the ways of the Witching Society as other Witches. After being chosen as Arden Vervain’s heir…nothing in her life will ever be the same. 

The Story

Harper’s arrival in New Orleans is anything but smooth. She runs over a guy moving into his apartment, trips over a body at her announcement party, and finds herself face-to-face with a myth in need of rescuing. 

Harper finds herself pushed to her known limit as she discovers something festering in New Orleans while aiding her Oldsmobile’s victim, solving the mystery of the bodies piling up, and saving the myth in order to unlock the Twelve once again. 

I’ll be sending links to Kickstarter in my newsletter and Substack, as well as updates as I have them. Come on back to New Orleans! 

Kickstarter Launch Page is active! Click here to tell Kickstarter you want to know when the project goes live. 

Letting readers in on a new move…

Been doing a lot of research these past few weeks, especially since releasing the new series. Looking at numbers, sales, and comments. And looking at the market, especially for this genre of book. And truthfully, the majority of these books are moving nicely in Kindle Unlimited. 

Book sales are tough these days. Being wide is no picnic, and even though KDP has screwed me out of royalties before, I am going to take a chance and move the Women’s Paranormal Fiction books into Kindle Unlimited. I have 2 more books coming in the present series, Ravenwood Hills, and at least 4 books (crosses fingers) in the upcoming Women’s Paranormal Fiction series, The Sword Keepers. I will also be releasing an epic Fantasy duo-logy, into Kindle Unlimited as well. 

I am also enrolled in Kindle Unlimited because I can be a voracious reader myself, and 9.99 a month for access to as many books as I can read in that month, vs $2.99 to $4.99 per book—especially in these trying financial times—seemed like a bargain to me. 

But I will not be moving long established series out of being wide (meaning these books will still be available outside of Amazon). Eldritch Files, Discord and Rhyme, Castle Falls and Cast In Shadow will remain as they are, and hopefully, the Great Electron willing, new books in these series will be coming, if not in 2021, but in 2022. 

I’m still juggling a day job and writing, and learning to be grateful for every day. 

I have a heart condition. It’s actually a pretty common one. It deals with the fact one half of my heart doesn’t work. Blood from an atrium doesn’t pump into its ventricle of choice, so the other half of the heart works twice as hard. I’ve had this for a while, according to my Cardiologist. 

And I’m a worrier, and that’s not helping. Because so many readers enjoyed book one of the Ravenwood Hills series, I have been literally stressing on book two. And cringing as I read back through it and see the mistakes I inadvertently put in after the editor gave it back to me. I do apologize for that, and I will be uploading a corrected copy soon as I finish. I also encourage any readers who caught boo-boos to email me with them at phaedra.weldon@gmail.com 

As for compensation for doing that…I’ll take suggestions. But I want to have them corrected before I release the paperback copy. Oh, and adding it to the website. I usually save that kind of website fun for the weekend. 

My stress level’s still pretty high, but I do hope everyone isn’t too upset with the direction of the story… I have more to tell, and answers to unanswered questions in book II. After getting this book as near perfect as I can, and released into paperback, I’ll be focusing on another book. 

Merry Meet!