Thawing His Hart
Nov. 28th, 2023 06:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ellenmillionA mystery at Shifting Sands Resort!
https://books2read.com/thawinghishart?store=amazon
Return to the island resort for shifters only in a humorous and heartfelt holiday novella that is a happy escape and a story of hope and healing. It does stand alone, but you'll enjoy it even more if you've read the series and know its secrets.
(And if you haven't, volume one of the omnibus is marked down for December to the price of just one book!)
I have always had a really special place in my heart for Shifting Sands, and I have a lot tangled up emotionally in it. It is the biggest project I've ever undertaken, and was my first complete series. Book 1 was only my second book ever. I learned so much, and invested so much creatively, and ending the series was both terrifically hard and wonderfully freeing. I was so happy I stuck my landing and deeply depressed that it was over. I dabbled with ideas for follow-ups, and spent a lot of time asking myself where I was supposed to go next. Other than shorts, I left it to lie fallow for three years.
And then I wrote, edited, and published this book in three weeks.
After I completed the Royal Dragons of Alaska (which was a similar emotional ending!), I finally had the distance and peace of mind (and TIME) to see this project clearly, and I sat down and wrote this quirky, kind little story that is everything I wanted it to be. It brings back some of my very favorite characters but shines a spotlight on two new characters - a damaged hero and a sunshine heroine. Robert knows at once that Felicity is his mate, but when she doesn't recognize him, he fears that his past trauma means he will never have happiness. It's very much a story of healing and discovery, plus an off-beat magical mystery.
I worried that there would be kickback from having a surprise trans side character, but anyone who has followed along with my work to this point is probably expecting diverse and queer people, and it's always been important to me to show the infinite variety of the world...without making it a 'disadvantaged person of the week' sort of spotlight.
I am delighted with the response to the story so far, and a reader has written me in tears for what I wrote in the author's note, which is basically that it's okay to not be okay, especially around the holidays, and to hold on to the light.
And that's really what I try to do with any of my books - hold out a light.
Anyway, that's enough navel-gazing for now. I hope you enjoyed this one - it's available in Kindle Unlimited and also in signed and sketched paperback! https://www.ellenmillion.com/shiftingsands.php
https://books2read.com/thawinghishart?store=amazon
Return to the island resort for shifters only in a humorous and heartfelt holiday novella that is a happy escape and a story of hope and healing. It does stand alone, but you'll enjoy it even more if you've read the series and know its secrets.
(And if you haven't, volume one of the omnibus is marked down for December to the price of just one book!)
I have always had a really special place in my heart for Shifting Sands, and I have a lot tangled up emotionally in it. It is the biggest project I've ever undertaken, and was my first complete series. Book 1 was only my second book ever. I learned so much, and invested so much creatively, and ending the series was both terrifically hard and wonderfully freeing. I was so happy I stuck my landing and deeply depressed that it was over. I dabbled with ideas for follow-ups, and spent a lot of time asking myself where I was supposed to go next. Other than shorts, I left it to lie fallow for three years.
And then I wrote, edited, and published this book in three weeks.
After I completed the Royal Dragons of Alaska (which was a similar emotional ending!), I finally had the distance and peace of mind (and TIME) to see this project clearly, and I sat down and wrote this quirky, kind little story that is everything I wanted it to be. It brings back some of my very favorite characters but shines a spotlight on two new characters - a damaged hero and a sunshine heroine. Robert knows at once that Felicity is his mate, but when she doesn't recognize him, he fears that his past trauma means he will never have happiness. It's very much a story of healing and discovery, plus an off-beat magical mystery.
I worried that there would be kickback from having a surprise trans side character, but anyone who has followed along with my work to this point is probably expecting diverse and queer people, and it's always been important to me to show the infinite variety of the world...without making it a 'disadvantaged person of the week' sort of spotlight.
I am delighted with the response to the story so far, and a reader has written me in tears for what I wrote in the author's note, which is basically that it's okay to not be okay, especially around the holidays, and to hold on to the light.
And that's really what I try to do with any of my books - hold out a light.
Anyway, that's enough navel-gazing for now. I hope you enjoyed this one - it's available in Kindle Unlimited and also in signed and sketched paperback! https://www.ellenmillion.com/shiftingsands.php
