2023 Ren Faire Moments

The Washington Midsummer Renaissance Faire is the first three weekends in August. While this might feel a bit premature to highlight some of my favorite moments, I will probably do a full Ren Faire review next week after it is all over. I’ll include any additional excitement in that one. 

The Superfan

A young person working at a food stand for the fair walked past the first day just after opening. We snagged her with our stellar sales shouts, and she spared a few moments before her shift to come over and chat about my books. She was excited about them and said she would talk to her dad about getting them.  

I underestimated the level of excitement, though. Over the first two days of the faire, she stopped by a few times, as did her dad. He works at the faire and wanted to make sure we would still be there other weekends or at least have enough on Sunday for them to buy a set. 

He made a brief stop on Sunday and paid in advance so I could sign them for her when she came by after her shift. With her personalized books in hand, she stuck around for a while longer to chat and talk about how excited she was to read them. Sticking around could be problematic, but she did a wonderful job of letting us continue to sell and interact with other customers. 

All respect for this young lady, and I hope she enjoys them even half as much as she anticipated. 

On a Mission

I mentioned this one on Facebook already, so act surprised. 

Having just finished a sale and signing, I turned to the next person in line holding one of my books. I thought it was the one my husband had been using to wave at the passing crowds. We tend to hold a copy of Hidden Memory so we can hand it to people for them to read the back. 

“What are we doing for you?” I asked. 

“Oh, I was just hoping you could sign this,” she replied, holding up a copy of Hidden Promise.

It took my brain a moment to process the sequence of events and associated possibilities. Did someone hand her the third book by accident? What did she mean by just the signature? I recovered quickly enough with a big grin. 

Someone liked my books so much they did not want to wait for the faire to get the next in the series, but they still wanted the signature. That someone would bring a book to an event specifically for me to sign made me feel, for a little while, that I had made an impression. 

Real-Time Feedback

During the days of weekend two, a few people who purchased books during the first stopped by to tell me how they, their friend, their child, or another person for whom they bought the book was loving it and could not put it down. A handful of people have also messaged me on social media with similar messages. One told me she regretted only picking up the first while she was at the fair, and that she already ordered book two. 

Another two reviews have also already come in on Amazon, and I hope to see a few more. I’m up to 45 on Hidden Memory, which is so close to my goal for the year. 

More to Come

I also got my hair braided, braved the extreme heat, and shipped a lost book to the person who bought it from me. Someone turned the book into lost and found, so that was wonderful of them. I will try to do better at getting some pictures next time, but no promises. 

Stay cool out there, friends!

Renaissance Faire 2023

My blog posts are going to be a bit sporadic this month. During the week, I’m covering for some people out at work. On the weekends, I’m putting in twelve-hour days in Monroe selling books at the Washington Midsummer Renaissance Faire.

Due to a horrid confluence of logistical nightmares brought upon by the increasing popularity of the event, it moved up north to Sky Meadows Park in Snohomish this year. The location is larger, and the event will only use a portion of it this year and next with plans to grow. It has closer freeway access to simplify the in and outbound traffic. Finally, they capped ticket sales and are not selling onsite to prevent exceeding safety capacity.

There remain challenges. The walkways could use some straw laid down and dampened each morning. They have a water truck drive through in the mornings, but the dirt paths are dry again by midday and the pedestrian traffic kicks up a fair amount of dust. People are still complaining about the food lines, but there are more vendors this year, and I would estimate the lines are about the same during peak times with more downtime to take advantage of.

As of this week, all remaining days of the faire are sold out. Hopefully, there will be more capacity next year, and anyone left out this year will look to buy tickets early. I’m excited to see the coming growth and to be a part of it.

With that, it is back to work for me. I will try to get some pictures this weekend and share some moments sometime next week. Maybe I will even post my first TikTok video in nearly a year from my tent.

Huzzah!

Hidden Promise in KU!

Earlier this week, I pushed the button that shifted Hidden Promise, the third installment in the Hidden series, over to Kindle Unlimited. After a dip in April, I saw an uptick in page reads for the first two books in the series over the last couple of months, so if you have been waiting for the KU release, it has officially arrived!

The first three books are all available on Amazon in ebook, paperback, and now on KU. When you finish each one, please take a moment to leave a rating/review to help others find the series. 

Happy reading before the World Cup starts! 

Elaria – Origin of the Fairy

This post contains minor spoilers for Hidden Promise, and I recommend holding off reading further until you are caught up with the series so far. It is also my first foray into creative writing in about a month, so please bear with the rusty attempt.

Origin

Between the balance of vampires and fairy in Elaria, the vampires emerged first. In the east and south, an airborne menace swarmed far and wide each night, devastating the surrounding landscape. Storms raged through the air and over the denuded ground. Animals fled, rivers ran dry, and fires raged after lightning strikes.

Ripples ran through the realm, and it shifted, and adapted. Points of calm appeared around the chaos, gentling the atmospheric turbulence. The fairy had evolved.

The weather disturbances were merely the first stage of the conflict. As the storms calmed, the people clashed. Vampires and fairy filled the skies, vying for control, establishing strongholds, and spreading through the realm.

Upon their emergence, the fairy had greater numbers. It had worked for the gilar to counter the elves. Unfortunately, the greatest weapons of the vampires overmatched the fairy, and the fairy numbers slowly dwindled away. They did not possess the brutal-minded aggression of the gilar and were not inclined to attack the vampires unprovoked.

Infighting among the vampires initially saved the fairy. While the fairy built strong communities, the vampires fought for control of their colonies. The insect and bat wings clashed, both subjugating their prisoners until the two types integrated so much that they became one.

Both the gilar and elves stood firm against vampire incursions and held their territory. Skirmishes with the gilar set the vampires back further. The gilar proved highly resistant to the vampire’s venom and highly motivated toward revenge. Sometimes the fairy came out victorious in a confrontation with the gilar, but those occasions were, more often than not, followed by significant retribution. The hubris of the vampires and aggression of the gilar bought the fairy time.

Migration

Through the centuries, the fairy migrated and spread across the realm. They sought places to call their own, flying far and wide. The vampires followed, always.

The fairy trained to defend themselves. They created weapons to combat the threats of fighting their balance. None of it saved them, not enough. Vampire venom had a devastating impact on any fairy struck by it. Within hours of being clawed, a fairy would fall ill, becoming weak, shakey, and sweating. In a day, after suffering even a minor injury, half the fairy would be dead, and only half survived. Even with the precautions they took and the defenses they developed, the fairy faced destruction. They could not continue to defy the odds, nor escape into the far reaches of the continent. There was nowhere the vampires could not follow.

Disappearance

In the mountain ranges to the north and east, battles raged. Over the ocean to the south, vampires and fairy fought and fell. The fairy became desperate and withdrew into defensive positions around their disparate settlements. While the elves wondered at the extended silence from the friendly race, the fairy leaders sought radical solutions. One woman found a solution.

She went away, disappearing for a time before returning with a promise: her life, and all to follow in her line, in exchange for the protection of her people. She would sacrifice and live a life of solitude, and the fairy could disappear into their newly established sanctuaries.

Seven islands of safety, the sanctuaries connected on an essential level while remaining physically remote. No one could leave, but no threats could enter either. The protector of the sanctuaries went into hiding, and the world thought the fairy were lost. All that remained of them were stories and legends.

Hidden Promise Available Now!

Hidden Promise is officially out in both ebook and paperback formats! This past Tuesday marked the release of my third book on Amazon. I spent time on Monday finalizing the paperback so it would go live around the same time, and the timing came out near perfect in the end. 

Thank You!

A huge shout out to my alpha and beta readers. Reading early versions and providing valuable feedback is exciting, but it’s also daunting at times, especially for an extended series of full-length novels. I did have one beta reader drop off this time due to conflicting obligations, so if you are interested in joining the beta team, please let me know!

I also think that Miguel Lobo did an amazing job taking over the cover artist role for this book. The feedback on the third cover has been overwhelmingly positive. I love that the series feels visually cohesive while bringing a new life to my world. 

Thank you so much for helping get the word out!

Finally, a specific thank you to Beba for her ongoing support and stellar street team efforts. Beba has been a beta reader from the first book. She rereads the final versions and always follows through by posting honest reviews on various platforms. Her engagement with me on social media is up there with my sister (and biggest fan). This time, she even posted a recommendation for my series in various groups. I could not be more humbled and appreciative of this level of support. 

And Now!

The ebook is now up to the same price as Hidden Sanctuary. If you were hoping to get preorder pricing, you’ll have to be satisfied with snagging Hidden Strength at a discount instead. The fourth and final installment is available for ebook preorder, and I’m doing similar preorder pricing as I did for Hidden Promise. 

For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, I’m continuing the tradition for this series of giving the book buyers about a four-week headstart. Hidden Promise will shift over to KU sometime around July 10th, so keep an eye out around then for it to become available to your library. 

Happy reading, and don’t forget to leave a rating/review!