In which I see for the first time the paperback proof of An Emperor for the Eclipse.
Author: ErisAdderly
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Eighth House v2.0 Excerpt and Progress Updates
Hey everyone! Progress update for you: I’m still hard at work revising The Eighth House for submission to my publisher. As of right now, it’s 32% longer than the original and still growing. It’s gonna be the same essential story, but I’m hoping a whole lot more awesome. I don’t know how long it’s going to take me. Could be another month or two, but I can’t carve anything in stone because life. You know?
Meanwhile, An Emperor for the Eclipse is in the hands of my editor, and I already have assets collected and plans for the cover design. When I get the edited copy back and review, it’s off to self-pub land with formatting for e- and print books and a whole slew of other preparatory work. Maybe by the end of January, early February for that one to go up for pre-order on Amazon? Get my newsletter so you know right away.
So while all that’s going on, how about a juicy tidbit from The Eighth House 2.0? This is from the new version of the first scene where Hades and Persephone finally seal the deal. The new scene is way longer, a bit more believable (IMHO), and possibly a bit less rapey than the original. All the tension is still there, I’ve just chosen to draw it out in a different (more satisfying, I hope) way. Here you go!
From Flames of Olympos Volume I: The Eighth House, Part IV: Restraint
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Cold! Something wet popped her on the shoulder and she gave a little gasp. Hades’s eyes opened at her jerk and she looked to the ceiling just as another drop of water pocked down against her skin.
The overhead landscape of the chamber still hung heavy with descending stone, but there was no way to mistake it for the same dead cavern she’d seen on her way in the door. There were stalactites and stone curtains, yes, but they were new, and in different locations. Where before, there had been dry relics of the space’s forming, now there were wet inverted spires of living stone, dripping humid life onto their knobby counterparts rising from the floor. Onto her. The bones of the earth in Hades’s private rooms almost seemed to blossom, for lack of a better word.
“My Lord, is this normal?”
He huffed amusement and gathered her close at the hip. “Little flower, not a single piece of this is normal. Not you, not this”—he made a lazy gesture around the room with his free hand—“not any of it.”
She cast a wary eye around the altered space, the potential violence she saw now in the columns of stone. “Will it”—she bit her lip—“will it happen every time?”
The hand at her waist moved up into her wild hair, gripping and drawing her down near his face. “I have no idea, Persephone,” he said, awakening to mischief again. “But your assumption there will be other times is most encouraging.”
So was the hot tongue in her mouth, the scrape of nails at her scalp. If this was the ‘ruin’ to which obedience brought her, Persephone would obey and let him raze her to the ground, then beg to be remade so he could destroy her again.
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“A Trick of the Light” Cover Design and Summer Must-Read
Hey ya’ll! Time to show off yet another book cover design and recommend to you another excellent story.
I got to make this cover for my friend Addison Cain and her Prohibition-era romance A Trick of the Light.
A Trick of the Light by Addison Cain I can’t sing the praises of this book enough. First, everything Addison writes, I love. Her prose is delicious and addicting, dark and raw, just how I like it. Second, you don’t get to see a lot of stories in this time period (American 1920s), so I both enjoyed the rarity of the setting and her eye for period detail that just makes this thing shine like a gem. When you hear the dialogue in this book, you’ll be transported to small town where illegal moonshine flows as regular as blood from a split lip, and to the gang-tough streets of Chicago, bullets, pomade and all.
And that brings me to the heroine of this novel: like all Addison’s leading ladies, this woman is an irrepressible badass. She’s hard as a rock, and stumbles into the life of a man who can’t resist her, even while he doesn’t know what to even do with a woman like her. It’s such a fun read, you guys – you’ll be rooting for these two lovers from the beginning. And there are some secondary characters that, dear god, Addison needs to write some related stories for.
You can get A Trick of the Light right now:
[button title=”Amazon” link=”https://www.amazon.com/Trick-Light-Addison-Cain-ebook/dp/B01JB7S5OA” new_tab=”yes”] [button title=”Barnes & Noble” link=”http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-trick-of-the-light-addison-cain/1124216980?ean=2940156829545″ new_tab=”yes”]
(And if you have a book that needs a cover, here’s my portfolio page. You like my style? Let’s talk!)
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A Trick of the Light
Prohibition has a stranglehold on legitimate business, but for small towns willing to play dirty, and country boys looking to make a pretty penny on shine, Prohibition has been a boon. For Monroe County, it’s the very life blood that keeps their backwoods community afloat.
But something isn’t right about the new girl in town. Charlotte Elliot swears, she drinks, and she’s trying too damn hard to fit in with the simple folk. The moonshining backbone of Monroe, Matthew Emerson, is less than thrilled when the blonde comes knocking on his door.
He knows what she is, what she’s capable of.
Charlotte doesn’t mind his glares. All she pines for is a quiet place to start over, but try as she might, there is no pleasing Matthew. The gruff outlaw is only too happy to point out her flaws, to correct her mouth, and to find himself spellbound and awkward every time he happens to catch her pretty blue eyes.
A rotten past has a way of catching up with a girl, and the most notorious gangster in Chicago has found her—and he wants her back. Matthew aims to keep her, but if he wants her, if he really loves her, he has the fight of his life on his hands.
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I’m at it again! Cover design for Jennifer Bene’s “Tara”
A few weeks ago I made a new cover for Jennifer Bene‘s badass romantic fantasy novel, Fae. Well Fae was book one in a series, and at the time I did that cover, the talented Ms. Bene was just finishing up book two: Tara. And now here we have it!
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As you can see, we’ve opted for continuity in the cover designs so it’s immediately apparent they’re part of a series. Book Two is about a different heroine in the same world (though Fae from Book One makes an appearance in Book Two), so different cover model, different color theme.You can preorder Tara on Amazon right now for a June 3 automatic delivery to your Kindle! Check it out!
(And if you have a book that needs a cover, here’s my portfolio page. You like my style? Let’s talk!)[content_box type=”without-header” text_color=”dark” color=”color-alt-1″]
Immortal. Enslaved by an ancient god. Can she ever be free?
Obey and survive. Those have been the words that Tara has lived by for over a thousand years. She is Faeoihn, an immortal warrior for the goddess Eltera, but none of that matters when she’s cursed by one of the gods in her pantheon to serve as a slave for eternity.
All because of a single battle, lost over two millennia ago.
When an assassin appears in the dead of night to take her to a new master, she doesn’t fight, because when you’ve lived in darkness for so long it’s hard to believe in the light. But this handsome, all-too-mortal man, has his own demons and his kindness might just be the thing to wake Tara up.
No women. No kids.
Simple rules to live by, but they have let Alaric deal with the life he’s been given. A life of privilege, money, and power – as long as he takes the lives he’s told to. When his mentor sends him on a job to kill a man and kidnap a woman, he reluctantly accepts.
But once he’s face to face with this beautiful, strange girl, he’s not sure he can turn her over when the call finally comes. As Tara and Alaric clash, their pasts catch up to them in a whirlwind that is inescapable, forcing them to acknowledge the mistakes they’ve made and see that with each other they might find salvation.
Can Tara find the will to fight again? Can Alaric betray the only family he has left to protect her?
Discover their destiny in this exciting dark, paranormal romance!Publisher’s note: Tara is the second book in the Daughters of Eltera series. It contains dark themes, slavery, violence, damaged heroes, and gods and goddesses. If those things don’t interest you, please seek another book.
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[button title=”Get TARA on Amazon” link=”https://www.amazon.com/Tara-Daughters-Eltera-Book-2-ebook/dp/B01G81ZKD6″ new_tab=”no” size=”small”]
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Jennifer Bene’s “Fae” has a new cover!
Hey there, people! I can’t stand the excitement! My buddy Jennifer Bene needed a new cover for her badass romantic fantasy novel, Fae, and I got to make it for her. YAY!
I got to read this book, which I’m sure helped me get the vibe of the story and translate it into a cover. Her heroine is an immortal bound into eternal servitude in the aftermath of an ancient war between rival gods. I was totally up until 6 AM reading it on day, I’m not gonna lie.
I have to say, I’m over the moon about this cover. The model, the lighting, they typography. And the lovely Ms. Bene just finished writing the next book in the series, so I can’t wait to continue with an image of the next Daughter of Eltera.
You can get Fae on Amazon right now! Check it out!
(And if you have a book that needs a cover, here’s my portfolio page. You like my style? Let’s talk!)[content_box type=”without-header” text_color=”dark” color=”color-alt-1″]
Chosen. Cursed. Enslaved.Fae just wants to live day to day. She doesn’t want to think about a future filled with another two thousand years of servitude. She doesn’t want to think about her past, or the way she failed the goddess she swore to serve forever. And she really doesn’t want to think about the men and women that suffer around her every day while she can’t protect them – no matter how hard she tries.
She’s definitely not ready when her entire world is turned upside down and the one person she would never choose to spend a minute with shows up.
After millennia of suffering, is it even possible to trust someone? To let herself believe that good still exists?
Damned. Cursed. Corrupted.
Kiernan doesn’t know what he wants. After centuries of bloodshed, and war, and killing – he’s waking up, and if the things he dreams in his sleep were only nightmares that would be one thing, but they’re all real.
The only light in his darkness is a girl inside a glass, and he can’t stop watching her. Her bravery fascinates him, inspires him. Her suffering is what he deserves.
Yet some part of him craves more, craves something good. But is there anything that can be done when gods have used you as pawns in their own war? Can good things come out of evil?
NOTE: Fae is the first book in the Daughters of Eltera series. It contains dark themes, slavery, violence, damaged heroes, and gods and goddesses.
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The Skull & Crossbone Romances now available in paperback!
Paperback Pirates
Get your timbers shivered the old-fashioned way: with a real book.Sometimes you just like to hold a paper book in your hand. Feel the pages turn under your fingers. Wedge a bookmark in it when it’s time for a break. I get it.
That’s why I’m super excited to make The Skull & Crossbone Romances available in paperback, in addition to the existing ebook format.
You can find them now on Amazon North American stores (US, CA), and Amazon European stores (UK, DE, FR, IT, ES).
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The Skull & Crossbone Romances: Book 1Lust and discovery, betrayal and secrets in the age of sail. Oh yes, and pirates. Dirty, dirty pirates. A young widow from Bristol is ready to sail for the Colonies, but fate seems to have other ideas. A full-length erotic bodice-ripper novel to satisfy your thirst for adventure and pleasure on the high seas.
362 pages[button title=”Shop The Devil’s Luck” link=”hyperurl.co/zrxd36″ new_tab=”yes” size=”small”]
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The Skull & Crossbone Romances: Book 2
A tragic, Gothic romance novella, with a dark, Halloween twist. The origin story of the villainous surgeon who menaced Hannah aboard The Devil’s Luck.
86 pages
[button title=”Shop Rowland Graves” link=”hyperurl.co/ayb8ux” new_tab=”yes” size=”small”]
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The Skull & Crossbone Romances: Book 3A light-hearted, bawdy pirate romance novella following Brigit, the widow’s maid from The Devil’s Luck, and her adventures down in the galley when she catches the unexpected eye of the ship’s cook.
138 pages
[button title=”Shop The Maid and The Cook” link=”hyperurl.co/es46ju” new_tab=”yes” size=”small”]
[/content_box]And of course, there are more pirates headed your way in the future with The Carpenter and The Deckhand and The Merry Widow! Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or sign up for my email list to be the first to hear about progress and new releases. See you soon!
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New Story! Mine, All Mine (Out of the Friend Zone Boxed Set) Available for Preorder NOW!
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A Friends to Lovers Romance Boxed Set
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It’s here! It’s here! The new boxed set is here!
Out of the Friendzone (A Friends to Lovers Romance Boxed Set)
from The Erotic Collective is available for preorder now on Amazon!
The release date is March 17, but if you preorder now for $0.99 (USD), you’ll get the whole set delivered automatically to your Kindle on the 17th.
[/icon_box]Seven Great Stories (Including Mine!) for One Low Price
Seven friends-to-lovers romance stories in which best friends fall in love with each other…
Love reading friends-to-lovers stories? This is the anthology for you. SEVEN all-new novellas, and no cliffhangers. Hundreds of pages of steamy, sexy romance await!
Stories include:
Simply Casual by Tara Crescent
Max has never been on a fourth date. Charlie is terrified of commitment. The first time they met, they were both breaking up with other people. What will it take for them to realize they are perfect for each other?
Mine All Mine by Eris Adderly
Taylor hasn’t been able to stop fantasizing about her best friend Ian ever since a spontaneous New Year’s Eve kiss four years ago. Too bad he has a girlfriend. Why can’t she just keep her hands—and everything else—to herself?
A Professional Courtesy by Cat Spencer
Ben Wolfe is everything Shea wants in a partner with just one problem – she’s paying him to be! Can they see past their business arrangement to find love?
Destiny Unscripted by Christine Hart
DESTINY: A power guiding the development of events beyond one’s control; fate, karma, serendipity. DESTINY UNSCRIPTED: Part story ~ part screenplay ~ two couples discovering their destiny.
Midlife Magic by Anne A. Lois
Luka Dragovic, rock star, and Jillian Dulski, kickass scientist, were high-school best friends. Now, they live worlds apart. Could their midlife reunion ever become more than a singular, magical experience?
A Temporary Arrangement by Alice Schermer
A man in need of a place to live moves in with a woman with secrets. Sparks, or feelings of any nature, should not ensue. But they do.
A Lifetime of Memories by Livnah A. Eden
You don’t love someone because you know them. You love them because of how well they know you.Your true love will know you the moment they see you. And they will know you and love you forever.
Warning: This anthology contains many scenes of erotic sexual encounters. It is intended for mature readers.
Preorder your copy now!
[button title=”Amazon” link=”http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CLM0JA0″ new_tab=”yes” size=”small”]
[button title=”Amazon UK” link=”http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01CLM0JA0″ new_tab=”yes” size=”small”]
[button title=”Amazon CA” link=”http://www.amazon.ca/Friend-Friends-Lovers-Romance-Boxed-ebook/dp/B01CLM0JA0″ new_tab=”yes” size=”small”]
[button title=”Amazon AU” link=”http://www.amazon.com.au/Friend-Friends-Lovers-Romance-Boxed-ebook/dp/B01CLM0JA0″ new_tab=”yes” size=”small”]
Don’t own a Kindle? You can get the free Kindle app for Android, Apple or PC, and enjoy Out of the Friendzone on your phone, computer or tablet.
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More After Exile Artwork: Portrait of Kadrian Ayzhus
As I said in last week’s post, “one of these days, I might even post a couple sketches I’ve made, if you promise not to judge me too hard. Hehe.” And here we are.
Over the lovely Valentine’s Day weekend I had with Mr Adderly, we spent a few hours having Art Time. Which mostly consists of us sitting around the living room sketching away while I try not to annoy him too much with my choice of background music. During this time, I got a bee in my bonnet to make a pencil portrait of Kadrian Ayzhus, our womanizing general from After Exile. I also had the rare foresight to take some work-in-progress pics (where were cell phone cameras when I was in painting class in college?), so you can see a little of our Parthi Blyd Kriga’al as she develops on the page.
I’m not entirely happy with the right side of her face (her right). I feel like somehow I was going for three-quarter profile, and the way I have her nose and left eye, it’s looking closer to a full profile. But otherwise I’m content with it for now. Her smirk took a lot of fiddling, but it conveys the tone I have in my head for Kadrian. I’d like to pull the sketch into Photoshop at some future point and use it for an guideline for a digital painting. It’d be nice to see her in color with some decent lighting.
I’d like to do Bellora and Niquel next (I want to do Raothan, but I’m horrible at drawing men!). I’m sure they’ll materialize as the mood strikes me.
Progress Part 1: I’ve got a head shape down and the beginnings of some facial features. It’s funny, in oil paintings, I always do the eyes last. In pencil, they always show up first. I could have got some earlier pics, but it didn’t occur to me to take progress images until this point. 
Progress Part 2: some more definition to the rest of the face. There’s something Lady Gaga-ish happening with that overbite, no? Unintentional. Am just seeing it now as I write this caption. Also, it’s hard to show a scar that’s really just a furrow in the skin in a basic pencil sketch. A future color version and I’ll have that looking more natural. 
Final Sketch: There she is, in all of her arrogant, tattooed glory. Note: sketching hair and braids with a mechanical pencil is bullshit. But I was too lazy to hike upstairs and root around in the attic/storage for my legitimate drawing supplies, so that’s what I get. Feh. So you can see her Blyd Kriga’al ram’s horn tattoo there on the shaved portion of her head. And her warrior’s queue (“braid”, Americans, braid). If you’ll picture this hair on a man, then you’ll know what Raothan’s running around with. Though I don’t think he keeps his queue bound (that was a spur of the moment decision I made while drawing).
So yup. That happened. It felt good to draw something. I haven’t made time to do it in a long time. And drawing and painting is something I used to do all the time. This whole “adult” thing is BS. Where’s all the fun shit I was going to get up to? Why don’t I have time for anything?
Chapter 8 of Emperor is in progress: 5400 words or so as of last night. Hope to have you more to read soon!
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Behold! The Saigus: A Concept Sketch Collection
The Adderly household is an artistic one, if nothing else. There are sketchbooks, pads, and canvases everywhere you look, with all sorts of artwork in various states of completion, as my husband and I are both artists. If only there was time to do more! MOAR!
One of Mr. Adderly’s talents is creature design, so naturally I’ve been nudging him since I started After Exile to illustrate Styrro, Raothan’s war mount (the saigus mentioned in the story) so I might be able to show you lovely people what I have in my head when I write about this beast.
Much like many artists, he’s forever tinkering with his own ideas; tweaking, re-imagining, never quite satisfied about having it juuust right. Me? I’m impressed as hell with his work, even if he never feels like it’s “done”. He’s way better than I am about drawing from his imagination. I’m more of a portrait painter: “Let me paint you something that looks just like what you’re already looking at.”
So here, for your nerdy viewing pleasure, are a sampling of his saigus concept sketches, selected from his efforts over the last few months. I’ve got some other sketches from him I’ll post as the relevant elements appear in the story. And one of these days, I might even post a couple sketches I’ve made, if you promise not to judge me too hard. Hehe.
Early head and body type experiments. There were early debates about whether the body type should be more rhino, more horse, or more ankylosaurus. 
Later head and body sketches. This head is the one I mostly picture when I write. Also some saddle concepts here. 
The most recent body concept. The clubbed tail is in the proportion I need, and the back is swayed enough for a rider to sit on.
They’re great, right? I love them!
I can’t really express how much my husband has helped me on this story. We’ve spent hours debating the plot (and as we all know, I’m a master debater), talking through world-building issues, and piecing together fantasy creatures, architecture, and more. There’s a way bigger world I’ve yet to show you (most of it we won’t even get to until book two!) and he’s been an invaluable part of making it into something interesting and textured.
I’m working on Chapter 8 now, so expect to see updates on that in the next few weeks. Until then, happy reading!
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New Story Excerpt: Mine, All Mine
I’ve been up to plenty since the last time I posted, believe you me. And one of the things I’ve been up to was writing a brand new novella for Out of the Friendzone, an Erotic Collective anthology. Every story in this upcoming boxed set is centered around a Friends-to-Lovers journey, and mine is no different.You ever have that one friend? The one you’ve known for years? And every now and then, some image comes flashing into your head of you and them in an extremely friendly situation? But you blow it off because one or both of you is in a relationship and it’s just nonsense daydream stuff, anyway. Maybe. Maybe it is. Oh, fuck it. Now you need a drink.
Well, Taylor Sharpe is right there in that boat in Mine, All Mine, growing more and more flustered over the thoughts she keeps having about her college friend Ian. And, like many of us imperfect beings, she does something stupid.
This thing is coming out soon – within a month! Edits are happening now! Want a peek? OK, you twisted my arm …
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Mine, All Mine Excerpt:
There are times in a person’s life where they need to choose a path at a fork in the road. So they sit down at a table or flop on the couch and grab a notepad and the last chewed-up Bic in the house with no lid on it. They make two columns on their little yellow pad: one for pros and one for cons. And on one side they write down all the good things that could come of cranking up some AC/DC and riding that Highway to Hell, and on the other side: all the unpleasant fallout that would warn against it.
Line by line, point by point they’d see the score adding up, and sooner or later it would become clear. Right there in front of them would be the reasonable, rational answer and, regardless of what they wanted in their greedy little hearts, they could put their finger square on the best choice. Knowing they’d examined all possibilities, they could take the path that wouldn’t bite them in the ass later.
For Taylor Sharpe, sitting at the entrance of an abandoned mine in the middle of nowhere with her best friend Ian, right now was not one of those times.
“You ever heard the term ‘bro-job’?” She punctuated the question with another swig from her water bottle to avoid having to make eye contact.
“Uhm, no.” He laughed. “Do I even want to?”
“Well, I’d tell you to look it up, but it’s not like there’s Wi-Fi out here.”
“OK? So?”
What the fuck are you doing, Sharpe?
“It’s when two straight dudes who’re friends help each other out in the blow job department.” He was already snorting. “One of them’s going through a dry spell and the other one scratches his back. Or well … you know.”
“Um, I am not asking Nick for a bro-job, Sharpie,” he said, making a double-handed gesture of negation beneath climbing eyebrows that spoke of confused amusement. “Thought you’d know me better than that by now.”
Just stop. Laugh it off.
“I’m not talking about Nick, dumbass. I mean, Me.”
The first traces of nerves showed when he sat up a little straighter on his rock. “I don’t think it counts if a girl does it.” The humor was still in his voice, but things had just jumped off the ledge into Weird. Some mature, responsible part of her sighed somewhere, turned off the lights, and shut the door, knowing the whole thing was beyond saving.
“Oh stop,” she said. “I’ve been one of the boys since the day we met. Probably why I keep going through boyfriends. They think they’re getting a girl and then, BAM! Wrong again!”
“Yeah well, except for that one time at New Year’s,” he said, looking at the dirt with a wry grin.
“Eh. There was alcohol. That doesn’t count.” She waved him off with a hand.
Ian looked up at her then, forehead wrinkled in incredulity. “Hey, uhh … if you’re fuckin’ serious—I mean … I appreciate the offer and all that but …”
“But what?” Taylor said, standing. “I am serious. Free bro-job. Right now.” She took two steps in his direction and his eyebrows shot back up.
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Well? Curious? I have to tell you, I’m stoked to get to use the phrase “bro-job” in the course of a story. If you want to be notified when this is out on Amazon, sign up for my email list and I’ll tell you as soon as it’s live. See you there!
