Raine Miller

Stories for Amanda

26 Sep 2013

I finally got invited to participate in an anthology project after years of hoping someone would ask me. I have to say that I LOVE the one I am a part of and grateful to Kahlen Aymes for reaching out to me with an inquiry. Stories for Amanda is an anthology collection of sixteen short stories from amazing authors of romance and young adult. The proceeds will go entirely to benefit the Amanda Todd Legacy as a way to educate people about the harmful effects of bullying. In Amanda’s case, bullying was the cause of the destruction of her young life at only fifteen years old. If you don’t know who she is, then you need to watch her video, made shortly before she took her life. It is not easy to watch, and you will need tissues to get through it, but it is important to understand how much pain bullying caused for her to the point that she couldn’t face even another day. Think about that for a moment. Sobering isn’t it?

Click here to view. The video is 8:55 minutes long.

*hands you a box of tissues* I know that was rough, but necessary… I remember when I watched it just one year ago and I think I sat still and stunned at my computer for at least an hour afterward. Amanda’s story pulled me in and wouldn’t let go. I guess being a teacher for two decades has opened my eyes to how devastatingly hurtful words can be to a child.

So, that being said, I hope you will purchase the book when it goes live next month, and support this worthy effort.

I also hope you enjoy my contribution to the anthology. The story I included is called Priceless, and is the basis for a novel I am writing for publication in 2014. Priceless contains a deleted scene from All In on the night of the Mallerton Gala. Have you figured out where I am going with this one yet??? Gabrielle and Ivan have a thing… Brynne’s best friend, and Ethan’s sexy aristocratic cousin, Lord Rothvale, ie. Ivan Everley, meet up and share some time together at the gala. I’m excited for readers to finally know what really happened with those two in that dark room before the alarm went off and cleared out the building. Ethan definitely saw them and wondered precisely what they were up to, but was far too preoccupied during his frantic search for Brynne to pay much attention. *snickers* I bet you can guess…

Here is a small excerpt from Priceless. Gabrielle is looking at a painting and thinking about her life.

Two hundred years, two years. They might as well be the same thing. A lot could change in just two years…

I tried not to think about what I’d lost, but my self-imposed loneliness got the better of me sometimes, and I desperately longed for what Mrs. Gravelle had in her painting.

“I found you,” a smooth voice said behind me.

I turned to see who was speaking to me and got an eyeful of beautiful. The man before me was six feet plus of dark, lean and sexy with green eyes the color of my dress. He flashed me a smile that could only be described as wicked.

“Are you sure you were looking for me?” He appeared to have money because I’d bet my extravagant new gown, that the tux hanging off his fine form was most certainly bespoke. No doubt about it. Was he a patron in need of a gallery tour? A large contributor VIP?

“Oh yes, it’s definitely you,” he purred, “the beauty in the green dress.” He leaned forward. Close but not touching, his face tilted toward my neck. I backed up. He followed…until I was pressed against the wall. “And they were so right,” he said in his silky voice.

Gabrielle Hargreave

“Right about what?” I asked, mesmerized by his features and his delicious scent, totally overpowered by how close he was to me. My God, he smelled good. “Um…d-did you want the standard t-tour?” I stuttered, amazed that coherent words were even forming from my lips.

“Mmm hmm,” he said, nodding slowly, drawing his gaze up my neck, “I definitely want your tour.”

I cannot wait for you all to read it.

xxooR

Rare and Precious Things

25 Aug 2013

Ebook RAPT small Today is a very special day. A day that one year ago put into motion the events that have led to many changes in my life. One year ago, on August 25, 2012, I self-published Naked, The Blackstone Affair Part 1. I didn’t have any grand expectations about my little novella– I was far too busy at my teaching job with the start of a new school year. I think I sold 44 copies on the very first day and the majority of those sales were friends who LOVE me, so they don’t really count. I know for sure I sold 11 copies on the 2nd day. And you know what? I was totally happy and satisfied with that number. That’s over 300 books in a month and was the biggest success I’d had up to that point. I’d happily take it and count my blessings. But something very unexpected happened over the next few days and into the 2nd week. I also clearly remember coming down the stairs and saying to my husband in bewilderment, “Something weird is happening on Amazon. I think I’m going to sell over 100 books today.”

The surprises just kept coming and still continue up to now, one year later, like when an amazing author comes up to me at a signing and wants to meet me, or says they know all about me and my books and I think: This cannot be happening to me. It has to be a dream. Surely they’ve made some kind of a mistake.

Surreal. Every bit of it.

So I asked myself what I could give back to all of the amazing fans on this day as a token of my extreme thanks and appreciation for their support of this book series and their love for the characters over this past year?

I thought about it a lot and then decided that this was the perfect time to share what is coming.

Everyone has been so patient with waiting on me to reveal the title for my fourth Blackstone Affair book. Thank you for that. *Raine has truly been impressed* But I can tell you that the wait is now over…AND there’s the added bonus of getting a first look at the cover as well. I hope you love it as much as I do. I am supremely grateful to the crazy talented Marya Heiman of Strong Image Design for helping me to get my vision realized for this fourth book which I have titled Rare and Precious Things. She nailed it!

You have the title. You have the cover. The book will be here sometime in late 2013 to early 2014 and that is as specific as I can be right now.

Blessings to all of you and please know that I am always feeling ever grateful for mine.

xxoo R

Naked for National Nude Day!

15 Jul 2013

I’ve missed it by a day but oh well, July 14th is National Nude Day in the US. That’s cool, but don’t count on me expressing any desires to actually be nude in celebration or anything, cuz that won’t be happening…ever. The date is interesting though because one year ago, nearly to the day, something happened that changed my life.

The summer was going as it usually does, kids home all day, husband home with us (both teachers on summer vacation) and various summery activities going on around me. So the third week of July 2012 comes and that is when the life-changing event happened. My husband took our two sons away for a week at Boy Scout Camp. I love that week every summer when they all go to Boy Scout Camp. It’s my favorite. I have precious solitude and know I’ll get a lot of writing done. House stays clean. I don’t have to cook anything unless I want to eat. I can swim in my pool without children splashing around in there. I get to stay up late watching HBO and Showtime without worry that a kid will see what I’m watching. *all the shows I like to watch are inappropriate for children* Basically, I am a very happy woman alone with my free time.

I got right to work with a manuscript that needed some attention. I wrote during the day and then in the evening I combed over online stock photo sights and looked for images that could potentially go onto my book cover. On the second night of my domestic freedom, I found an image that changed everything.

The picture that inspired me.

It was a beautiful picture of a naked woman posing in an unconventional way but so perfect everything just clicked into place all in an instant. A serendipitous moment. I thought about the picture and what it would be like to be a nude model and meet the man who bought your portrait. My first indie published book was born in that moment with just the seed of an idea and a picture. Naked, The Blackstone Affair Book 1 was that story. I sat down and wrote the opening chapter right then and had to set aside the other manuscript I was working on. I wrote like a fiend for three weeks until it was done. I couldn’t stop writing and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. The whole idea and story pretty much took over my life for the rest of the summer.

I was scared to self-publish Naked, because I had only written books for one small press publisher and knew next to nothing about how to go off independently all on my own. But I was blessed with the wise words and helpful encouragement from a dear friend and fellow author, Belinda Boring, who got me to press ‘publish’ on KDP back in August of 2012. What happened next was a whirlwind-roller-coaster–ride-of-crazy that didn’t really stop until after the holidays. The books became bestsellers, landed me my super agent, and eventually a traditional publishing contract with Atria Books. It’s all a blur to me now. A crazy, scary, unbelievable blur with Christmas decorations and those little chocolate bottles with liqueur inside, mixed in. True story.

Naked went on to make the New York Times and so did its sequels, All In and Eyes Wide Open. Nobody was more surprised than I was, and nobody could have told me then, that one year later I would be a full time writer going to book signings and conventions with lovely people standing in line to meet me. The whole concept is still bewildering and I imagine it will stay that way to some degree for the rest of my life.

The book that resulted.

So back to my original idea for this post–National Nude Day. It was a good day for me to reflect on what inspired me to even write the book that changed my life in the first place. A beautiful nude image. Never give up on your dreams, you never know where they can lead. Look where a naked picture took me!!!

xxoo R

Dueling DaVinci

31 May 2013

So there’s this guy who wrote a book called The DaVinci Code some time ago. Name’s Dan Brown, and he writes some really great stories. I can remember so well Memorial Day 2003 at my house. We had a group over and we were all talking about DaVinci Code and how much we all loved the book. I think I bought a hardcover for my mom to read and she was engrossed for most of the party as she devoured the pages. I know I had major book hangover when I finished reading it–I definitely remember feeling bereft!

That all happened ten years ago.

Flash forward to 2013 and it’s the same time of year, and again, we have a gathering at our house for the Memorial Day holiday. Dan Brown’s new book, Inferno, was mentioned a few times throughout the day, but I have not yet had a chance to read it. I’m sure I will enjoy it very much…once I finally have the time to sit down with it. So why am I rambling, you ask?

Well in those ten years some things have changed for me too. I worked hard at my teaching job and raising two amazing kids with my husband. I read a lot of good books like The DaVinci Code, and accomplished some things I’ve always wanted to do. But at some point during those ten years, I started writing my own book. Finished it and wrote another. Then I got a manuscript accepted by a publisher…and that was the beginning of my career as an author. I’ve never stopped writing and have no plans to do so either.

On Tuesday, May 14th, 2013, Dan Brown released his new book.

So did I.

One week later the New York Times Bestsellers Lists came out, and this is where the really surreal, crazy part comes.

I don’t even need to say it. The picture tells all. Hell, I’ll say it anyway…

Somehow, some way, my Eyes Wide Open sits at #2 right below Dan Brown’s Inferno on the New York Times Book Review. I still have to ask myself if that’s real… Another little ironic twist of fate are the words I have on my dedication page in Eyes Wide Open:

The eye sees a thing more clearly in dreams than the imagination awake.

Leonardo DaVinci

Yeah, I had no idea when I chose that beautiful quote months ago… Da vinci Oh, but I do have one question for you, Dan Brown. Why couldn’t you have released your book just one little insignificant week later?

xxoo R

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