ARC GIVEAWAY and My Life-Changing Year

A Rollercoaster of Lack and Abundance

This Christmas finds me feeling even more grateful than most. I live in a welcoming home with an abundance of healthy food. I have purpose, love, and support. I greet my mo‘opuna at dawn and kiss them to sleep at night. And my calm mind has finally returned after fleeing from the discord and instability of the last few years of my life.

Although 2024 kicked off with the intense upheaval of moving and downsizing our house into what could be stuffed—quite literally—into a 20x10x10 storage pod, it also began with great promise and hope. Not only was I finally moving to Oregon to be with our grandchildren, but I signed with Thomas & Mercer for a two-book deal.

I’m overjoyed to share that KAUA‘I STORM, the first of my Ranger Makalani Pahukula Mysteries, is available for pre-order and will be published on May 20, 2025!

GIVEAWAY INFO BELOW.

Not only had I landed my dream publisher and one of the best editors in the business—and with whom I had previously worked—but I did so with a project that grounded me in my Native Hawaiian roots.

Adding to this blessing was the birth of our second grandchild, Nahele.

I’m a writer, yes…but I’m also Tūtū, Māmā, and wife.

When I’m cuddling my mo‘opuna, the completeness I feel supersedes all. My apprehensions dissolve. My expectations vanish. The markers I commonly use for success simplify into a single smile, hug, or kiss.

Why would I want to do anything except this?

I was able to pour all my tūtū love and energy into supporting my ‘ohana and helping to care for my grandbaby, his toddler sister, and their parents. At the same time, I was living in a new space, with a new family culture, and new procedures to learn.

And yet, I was struggling to write the next book.

I was mentally and emotionally exhausted from the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024. To make matters more challenging, I had stopped writing several months earlier after polishing up the manuscript that landed me the deal. My momentum had died. I was out of writing practice, and I didn’t have the will, the time, or the bandwidth to resume.

I was also dealing with the pain and hinderance of a severely arthritic hip, which wasn’t a surprise since I had been warned with my first hip replacement that my other hip was following suit. [Yep. Those decades of professional dance and martial arts had taken their toll.] But since I was skipping town, the most my surgeon could offer was a cortisone injection, which helped me survive the physical demands of the move.

So I began working at 4 a.m. and caught moments to write through the day when I could.

But even with my new strategy, I couldn’t move beyond research and character development to typing words on that excruciatingly blank page.

Then I received news that my Lily Wong publisher shut down.

My Chinese-Norwegian modern-day ninja protagonist—who CrimeReads called “one of the best heroines of the 21st century! —was an orphan.

My momentary lack flipped to abundance, once again, when my series was picked up by Datura Books. They gave my books gorgeous new covers and will re-release the entire four-book set on January 21, 2025 in the USA and UK.

You can pre-order personalized signed and ninja-stamped copies of THE NINJA DAUGHTER, THE NINJA’S BLADE, and THE NINJA’S OATH from Annie Bloom’s Books.

Want to give an empowering gift for the holidays? Consider this gorgeous four-book set!

Despite this happy news for Lily, her creator was still struggling to write.

I desperately needed to visit the Big Island where my second novel would take place. So, despite my dwindling funds, my husband and I headed to Hawai‘i for my whirlwind book research trip and 45th class reunion at Punahou School.

[Although I graduated with President Barack Obama, who has a residence on O‘ahu, he sadly—but not surprisingly—did not attend.]

I did, however, find the inspiration I needed for Ranger Makalani Pahukula’s next adventure and kicked into work.

Here I am at Pu‘ukoholā Heiau National Historic Site interviewing Ranger Renson Madarang.

It took several weeks of diligent effort to raise my productivity, but my pre-dawn writing practice finally paid off with a completed first draft. The hardest part is over, and my favorite stage of writing has begun.

I truly enjoy improving, cutting, and embellishing what I have already committed to the page.

Which brings me full circle back to KAUA‘I STORM.

The stellar professionals working behind the scenes at Amazon Publishing have helped me transform a story I was very proud of into what feels like a phenomenal book.

After receiving these beautiful ARCs, I simply must give one away!

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In addition to sharing, you’ll need to be subscribed to my quazi-monthly Musings by Author Tori Eldridge. But no worries, they’re FREE!

Mahalo for reading and showing an interest in my work.

Until the next year…

Mele Kalikimaka a Hau‘oli Makahiki Hou!

Aloha,
Tori 🌺