Hot Party for “Too Hot” Book #4

Aloha all,

Back in August, the irrepressible women who inspire me to write my Tiki Goddess Mysteries pulled out all the stops to help celebrate the publication of TOO HOT FOUR HULA, Book 4 of the series from Bell Bridge Books.

Hula Maidens Ham It Up!

Not only did they shock the crowd with their rockin’ retro costumes, but they got together before hand, unbeknownst to me, to create hats and hair pieces that featured a new character, Alphonse, a fez wearing monkey.

Not only were there monkeys on dancers’ heads, but there were monkey purses and monkey hula dolls.

 

There were Maidens in fezzes as well as a sexy pirate wench who looked as if she’d just stepped out of one of the scenes in the book.

When these real life Hula Maidens get behind an idea there’s no stopping them!

 

 

Some great hula dancing went on while I worked tirelessly signing books until we sold out! At one point it was a standing room only crowd in the Tahiti Nui Luau Room. (Mahalo to Christian and Nanea Marston.)

Beverly and Patrick Kauanui provided us with some rocking hula tunes.They were joined by Bev’s ukulele students, Na Haumana O Namolokama, along with Ed Blanchett on steel guitar and Grace Hodgson on stand up bass.

It’s not every author who has to sign books, jump up and hula, and swill tropical beverages all at once. I managed with the help of my assistants Beverly Blew and Robin Savage. Her shop, “Robin Savage Gifts,” is in Ching Young Center, “the heart of Hanalei” and if you’re on Kauai and shopping for my titles, they carry them.

 

Jill Marie assisted by Beverly Blew

Fall is here and alas, the party’s over. It’s time to hunker down and get back to work because the  hard working publishers and editors at Bell Bridge Books are awaiting Book 5, tentatively (and hopefully permanently entitled)….

HAWAII FIVE UH-OH!

Stay tuned and many thanks to all of you who support and enjoy the Tiki Goddess Mysteries!

If you’ve read this blog, please be so kind and leave a comment in the box below (not just on facebook) and sign up for our newsletter.

Until next time,

The Tiki Goddess

 

 

 

 

 

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Be My Valentine…an e-Book Special

Aloha All,

Valentine’s Day is on it’s way and I’m pining for chocolate. A big giant heart filled with chocolate. Maybe a year’s worth of it. I’ll probably get a card for sure and flowers, but you can’t stand over a bouquet of flowers and debate over which delicious morsel you want to bite into. But enough of the chocolate for now…

Have you priced Valentine cards lately? Or any cards? What about stamps? No wonder people use electronic cards and emails to send greetings.

How about a Valentine you can give yourself and/or a friend who has an e-reader?

Where else can you get a Valentine that you can savor again and again for under $4.00?

BE MY VALENTINE is a story sampler with not one but two Valentine novellas tucked inside. (BE MY VALENTINE has absolutely nothing to do with Tikis or the Tiki Goddess Mysteries but I know many of you enjoy reading both my romances and the Goddess Mysteries. )

These heartwarming stories (with enough just heat to melt chocolate) are about two different heroines in two different settings the late 1800′s.

In “Picture Perfect,” Emily Richardson, a female photographer, is the last thing Sam Tucker needs on his California cattle ranch. Emily wants to capture the rugged rancher’s life on film, but before he knows it, she’s stealing his heart. Sam’s determined to keep love out of the picture…but will he succeed?

“Faithful and True” is the story of Michael Shaughnessey who hasn’t laid eyes on Beth Waverly-Brown, his his one true love, for seven years. Convinced she walked out on him because of his humble Irish heritage, Michael has tracked her to Colorado where she has become a Valentine artist. He is determined to force Beth to tell him the truth, but can he handle the hidden secrets of a heart willing to sacrifice all for love?

BE MY VALENTINE is available in all ebook formats for under $4.00.

Kindle Nook iBook Kobo

Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you!

The Tiki Goddess

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Mele Ka-Tiki-maka 2014

Mele KaTikimaka from Sunny (and thankfully warm) California,

We’re here for a quick holiday visit with family and friends. My last blog was about my artist/neighbor/friend Mel who lives in Hawaii and creates picassiette mosaics. Now I’m going to share some highlights of “beach Christmas” in sunny (thank goodness) Southern California!

The beach isn’t as crowded as summer, that’s for sure.

Empty Beaches in December

But the beach lifestyle is in full bloom for the Hoildays. Santa hiding the palms, shiny ornaments swing from branches and porch railings, Christmas trees float on the waters of the bay.

Santa in the Palms

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Trees of Light floating on the Bay.

White Christmas, bah humbug. You don’t need winter snow to celebrate the season in style. You just need to reflect the light and sentiment and set the night aglow to fill your hearts with joy.

May you enjoy the peace of Christmas and the Holidays wherever you are.

Our friends celebrate with the Peace sign every year. Mahalo!

Until Next time,

Aloha from The Tiki Goddess

 

 

 

 

P.S. Obviously some folks over here wish they were over there…saw these signs on the Boardwalk on the beach.

Wherever you go, there you are.

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A Goddess Close-Up #1 : Aloha in Bits and Pieces

Aloha All,

For the next few blogs I’m going to introduce you to some fabulous Goddesses and some ideas for the Hawaiian life style. Not only are they some good friends who live here in Hawaii, but they know how to live out loud!

Melsena, better known as “Mel” to her close friends is a quiet artist who tends to shy away from touting her artistic ability. A few years ago Mel took up the art of making picassiette mosaics. (That’s pronounced pee-cassy-ette in case you were wondering.)

Basically, picassiette is the art of breaking up lovely things and gluing them back together in a random or structured pattern, then smearing grout between them. Once Mel has finished a project, the pieces are true masterpieces. If you’re lucky, she’ll gift you with one.

Details of Mel's mosaic work.

As you can see from this detailed close up, not only does she use plates and tiles and pieces of china, she incorporates glass beads, shells, small figurines, jewelery and whatever strikes her fancy.

In her pre-Goddess life before she moved to Hawaii, she was a beloved elementary school teacher in the Santa Cruz area. Now that she lives full time in Hawaii, walking the beach every morning, hosting pupu parties and fabulous dinners, working in her garden and cracking plates keeps her more than busy.

I tell everyone to watch out! If you stand still long enough she’ll glue ceramic pieces all over you and then grout you! Many of Mel’s latest creations involve mermaids…after a summer by the bay taking dips and watching the sunset she’s growing gills and fins.

Mermaid Mel with one of her creations.

 

Does she sell her mosaics? Not yet, but since she’s running out of room in her house, I think that with enough encouragement she just might be willing to let go of a precious piece or two. Does she take special orders? Not on your life, though believe me, folks have asked.

She always says that her art is organic and inspired, not “made to order.”

Here are just a few of Goddess Mel’s pieces:

Flat and Three Dimensional Objects

 

 

 

 

 

Garden Stepping Stone

Pots and Garden Spheres

 

 

 

 

 

And that’s not all….

A Peek into the Workshop

Materials sorted and ready.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Birdbath in the Garden

A big Mahalo to my neighbor, sister Goddess, and dear friend, Mel!

Aloha until next time when I’ll feature another Goddess and share some Hawaii Living and Style ideas. No matter where you live, you can live with aloha style.

The Tiki Goddess

P.S.  What’s your hobby, obsession, creative outlet?

 

 

 

 

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Five Musts for a Successful Booksiging!

Aloha All,

Wow. What a party!

I’m still trying to recover from the “THREE TO GET LEI’D” book signing party we held at the Tahiti Nui Luau Room on Kauai last month. I’ve had book signings before, but  nothing like this one!

I’ve thrown together some tips for aspiring and published authors everywhere. It may help to become a Tiki Goddess before you try implementing these.

1. Pick a great venue, throw a party, and invite an entire island. Radio announcements on KKCR our fabulous public radio station on Kauai as well as coverage in The Garden Island news sure helped get the word out. So did facebook posts.

The Legendary Tahiti Nui Restaurant, Bar, and Luau Room

 

2. Keep the pizza and mai tais flowing. (No host bar of course. I’d have to sell millions of copies to pay for all the tropical adult beverages that crowd could suck down.)

The Nui's Legendary Secret Recipe Mai Tai

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Suggest participants wear a coconut bra and grass skirts. At the very least, hint that they could dress as one of the book’s characters. Then again, my hula sisters are convinced they are the characters in the Tiki Goddess Mysteries!

Is that "Pat Boggs" dancing with "Suzi the Realtor"?

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Hand out plastic pineapple drink cups to folks who arrive in costume. Even the kids. Just make sure they aren’t indulging in adult beverages. (Note to self…bring more prizes next time!)

5. Make sure there are plenty of musicians playing great Hawaiian music and stand back when the spontaneous hula dancing begins.

BianKa Princess Hanalei

Auntie Gets Frisky

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keep Your Eyes on the Hands.

Be sure you have plenty of books and photographers. Many thanks to Nadine S. and Holly W. and others for sharing so many great photos.

Mahalo everyone!

 

 

 

Thanks to everyone who came to the party!

Start planning your costume for next year while I’m working on the next book in the series… TOO HOT FOUR HULA.

For those of you with a Kindle…Amazon.com is now featuring THREE TO GET LEI’D as a $1.99 special release all of the month of August.

Until Next Time,

Tiki On!

The Tiki Goddess

 

 

 

 

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