The Event of the Year is Here!

Get ready to Tiki!

Dig out your Goddess garb or just come as you are!

On JULY 28th from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Tahiti Nui Restaurant and Lounge Luau Room I’ll be signing copies of “Three to Get Lei’d” but mostly I’ll be celebrating with all of you who stop by to party with me along with the wild and whacky inspirations for the Hula Maidens, my hula sistahs, neighbors, and friends!

There will be live music, hula (come and dance!) pupus and a “no host” bar in the Tahiti Nui Luau Room. (A much bigger venue for us to cavort in!)

Bring your uke, wear a retro tiki get up, dress as a character from one of the books or JUST COME AS YOU ARE.

Come Join Us as a Tiki Goddess

 

Live music by the Pono Kane Trio and Friends, Beverly Kauanui and Friends and the Ukulele Haumana O Namolokama and more!

Autographed copies of “Three to Get Lei’d” will be available.

Remember, as this Tiki Goddess always says, “People just need an excuse to party and I like to give it to them!

The famous Julia W. of "The Nui" whips up some Mai Tais!

Hope to see you all there!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aloha!

The Tiki Goddess

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Time to Get Lei’d!

Aloha Readers!

The publication of Three to Get Lei’d crept up on me last night about as fast as the Hula Maidens can get themselves into trouble!  Right now we’re scrambling to get the “Buy” link on the website.

Suddenly the book appeared on Amazon Kindle and people must be downloading like crazy because it’s on the Cozy and Mystery Series Bestseller lists already. YIKES! So you can go straight to Amazon to order. Nook is taking a little longer but hang in there and you’ll be able to download really soon.

Newsletters will go out some time tomorrow so if you aren’t already signed up, look for the box on the page where you enter your email address and you can stay up to date with the latest Tiki Goddess Mystery and other Jill Marie Landis news.

Thanks for sharing the word with your friends, neighbors and anyone who’ll pick up a hula skirt or a cocktail shaker at the drop of a hat.

Mahalo for all of your support!

The Tiki Goddess

Posted in tiki lifestyle, tropical drink recipes | 7 Comments

My Evil Twin’s Photo Shoot

Aloha from Tiki Land,

Ahh the writing life. Always something to do that doesn’t involve actually sitting down and writing. Today it’s re-vamping my other website, the one that belongs to Jill Marie Landis  who is my evil twin. She writes romances. Lots and lots of romances of all kinds.

So today I enlisted my friend Stella Cameron to take a photo for the new look on my other website. Stella’s daughter took Stella’s photo and did a great job, so I was hoping there was something in their DNA that matched.

Stella Cameron Famous Author and Friend

“Quite lovely” as Stella would say (not about herself) about the photo her daughter was able to capture. So with camera in hand Stella and I set out into the jungle of the back yard here on Kauai and hoped for the best.

She didn’t have a lot to work with. I have no suitable clothing that doesn’t scream “Beach!” or “Get me to a makeover!” To make matters worse I lathered on a pound of make up and then I rolled and tucked my hair into what I call the “Suzie Creamcheese” hairstyle. I deem it suitable for an author of world reknown but it is NOT a style any self-respecting Tiki Goddess would choose.

So with my neighbor, Mel, and our cat ‘Omi looking on, Stella and I commenced the photo shoot. It was actually very painless and there were a couple of acceptable choices which will appear on the Jill Marie Landis website soon. Which proves Stella did pass on the DNA for photography, though she does look much lovelier than I do. Perhaps my web guru will add some much needed photo shop magic.

Jill Marie Landis famous romance writer NOT a Goddess look

Of all the nice photos Stella managed to take, the one you will see below is my favorite. She took it when we were all finished, or “pau” as we say here on Kauai. My neighbor was wafting a ti plant around and it was just the right prop and too hard to resist. The photo below proves a Tiki Goddess must always let her hair down and be herself!

You can read all about Stella Cameron and her books at www.stellacameron.com

That is, until she takes up a new career as a photographer.

Aloha,

The Tiki Goddess

After the photo shoot…the Goddess survived!

 

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Tiki Time Rolls On

Aloha All,

What happens when a writer like me crawls into the dark hole before making a book deadline? Life goes on unnoticed as I eat, drink and sleep the book. Type, type, type day in and day out and suddenly when I come up for air, I’m like a groundhog blinking at the light of day. “Huh? What? Where am I? Where did everyone go?”

Who Turned the Lights On?

Now Tiki Time has rolled on, spring has sprung already and “Three to Get Lei’d” Book 3 of the Tiki Goddess Mysteries, is finally at Bell Bridge Books going into production.

I can’t wait to see my cover design because I know it’s going to be a lot of fun and complete with a Tiki, elements from the mystery like a murder weapon or two and some lovely tropical seasonings to spice it up.

As soon as I get a whiff of the cover design I’ll post it and you can start mixin’ those Mai Tais and get ready to kick back and follow the Hula Maidens as they careen through their next caper. Yep, the old broads are at it again!

Stay tuned and Tiki On!

The Tiki Goddess

 

 

 

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Light My Fire!

Aloha All,

It’s not easy researching the latest novel in the Tiki Goddess Mystery series. Today I went to hula practice where the true Hula Maidens were in good form. Some of them have recently learned to make their own practice skirts called pa’u skirts. One of the definitions of pa’u is “a woman’s skirt or sarong.” The skirts the dancers made consisted of 4 yards of print fabric and four rows of elastic at the waist/hip area. Unless the dancer wearing it weighs under 90 pounds, there’s little hope of looking like anything but a floral float in the Rose Parade.

 

Modeling the New Pa'u Skirts

Since I’m busy finishing up THREE TO GET LEI’D, I skipped the sewing bee, but I sent my sewing machine to stand in for me, which should count for something.

While I was home working up a sweat at the computer, I reached a point where I had to stop and I must now come up with a couple more  cocktails created by “Uncle Louie” (a fictional character in the Tiki Goddess Mysteries).

“Uncle Louie” has decided to create a flaming shot to commemorate a scene where the Hula Maidens nearly burn down their beloved Tiki Goddess Bar, the place where they hang out and hula and most of the scenes are set. While researching on the internet I discovered there are some rules of the road to think about while creating flaming shots and cocktails.

 

(Who knew?)

Keep Handy When Drinking Flaming Shots

1. Unless you don’t want to end up in the emergency room, never consume a drink while it’s still on fire. Extinguish it first.

2. Don’t serve flaming drinks to friends who are already inebriated. Note: Kind of takes some of the fun out of this if you ask me.

3. If you let the drink burn too long you might crack the glass…the alcohol will spill out and flames will spread.

4. Hide the crystal. Heavy glassware holds the heat better.

5. The shorter and rounder the glass the better. (Kind of like me.) They are easier to light.

6. It’s better to flame your drinks with the lights down low. The flames burn very blue and sometimes are hard to see unless you’re in the dark.

Extinguish BEFORE Drinking...Duh.

So that’s as far as I’ve gotten. Tonight I may try to concoct a few different versions of flaming shots. First I have to get my hands on either some 151 proof rum or some Everclear which is a high proof grain alcohol. Apparently these are the choices for the float atop the drink as these spirits ignite easily.

For now, stand back, stay tuned and have the fire extinguisher ready!

The Tiki Goddess

 

 

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