#secondhand shadow

Big news! The rights to my first novel, Secondhand Shadow, have reverted to me from the publisher. I am re-publishing it independently, complete with a new cover commissioned from our beloved @jackyjango​ (to be revealed soon)! Secondhand Shadow will be available in ebook and paperback. I am currently working on proofreading the first paperback proof. Tentatively, I’m putting the new publishing date as June 26th.

What is the book about?

Here, have a blurb:

It’s supposed to be a symbiotic relationship: the Shadow serves and protects the human Lumi, the Lumi feeds and cares for the Shadow. But when Damon’s Lumi died young and severed the bond between them, he declined to go with her like a good little Shadow. Yes, it hurts. Yes, he’s cold and hungry all the time. And yes, his own people call him an abomination. But for the first time, Damon’s life is his own, and he’s never going back.  Or so he thinks, until he meets Naomi, a pregnant college student… and bonds to her as his new Lumi. Which has never happened to a Shadow before.

Naomi has enough problems on her plate, juggling college and a crappy survival job, preparing for a baby, and getting over her cheating ex-husband. The last thing she needs is a dark, brooding fellow like Damon depending on her physically and emotionally, and hating her for it. But a vigilante among Damon’s people has his sights set on Naomi – and they both know Damon is her only chance for survival.

What’s different about the re-release?

Mostly small tweaks (and the new cover!); as much as I would have loved to devote six years to Fixing It All, I’m not going to do that. I did change one character’s name to better reflect her background (Dove is now Lihua), and softened Naomi’s more conservative opinions. (I wrote this book over a decade ago, I like to think I’ve grown.)

The entry for the original release remains on Amazon despite my best efforts, I think for the purpose of listing used copies. It shouldn’t be possible for new ones to be printed since that publisher no longer has a contract with me. So if you bought a copy prior to this, congratulations! You own a rare collectible. :D

But is the book any good?

I mean, a few people think so.

You've probably seen me talking about the upcoming re-release of my first novel, Secondhand Shadow. One of the major advantages of doing that has been the opportunity to get a new cover, one that has more drama, is more reflective of the story's themes, and more accurate to my own image of the characters. I got to have a lot of design input and pick out the characters' photos, and @jackyjango​ put together a gorgeous cover that I'm so happy with!

DRUMROLL PLEASE…

My first novel, Secondhand Shadow, which I’m re-publishing independently now that the contract with the original publisher has expired, is now available for pre-order! It will be released June 26th. (At which time I’m also planning some steep sales for my other works as well, so stay tuned!)

You can grab the ebook at Amazon or Smashwords for 99 cents. Paperback will also be available June 26th. Blurb below the cut!

All Lilith’s children were doomed to share her fate, until the surviving children of Eve spilled their own blood to save their brothers and sisters, and became the first Lumii.

Like their mother, Lilith’s children have no immortal souls of their own. We share our Lumi’s soul, and if we don’t die when we they do... then we’ve missed the boat.

—from Secondhand Shadow by Elizabeth Belyeu

Westley pulled me into the hallway, leaving a wet scarlet handprint on my arm. “Don’t let him breach. Please, Naomi.”

“What do you expect me to do?”

Westley pointed through the doorway at Audrey. “Do you see that? That half-mad, half-dead creature that only hours ago was an intelligent person? That will be Damon, any minute. Unless you act. Blood to blood, that’s all it takes. Please. I can’t loose him, too.”

—from Secondhand Shadow by Elizabeth Belyeu

“So who do I look like?”

He jumped, as if he hadn’t expected me to have the power of speech. “What?”

“Either I look like someone you never wanted to see again, or I smell bad. Since you got in an elevator with me, I’m going with Option A.”

—from Secondhand Shadow by Elizabeth Belyeu

So back when Secondhand Shadow was first released in 2014, my publisher arranged for me to go on a “blog tour,” being interviewed by some of their other authors on their blogs. Several of those interviews have vanished over time, others were pretty repetitive of each other, but here’s two good ones that still exist:

“Path to Publication”

“Getting to Know You”

With Secondhand Shadow coming out in 3 days (June 26th!) [Amazon] [Smashwords], I am opening my inbox to publishing questions of all sorts! I have published three novels and two novellas using a variety of methods -- independent and traditional, agented and unagented. Ask me anything!