Elisa Keyston's Blog

As I’m working on Fool’s Gold in earnest now, I’m thinking about reading order for the Northwest Magic series. Alexandra’s Riddle and Old Flames very much stand alone, and are so independent from each other that I know some readers have been kind of confused how they even connect to each other at all. (Which, I’m sure, is exacerbated by how long it’s been with no further books in the series—I apologize for time getting away from me so badly!)

Old Flames was originally not supposed to be a full-length book; it was going to just be a newsletter-exclusive short story or novella, a “Book 0.5” for the series. The story would have gone directly from Alexandra’s Riddle as Book 1 to Fool’s Gold as Book 2. (This is also why Fool’s Gold is the book that’s foreshadowed at the end of Alexandra’s Riddle.) But then the plot of Old Flames wound up ballooning, and it came in almost exactly the same length as Alexandra’s Riddle. Thus, it became Book 2 of the series, despite being a prequel.

While it may seem like the books have nothing to do with each other apart from the premise of faery gifts, they’re actually both going to connect pretty strongly to Fool’s Gold. This is the book that’s going to start tying everything together.

I am going to do my best to make the books stand alone, but I do think that, unlike the other two, with Fool’s Gold, it will make more sense if you at least read Alexandra’s Riddle first, and really, reading both Books 1 and 2 first will paint the most complete picture.

In terms of which of the two existing books you should read first, I don’t think it matters. Old Flames takes place before Alexandra’s Riddle, but like I said, the connection between them is tenuous. (The connection, if you’ve read them both and didn’t spot it, is that Laney and Taryn are Matthew’s sisters—Matthew being Cass’s love interest in Alexandra’s Riddle. Again, this all will make more sense when Fool’s Gold is out, because everyone’s going to be in it: Cass, Green, Matthew, Tucker, Laney, Taryn, the whole crew. I’m going to try to bring Lily in as well, if it fits, but if I can’t get her in this book, rest assured she will be in one of the later books in a major way.) If you want to read them in chronological order, Old Flames goes first; if you want to read them in order of publication, Alexandra’s Riddle goes first.

Right now, Northwest Magic is a bit of a loosely connected series, but the connections will get tighter as the series progresses. Thank you to everyone who’s hung in there patiently during the series’ unexpected hiatus, and I hope you will enjoy the additional installments coming soon!

Hello to friends new and old! Looooong time, no post! I’ve been on a bit of an accidental hiatus between flaring health problems and working on projects under my YA pen name. But as we move into 2026, I am switching gears back to cozy fantasy and am excited to be bringing you new stories soon. During my time away, Northwest Magic has gained a bunch of new readers, so welcome to anyone new around here—I’m so glad to have you!

Here’s what I’m currently working on and hope to be bringing to you over the course of 2026 and 2027 (pending health, as always):

Fool’s Gold

Book 3 in the Northwest Magic series is coming your way! This book features Taryn, Laney and Matthew’s sister, as our heroine. Taryn has dreamed of opening her own bed and breakfast since she was a kid, and it seems her dream is finally coming true! But she may have bit off more than she could chew when she came into possession of a rundown property in Kings Valley, Oregon. Dark fae run amok through the dilapidated halls, and the locals speak of a tragic story from the past that may have led to the property’s warren becoming corrupted. With the help of her new sister-in-law Cass, erstwhile fae ally Green, and a mischievous will-o-the-wisp, Taryn hopes to solve this mystery and restore life to this old house. But can the handsome contractor working on her renovations be trusted?

Beyond Fool’s Gold, I have two more Northwest Magic books planned, which will bring the series to five books total + the short story below. I don’t have a timeline for when everything will be released, but that’s what’s planned currently! (And I’ve got covers for these Northwest Magic books already, so I’m financially committed! )

Something Borrowed: A Northwest Magic Short Story

This is a ways out, but I am participating in a cozy fantasy anthology that is being published by Crimson Fox Publishing in Fall 2027! My short story, “Something Borrowed,” ties into Northwest Magic. It features Claudia, Carmen’s snarky divorcee sister from Old Flames, as our heroine, and will bring us back to the Paine Estate to solve another mystery. When valuable jewelry goes missing during a wedding on the property, it’s up to Carmen to catch the culprit. With the help of a handsome (but infuriating) photographer whose camera can capture fae, can she save the day? I hope you’ll check out the anthology when it’s published and find out!

Southern Charms

In addition to working on Northwest Magic, I am also plugging away on another cozy fantasy series I have teased previously, Southern Charms! This is going to be a trilogy of books with a more interconnected plot than Northwest Magic has. While each book will feature its own heroine (and romance), there is an overarching mystery that will be solved over the course of the series. The stakes are a little higher than they are in Northwest Magic (think more Charmed than Hallmark), but I think readers of one should also enjoy the other!

I don’t have a timetable on any of these (other than the short story anthology), but these are my active WIPs and I am working hard to get them to readers as quickly as possible! Watch this space for more.

I’m excited to announce that my first book, Arriving from Arkansas, is now available as an audiobook! I was so privileged to work with the talented Alexandra Bitton-Bailey, who really brought the story and the characters to life. Check out the great sample Alexandra made below to get a sneak peek at the audiobook:

https://www.elisakeyston.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Arkansas-Sample-Made-by-Headliner.mp4

You can buy the audiobook now at Audible, iTunes/Apple Books, and Amazon! If you own the ebook on Amazon, it’s also Whispersync enabled, so you can switch easily back and forth between reading and listening at your convenience.

This post was originally shared in my newsletter. Be sure to subscribe for all the latest!

It’s hard to believe that we’re already almost at the end of December and that 2024 is less than a week away. It’s been an incredibly hectic year for me, though that may not have been visible on this end of things, so I thought I would share with you what all has been going on with me!

But first, a glimpse of December color. My uncle got this holly for us 10 years ago when we moved here, and it had “berries” on it at that time—but after TWO YEARS in the ground, we finally figured out that the bush’s “berries” were artificial and just twisty-tied on. After that, a friend told me you needed to have male and female bushes side-by-side in order to get berries, so since this was a single plant, I wrote off the possibility of it ever getting berries. So imagine my shock when I spotted this earlier this week! And these ones are real! Apparently all the bush really needed was time.

Year-End Recap

Speaking of needing time, this year I published the last book in a series on my other pen name that was EIGHT YEARS in the making. When I started writing the series, I was only just beginning to show early signs of my chronic conditions forming, and I had no clue how severely my health was going to affect my writing. (If I had, you can bet I never would have started writing an intricate, plot-heavy time travel saga!)

At the same time I was wrapping up that series, the publisher of The Pioneer Brides of Rattlesnake Ridge unexpectedly folded, leaving us with a need to scramble to get the series republished ASAP. Even though I’d stepped down as series lead years ago because of my health, I inadvertently found myself stepping back UP and organizing the relaunch. The series is now safely republished, and we’ve got new authors joining in to keep the series going with new books.

Plans for the Future

With how busy 2023 was, what are my plans for 2024? Honestly, resting is the biggest priority right now, because the hecticness of finishing my sci-fi series, republishing Pioneer Brides, and my sister’s wedding (not book-related, but definitely another major event of 2023!) made my chronic symptoms flare up. Whenever I’m in a flare, it feels endless, but I have to remind myself that flares do end. When that may be, I don’t know. But flares do end.

My next writing plan for once I’m feeling like a human again is to get back to work on Northwest Magic. In fact, even though I spent a significant chunk of this year on Pioneer Brides, I actually am not planning on diving back into historical romance, probably ever. For those of you who are here for the historical romance, I totally understand if you’re not interested in contemporary/cozy fantasy, so no hard feelings if you’re not interested in sticking around. But I hope you’ll consider checking out the brand-new Pioneer Brides newsletter where you’ll learn about the new releases in that series.

For those of you who are here for my cozy fantasy books, you’re in luck! The next book you’ll be seeing out of me is Fool’s Gold, the third installment of the Northwest Magic series, starring Matthew’s sister Taryn. You can look forward to the return of both Laney and Cass, as well as furry friend Tucker, fae “friend” Green, and another new, mysterious fae Taryn encounters in her new home in Kings Valley, Oregon. And, of course, there’s romance in the air as well… Watch this space!

New books in The Pioneer Brides of Rattlesnake Ridge are going to be releasing monthly starting on December 15. The first new book in the series, Onward from Oklahoma by Lynn Donovan, is available for preorder now! Check out the cover reveal for that below.

With brand new books releasing in the series now, we’ve set up a dedicated website with info about our latest releases and a newsletter you can sign up for in order to be the first to know whenever a new book in the series is published. You can visit that website and sign up for the newsletter here!

The Pioneer Brides of Rattlesnake Ridge

And, without further ado, here’s the cover reveal for the first new book in the series!

Miriam Forgeron escapes an Indian raid that killed her parents, hides in a root cellar, a coffin, and then a livestock car to get to Rattlesnake Ridge, Nevada. When she hands Solomon a letter of introduction that she wrote and declares she has no travel expenses but could use a bath and some clean clothes, he is bewildered by her. So is the mail-order bride at his side who stepped off the first-class car from the same train.

Now it’s a matter of proving who has what it takes to be this man’s helpmeet. When Miriam shows him her abilities at the forge, he is no longer laughing. But will she win his heart? The other bride is beautiful, well-groomed, and socially refined. Miriam was raised as a missionary in an Indian Village in Oklahoma. How can she compete?

Preorder Now!

If you’re not an Amazon reader, you’re in luck! My Northwest Magic series is now available on retailers outside of Amazon, including Kobo Plus!

Alexandra’s Riddle

Cass is a drifter. When she inherits an old Queen Anne Victorian in rural Oregon from her great-aunt Alexandra, the only thing she wants is to quickly offload the house and move on to bigger and better things. But the residents of the small town have other plans in mind. Her neighbors are anxious for her to help them thwart the plans of a land developer eager to raze Alexandra’s property for a high-end housing development. A mysterious girl in the woods needs Cass’s help understanding her own confusing—and possibly supernatural—abilities. And the handsome fourth-grade teacher at the local elementary school has been stirring feelings in Cass’s heart that she thought she’d buried long ago.

And it’s not just the human residents that have caught Cass in their web—because the woods of Riddle aren’t like other places she’s been. There’s magic in the trees. Cass’s presence has caught the attention of the fae that dwell in the woods on Alexandra’s property. They know she has the Sight, and they don’t want to let her go.

Cass isn’t ready to put down roots yet, but Riddle seems to have other plans. She may just find that what she’d been looking for all along was a place to call home.

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Old Flames

Laney isn’t looking for love. She’s perfectly happy with the life she’s built for herself in the little town of Foreston, Washington. She’s a successful businesswoman, the owner of an alterations shop with a clientele across the northwest. She’s the chair of the local Victorian house museum’s annual fashion show. And she has a reputation for a magic touch: the rumor around town is that anyone who wears one of the period costumes she designs in her spare time will be blessed with good luck.

That’s what they say, anyway. Laney knows the truth is a bit more complicated—anything she wills while sewing has a tendency of coming to pass. It’s a supernatural gift from the fae who are said to inhabit the woods surrounding the Paine Estate, and it’s taught her to keep a guard on her notorious redheaded temper. But keeping her temper becomes difficult when journalist Paul Nelson comes to town to do a feature about the museum. With his stunning good looks and swoon-worthy English accent, Paul is charming, irresistible… and just so happens to be Laney’s ex.

Laney wants nothing more than to keep Paul at arm’s length, but when she stumbles across a series of break-ins at the museum, she may have no choice but to trust the dashing reporter who once broke her heart to help her catch the culprit. And when a nearby forest fire threatens the safety of the town—and of the woods—will Laney be able to put her old feelings aside in order to protect the magic of Foreston? Or will that same magic lead to an unexpected happy ending?

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I’ve got some catchup posting to do here on the blog! First order of business: I’m pleased to share the full set of new covers for The Pioneer Brides of Rattlesnake Ridge!

If you’re a subscriber to my newsletter, you’ll have learned that several months ago, the original publisher of this series closed its doors. The rights to the series reverted to the authors, and we decided to republish the books together with all new covers. Keep scrolling to see the lovely new designs by EDH Professionals!

Books 1-4:

Arriving from Arkansas by Elisa Keyston (me!) Coming from California by Catherine Bilson Moving from Maryland by Christine Sterling Riding from Richmond by Nan O’Berry

Books 5-8:

Traveling from Texas by Patricia PacJac Carroll Drifting from Deadwood by Ramona Flightner Returning from Rhode Island by Catherine Bilson Immigrating from Illinois by Nan O’Berry

As a note to any interested readers, these are the same books as were already published by Sweet Promise Press in 2019. All that’s changed are the covers. Amazon may not alert you that you already have this book in your Kindle library because the product listing ID has changed, due to us republishing the series. Please be mindful and check your Kindle library by title to ensure you’re not buying a duplicate book!

Please also note, Stefanie Bridges-Mikota chose to withdraw her book, Approaching from Arizona, from the series. That title is no longer available. If you’d still like to support Stefanie, though, you can check out her other historical romances here!

The road to getting these books republished was a long and difficult one, and we’re still grappling with Amazon to ensure books aren’t disappearing off the series page (or off Amazon altogether). Please bear with us as we deal with these hiccups and frustrations.

The first four books of the series are available for you to read now! Books are re-releasing weekly on Fridays for the rest of September.

While we’re currently focusing on re-releasing the previously published books, we’re excited to announce that all-new books in the series will be coming soon, from return authors and new ones as well. Be sure to watch this space for further information about the series, including the brand new books that are coming soon!

I know it has been a very long time, but I promise I’m not dead! I have talked about this on my other pen name’s website and social media, but obviously that does no good for any of you who know me only under this pen name.

So, yes, I write under two pen names. Keeping them entirely separate seemed like a good idea at the time, but I have discovered as the years have ticked by that I honestly can’t keep up with that with my health problems. And there’s really no reason to keep it secret, other than the fact that the genres I write under each name are pretty different, so odds are good there won’t be a lot of overlap in interest. But you never know! Some people like to read various genres, while others like to stick with their tried and true favorites.

Anyway, the reason for my utter silence hereabouts is because under my other pen name (if you are interested, it’s Lyssa Chiavari), I am working on the conclusion to a very, very large science fiction series, and the conclusion is turning out to be very, very much larger than I was bargaining for. As in, when it’s all said and done, I am estimating the final book will be the length of roughly four of the novels I write under this pen name. So, needless to say, it’s taking about as long as it would take me to write four novels under this pen name.

I have not abandoned this pen name, though! My writing plan is as follows:

finish that sci-fi: this should be done and published in 2023Fool’s Gold is next, and that should be done and published in 2024, barring health catastrophes

My health is something I haven’t talked about as much on this blog, but I talk about it a whole heck of a lot on my other blog, so if you’re curious, you can check that out. It does unfortunately impact my ability to write as quickly as I would like, which I apologize for, but the books are coming. Slow and steady wins the race and all.

I know many of you are here because of the Pioneer Brides of Rattlesnake Ridge. I fully intended to write another book in that series, with a title and premise and some outlining done, but with my health problems I’m not sure whether that’s going to be in the cards. I have to prioritize what’s feasible for me with my health, and writing Arriving from Arkansas was a lot more difficult than my other books because it entailed so much research. I am glad I did it because writing historical fiction was something I’d always dreamed of, it just wound up being a lot harder than I thought it would be when I was a naïve history undergrad. If I am able to make it work, I’ll do my best, but don’t expect it any time soon. My focus for the time being is going to be continuing the Northwest Magic series (at least two more novels, most likely three, and very probably a novella as well) and splitting my time with my sci-fi pen name as well. If you enjoy the historical aspects of the Pioneer Brides series, you may wind up liking Fool’s Gold, which will be the next stand-alone novel in the Northwest Magic series. That book is going to feature a mystery from the late 1800s that carries over into the present day, complete with star-crossed lovers and a missing fortune of California gold. And I hope you’ll check out the other books in the series as well, which feature mystery and romance tied to historic Victorian homes!

In the meantime, once that sci-fi behemoth is done on my other pen name, you can expect more updates here. If you want to keep tabs on my progress there, you can find my social media accounts linked on my website. If you’re interested, I also have a Patreon account where I share monthly updates on my writing progress for both pen names, and Patrons get free ebook copies of all my books for both pen names as well. Thanks for your understanding and your patience!

Just a quick note today to let you all know that Sweet Promise Press is offering the complete series of The Pioneer Brides of Rattlesnake Ridge in “boxed set” form on Kindle for a limited time. The series is broken into two ebook omnibuses, one containing books 1-4 and the second containing books 5-9. Both boxed sets are $2.99 during the preorder period, but the price will increase soon, so be sure to get the books at the introductory price if you’re interested.

Volume 1, featuring my book Arriving from Arkansas as well as Coming from California by Catherine Bilson, Moving from Maryland by Christine Sterling, and Riding from Richmond by Nan O’Berry, will be released this Friday, September 24.

Preorder now!

And the second collection, featuring Traveling from Texas by Patricia “PacJac” Carrol, Drifting from Deadwood by Ramona Flightner, Approaching from Arizona by Stefanie Bridges-Mikota, Returning from Rhode Island by Catherine Bilson, and Immigrating from Illinois by Nan O’Berry, will be released on October 1.

Preorder now!

These boxed sets are only going to be available for a limited time, so be sure to grab your copy or read in Kindle Unlimited if you’re interested.

It’s been a little while, hasn’t it? In fact, it’s been even longer than I meant it to be, because I just discovered that the post I’d queued for January 1 hadn’t posted and I’d never noticed. So if you haven’t seen that one yet, you can find it here!

I don’t really have any major news to share, but I did just want to give you all a little update on what’s been going on with me. I’m sure you could tell by the tone of some of my blog posts last year that my mental health was not doing too well. Between covid and the wildfires, and then early this year an ice storm which left me without power for a week and did a lot of damage to the trees in my yard and community (and if you’ve read my books, you can imagine the effect this had on me), I was not doing well for some time. However, I’ve gotten some help and am feeling quite a bit better mentally now.

I’m not back to 100%, though. I have some chronic health problems which were exacerbated by the stress of the last year, and as a result I’ve been in a really bad “flare” period. I’ve had some good news from my doctors over the last few months, though, and the new information they’ve given me has made me optimistic that once we’re able to get my symptoms back into “remission,” I can get back on track.

While I’ve been too ill to get much done by way of writing, I have continued to brainstorm and outline Fool’s Gold. I’m hoping I can get the book out soon, but that is of course contingent on my flare subsiding. In the meantime, I wanted to share a little sneak peek that I posted in my readers’ group on Facebook several months ago, so you have something to tide you over. Enjoy!

March 5: I wanted to give you all a little sneak peek of what I’ve been working on! Today I did some brainstorming and outlining on Fool’s Gold, the next book in the Northwest Magic series. I’m really excited about this one because it will be where the first two books in the series line up and make sense. I know because of how Old Flames was a prequel there was some disconnect (like I’ve said before, it was originally supposed to be a novella, so its lack of connection to Alexandra’s Riddle would have made more sense), but with Fool’s Gold it will all come together. The story focuses on Taryn, but it takes place after Alexandra’s Riddle, so Cass and Matthew will be in it, and so will Laney. I am still trying to decide if Lily will be in it—if I can make it work with the plot, I’ll try!—but Green is 100% for sure going to be in it and I’m really excited to be bringing his whimsical weirdness back.

I haven’t written up an actual blurb yet, but here’s the basic plot: Taryn’s dream of running her own bed and breakfast is about to come true. She wins an old home in Kings Valley in an essay-writing contest, only to discover that it’s not only completely dilapidated, but also infested with dark fae—creatures like goblins, gremlins, and other less-wholesome faeries. She needs to figure out what is causing them to congregate on the property like this, and how she can undo whatever caused the magic here to become corrupted.

The answer to the riddle seems to have something to do with a local legend about the original owners of the house. In order to break the curse, Taryn will have to use her powers of psychometry to solve a century-old mystery involving forbidden love and lost gold. Good thing she’ll have help from Luke, the handsome local contractor who’s helping her restore the property—although he may know more about her house’s history than he’s letting on…

Anyway, that’s where I’m at right now! Let me know what you think!