Who Are Marc and McKenzie?

Yes, I'm kind of back. Sort of. First bit of good news is that I gave notice at my job that I'm retiring on April 2, 2018.

Second is that, with Swing Vote in my editor's hands, I thought I'd start introducing the characters.

Who is Marc North?

If you've read any of my Safe Harbors books, you'll know that Marc is the younger brother of Lyn North, the teacher from the first book who goes on a cruise, is kidnapped by modern-day pirates, and ends up shipwrecked.

Marc, in response to his sister's disappearance, joins the Marines to become a Cobra pilot. He tells friends that he wants to help people who cannot help themselves.

Like his sister, he's tall. At 6'4" he's not as tall as Lyn's husband Braedon, who is 6'6." Where Lyn is dark, Marc is fair. He's not as quiet as she is, but he's not as outgoing as their mutual friend, Elle. But then, no one's as outgoing as Elle, but that's another story (her love story can be found in Hope's Watch).

At the end of A Season of Change, Safe Harbors #2.5, Marc is injured in an IED explosion while deployed. Swing Vote begins about twenty months later. 

An IED blew up more than Marc North's career as a Cobra pilot; it shattered his plans for marriage. After being dumped by his girlfriend and spending more than a year in rehab, all he wants is to fly again. He jumps at the chance to partner with a combat buddy in a helicopter sightseeing business. Now in a boomtown in southern Utah, Marc gets caught up with local politics. And the local election official.

Who is McKenzie?

She's a feisty redhead who has to deal with challenges at work and at home, including the addition of a permanent house guest in the form of handsome ex-Marine, Marc North.

At work, McKenzie Terkildsen struggles to keep control of a dangerously contentious election. At home, she shares the challenge of raising younger half-brothers with her older step-brother. He complicates things by inviting a Marine buddy to stay with them while the two build a business together. As a council member takes liberty with facts and stirs the already caustic election brew, the last thing McKenzie needs is one more guy messing up her life—or her heart.

You can now add Swing Vote to your Goodreads list.

Monday Meanderings & a Giveaway

First Meandering ...

Good week for Swing Vote edits. Since it was a NaNoWriMo first draft, there were lot of XXXs in places (mostly names). I worked on my character bibles and added pictures to this book's my Pinterest board. 

*grins* You can get a feel for some of the story elements based upon the links I pin. 

Second Meandering ...

They did the backfilling last week in preparation for pouring the concrete over pipes in the foundation. Rumor has it that they'll pour that today. THEN they can begin framing.

Third Meandering ...

It's time for a giveaway. I haven't done one of those in a while.

I finished the Beauty and the Clockwork Beast ARC I won on a Goodreads giveaway. I loved it--enough that I bought the audiobook! The narrator sounds wonderful.

I've decided to giveaway my gently used copy. If you are interested in being considered for it, I only have two stipulations:

1. Giveaways like this are rewards for my Reader Group. You can join on the right--AND get a free copy of  Hope's Watch, Safe Harbors #1.5.
2. Because of the high expense to mail a paper book internationally, only people in the continental US can be considered.

When Lucy Pickett arrives at Blackwell Manor to tend to her ailing cousin, Kate, she finds more than she bargained for. A restless ghost roams the hallways, werewolves have been reported in the area, and vampires lurk across the Scottish border. 

Lord Miles himself is clearly hiding a secret. He is brash and inhospitable, and does not take kindly to visitors even one as smart and attractive as Miss Pickett. He is unsettled by the mysterious deaths of his new wife, Clara, and his sister, Marie. Could Miles be to blame for the deaths?

Working together, Miles and Lucy attempt to restore peace to Blackwell Manor. But can Lucy solve the mystery of Miles? Can she love the man, beast and all?

How'd your weekend go? 

Do you use Pinterest? If so, what for?

Cover Reveal--A Change of Plans

I've helped with a lot of cover reveals over the years.
This time, it's mine! *dances a jig*

Following is the trailer with music written and performed (in part) by my youngest son (he's on the guitar) with his band Kinslayer. When they were writing the music, I fell in love with it.

I'd love to have you add A Change of Plans to your Goodreads to-read list if you feel so inclined. It would totally make my day.

News . . . and The Secret by Taryn Taylor

A Change of Plans is on Goodreads!

Did I just scream? Well, maybe squeeee.

*takes a deep breath*

(If you didn't know, you can click the Goodreads above and add it to your to-read list. Just mentioning it. *grins*)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Secret

Seventeen-year-old Delanie Hart has a past she wants to keep hidden.  Moving to a new state and attending a new high school seems to be just the thing - until she accidentally sees a mark exactly like her own.  When the people she is running from come after her, Lanie is left with a choice - give up what she wants or save her friends.

About the author:

Taryn A. Taylor grew up moving from small town to small town every few years.  This helped her gain an appreciation for good books, loyal friends, and the fact that a home is a lot more than a house - it's the people that love you.  After receiving a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Communications, she finally began putting all of her stories down on paper, finding it most helpful to eat chocolate during this process. In between raising four amazing boys she loves to go on dates with her husband and watch movies late into the night.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

This has been an odd month for me. I'm still waiting on my copy edits. I managed to finish the edit of my companion novel to A Change of Plans and have it out to my betas and CPs. 

I've got two other books I'm editing (YA fantasy) but I don't want to get my head into those if I might have to stop for the copy edits. So I've been occupying myself with doing a lot of critiques (I think I've actually done three full-novel critiques this month--that's definitely a record) and reading a lot of books. I'm way ahead of my Goodreads reading goal for the year. 

But this has made me wonder. What do all you do when you're caught between projects?

Marketing

Author Marsha Ward and I are members of ANWA (actually she started  it many years ago), and earlier this week one of the members who's a new author posed a question about marketing. Marsha's response was great, and I'm so glad she shared it on her blog, so I can let you folks know about it.

What's the best approach to marketing my book?

So many times, that's a question I hear from first time authors. Here's my answer, and you may not like it, but it's really the truth:

After you have announced your book to your friends via your email contacts, social media sites, and twitter, and have a short "signature" below your name in your email account, the best thing to do in the marketing arena is to write the next book and get it out there.

Yeah, I know that sounds weird, but I cannot emphasize this enough. Too many people with one book available are spending prodigious amounts of time trying in vain to influence sales, instead of writing the next book.

The thing is, the availability of multiple books/short stories/novellas is what seems to drive sales better than anything. And when someone spends all their time drumming up sales for their ONE book (and thus making a pest of themselves), what's the good of it if--when someone reads it and wants more--there is no more work available?

There IS no good that can come of that situation. After the reader exhausts their search engine capacities and their patience and doesn't find anything else by you, your name is then forgotten--once the distastefulness of the frustrating episode fades away.

DO make sure you . . .

Sorry. Go visit Marsha's blog to see the rest.

Querying Update and Building Your Platform

 Querying Update

 

I got my very first rejection -- a form rejection. 

Phew. I've truly been initiated ! I'm really a writer now.

One down, nine to go and I take hubby out to dinner.

Building Your Platform

You've all heard it. In today's publishing world, if you want an agent and/or publisher to consider your book, you'd best have an online presence.

So, you sign up for Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Google+, and whatever else out there strikes your fancy. You begin to stalk agents and other writers/authors to see what they're up to.

You begin blogging about your writing journey and start following loads of other writers, hoping they will follow you in return. You sign up for bloghops and contests. You're starting to get some regular followers who consistently comment. And, of course, you have to visit all their blogs and comment back. That's what it's all about, right? Networking?

And you find that you're having so much fun. The Internet has introduced you to hundreds if not thousands of interesting, entertaining people--and you've connected to many of them. You can't wait to read their next posts.

Then it starts to happen. You wake up in the middle of the night, wondering if you remembered to schedule your next post. Or worse, you wake up in the middle of the night because you can't think what to write for your next post.

The pressure mounts. What if your post is stupid? What if the people who've been commenting find other blogs they like better?

Your hands begin to shake when you haven't had your daily Internet fix. You're dying to know what everyone's up to, what things might inspire you in your blog posts.

And your writing?

When's the last time you actually sat down to write? Or when you did, your hand moved to the icon for your web browser? You didn't even realize it was moving of its own volition. Suddenly, a hour's gone by. Or two. Hours of precious time that you promised you'd spend on your book.

Because the whole point of all that platform building has been in preparation for your book.

Right?

 So, what do you do

to keep social media

from taking over

your life?