Taylor Tryst's Blog, page 10

Motor City Mage by Cindy Spencer Pape, Carina Press

My friend Cindy Spencer Pape has a release today from Carina Press. Motor City Mage, Book Four in the Urban Arcana series. Congratulations, Cindy!
As a cop who keeps paranormals in line, Des has a hard time trusting them. So why does he want the beautiful werewolf Lana more than his next breath? She's mouthy, flamboyant and distractingly sexy--not the type of woman for a reserved mage like him. Lana admires Des, but she can't be with someone who won't take her seriously, no matter how much she'd love to rip off his dress shirt.
When a dangerous new drug shows up in Detroit, Des must locate the source, and Lana is determined to help. But their plan goes awry, trapping them in a demon dimension. To return home, Lana and Des must flee through a series of unpredictable alternate realities, fighting enemies while trying to shut down the drug trade. But if they're going to survive, they'll have to rely on each other, even though getting closer will add fuel to a fire that's already burning out of control...

Excerpt:


Excerpts
Fromthe book ...

"Nielsenjust captured another Vatsu demon. It suicided under questioning."
"Notagain." Desmond Sutton winced at the fury in his boss's tone. "Westill have no idea how to get them back to their home plane?"
"Notunless we find that portal." James Brewer, director of the Detroit branchof the Wyndewin League, grumbled.
"I'mworking on it." Des had been, with the help of a few friends.
"You'renot hanging out with those bloody elves or wolves again, are you? Anyinformation we gather from those sources can't possibly be trusted."
Despaused to lean against a bus-stop bench and rubbed his eyes. "Since one ofthe elves is my brother-in-law, it's kind of hard not to see him. But no, I'mworking this on my own." It was a lie, but Des was tired of being chewedout for consorting with other species.
"I'mwarning you again, Sutton. Steer clear. You've had one major screw up in yourcareer. Make sure you don't have another."
Well,isn't that just great? He was supposed to avoid his sister now? Nothappening.
Shovinghis phone in his pocket, Des looked around him at the young, carefree studentsrushing to and fro on campus. They were all blissfully unaware that their citywas full of demons, not to mention elves, wizards, witches and werewolves.
Deswished he was so lucky, but Fate could be a vicious goddess sometimes. Knowingthings that other people didn't was supposed to be a gift. For the most part itwas Des's personal curse. People always said, "Knowledge is power." No.It was more like a rash--something itchy and uncomfortable one couldn't quiteignore, no matter how hard one tried. There was a reason so many of the world'sgreat minds had been alcoholic, depressive, heroin addicts or suicidal. Whilenormal people got to trip through their lives in blissful ignorance, others,like Des, were excruciatingly aware of exactly how screwed up the world reallywas. Seeing too much, knowing too much might have been far more tolerablethrough a haze of anesthesia.
Reality,such as it was, stank. His city was in crisis, his world might well be on thebrink of disaster. And his personal life? What personal life? He hadn't had somuch as a date in over a year, as his sister constantly reminded him.
Heglared down at the sidewalk, absently booting a crushed coffee cup out of hisway, before his conscience kicked in and he picked up the offending garbage,depositing it in a trash can half a block down the street. He pulled the collarof his trench coat tighter around his neck, warding off the cold Novemberbreeze and the light flurry of snow. For about the hundredth time that week, heconsidered the possibility of chucking it all and taking off to some island inthe Caribbean. He could spend the rest of his days reading Tarot cards fortourists, soak his liver with rum and fry his skin with all-natural ultravioletradiation.
Itwas tempting. Could he pull it off? For another few hundred yards, he pondered.
Nota chance.No matter how hard he tried to talk himself into it, quitting still wasn'tgoing to work. His superiors and his own intuition agreed that both his dutyand his destiny lay here in Detroit. The demon troubles were far from over.
Despitethe widespread belief that demons had something to do with religion, the truthwas, they were just beings from different planes of existence. Some werehelpless, others benign. Some though, came through to Earth to cause troublewith a capital T. As a Wyndewin wizard, Des was destined to becaught squarely in the middle of whatever disaster went down.Buy Now Less than a year ago, Fianna Meadows was a pampered noble in the Faerie court. Then she was exiled, turned
mortal and forced to work for a living—in a werewolf bar in Detroit, no less! Still, Fianna has to admit her new
life isn't so bad…particularly when it comes to Greg Novak, the bar's sexy owner. For Greg, keeping his hands
off Fianna has been a challenge. But his sense of honor won't let him get involved with a woman put in his care,
even if Fianna is eager to explore her new feelings of lust. Resisting the temptation to claim her gets even harder
when Greg's grandfather, the region's Alpha, orders him to marry and Fianna agrees to pretend to be his
chosen mate. Fighting his attraction to Fianna isn't Greg's only problem. Someone is killing werewolves and
attacking other paranormal beings in Detroit. He vows to do whatever it takes protect both his pack and
Fianna—even if that means giving her up….
 Excerpt:ExcerptsFrom the Book..."Somebody is killing werewolves."
Greg Novak spoke calmly, though he was seething inside. He sat in the office of the bar he co-owned with his brother, George, and looked at his small pack. Four lupine shifters and two humans. As an alpha, he'd been unable to live under the hand of a more dominant wolf. He'd broken away from his family pack at adulthood, and the other three wolves had followed him. First they'd gone to California and formed a rock band, then when Greg and George had inherited the club from their maternal grandfather, they'd all come back home to Michigan. The humans had joined up more recently. It might not be much of a pack, but it was his. They were his family, by blood or affection, and his responsibility.
"It has to be Beowulf," George grumbled. His dark brown eyes were a mirror of Greg's own. Younger by less than a year, he was the fashionable one, with a sleek, expensive haircut, designer jeans and a glossy black leather jacket, while Greg preferred his own long hair, battered jeans and rock-band T-shirts. They also differed in outlook. Lacking the souped-up hormones that an alpha like Greg was stuck with, George often had the more level head of the two. "We just have to figure out who Beowulf is."
"Or why he's working with this Nightshade asshole to take out our people in Detroit." Lana, the Novaks' cousin, was perched atop a filing cabinet in the corner of the small basement room, since there weren't enough chairs. The room was simple, with exposed brick walls and a wooden floor, much like it had been when Greg's great-grandfather had owned it in the 20s, running with the Purple Gang to funnel Canadian alcohol into American bars.
"I talked to Meagan earlier today," offered Jase, George's lover, from where he sat on the edge of George's antique wooden desk. "The elves haven't found out anything more. All they're saying is that Underhill has gone quiet." Jase's lilting Jamaican accent was at odds with the others' Midwestern speech, and the silver beads in his black dreadlocks jingled as he spoke.
Greg smiled at Jase, a human pottery artist. Everyone nodded, aware of the recent trouble within the Fae. An elven racial purity movement had tried to seize control of Underhill. Nobody knew how the legendary werewolf-assassin, Beowulf, was connected to that now-dormant plot, but his name had come up during the Fae investigations and now someone was taking out lupines.
"So right now it's only werewolves under attack. Fucking great." Vince Martin, the fourth lupine in the room, had been a friend of both Greg and George's since they were all pups. He sat in the one guest armchair. "So what do we do?"
"Stay alert," Greg advised. "Watch each other's backs. Hell, take a long vacation if you want. That's probably the smartest thing to do."
"We could hire more staff to manage the club and take the band back on the road," George offered half-heartedly. All four lupines made up the band that played most weekends at the club. As the only one in a serious relationship, traveling would be hardest on George.
They all looked at each other. Everyone but Vince shook their heads.
"I'm staying," Greg said. "This bar is my territory and I'm not going to give up without a fight. The rest of you are free to do what you want."
"Staying," said George and Jase together, their fingers intertwined, George's dark tan and Jase's deep brown.

Buy Now

An Action Scene from Seduced

Gun in hand, Nevada reached out and used her arms to drag her body forward. She dug her fingernails into the patchy pavement, using the tips to dig in and gain some leverage however small it might be. She moved. Inches at a time.

Weaker with each passing second, she glanced over her shoulder and searched the area around her, the darkness closing in, its black depths expanding as if it were swarming her like a mass of black insects.

She kicked it up a notch.

Claw, pull and drag. Claw, pull and drag.

She expected to see Gutter step out of the darkness any moment to shoot her in the face. She heard an eerie noise and stopped dead.

Concentrating, she froze in place to decipher what she was hearing, to figure out where it was coming from. She heard the rustle of clothing. The rush of wind, and whatever it was, it was coming fast.

There was an exhalation of air, the sound of oxygen rushing out of someone's throat with a sick rattle.

It couldn't be considered a scream really.

No, it was much more horrendous.

It was the gurgling sob of someone with a crushed windpipe. It was the wet, bloody cry of someone who couldn't speak because his throat had been decimated.

It only took a matter of seconds for her to interpret, though it felt as though time had slowed to a crab-crawl.

A scene from Seduced by Blood, A Sangre Novel, Book One
Taylor Tryst

Buy Now

An Action Scene from Seduced

Gun in hand, Nevada reached out and used her arms to drag her body forward. She dug her fingernails into the patchy pavement, using the tips to dig in and gain some leverage however small it might be. She moved. Inches at a time.

Weaker with each passing second, she glanced over her shoulder and searched the area around her, the darkness closing in, its black depths expanding as if it were swarming her like a mass of black insects.

She kicked it up a notch.

Claw, pull and drag. Claw, pull and drag.

She expected to see Gutter step out of the darkness any moment to shoot her in the face. She heard an eerie noise and stopped dead.

Concentrating, she froze in place to decipher what she was hearing, to figure out where it was coming from. She heard the rustle of clothing. The rush of wind, and whatever it was, it was coming fast.

There was an exhalation of air, the sound of oxygen rushing out of someone's throat with a sick rattle.

It couldn't be considered a scream really.

No, it was much more horrendous.

It was the gurgling sob of someone with a crushed windpipe. It was the wet, bloody cry of someone who couldn't speak because his throat had been decimated.

It only took a matter of seconds for her to interpret, though it felt as though time had slowed to a crab-crawl.

A scene from Seduced by Blood, A Sangre Novel, Book One
Taylor Tryst

Buy Now

A Morning Surprise

I woke up this morning, trying to find my coffee cup with one eye open, the other burning from lack of sleep all week. I managed to fumble around the kitchen until I had a full cup. While going through my nephew's school papers, I discovered something pretty damn cool. Needless to say, it woke me right up.

"What's this, buddy?"

"Something I wrote," he says it that, well, duh, voice kids begin developing in their pre-teen years as practice for the full out, you are totally DUH voice they magically gain when they turn thirteen.

So, I read it again, because yeah, I'm only on my first cup of coffee and the world has not even remotely begun to make sense yet.

"Father of the year?" I say, tears welling up in my already stinging eyes.

"Minnesota Twins," he explains, the DUH tone eeking back into his voice. "Minnesota Twins Father of the Year. To win tickets."

"Oh," I say, biting my bottom lip to keep from bursting into tears. It doesn't work.

"S-a-n-d-y," he says, rolling his eyes.

He leans in and gives me a hug and I thank him, clenching the paper in my fist and patting him on the back. I set it aside, and gather his other things, shoving them into his backpack so he can catch his bus and I don't completely fall apart in the kitchen at six a.m.

After he leaves, I carry the crinkled up form into my room and contiue to read through the nomination.

My nephew has nominated me, his aunt, as Minnesota Twins 2012 Father of the Year.

"My aunt Sandy is always there for me. We always do things together. I think she's a cool aunt parent. She took me to South Dakota. To the waterpark. To boy scouts. But sometimes she gets mad. So do I. She's a very good aunt to me and we get along well."

So, to all the single mothers, sisters, cousins, aunts and grandmothers out there, do things with the boys in your lives. Spend time with them, because it matters to them. They might not show it, but you are showing interest in them, and you don't have to be a man for that to make a difference in their lives!

I'm off to work on editing/writing now. I'm feeling kind of kick ass this morning. Must be all the testosterone.
:}
Have a good one, everybody.
Taylor

A Morning Surprise

I woke up this morning, trying to find my coffee cup with one eye open, the other burning from lack of sleep all week. I managed to fumble around the kitchen until I had a full cup. While going through my nephew's school papers, I discovered something pretty damn cool. Needless to say, it woke me right up.

"What's this, buddy?"

"Something I wrote," he says it that, well, duh, voice kids begin developing in their pre-teen years as practice for the full out, you are totally DUH voice they magically gain when they turn thirteen.

So, I read it again, because yeah, I'm only on my first cup of coffee and the world has not even remotely begun to make sense yet.

"Father of the year?" I say, tears welling up in my already stinging eyes.

"Minnesota Twins," he explains, the DUH tone eeking back into his voice. "Minnesota Twins Father of the Year. To win tickets."

"Oh," I say, biting my bottom lip to keep from bursting into tears. It doesn't work.

"S-a-n-d-y," he says, rolling his eyes.

He leans in and gives me a hug and I thank him, clenching the paper in my fist and patting him on the back. I set it aside, and gather his other things, shoving them into his backpack so he can catch his bus and I don't completely fall apart in the kitchen at six a.m.

After he leaves, I carry the crinkled up form into my room and contiue to read through the nomination.

My nephew has nominated me, his aunt, as Minnesota Twins 2012 Father of the Year.

"My aunt Sandy is always there for me. We always do things together. I think she's a cool aunt parent. She took me to South Dakota. To the waterpark. To boy scouts. But sometimes she gets mad. So do I. She's a very good aunt to me and we get along well."

So, to all the single mothers, sisters, cousins, aunts and grandmothers out there, do things with the boys in your lives. Spend time with them, because it matters to them. They might not show it, but you are showing interest in them, and you don't have to be a man for that to make a difference in their lives!

I'm off to work on editing/writing now. I'm feeling kind of kick ass this morning. Must be all the testosterone.
:}
Have a good one, everybody.
Taylor

Shattered Confidence

My insomnia is running full force lately and I've pretty much been awake since 11:30 p.m. last night. I attempted writing, using my time wisely, but something is off.

Is it Writer's Block? Well, honestly, I feel like if I let it get out of control it could very well be.

I received my first one star review. Yeah, I  know, many successful authors do NOT read their reviews for this exact reason. Shattered confidence.

As writers, we tend to be introverts, and we tend to put a lot of ourselves into our work, our characters, our stories. I realize that not everyone will like every tale we tell. I mean, everyone has different tastes and different opinions, right?

I've tried telling myself that. Repeatedly. It doesn't always make the little insecure voice in my head go away or disappear completely, but it's a start.

There's always that little voice inside my head that says I'm not quite good enough. Good enough for my friends, or to support my family, my animals, or just simply live up to my responsibilities.  I've given 100% and ended up lacking.

But, then again, it's life. She's a cold, hard bitch.

I punched out a few pages in the middle of the night. Honestly, they'll be pages that probably won't see the light of day, but at least I was putting words on the screen.

I'm off to run errands. Do a few chores. Maybe tonight, instead of lying in bed feeling sorry for myself, I'll use my time wisely.
.
My dear friend Barbara Huffert reminds me often that writing is supposed to fun. That's easy to forget, but I'm trying to remind myself of that.

Have a fabulous weekend, all.

Taylor

Shattered Confidence

My insomnia is running full force lately and I've pretty much been awake since 11:30 p.m. last night. I attempted writing, using my time wisely, but something is off.

Is it Writer's Block? Well, honestly, I feel like if I let it get out of control it could very well be.

I received my first one star review. Yeah, I  know, many successful authors do NOT read their reviews for this exact reason. Shattered confidence.

As writers, we tend to be introverts, and we tend to put a lot of ourselves into our work, our characters, our stories. I realize that not everyone will like every tale we tell. I mean, everyone has different tastes and different opinions, right?

I've tried telling myself that. Repeatedly. It doesn't always make the little insecure voice in my head go away or disappear completely, but it's a start.

There's always that little voice inside my head that says I'm not quite good enough. Good enough for my friends, or to support my family, my animals, or just simply live up to my responsibilities.  I've given 100% and ended up lacking.

But, then again, it's life. She's a cold, hard bitch.

I punched out a few pages in the middle of the night. Honestly, they'll be pages that probably won't see the light of day, but at least I was putting words on the screen.

I'm off to run errands. Do a few chores. Maybe tonight, instead of lying in bed feeling sorry for myself, I'll use my time wisely.
.
My dear friend Barbara Huffert reminds me often that writing is supposed to fun. That's easy to forget, but I'm trying to remind myself of that.

Have a fabulous weekend, all.

Taylor

What's Up Wednesday (#WhatsupWednesday)

Meps Kitty2012by J. W.It's#whatupwednesday on Twitter today. Ask me anything and I'll answer day. I'm offto run errands, but I'll be home later. If anyone has any burningquestions, I'll be around to answer! lol I'm workingon tearing apart a book that was previously published as G Spot at ResplendencePublishing. I'm preparing it for release on Kindle. I had begun book two and am now adding that to book one and makingsome changes to the plot.
It's still areunion story, only I throwing in a mystery/suspense set in the Arizona desert.
DetectiveLily Sutherland assists FBI Agent Dakota Reese in locating and apprehendingArizona's newest serial killer, a monster who hides and kills in the worst duststorms in the history of the state.
Okay, I'm off to runerrands. Have a great day. If you participate in # (Hash tag) days on Twitter,I'd love to field any questions.  

Thanks somuch,
Taylor

An Interview with Tina Folsom, author of The Scanguards Vampires Series

The last thing vampire bodyguard Zane wants to do is to guard a hybrid, a half-vampire, half-human, whose father wants to keep her a virgin. Known for his violent temper and callous lack of compassion, Zane's out-of-control rage, born of the cruelty he suffered during the Holocaust, drives him to focus only on revenge. Trying to find the last of his torturers is his only goal in life.

Portia is a young hybrid with a serious dilemma: in a few weeks, her body will be set in its final vampire form. If she is to avoid having to live out her immortal life as a virgin, she must find a lover in that short time--something her father hires Zane to prevent.

The moment Portia and Zane meet, rules begin to bend, and a forbidden attraction bursts into flames hotter than the hell of Zane's past. But that past threatens to pull them apart unless they can overcome their prejudice, forsake hate for love, and revenge for forgiveness.
I'd like to introduce Tina Folsom. Tina has had fabulous success at publishing her Scansguards Vampires series on Amazon Kindle, as well as various other mediums. Tina was kind enough to take the time out from working on her next release to answer a few questions about her independent publishing experience.Thank you in advance, Tina.Taylor
1.      Thoughyou don't write erotic romance, per say, you do write incredibly hot paranormalromances and happen to be an extremely successful independent author. Can youplease tell us a little about how you decided to go 'indie' and publishyourself, forgoing the traditional publishing route?
The decision to goindie was easy for me: no agent or editor wanted to read my books. So, when Iheard of Kindle Publishing in 2010, I figured I had nothing to lose. That sameyear, B&N started Pubit! and I uploaded my books there too. Soon, my bookswere available at various different retailers, in the US as well as abroad. Idon't think a publisher could have done it any better for me.


2.      Whatwould your best advice be to authors/writers who are considering wading intothe waters of independent publishing?
Do your research andfind a mentor who's willing to help you with all the technical stuff. There areseveral yahoo groups out there for self-publishing authors and there's alsolots of info about it on Kindleboards. But keep one thing in mind, your work isnot over as soon as you've uploaded your book to Amazon: self-publishing is aconstant process. You can't expect to upload one book and then wait for themoney to roll in. You need to promote and adapt to new market conditions.Experiment with price and covers. Watch what others are doing. Imitate. There'sno need to reinvent the wheel, just see what will work in your case.Experiment.


3.      Doyou have a professional editor you work with? Do you create your own covers ordo you hire out? They are fabulous, by the way!
I have a great editor,and he's the funniest guy ever - totally dry humor. You can read some of thecomments he made on my latest book here: http://authortinafolsom.blogspot.com/...
My Scanguards and Outof Olympus covers are made by the lovely Elaina Lee from For the Muse Designs.I just love what she does. I do the Venice Vampyr covers myself, but I mightjust have them redone one day when I get around to it. The covers for my shortstories I also did myself, but they are very simple. I know basic Photoshop,but I don't really have much time to play around with it.


4.      Howlong did it take you to begin to build up momentum as an indie author?
It took about sixmonths for my books to take off. I think it was a combination of having morebooks in one series available of sale and the e-book market growing. At thetime my books took off, more retailers opened their doors to indies, and thatcertainly helped.


5.      Howdo you manage marketing? Do you engage in social media, if so, what forum doyou use most? Facebook, Twitter, etc.
I really likeFacebook. It's easy to get into real conversations with readers and engagethem. That's where I do most of my social media interactions. I have a twitteraccount, but I find it hard to actually connect to people on Twitter. It feelstoo scattered.


6.      Didyou opt in and make your books available to the lending library for the KindleDirect Publishing Select Program?
No, and I won't.Amazon requires exclusivity for this deal and I can't agree to that. I makeonly 50% of my income on Amazon, the rest comes from B&N, Apple, Kobo, andother retailers. I would lose a lot of money if I went exclusively with Amazon,not to speak of how many fans I'd piss off. Personally, I don't think thiswould be a good business decision for me.


7.      Inclosing, are you happy with the decision you made to go indie? In other words,do you have any regrets in wishing you'd have hung on and waited for atraditional publishing deal?
Happy? I'm ecstatic.I never imagined I'd make the money I'm making now, knowing how little othermidlist authors in my genre who are traditionally published are making. Apublisher could never even come close to offering me the income I'm making frommy self-published books. So if a publisher came along now and wanted to offerme a deal, I would have to turn them down. The only thing I would consider is aprint-only deal so my books would be in bookstores, but no publisher in theirright mind would offer a print-only deal today. The money is in e-publishing,and print will eventually become more insignificant in terms of profits.

Friday Facts: (#FridayFacts)

I received the first one star review of my career this week.

All I can say is OUCH!

As for writing, sadly it's been  an incredilby busy and yet non-productive week for me.

I've been busy working on my blog and converting it into a combination blog/website. I'd had my Yahoo Business Website for years, but I realized something recently. I don't have much time anymore. Updating various websites and blogs, yep, not going to work for me. lol

My blog, ever changing.
My website, static.

It makes sense to me to combine them.

I'm just trying to figure out all the details. Fun. Fun. Fun. Yeah, that was sarcasm. lol

Still tweaking. Isn't that always the case, though.

I spent a day this week snowed in, which was a bit nice. Kind of a breather. Ended up stuck in a snow bank yesterday, however. Anyone who knows me knows that's just par for the course, though. lol It's not winter in Minnesota if I'm not being towed out of something.

I also celebrated another birthday. I received so many wonderful birthday wishes that it took the sting out of being another year older. Sort of. lol

Thank you, everyone. I even received flowers. Which are gorgeous, B. Thank you.

Any have any fun plans this weekend? I think spring cleaning is on my agenda.

Have a great one,
Taylor