Taylor Tryst's Blog, page 13

UK Paid Sales #61

I had a shock last night before bed. Not only did I receive a fabulous review for Seduced by Blood from Forbidden Bookshelf, but I happened to peek in on my sales on KDP to find hat I'd had a good lil' run on the Amazon UK website.

I checked my ranking and was blown away to find that I was slotted at #61 on the Bestseller in Erotic Fiction.

Hey, for a minute, anyway.lol

So, can I now say I'm a UK Bestseller?

I'm going to stop now because I don't want to sound as though I'm bragging, so I'll quit shouting out my good news. lol

Have a great day,
Taylor

Review from The Forbidden Bookshelf

I try not to sqee. I hate that word. For the first time, however, I know what it means. I happened to stumble across this fabulous review for Seduced by Blood, and I just had to share.

Gabrielle, this is the most fabulous review I have ever received. I'm so glad you enjoyed this book. I'm working on Braden's story now and I really needed a kick in the ass.

Read the review on The Forbidden Bookshelf

:}

Taylor

Friday Facts: (#FridayFacts)

Breaking FreeandTaking My Career Back

It's Friday, so I'm posting Friday Facts or #FridayFacts on Twitter.

Thanks to a fellow author bringing this up, the rights to the only story I'd written for Resplendence Publishing have been reverted to me. It was a privilege to contribute to this anthology, and I was lucky enough to work with several powerhouse authors who I respect greatly.  I have nothing but praise for Resplendence Publishing, but the circumstances of my life and health have made me realize that to be successful in this business, I'm better off being an indie author and publishing my work on Amazon KDP.
I'm thrilled to announce that after thirty days, with new cover art and revisions, I will be re-releasing, G Spot, which was originally written as a contribution to the Carnal Reunions anthology. This will be a stand alone, single title.I've also requested that the rights be reverted to the two other books I've had published with Ellora's Cave. I'm awaiting a decision on those, but this makes me feel so incredibly empowered! My career with be entirely in my hands, the choices for covers mine to make. Receiving a higher percent of royalties makes one grow a huge pair of balls, I tell you.   
Chaos by Barbara Huffert has been released. This is the second book in her Cosmic Connections series. If you love snappy dialog and witty characters, you'll love Chaos!Buy Now 
Weekend Plans? Staying warm. We've had severe subzero temperatures in Minnesota and I'm already pining away for spring. I may get some painting done but weather like this nearly makes one a shut in! lol Time for a fire, hot cocoa, to bake cookies with my nephew and snuggle up to write, read, or watch movies. What're your weekend plans? What have you been up to this week? Feel free to share. And if you have a Twitter account just place the hashtag mark (#) in your Tweet with the words FridayFacts (#FridayFacts) and you two can share in updating your Twitter fans with either a fact or facts from your life, writing or otherwise!

Have a great weekend, everyone. Stay warm.

Taylor

Chaos by Barbara Huffert Out in Print Friday

Cosmic Connections, Book Two. When Shane McKade wakes up trapped in a bed, handcuffed to Alyssa Campini, he figures things could be worse. She aggravates him to no end but sex with the sassy photographer is smokin'. Alyssa met McKade while photographing street gangs, and the hot cop has been a thorn in her side ever since. His only redeeming feature is an ability to deliver twenty-four orgasms in twenty-four hours—if he can stop arguing with her long enough, that is. Then Shane is shot protecting one of Alyssa's gang kids. When both find their lives in danger, perhaps it's time to stop fighting and start evaluating what they mean to each other…before it's too late.
My dear friend and fellow erotic author, Barbara Huffert has a release coming out in print tomorrow and I had to share. Barbara is a wonderful writer. Her prose is magical and dialog snappy.
By reading any further, you are stating that you are at least 18 years of age. If you are under the age of 18, it is necessary to exit this site.<><></><><></><><></>An Excerpt From: CHAOSCopyright © BARBARA HUFFERT, 2009All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.
Chapter One The clanking of metal against metal shattered the early morning silence. Shane McKade felt the stiffness in his shoulder and the pressure on his wrist as he tried, unsuccessfully, to lower his arm.McKade, pull my arm off?"
Shane's brown eyes locked with luminescent green. He muttered his own set of obscenities. "Campini? What the hell are you doing here?"
"I was sleeping until you so rudely woke me."
"This isn't happening. I must be dreaming. Yeah, that's it. I'm dreaming."
"Why?" Alyssa Campini glared at him. "Is finding me in your bed so repulsive? That's not what you implied last night."
"Yes. No. Damn! I don't fucking believe this." Shane managed to sit up, relieving some of the tension on his shoulder.
Alyssa squirmed upward to face him. "What, exactly don't you believe? The fact that we ended up here at all or the fact that I didn't slink off during the night, as I assume, from your reaction, your other partners do? In case you haven't noticed, that was impossible but if me being here annoys you so much uncuff me and I'll go."
"Uncuff you?" he said with disbelief.
"What?" she demanded, scowling.
"Me. Uncuff you. As in, you didn't grab the key last night with the cuffs."
His words sank in. "Where is it?"
"Over there, on the dresser, with my badge and cell phone." He pointed to the other side of the room. "And, for reasons I'll never understand, you weren't happy to hook us to just the bed. No, that we could have managed. You just had to be thorough and loop the cuffs around the pipe too."
"Why is that pipe there anyway?"
"It's an old building, who knows?"
"Well? What are you going to do?"
"What am I going to do?"
"Yes, you. You're the cop. Do something!"
"I'm the cop?"
"You know, McKade, this habit you've developed of repeating everything I say is getting old. It's not helping. Can't you pick the lock somehow?"
"I could if I had a paperclip maybe. We're in bed, Campini."
"I know where we are. Don't you have something in your nightstand you can use?"
"I doubt it but shift your arm this way as far as you can and I'll look."
Alyssa pushed her hand behind the pipe in order to give him as much leverage as she could. "Nothing."
"Where's your gun? I thought all cops slept with their guns under their pillows."
"You watch too much TV. My gun is locked in my gun safe where it belongs. What good would it do us anyway?"
"You could shoot off the link between the cuffs." Shane stared in disbelief. "Come on, McKade. Do something! You're the cop."
"You keep saying that like its significant. Yes, Campini, I am a cop. That doesn't make me Houdini. You're a photographer. Why don't you come up with something?"
"Argh," she growled in frustration. "This is all your fault!"
"My fault! You're the one who snapped on the cuffs."
"Well, you sure as hell didn't stop me! In fact, you didn't seem to think any of this was such a bad idea last night."
"Yeah, well, it was different last night."
"Why?" she demanded hotly.
"I don't know. Maybe it was the romantic feel of the entire day or the moonlight on the patio while we were dancing or that you looked so soft and feminine in that dress."
"Oh so that's why you started kissing me."
"No, I kissed you to stop you from biting my head off every other minute."
"What's your excuse for bringing me here?"
"Lust? Why did you come with me?"
"Your kisses had me hot. I wanted you. When I want someone and he's willing and unattached, I see no need to be shy."
"You, shy." He snorted. "Now that's a laugh.
Buy Chaos Now

Seduced by Blood, A Sangre Novel is Free on Amazon

I'm off to the dentist today. And the worst part is, I'm a dental phobe. Hate the dentist after several bad experiences. I mean, "take an anxiety pill" fear.

Seduced by Blood is free today on Amazon Kindle.

I'll update later on my dental experience.

Have a great day,
Taylor

A Winter Walk

Towering Pines
Fluff
Snow-capped Mushrooms
Our Trail

Friday Facts: (#fridayfacts) Wind Chill

This is my baby, Brynn in her Christmas coat.

Join me to share Friday Facts or #fridayfacts on Twitter. I'd love to know how your week was, writing related or otherwise!

Wind chillIt's been a cold week in Minnesota. Below zero temperatures and very small amounts of snow. A lot of slick roads. Yesterday I ran out to pick my nephew up from school and the doors on my van were frozen closed. Thank goodness the driver's door opened. My mom had to climb in through the back. It took about twenty minutes for the interior to defrost enough to open the doors. Oh, such a cold place, Minnesota. I knew winter would show up eventually.

News on the writing front: Amazon has released some numbers on the lending library on their KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) program. The pool was $500,000 dollars and author's have earned $1.70 per lend. I personally haven't had any huge lending numbers but there are quite a few authors who are raking it in at the moment. J. Konrath, Amanda Hocking, as well as too many other authors to name. And by the way, sales for most everyone are skyrocketing. Exciting stuff!

PaintingOkay, not a color but I'm painting the interior of our place. Just a crisp white. Our house is pretty small and not only is the white clean but it makes everything seem bigger. Let's face it. Size matters.

What have you been up to this week? Any fabulous weekend plans?

Have a good one and be safe out there,
Taylor

Friday Facts: #fridayfacts, Wind Chill

This is my baby, Brynn in her Christmas coat.

Join me to share Friday Facts or #fridayfacts on Twitter. I'd love to know how your week was, writing related or otherwise!

Wind chillIt's been a cold week in Minnesota. Below zero temperatures and very small amounts of snow. A lot of slick roads. Yesterday I ran out to pick my nephew up from school and the doors on my van were frozen closed. Thank goodness the driver's door opened. My mom had to climb in through the back. It took about twenty minutes for the interior to defrost enough to open the doors. Oh, such a cold place, Minnesota. I knew winter would show up eventually.

News on the writing front: Amazon has released some numbers on the lending library on their KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) program. The pool was $500,000 dollars and author's have earned $1.70 per lend. I personally haven't had any huge lending numbers but there are quite a few authors who are raking it in at the moment. J. Konrath, Amanda Hocking, as well as too many other authors to name. And by the way, sales for most everyone are skyrocketing. Exciting stuff!

PaintingOkay, not a color but I'm painting the interior of our place. Just a crisp white. Our house is pretty small and not only is the white clean but it makes everything seem bigger. Let's face it. Size matters.

What have you been up to this week? Any fabulous weekend plans?

Have a good one and be safe out there,
Taylor

Male Fans :}

It's official. I received my first fan letter from a male reader for my vampire book, Seduced by Blood!

I'm sorry, but I think it rocks. I've been lucky enough to get fan mail from plenty of women who've read and enjoyed my work enough to take the time in their busy lives to tell me, and as an author, that is one of the most exhilarating feelings you can experience.

Someone else, someone you don't know, some random stranger, enjoyed your work. Wow. It's humbling, it's motivating, it's and like a dose of Red Bull. Whatever project you're working on gets a boost.

Knowing that there's a male reader out there who 'got' it. Wow, that's a shot of Red Bull & Mountain Dew!

Plus, how cute is that?

So, male readers, let your favorite author know you enjoyed her story. It's a rush.
And please, keep reading!

Have a great day,
Taylor

Thinking Positive, one of my New Year's Resolutions

Luck.

You either believe in it or you don't.

If you have bad luck, hell, it's easy to believe because you live it everyday.

My sister and I had a running joke. We'd always say that our family, (The Madeup) (Respecting their privacy here...) have always had bad luck, and that maybe one of our ancestor did something horribly wrong in the past and was cursed.

Was there a Madeup who helped crucify Jesus upon the cross? Or maybe burned the wrong witch back in the Salem Witch Hunts? Had a Madeup done something so terrible that not only was he cursed but his children, their children, and so on.

I say this in jest, mostly, but my sister and I had joked about it for years.

If we could fall and break something, we would.
If we could have problems with our automobiles that would cost thousands of dollars, it would happen.

If I could get lost, it'd happen. I always leave the house early for my standard half hour of "Getting lost time." It's happened so much in my life that I now allot the extra time in my schedule, which seems to have helped with my nack for getting everywhere late!

If I have a 50/50 chance to make a correct decision, it's more than likely going to be wrong.

Murphy's Law, applies to the Madeups. In spades.

I've been a klutz all my life. Dropping, breaking, tripping, etc. Falling off horses, breaking my leg and crushing my vertebra during another horseback riding accident. I've been knocked nearly unconscious by a ceiling fan, had my shirt burned by fire while I was cooking (Reaching for the spices in the cabinet above the stove while wearing a half shirt. Hey it was the eighties.) I've had my truck stolen, I've had multiple surgeries and couldn't have anymore children after my beautiful son, who by the way seems to have enough of his father in him that he's not quite so susseptable to the curse o the Madeups.

2012 is the year, however, where I try to end this! I'm taking a stand against Murphy and bad luck and turning it around. It's all about positive thinking, right?

I woke up yesterday with broken glasses. Now, I can't see without them. Close up, reading a book, watching TV (If I'm on top of it) no problem. Driving, not so much. Looking at the computer screen so I can write my next few books, absolutely not.

So, I headed out, to a town a few hours away, where I had an eye exam, which I needed because hey, I'm almost forty-two and my eyes are changing. I bought contacts, and the young lady in the office was even able to manage a temporary fix on my broken frame so I'd have my old glasses until my new, lighter weight frames aarive in a few weeks.

My sister died last year and it's been the roughest year of my life. Even a divorce after fourteen years of marriage, which was life altering and devastatingly painful, wasn't as life altering as actually having a sibling die too young and leave a child behind.

My sister gambled with her life because she became addicted to her pain medication. She was a decorated veteran of the United States Navy, had an incredilby high IQ, and naturally talented at anything she picked up. Needlepoint, sewing, quilting, designing incredibly gorgeous curtains from magazine design pictures, artwork, woodwork, etc. If she put her mind to it, she conquered.

But, her luck, it finally ran out.

The lesson in all of this? It isn't doom and gloom. Quite the opposite, in fact.

I'll be forty-two years old in February, and I'm taking luck into my own hands. I'm embracing it the way I have always embraced chocolate and Dr. Pepper. Hey, I'm on a diet now, but that's not the point. I love chocolate and Dr. Pepper, please don't get me started.
Do they have Dr. Pepper AA?

Like luck, I'm turning it all around.
I'll control what I take into my body...Dr. Pepper and chocolate, people, what'd you think I meant? lol

I woke up with broken glasses and instead of pondering it or wallowing in self pity, I went out and fixed the problem.

If felt pretty good.

Maybe I can't change fate or alter my luck, but what I do with it, that's my choice.

2012 will be my best year in publishing. I can feel it.

What about you? How's your luck? Do you believe in luck or just believe in fate?

Things to ponder in 2012.

Have a great day,
Taylor




















trying.