Skye Turner's Blog, page 11

What I read…

I read. I read a lot. I read anything and everything.

Well except for non-fiction. I’m not really into nonfiction, though I do read an occasional autobiography.

In a typical week, I read 4-6 books. Most of the time, I read a book a day.

However, since I’ve started writing and my editing has picked up, in the past month, I’ve probably read 7 books total.

My favorite genre of books is paranormal romance. And I’m addicted to YA fiction.

Crazy right?!?!

I write adult romance with erotic sex scenes, but my favorite books are young adult.

I also love New Adult/Contemporary.

I like reading sexy books.

Hell, I love everything.

Some of my favorite books and authors are all over the map. Everything from Gena Showalter‘s Lords of the Underworld Series, to Shelly Pratt‘s Ruined and Ruining Angel, to Richelle Mead‘s Vampire Academy and Bloodlines series’, to Nicole Deese‘s christian, clean Letting Go Series.

My absolute favorite author of all time is Nora Roberts. I would totally be the crazy, fan girl with her, and I rarely get crazy over anyone.

I’ve found some amazing Indie authors over the past year, and I’m lucky enough to actually call some of them friends. Most of their books are as different from me in writing style as it’s possible to be, but I love them. I love their work.

I’ve found books that I thought I would hate are some of my favorite reads. I’ve found that books that other people rave over, just leave me going, “Eh. What was all that hype about?”

No one’s taste in literature is the same.

Read often. Read everything. Read things you don’t think you’ll like. Be honest in reviews. Recommend books you’ve found to be hidden gems.

The main thing is just read… it’s like exercise for your brain.

I don’t even know what the point of this post is really, other than I’m tired of editing and needed a break.

Sometimes, I just need to get the random out to be able to focus.

I know… I’m strange.

My "1 in 100" is 4 today! Celebrating LIFE!

Reblogged from theperfectkindofchaos:

4 years ago today, my life was irrevocably changed forever.

It was on July 28, 2009, that I officially became a "Heart Mom."

It's a small club and one that I pray everyday that friends, family, and strangers never have to join. But, if you do find yourself joining the "Heart Parents Club", well, it's a pretty great club to be in.

Read more… 1,750 more words

A little different post.
But this is my "other" blog and this is my son!
Happy 4th birthday to my little miracle man!

Just be YOU

I should be sleeping.

I should be preparing for a party for my 4 year old tomorrow.

I should be watching this weeks Twisted on my Tivo.

I should probably NOT be writing a blog with my level of exhaustion and the glass of wine I’ve had. (But it was Moscato and it was so good.)

I could be reading…

But no, I’m sitting here reflecting at my laptop.

I’ve read a few blog posts this week from authors and other “people in the public eye”, who have just been beat down lately.

It saddens me.

It upsets me because people are different, and that’s ok.

How BORING would the world be if we were all the same?!?!

It’s ok not to like something someone writes, or does, or the way they live their life. But what’s NOT ok is to personally attack someone because they are different from you. In fact, it’s flipping ridiculous to be an ass because you take personal offense at something someone writes, says, or does, that has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with you.

Mind your own damn business.

People should never feel afraid to be themselves… no matter what.

So what if I write about sex or I have 7 tattoos and I want about 7 more (that I know of.) So what if I choose to have crazy “rock star” hair and piercings on my body, other than in my ears.

Why is it your business if I have gothic red, or purple, or blonde streaks in my hair?

Who said that because I have tattoos, I must be an irresponsible hooligan?

This is not about me. (Well that crap was because I DO write about sex, and have tattoos, and have “crazy” hair according to some people.)

But my point is…  just be YOU.

Write about what you want. Sing what you want. Date who you want. Get as many tattoos, piercings, whatever… as you want!

BE YOU.

And don’t just BE you… EMBRACE you!

You cannot please everyone and in the grand scheme of things, people who have issues with you are the ones with problems.

It’s not you, it’s THEM.

So tell them to loosen up or to back off. Tell them to mind their own business, but just Do You!

If you like you, and the people you care about who care about you respect you and accept you… seriously… who gives a rat’s ass about anyone else.

Not me.

I’m just me. All the time.

I’m the 33 year old Super Mommy with tattoos and piercings, who always does things with her kids schools, or bakes things, or takes them to the park, or is there for whoever needs me to be, and who also writes “sex books.”

Yup that’s ME!

***Oh, and I don’t “actually” write “sex books.” I write romance books with sex IN them.

Just Do You!

Making It Happen. Risk and Reward.

In one week, I’ve gone 1000% into marketing myself as an author.

I’ve always been a “go getter” and if I choose to do something, then I’m going to DO it.

I don’t do anything half ass, and for me, if I’m going to take the time to do something (because my time is in pretty short supply as it is), then I’m going to give it my all.

If I dedicate the time and energy, I expect silver linings at the end.

Is this reality?

Maybe not for some people, but it’s MY reality.

In about 10 days, I’ve created a Facebook page, followed by almost 300 people.

I’ve completed my first novel, and have sent out chapters to my Beta Readers.

I’ve networked and SOLD MYSELF, because as an Independent (Indie) Author, no one else is going to do it for me.

I’ve set up a Goodreads Author Page.

My Book Cover is being designed as I type.

My point is… if you want results, then take the time and put in the effort.

There is no reward without risk.

You can write 100 books, but if you don’t market yourself, network with other authors and Blogs/Facebook pages, tell your friends and family, hell tell the bagger at the checkout line at the grocery store that you’ve written books and you want them to read them… well, you’ve written books for yourself.

Friends who also write, authors that I’ve edited for, people with several books already OUT… are shocked at the response I’ve gotten in such a short time; but I’ve told them and I’ll tell whomever is reading this… To succeed, you have to try. You have to put yourself out there.

Be your biggest fan, but don’t be obnoxious.

Make people interested in YOU, in what you write… in what you do.

This can be the mantra for many things in life, not just writing.

Failure is not a favored word in my vocabulary.

Or rather not trying, not giving it your all is not something I’m familiar with.

If you want results, then take chances.

Tell everyone what you do and who you are.

Ask them to support you.

Ask them to pimp you out!

I did. I have. And I will continue to do so.

All they can do is say no, but without asking, you’ll never know.

And without putting yourself out there, you’ll never succeed!

Reflections…

It’s been quite a week.

Good things, bad things, and things that are inevitable and a part of life…

This week, I finished my first book.

I’m editing my own work, as opposed to other people’s work and it’s quite a challenge.

The words I’m reading came from MY brain and as thorough as I am when editing for other people, I am seriously critical of my own work. I have been editing for 3 days now and I am still only halfway through Chapter 4.

At this pace… I might be ready to pass it off to my Beta Readers, oh sometime in December!

To give myself some credit though, I have had other things going on. Raising 2 young children, keeping a house, playing on Facebook, and some personal events have taken a lot of my focus the past few days.

I am thrilled to have my first book out of my head, but at the same time, terrified of passing it off to others to read and criticize.

Anyone who tells you that they don’t care what others say about them is lying.

When you write, you are taking your thoughts, your characters, and blending them with things you know. No story is ever purely fiction. Characters are based off of people you know or have known in your life. Situations are usually somewhat personal in some form or another.

That’s not to say that I’m writing a fiction book, so by my own words, it must be about me.

It’s not.

I’m not nor have I ever been involved with a Rock Star.

What I’m saying is that your writing is a part of you. It’s personal.

It’s something you take the time to get out of your head, to share with others, and you hope that it’s received well.

There is a very real chance it might not be.

Someone might tell you in a review that you suck. Or take to bashing you on social media.

If this happens, it will hurt. No matter how thick your skin is, or how much you “think” you won’t care.

You will.

It’s human nature.

We all want to be accepted and loved. It’s in our genetics.

I don’t know why this is on my mind, right now, but it is.

This morning, I went to a funeral.

A family member passed away. He wasn’t a young man, and he lived a good life, but he was someone that people loved and though he had indeed lived a good life, his passing is still hard. Those he leaves behind are grieving.

Seeing people close to you, people who you  love with your whole heart, in pain, in tears… it’s not an easy thing.

Maybe that’s why I’m feeling like this right now.

I don’t know.

What I do know is this… life is not promised. No one knows when they’ll be taken off the earth.

So, I am going to open myself up, take chances, and put myself and my books out there.

If I bomb, I bomb. But if I make it… if just a handful of people like my work and find enjoyment in something I choose to share with the world… that’s something.

And I’ll take it.

 

Pinching Myself to Make Sure I’m Awake

Exciting things are happening.

Crazy, pinch yourself, because this can’t really be happening things!

My debut book cover is being designed.

I hit over 200 “Likes” on Facebook today. (Though FB blocked me for a short time because someone reported me for pornography. Um say what? Where? But it’s been taken care of. People are ridiculous.)

I had 3 more authors that I am fans of, contact me with support and well wishes.

I’ve made some new author friends and I am so excited to read their work.

A couple of personal friends of mine, who are also authors, are gaining popularity because Social Media Networking is pretty awesome.

A couple of other Indie Authors I’ve edited for have been offered Publishing Contracts.  (See, it happens!)

And well I’m alive and my kids and husband are healthy too. (I had to throw that one in there!)

If I wasn’t short for time and on the way out the door, I’d write some profound and awesome blog, but for now this will do.

Good things. Good things all around me.

And I’m absorbing it all, because sooner or later someone will tell me that my writing sucks and I should never write again.

It will happen, but I’m going to let it roll off my back, because any feedback is good feedback, right?!?!

 

 

 

Like Triple Chocolate Cake With A Cherry On Top!

Today has been an off the charts, pretty flipping fantastic day!

It’s been one of those days where just when you think, wow this day is awesome and couldn’t possibly get anymore awesome, then it get’s more awesome.

I woke up this morning after sleeping soundly last night because I FINISHED writing my first book last night.

Jude and Lexi were finally quiet since they’ve been immortalized forever on my laptop and are no longer fighting with each other, and me, to get out of my head.

New characters are now pushing to the forefront, but I’m telling them to drink a beer. Or take a nap.  I need a break.

Editing on Alluring Turmoil has commenced and I’ve notified my Beta Readers to expect surprises come early next week.

All the responses were excited and they are simply dying to read this creativeness that has come from my brain.

Thumbs up. Pat myself on the back. Crank up some Fall Out Boy and jam to express my joy.

Then, as I’m editing my first few chapters, I hear a nice little ping from Facebook, letting me know I have a message.

It’s an author that I read, am a total fangirl for, and greatly admire and she’s giving ME kudos for completing my first book and saying how much she’s looking forward to reading it.

Say What?

Where’s the camera? Is this a joke?

Alas, it is not. And SHE was really writing me to say congrats, wish me success, and wants to know as soon as it’s out so she can buy it.

My stomach did backflips.

More authors that I’ve come to really love have also offered their support and this means the absolute world to me.

To have someone who is already out there, established, doing what they love, and being pretty damn awesome at it, tell me that they support me and can’t wait to read it… let’s just say it’s a pretty amazing feeling.

How amazing?

Well, picture the dance scenes from the old Grey’s Anatomy… my house this morning. Only it was just me.

Makes me feel like cranking this up and going all Rocky Balboa!

Eye of the Tiger

I also applied to the Author Program on Goodreads a few weeks back, and had heard nothing back as of today.

I’d sent inquiries and checked to make sure it had gone through. Nothing.

This morning, 3 weeks after submitting my application, I sent a slightly (ok more than slightly) freaked out message asking what the status was and if there was an issue I needed to be made aware of, and within 30 minutes, I was approved.

I’m now a Goodreads Author. (

^^^Skye Turner Goodreads Author.^^^

Yeah, that right there is ME.

The simply crazy thing about all of this is… maybe I’ll write these books and no one will read them. Maybe people will read them, but they’ll hate them. But maybe, just maybe people will love them.

And that my friends, that’s what it’s all about!

Live your dreams. Put yourself out there. You might fail. You might succeed. But without trying, you’ll never know what you’re capable of.

Now, I’m off to find some chocolate!

Keeping the Masses Happy.

There are certain things that I do not think an author should do, ever…

But the most important thing, in my opinion,  is to never compromise yourself or your writing.

Lately… I’ve seen more than one author give into to their fans and write something simply because the fans ask for it.

I realize that fans are important. Without fans, you have no readers, and without readers, you are writing for no one but yourself, and you’re not selling books.BUT… and this is a big but… when an author writes something to appease their fans and it’s not up to par… I think this hurts them more than helps them.

Case in point… an author I absolutely love who has written some amazing books, recently released a book to “end” a story that her fans simply wanted more of.

The first 2 books were phenomenal. Seriously, they were amazing. I along with many many other fans fell in love with these books and these characters.

The male lead was Epic Book Boyfriend material. In fact, he’s in my top 5 Book Boyfriends.

There are spinoffs to the series and those books too are great. I can’t wait for more.

As I’ve said, I am a huge, huge, HUGE fan of this author.

But this 3rd book seemed rushed, was not really relevant, was basically a book about a very unlikable character, and had WAY too many other things with other characters going on.

It was simply not up to the author’s previous standards.

In this particular instance, I personally think a short novella OR even an extra chapter or 2 or simply an Epilogue would have better served the author and would have been more beneficial to the author and the fans.

Not only did the author compromise her talent and her writing, but as a fan, I was very disappointed with the quality of the book.

And again I’m not knocking the author because I absolutely love her.

The point of this rambling is that we all write. We want to please our fans. Our fans are why we write and who buys our books, but giving the fans what they want is not always in the best interest of the author.

And if the fans are loyal, they will understand that sometimes, you can’t have exactly what you want and we the authors need to be true to ourselves.

I mean don’t you want a quality piece of work, even if it’s short, over an overtly long, piece of crap?!?!

 

Expectations and Assumptions

Since I’ve let the cat out of the bag, so to speak, that I’m writing an adult novel, the sheer amount of support and well wishes from family, friends, and even strangers has been amazing.

But along with the support and well-meaning, supportive e-mails, texts, Facebook messages,  and Facebook Wall posts, have come some pretty funny messages as well.

I’d have to say the funniest message was from a friend of the family. She sent a message to me, letting me know how proud of me she was, singing my praises about how she just knew the book would be great because I’m so smart, and funny, and I give everything I do my all.

But then she let me know that in no uncertain terms could she read it because it was an adult novel and that meant there would be SEX in it and she just knew she could not read that.

She asked me if I would consider writing a “clean” version of the book so that she could enjoy it as well.

In fact, with her permission, here’s the message:

“Hey girl. I am so excited for you.

You’ve always jumped into everything you do headfirst and rarely have I seen you not own anything you ever try. You really are like Superwoman. Lol.

I would imagine this would be no different for you.

But I do have a question.

Will you write a “clean” version of the book for those of us who get squeamish with the things in an “adult” book?

The story sounds like something I would love to read, but I know I can’t make it through a sex scene.

Love and hugs for you and may you have infinite success.”

Well my answer went like this, “Thank you so much girl. The positive response has been amazing and I’m overwhelmed with all of the support to be honest.

As far as a clean version, well I’m not certain I can do that. LOL.

I don’t have a “clean” kind of mind.

Here’s how it would probably go.

Alluring Turmoil

Once upon a time, there were 2 people. Jude and Lexi. They fell in love. Stuff happened. Many years later, they are brought back together and stuff happens again. More things happen that shake everything up. The question is love really all powerful is answered in the best way it can be with Lexi and Jude. The End.”

I don’t think that has the same bite though, does it?

The simple fact is I don’t think I have it in me to be a PG kind of writer.

Another message that made me giggle was from a family member.

I’ll paraphrase, but basically it followed these lines.

She’s so happy for me. She’s proud of me. She knows I’ll knock it out of the park, but at the same time, do I really want to put my actual name on a sex book? Won’t people look at me differently and she doesn’t want me to be judged by my writing.

My reply to her and to anyone else is this.

It’s called Adult Romance/Erotic Romance for a reason. There are adult/erotic situations, aka SEX and some pretty foul language in the book.

The intended audience for my books are ADULTS. That means 18 and older in most cases.

My inner slut and potty mouth are out and about on full display. I won’t lie.

There is A LOT of sex in the book. It’s graphic. It’s like literal porn in some places, but it also has a story, a plot. It’s not like late night Skinemax.

I hope people read the book and enjoy it. I want people to enjoy the story and maybe fan themselves a little from the sex, but more than the sex, the writing and the story are what makes it literature.

I hope my characters strike a chord with readers and they want more.

However, I know that this style of writing is not for everyone, so I am very honest about what you’ll get if you read the book.

If sex makes you feel dirty, well don’t read my books.

If you can’t handle certain names for body parts, well don’t read my books.

If you are going to judge me, the author, on what my characters do in my books, well then don’t read my books.

But if you like entertaining reads, with an actual plot, some turmoil, some romance, and some flat-out sex, you SHOULD read my books, because you will get all of that.

Bottom line is this, I decided to write to get my stories out of my head. I choose to share them with other people. Some will love it, some will hate it, but one thing no one can say is that I lie about what I write.

The best I can hope for is that women find a new “Book Boyfriend” with my stories.

Like me on Facebook: Skye Turner~Author

Follow me on Twitter: Skye Turner~Author

Add Alluring Turmoil to your “To Read” List on Goodreads: Alluring Turmoil by Skye Turner

I’m not going to force anyone or beg anyone to read my book, but if you do happen to… let me know what you think of it!

Alluring Turmoil is Book One of the Bayou Stix Series!

It’s Rock Stars, Sex, and Romance…  with a Louisiana twist. If you like that sort of thing, I can’t wait to hear your feedback!

I am about 3 chapters from completion and then it’s onto editing.

I shall keep everyone posted though I’m hoping for an Early Fall release!

Taking the Plunge

A short while ago, I decided to take the plunge from Book Editor to Author.

I’ve had ideas in my head for as long as I can remember, but never have I shared my innermost thoughts with anyone but well my brain.

My debut novel, Alluring Turmoil, involves characters that for all intents and purposes would not get out of my head.

Thus my decision to write my thoughts down.

Never did I intend to do anything with the story of Lexi and Jude, but get it out of MY head and maybe reread it once before tucking it quietly away.

But after 9 hours of solid writing on day one and over 9000 words, I thought, “Hell maybe I’m onto something. “

I took a few of my rambling paragraphs and sent them to a couple of author friends to see what they thought.

Now remember, up until now, I’ve been the EDITOR, not the writer. I read books. I edit books. I correct other people’s errors. And this stuff I was sharing was straight out of my head. Literally from my brain to my fingers to the laptop.

I reminded them that this was purely unedited, ramblings from my brain, but I wanted an honest opinion.

Within minutes, I had several replies from fellow authors I trusted not to bullshit me, and they all said the same thing… this story was good and I needed to pursue writing it.

Since that day, I’ve been a machine. Knocking out 3000-7000 words a day and each day I realize the story changes.

Something I’ve never realized before, because I’ve never before been the “Author”.

Bottom line is the story that was in my head on day one, is no longer in my head today.

Everyday, my characters evolve. And as they evolve, the storyline changes.

I’m just the vessel and trust me, being the vessel for a bunch of voices in your head is scary and frustrating.

When you write, you are putting a piece of yourself out there and opening yourself up for all kinds of criticism.

I won’t lie, I’m terrified.

I’ve never thought about how my editing and reviews have affected the authors that I work for and with, but it’s rough.

When people love it, you’re on top of the world, but when people hate it, it’s a bit brutal and quite frankly it hurts.

But I’m now 19 chapters into it and I’m finding out a lot about myself and my characters.

I’m at the top of the cliff, about to jump… I just hope my parachute opens and I don’t splatter on the ground!

(And there you have the wine induced, exhausted from writing ramblings of me, Skye Turner now Author!)