Lola Taylor's Blog, page 9

Website updates & general news

Hello! As you can tell, I’m in the process of updating the site. The old theme was too dark, IMO. For the most part everything transferred over from the old theme into the new, but I still have some tweaking to do. So please bear with me for the next week or so while I “beautify” everything!

Facebook + Tumblr

I’ve also decided to give Facebook another go. I’ve had several of you ask me if I have a FB page. Despite my reservations about it, I need to be there if that’s where you guys are. Feel free to friend me or like my page if you want. =)

I’m also moving my blog over to Tumblr. I’m liking it so far. The blog here will just be used for general announcements. There’s nothing there yet, but if you want to take a look or follow me, you can check out my blog here.

Book News

No release date yet for Betrayal, but it’s coming along. Since I’m working 45+ hours a week at my day job, it’s been hard for me to stick to deadlines in the past. Things usually end up taking twice as long as I think they will. So no deadlines, at least not for now. I don’t want to disappoint you guys by making promises I can’t keep. I’m definitely thinking I’ll have Betrayal out next month, though. Sorry for the delay. I’m pretty good about releasing something once a month, but my hubby had to have surgery and I’ve been taking some online classes to help me become a better writer and authorpreneur. Things should be back to normal by the end of the month, so I’m looking forward to devoting more time to writing!

Speaking of books, I have a cool story for a serial. It’ll involve werewolves, and I can guarantee it’ll be hot. I’m still working out the synopsis, but I can tell you it’s loosely based on “Beauty and the Beast.”

I know a lot of people don’t like serials, so I’ll also be releasing an omnibus edition at the end. I’ll talk more about serials over at my blog when I get closer to sharing the first episode. There will be six parts and they’ll be between 17,000-20,000 words each. Each episode will be .99, with the first episode being free as soon as all the retailers price match.

Thanks again for supporting me! I can’t thank you all enough for reading my books and telling others about them. You guys rock.

New covers + Betrayal cover reveal

I’ve never really liked my Blood Moon Rising covers, so I decided to redo them. Ta-da! I’ve posted the old ones, too, so you can get a “before and after” feel. I think they are MUCH better!

Before

After

Before

After

And here’s the cover for Betrayal! No release date yet because I’m swamped with day-job stuff, but it’s coming along. As always, a letter will go out to my newsletter peeps when it’s released, so be sure to sign up if you haven’t already! I don’t spam, promise!

Hope all my mothers out there have a Happy Mother’s Day!

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Sinful is here!

Eager for more sinful fun? Sinful is here! Thank you so much for the support you’ve shown me. I can’t express how amazing it is to connect with readers all over the world! You guys are amazing.

Things are looking up for succubus Sally Sanders. She has the man of her dreams, delicious incubus, Hector Aurelius, and she finally has a job she cares about as a self-defense instructor at Elysian. But danger seems to have an appetite for Sally, and it’s coming back for seconds.

When the dean sends Hector and Sally on a mission to a sister school to help “whip things in shape,” Sally and Hector quickly discover things are not as they appear. The students are odd, willful at times and zombie-like at others, and the headmaster, supposedly one of the most powerful vampires in the world, doesn’t seem to be very concerned about the situation at all – though he is keenly interested in getting into Sally’s pants. Read more.

Genre: Erotic Paranormal Romance

Series: Her Dark Desires, #2

BUY THE EBOOK

Amazon || Amazon CA || Amazon UK || Kobo || Smashwords

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Rock Star Werewolves!

The first book of my new adult BBW PNR is here! Check it out below. =)

Life is about to give Layla an unexpected surprise… in the form of a dark, hunky werewolf.

When Layla moved to the city to pursue her dream of becoming a Broadway singer, she never thought she’d find herself at the front and center of an up-and-coming indie rock band – one made entirely of paranormal creatures, that is. That doesn’t surprise her. She is a witch after all. (Or at least she would be if she could actually, you know, use her powers.) What does throw her for a loop is her attraction toward the band’s insanely gorgeous werewolf leader, Alaric Winter. He’s six feet of tall, dark, and dangerous, exactly the kind of guy Layla needs to avoid, and everything her darkest desires crave.

When Layla is invited to audition with the band, she finds herself torn between following common sense and following her heart – and her lust. Her worries mount as her dormant powers begin to emerge, revealing an astounding secret about her heritage – and attracting the attention of a deadly foe who has his heart set on possessing her, body and soul. 

Book 1 of 9. BBW Werewolf Romance\New Adult \\ Recommended 18+ for swearing and some explicit sexual content.

BUY THE EBOOK

Amazon || Amazon CA || Amazon UK || Kobo || Smashwords

More retailers coming soon!

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New releases!

Phew! Sorry for the radio silence, but I’ve been super busy writing, editing, and publishing some stories I’ve been working on. Now that I have links, I’ll shoot an email to my newsletter subscribers. (Along with some super-secret chapters of things I’m currently working on. The website has been updated, and boy did it need it. I had two new books release within the past 2 weeks, Fever & Protector. You can read more about them here.

Next up on my plate is finishing Sinful (Book #2 of Her Dark Desires. I’m about 4 chapters out, plus edits and revisions.), Betrayal (Book #3 of Blood Moon Rising. I’m still in the outlining phase.), and Track One: Prelude (Book #1 of Black Rose, my werewolf rocker band romance! I’m about halfway through writing it, so either it or Sinful will come out next. =)

I’m super excited about all these books. They’re a lot of fun to write, and that’s why we do it right? To become super rich and famous. To have fun. =D Thanks for bearing with me. I’ll keep you posted on where I’m at.

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Boycotting Facebook

You may have noticed my FB social icon has disappeared on the bottom right corner of my page, and that my page is gone. That’s mostly due to the fact FB is yet again tightening the reins on who can view content they’ve already said they want to view by liking a page.

The summary is, unless you want to shell out more money to expand your reach, people probably aren’t going to see your stuff. Which makes FB pointless from a marketing aspect, IMO. (To read more, see this article and this one, too. Both are worth your time if you’re an author using FB.) I already have an established presence there for my young adult pen name, so I’ll be keeping my profile and page up there. (Plus, it’s under my real name, so all my real friends and contacts are tied to that profile.) But for Lola, I can’t justify spending the time there when there are plenty of other outlets that don’t censor your content. If I like a page, that means I’m open to viewing that page’s content in my feed. People do this to make things easier. I have a lot of likes, and I don’t always remember to check individual pages because I have far too many other things to worry about. We all do – that’s why we subscribe to stuff, to make things easier by bringing the content to us. When I have to manually say “I want to view this page’s info in my feed,” FB is making it harder on me. This irritates me to no end, and because of this new policy of theirs to only give decent reach to people who have paid for their ads, I’m done for now.

Maybe it won’t always be this way. Goodreads also has a news feed and paid advertisement, but they don’t censor things the way FB does. FB could learn something from them, and hopefully things will go back to the way they used to be there.

I’m still on Twitter, Pinterest, and Goodreads. I’m also on Google + and I’m thinking about getting a Tumblr account because it looks cool and fun. I also started a Youtube channel if anyone’s big into videos. (My user id is always www.websitename.com/lolataylorbooks.) I’m also going to start blogging more now that things have settled down from the new year. So, sorry if you’re still an avid FB user, but I won’t be using it until they turn their act around.

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Blog Tour – Carnal

 

 

 

 

 

Happy tour day! Interviews and excerpts await, along with giveaways of the ebook. =) The book will also be 0.99 for the duration of the tour.

Here are the stops:

Dec 5 – Pete de violet, The Diary of an Engineer, Becca Anne’s Book Reviews, Paranormal Opinion, Plain Talk BM, The Story Behind the Book Cover, Escape Into A Book, The Flipping Bookworm,

Dec 6 – Shattering Words, Total Book Geek , The Suburban Eclectic Review, Paranormal Sisters, Share My Destiny,

Dec 7 – Jazzy Book Reviews, Mythical Books, Nyxx’s Nook, Sinful Reads Blog, Living Between Books, Aly’s Miscellany

Dec 8 – Chapter Break, Escaping One Book @ a Time, Snarky Mom Reads, Good Books & Good Coffee,

Dec 9 – Not Everyone’s Mama, Broadway Girl Book Reviews,

Dec 10 – Northern Plunder,

Dec 11 – Simplistic Reviews, Mostly Reviews,

Dec 12 – Kim’s Reading Lounge, Pieces of Whimsy,

Dec 13 – Fae Books,

Dec 14 – About That Story, Share My Destiny, Deal Sharing Aunt, Why I Can’t Stop Reading, Mommy’s Late Night Book-Up, As the Pages Turn,

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New release: Carnal, Her Dark Desires #1

It’s official! Carnal is out in the world! Had a few hiccups, but it should be in the other retailers (Apple, Sony, etc) soon.

 

 

 

 

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Cover Reveal: Carnal

Here it is! What do you think? The model and red, swirly background were both found at Shutterstock.com, and I created the cover in Photoshop.

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My Writing Process – Part 1/3 – “Planning”

Every writer eventually develops a writing process, a procedure he or she follows from the start of a novel to its finish. My own process has evolved over the years, at last settling into what I’m about to show you. This step-by-step guide is what I’ve used for my past few novels, and it works for me. That’s the whole point – experiment and find what works for you. There isn’t a right or wrong way to create art.

Step One: Brainstorming

I get ideas at weird times – when I’m in the shower, driving to work, while listening to a song. I find it easier to brainstorm when I’m relaxed, and that’s usually when my story kernels come to me. I also brainstorm best when I’m not rushed. Before I go to sleep, I’ll whip out a notebook and a pen, and I’ll just lay in bed and jot down whatever comes to my mind. It’s kind of turned into a “reflection” period for me. I scratch out things I wrote from the day before that I’m no longer in love with, or build upon ideas I’ve already written down. I let my mind play for about 20-30 minutes until I’m too sleepy to think anymore. Then I pick up the latest novel I’m reading and read until I doze off. That’s usually how I end my nights. (Hey, it may not be the most exciting lifestyle, but it’s relaxing, which is conducive to creativity.)

I also carry around a notebook with me wherever I go and make notes throughout the day. These notes cover the four pillars of a story: plot, character, theme, and setting. All four have to work together to make a novel sing. At During the brainstorming stage, my ideas are very basic. I’m figuring things out and just kind of playing around, or “dating” the story idea to see if we have chemistry. I can brainstorm anywhere from a few days to a few weeks depending on how passionate I am about the story idea. If I’m really into it, I move on to step two pretty quickly…

Step Two: Story Sketching

This is where I start to get an idea of the “bigger picture” by mapping out the story’s four acts. (Yes, I follow four-act structure instead of three. Please see Recommended Writing References for some great book recommendations that talk about four-act structure.) At this stage, I’m focusing mainly on getting the plot structure and character arcs hammered out. I usually make a bulleted list on each piece of the story’s structure. This includes from top to bottom:

 Ordinary World
 Inciting Incident
 Heroine’s denial
 First Door/Entry into Act II
 Rising conflict/Heroine reacting to circumstances/learning about new world
Midpoint/Entry into Act III
Escalating stakes/Heroine’s trying to actually do something about the situation instead of just reacting
False summit
2nd Door/Entry to Act IV
Tests
Climax
Resolution

I sketch all this out in a notebook and try to get an idea for how big the story will be. I also make notes about setting and theme, and I tie in my characters’ arcs to the main plot points. (I like to get a big piece of paper and draw out my story map, then get different colored markers for each character and subplot, and map those out below the main plotline.) Once I have a good idea of how my novel’s going to jive, I move on to…

Step Three: Outlining

I used to do this on index cards, but now I outline exclusively in Scrivener. If you haven’t heard of it before, it’s this amazing software designed to help writers outline and write their novels. It pretty cheap, too, running at about $40. Plus, they’re running a NaNoWriMo special where if you win NaNoWriMo, you can get the program at 50% off, and even if you don’t make your NaNo goal, you can still get it for 20% off. It’s well worth the investment, as it makes it so much easier to bounce around between scenes in your novel. If you’re still unsure if you’ll like it, you can always do the free trial.

Okay, enough with my Scrivener promo. So I throw everything into Scrivener and figure out how many scenes I’ll need. They say the average number of scenes in a novel (we’re talking of the 80-90k variety) is 60. I tend to use less, simply because I find myself doing more “fluffy/filler” scenes if I try to push for sixty. The number of scenes you need will also depend on your writing style. I tend to be long-winded, so my scenes usually run between 1.5-3k. Some are shorter, but that’s a ballpark number. Thus, I don’t use as many scenes, otherwise my story would be ginormous. I, personally, am pretty comfortable at 40 scenes. Depending on scene content, this allows me to produce a book between 50-70k. (Remember, a novel is 50k+ words. Some websites and organizations even say 40k constitutes a novel.)

You won’t really know how many scenes will work for your style until you’ve practiced writing a few novels. So just experiment and tweak your methods as you go along, and you’ll develop your own formula. I would recommend starting with at least forty scenes for a novel, though.

Once I know the number of scenes, I plug in my story landmarks (first door, midway, etc.), and get to work outlining. I add in just enough detail to get a rough idea of how the scene will play out, with a clear beginning, middle (all that juicy “conflict”), and end. Scenes are like mini-stories. You don’t have to put in bare-bones details like me. You can be very detailed. Having written forty-page outlines, however, I found that tends to make the final story sound more formulaic than if I’d relied on my creative spontaneity. But, again – and I can’t stress this enough – do what works for you.

Step Four: Walk Away

Yup. You read it right. I treat my outlines the same way I do my rough drafts. Outlines need time to marinate before they get really good. I recommend walking away from your outline for at least a day – if not a week – and just let the story ideas bubble in the back of your brain. Tweak it throughout the week, if you want, but don’t spend too much time fussing with it. They say our brains continue to work on things subconsciously. This is where magical things happen. If you’re stuck on a scene, forget about it for a while. Usually, the answer will just pop into your head when you’re not even thinking about that story. This has happened to me numerous times. It’s really cool. =)

So, in part two I’ll be talking about the actual writing part of my process. Though, if I had to tell you which part is most important, I’d say numero uno – or the “planning” process. Get this part right, and you’ll save yourself loads of revisions. (Which is always a thumbs-up.)

How much time do you spend planning out your novels before starting to write? I’d love to hear from you!

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