Life and Beta Reads and Edits, Oh My! #TuesdayswithTaryn #writerly #life #dreams

So, edits and beta reads are coming along, even with Life's little obstacles just littering the pathway. Between several automotive issues and a bunch of personal life problems, I'm run half ragged and zapped- mentally, emotionally and physically.

Just as with novels, life is one big work-in-progress and I constantly find myself working and reworking my thoughts, my routine, my goals.

I'm also quick to remind myself that I'm glad I'm at "this place" with my writing- I actually feel older and wiser and I'm making progress, slow but sure progress, that will help me win the race. I'm glad I'm not still that stubborn 20 something who couldn't take constructive criticism or see the good in creative suggestions.

From the editor I'm working with to the beta readers and fellow authors who've taken a gander at LOVE BY DESIGN, I'm finding so much VALUE in the grammar and typo catches, the clarity in character and plot points that need adjustment. Tighten a bolt here, loosen a screw there, it will be well oiled and as good as we can get it before I put it out there for your reading pleasure...Much as I'm eager to "deliver the goods"- I want to make sure I give you MY best- and Jasmine and Derrek's best, too.

And Jasmine- much as I love her- has some character flaws that are starting to stick out like nasty little brambles, catching on my clothing and I know I need to weed them out- snip out the ugly and replace it with something that doesn't leave the reader wanting to grab her and shake the snot out of her. I'm thankful for all the help I'm receiving- the kindness of strangers, indeed! And I'm hoping that I'm building relationships with people who will become my pre-readers, my cheering section and my friends.

Even with everything else going on in my life, I am thankful for these new acquaintances as well as my wonderful writers' group- the Kentucky Independent Writers are a grounding force, yet also inspire me to lift myself up and reach higher, farther and even jump just a little, to grasp at those dreams I have, to pluck them down and make them REAL.

LOVE BY DESIGN Like a pup drooling over a bone... #FridayFreebits #excerpt #frifreebits

Good FRIDAY morning! It doesn't seem like we're already heading into the 1st weekend of April, does it?

We've hit a snag it would seem, in the Sunday Snippits blog linky list, so, Ginger Simpson has come up with another way to share, that will kick the weekend off with a bang, and hopefully there will be a LOT of "free bits"- excerpts you can go read over the weekend. It will be the same premise as Sunday Snippits, same amount of an excerpt shared, but we're hoping this will also open us up to more visibility if we get the party started on Friday night. You can come party with us over the entire weekend! Isn't that lovely?

So I'm here this lovely Friday, offering the next excerpt, my "free bit" again from my upcoming contemporary romance release, LOVE BY DESIGN.

And as always, please stop by Ginger's Blog- "Dishin' It Out" by clicking on the image above. There you can find MORE excerpts from other authors. Fellow authors- prepubbed or currently published-go find out how you, too, can hop on this party train by sending her your link earlier in the week so she can include yours in her post. 

I still say- A party's not a party, till the gang's all here! (And even better if we can rock it out all weekend long!)

“You look at Jasmine in a way that even surpasses the way you used to look at Tuesday.”

“How’s that?” Derrek didn’t know if he wanted to know Fisher’s theory or not.

“You used to look at Tuesday like you loved her, but it was in more of a friendship with benefits kind of way. You know what I mean, but the way you were looking at Jasmine when she stepped out of that limo the other night… Well, you looked like a puppy drooling over the best bone you’d ever found and would have easily snarled at any other dogs who came sniffing around. We’re actors, man, but there’s no way you’re that good an actor. You can’t fake the genuine desire I saw on your face.”

“That obvious, huh?” Derrek shook his head and took his turn at the table when Fisher missed his shot.

Fisher returned to the bar, took a seat on one of the stools, and sipped his beer.

“If you’re not in love, you don’t have much farther to fall.” Fisher’s statement was matter-of-fact.

What do you do with two Castaway Hearts? "I smiled before...." #excerpt #quotes #snippits

 

Twice orphaned, Catherine Barrett arrives in Virginia a stranger to her closest kin and secretly engaged to the one man her family would disapprove of—her seafaring grandfather’s apprentice. Add to her troubles, the rich and intriguing older brother of her secret betrothed, Dawson Randolph, a plantation owner who is as heartless as he is handsome. Heartbroken when her intended sets sail for his maiden voyage, Catherine finds it difficult to adjust to her new life, hoping to befriend the one man who is, undoubtedly, the match her grandparents wish for her. Dawson’s distaste for her secret engagement to his brother makes it clear he has no designs for marriage to anyone. Especially her.

Ten years since the tragic loss of his young wife and infant son, Dawson Randolph is convinced love and marriage is a fool’s game and resents being pardon to his brother’s hidden engagement. Damned by his instant attraction and his own growing desire, Dawson vows to befriend her against his better judgment. Determined to bring her happiness in a time of fear and uncertainty, Dawson puts aside his animosity to become her confidant, only to realize Catherine holds the key to his heart. When tragedy strikes at sea, Catherine’s guilt pushes Dawson to the fringes of her life as madness consumes her.

Can his love save her before she drowns in her own grief? Or is he doomed to love her from a distance, always in the shadow of her love for his dead brother?

LOVE BY DESIGN "“So these feelings… just what are we talking about?" #SundaySnippits #excerpt #SundaySnips

Back again for another round.

Sharing again from my upcoming contemporary romance release, LOVE BY DESIGN.

Please stop by Ginger's Blog- "Dishin' It Out" by clicking on the Sunday Snippits image above to go read MORE excerpts from other authors & find out how you, too, can hop on this wagon train each Sunday on the Linky List, if you are a pre-published or published author as well!

A party's not a party, till the gang's all here!

“Understood.” Fisher broke the rack after he called solids and then circled the table to find a good shot. “So these feelings… just what are we talking about? You say it’s not love, but I think you’re blind as a bat if you don’t realize it’s heading that direction.”

Derrek looked up from where he had been studying the table.

“What makes you think that?”

“All the footage I’ve seen of the two of you lately on TV.” Fisher bent and aimed at his shot, but then paused to look up at Derrek. “The media thinks you’re in love with her and I’m sorry, but I have to agree with them.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Please, man. We’ve been friends for a while now and you look at Jasmine, that’s her name right?”

LOVE BY DESIGN "I’m not in love with her. I’ve got feelings." #SundaySnips #excerpt #SundaySnippits

Sharing again from my upcoming contemporary romance release, LOVE BY DESIGN.

Please click the link above on the Sunday Snippits image to swing by Ginger's Blog- "Dishin' It Out" to go read MORE excerpts from other authors & find out how you, too, can hop on this wagon train each Sunday on the Linky List, if you are a pre-published or published author as well!

A party's not a party, till the gang's all here! 

“You do have it bad.”

“Nah,” Derrek denied, racking up for a game of eight-ball.

“Yeah, you do.” Fisher laughed aloud. “She’s done got you pus--”

“Shut up, Fish.” He cut his friend off before he could finish the crude reference. It crawled under his skin and pissed him off. “Don’t be disrespectful.”

“Okay, fine.” Fisher held his hands up and shot him a look of apology. “You’re still a wuss in love.”

“I’m not in love with her. I’ve got feelings. They aren’t necessarily love feelings. I will say I have respect for her and you don’t need to be vulgar.”

 

LOVE BY DESIGN "Oh, so that's her pool stick?" #Sundaysnippits #excerpt

Sunday Snippits are here again, folks and I'm picking up just about where I left off, where Derrek's buddy Fisher comes by to share a few beer and shoot a little pool.

Sharing again from my upcoming contemporary romance release, LOVE BY DESIGN.

Don't forget to please stop by Ginger's Blog- "Dishin' It Out" by clicking on the Sunday Snippits image above to go read MORE excerpts from other authors & find out how you, too, can hop on this wagon train each Sunday on the Linky List, if you are a pre-published or published author as well!

A party's not a party, till the gang's all here!

“I’m not.” Derrek shook his head, picked out a cue and nodded to the table. “You up for a few rounds?”

“Sure.” Fisher started looking through the sticks. His hand came to rest on the one Jasmine used.

“Not that one, Fish, any of the others.”

“Does it have a crack? Is it warped? What’s wrong with it?”

“Nothing.” Derrek realized how ridiculous it was and how silly he sounded. He hated to admit why he didn’t want his pal using it. “It’s the one Jasmine used.”

     “Oh, so that’s her pool stick?” Fisher cocked an eyebrow at him. “No one else can use it, eh?”

Lil' T Stepped Outta Her Box- 1st #Writers Meeting #TuesdayswithTaryn #birdsofafeather

Hallee Bridgeman & Heather Sunseri

Yep, my world is expanding. And YES, I called myself Lil' T.

Taryn stepped outside her box on February 15th and attended her very 1st writers meeting. I belong to the Kentucky Independent Writers. I once belonged to the RWA Kentucky Romance Writers Chapter (KYRW), but I never attended any meetings because I live 2 1/2-3 hours drive from there and even though the meetings were every OTHER month, I didn't drive or have my own transportation at the time, and I didn't want to feel I was putting my spouse out to drive me up there, so far out of the way. Plus I was certainly scared spitless (yes, I'm minding my mouth, but not sure how long that will last. Haha!)

Donna McDonald & J.M. Madden

I missed out on a LOT and I'm aware of it in a way that's almost physically painful now when I look back on all the years I spent hunkered down in my self-inflicted isolation.

I  missed out on a lot of craft lessons, networking, and interaction that is so important to an author. This may be a solitary career choice, but when you have a group of like-minded authors, striving toward similar goals and dreams, it makes this journey that much easier. I hate to say it, but I regret all that wasted time, keeping to myself except via the internet. I could seriously kick my own ass for being so foolish as to think I could still get the same strengths out of it, just by being in touch.

Me and Kallypso Masters (and her assistant Charlotte)

And now that's going to change. When I started writing in 2006- or I should say, when I picked my writing back up in 2006 and began writing prolifically and in earnest because I HAD to get the stories out, I thought I was stepping outside that box and becoming bolder in who I am.

It wasn't until this past year though, that I feel I've really begun to find my courage, my bravery, to be who I am, to write what I want and to start thinking about ME for a change. Sure I was writing, but I was still hiding myself away and sure, there are authors who do not socialize or interact out there and there are stereotypes of authors like that, but I enjoy the company of my kind. We are birds of a feather and I find myself now flocking toward them, needing this more than I ever thought possible.

Katherine L Logan

Getting my driver's license has helped me in more ways than I can begin to fathom and now that I've attended my first meeting, I see that I need more than the isolation that I have subjected myself to for all these years.

I need the energy that comes from being in a group, talking, brainstorming, discussing all the things that are pertinent to us authors who, though we're taking "independent" routes to fulfill our dreams, still gain so much from the friendships and interactions with others who are also taking this same road.

Debi Warford, Laurel McKinley Keller,
Sharon Ray, Jesse V Coffey
Seraphina Donavan & Bruce McDonald II

I came away from the first meeting feeling rejuvenated, excited, proud of my small accomplishment of shaking off the fears that have held me back, stunted my growth and found myself inspired to move forward that much more.

I've been working on Love By Design. Edits are done, yet again. I need Beta Readers, but need to find those who are unbiased but trustworthy.

I'm also trying to throw myself back into the world of the living. That means blogging, sharing posts through Triberr, and I'm trying out using Google+ more often than I have been, especially as hard as Facebook makes it to share from my author page. What you can't find on Facebook, I'm hoping to making easily available to view (free) on Google+.

So.... in the meantime... I really need to get to work reading through and editing on Love By Change (Book 2 in the Love By Series and I still need to finish writing Heart of the Surf- the 4th and final book in the Pryce of Love Series. You can find out more about each of the books I'm currently working on via my Works In Progress page on my website and if you go exploring on my website, you can also find out how to sign up for my Newsletter of Love, which I will send out when I have new and exciting things to tell you about my upcoming releases.

Me & my Scrabble Buddy & fellow writer Robyn Peterman