Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Hey #Readers, come check out Tuesdays with Taryn- It's My Turn



Tuesdays with Taryn
Taryn’s Answers
 Yep, that's me.

Considering I've spent the better part of the year asking others to answer these few questions, I thought it might be nice to also answer them myself, to share a glimpse into me, as a writer and a reader, so here we go. (I'm not including site links or buy links, as I'm certain you can find them easily anywhere on this blog or my website.)

Okay- And AWAY WE GO....

What book(s) most influenced you as a writer? 

Any by V.C. Andrews. The Secret Garden, Little Women, but as I’ve gotten older- Tanith Lee, D.H. Lawrence, Clive Barker, H.P. Lovecraft, Yasmine Galenorn- any that are really well-written and capture the heart of the story. I like fiction that reads real, because real means the author knows how to reach you with raw emotion.

What book do you read over and over again?
 
I don’t reread a lot of them because I simply don’t have time, but I have reread several by V.C. Andrews, Snow Queen by Linda Wisdom, The Guarded Heart by Robyn Donald, The Tales from the Flat Earth by Tanith Lee, and The Thief of Always by Clive Barker.

Tuesday Trio-
1)      Movie- Grease 2
2)      Music- anything by Maroon 5 or Ben Taylor or Pink
3)      Decadent Dessert- Better than Sex Cake

What’s the most interesting or bizarre bit of trivia you’ve learned from researching for a novel?

In my recent research for the current WIP I’m writing for NaNo, Heart of the Surf, I discovered that authors Mark Twain and Jack London both surfed in Hawaii.

Novel on your Nightstand:
Who/what are you currently reading?

At the moment in print, I’m reading Night Seeker from The Indigo Court Series by Yasmine Galenorn and Everdark from The Dark Ink Chronicles by Elle Jasper. I’m eager to get my hands on Shadow Rising, also by Yasmine Galenorn, that just came out a few weeks ago that’s part of her Otherworld Series and the next two books in Elle Jasper’s series. On my Kindle, I’m reading Laments, a collection of short stories by Michael Embry, Salt of the Earth by Jesse V. Coffey. I’m also looking forward to time when I can start reading Kallypso Masters’ Nobody’s Angel in her Rescue Me Series.

Whom would you cast as your Hero & Heroine if your book became a movie?

In Castaway Hearts, I saw Dawson as James Scott, who plays E.J. Dimera on Days of Our Lives and Catherine as a young Kate Beckinsale. In my current WIP, I would cast Jared Padalecki from Supernatural as Mark Pryce and Kaley Cuoco, who plays Penny on The Big Bang Theory as Alexa Stevens.
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Thanks for stopping by and feel free to share some of your answers to these questions if you'd like.


Don't forget that if you are an author and would like some FREE PROMO, you can always contact me if you would like to do a Tuesdays or Thursdays with Taryn. My email is available via my G+ Profile About Me section, so feel free to give me a shout out. I'll set you up with a file especially for you and all you have to do is answer the questions and send me your author info, book image, info, blurb, links etc to have a spot on here for free promo!

Monday, November 12, 2012

DEATH BY A HONEYBEE by Abigail Keam Free November 13-15


Abigail Keam’s award-winning mystery novel, “Death By A HoneyBee” will be
FREE
on Kindle from Tuesday, November 13 to November 15th.
 Click image above to go check it out on Amazon!

Maybe you will like it so well, you’ll check out her other three novels – “Death By Drowning," “Death By Bridle,” and her newest novel, “Death By Bourbon” has just been released.

“Death By A HoneyBee” was on USA BOOK NEWS – Best Book List of 2011. See what all the buzz is about!

Enjoy a good mystery before going to bed!

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Taryn Raye's #sixsunday Not so fast you little pixie...

(click above image to read MORE Six Sentence Sunday excerpts)
(Check out more by looking up hashtag #sixsunday on Twitter)

Welcome Sixers. Though I'm deep in Nano and trying to get to feeling better after having felt flu-like earlier this past week, I wanted to make sure I'd still have something to share today.

As always, for those who might not know here's what 6 Sentence Sunday is all about-
Pick six (6) sentences from anything you like (it can be from a Work in Progress (WiP), something you recently sold, something you hope to sell or even something already under contract and available for purchase – and don’t worry, Six Sentence Sunday is for published AND unpublished writers). Then post them on your blog on Sunday. That’s all there is to it!

You can add yours link to their official list by signing up before midnight the Saturday beforehand.
Heading back into my currently unpublished contemporary romance, Love by Design, here's the follow up to last week's offering of Shades of Blue.

Love by Design

Jasmine Galloway sees beauty in all things but it’s not a thing of beauty when she meets Derrek Martin, a shallow, arrogant playboy celebrity. When her sister Juniper, a blockbuster actress, recommends her interior design business, Décor Dreams, to Derrek, it’s sure to be a disaster. Jasmine is uncertain she can hold her tongue and get the job done, but she takes it, never one to let her opinions of others stand in the way of professional success and she’s not about to let some pretty boy win her over whose ego is as big as his blockbuster movies. It isn’t long before Derrek’s gentle, affectionate manner and country boy charm gets the better of her. She curses herself for allowing the tabloid fodder to contaminate her impression of a man who might well put his designs on her heart.

Derrek Martin counts himself lucky his acting career took off shortly after his arrival in California. Even more since his parents’ deaths left him the guardian of his little sister. The new house is nice, but it needs a woman’s touch before he brings Paige out from Indiana to live with him. He knows his reputation in the tabloids depicts him far from who he really is, but he has never met with a more chilly reception than the moment he meets Jasmine Galloway, Interior Designer to the Stars. He’s sure she has read everything bad ever published about him and disregards all the good. His private life is simply that, private. Derrek intends to keep it that way—until he meets Jasmine.

Her blatant dislike for him pushes a button no one else ever has and Derrek finds he’s desperate to prove that he isn’t what the tabloids make him out to be. More than that, he’s determined to make her his leading lady, but will an ex with a secret steal the spotlight away?
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“Uh uh, not so fast you little pixie.”
She could hear the laughter in Derrek’s voice right behind her. A joyous thrill zinged through her at teasing him.
Large masculine hands clamped down over her shoulders and spun her around. Her breasts slammed against his muscular chest, jarring her into a sedated state. The pleasure at taunting him dissolved around her as the warmth of his arms circled her waist and the chill dampness of the paint soaked into the front of her t-shirt.
If you missed previous Six Sunday posts from Love by Design and would like to check them out, look at the top of the page in my pink tabs for SSS Posts where you can easily find links to each previous post. 

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Does your Hero Smell? He Smells like a Memory #poetry

Ironically, this wasn't a cologne worn by anyone I ever knew, but I remember finding a sample scent in a magazine and I tore it out and slept with it under my pillow for a while and then placed it in my underwear drawer. It just smelled so good!

I guess, if I really get down to the nitty gritty of the matter, all the heroes in my novels probably smell like Safari or some equally raw earthy aroma that reminds me of my youth, of young love and the way your heart expands and your stomach pitches when you see that guy who makes your palms sweaty...who you'd recognize simply by the fragrance of him. The thing that makes him "smell like a memory." Our sensory perception lays the foundation for what we're attracted to, what we love, and the type of hero/heroine we're drawn to.

I don't often share my poetry here and I'm honestly not sure if I've shared this poem before or not, but I thought today I would because for me, scent does set off the most vivid of memories, and therefore it opens the door to the things we carry with us, no matter how far we've coming from where we once were to where we are now.
He Smells Like A Memory

HE smells like a memory
A hint of the past
Wrapping itself around my senses 
Jerking me back to a time I had forgotten
I feel the quickening of pulse
The deep vibrations in my core
Rising to roar in my ears
Drawing me to him

He smells like a memory
That makes my mouth water and my palms go damp
My heart aches and my loins tremble
As the visions of a life I once had
Flash through my mind
I catch my breath…

He smells like a memory…
Where has time gone?
It seems I forgot him so easily…
But I haven’t…
Not really
He has always been there
Ever-present in my heart
Waiting for some small detail
To set off the rushing river of emotions
That still tie me to him forever-
Be it an object or a feeling
Or even a scent
Yes, that’s it!

He smells like a memory
Like sensuality and sex
He smells of urgent need
And burning passion
And a love I tried so desperately to release
Still desire flickers and smolders beneath the surface
Yes, he left me…
Left me to face the days and years that came
Without him
Left me to reminisce of what once was
What should have been
What could never be
Yes…
He left me to pick up the pieces of my heart
Each time HE smells like a memory…
(copyright 2009 Taryn Raye)

I'll leave you with a few songs from one of my favorites- Ben Taylor.