Taryn Raye's #sixsunday What is it you've got against me?

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(Check out more by looking up hashtag #sixsunday on Twitter)

Welcome Sixers. Been a busy week as I've jumped headfirst into doing some read through editing of Love by Change, Book 2 in the Love By series. LOVE Juniper and Sloan and I hope to be able to introduce them to you before too long as well. (Juniper is the movie star sister to Jasmine from Love by Design)

 

Right now Love by Design is out with a few others for beta reading, so I thought it would be a good time to concentrate my efforts toward the second book to get it polished up as well. Lots of things going on behind the scenes and one of those things is that I need to make a template for formatting. Definitely got to get that figured out before I self-pub. I don't have a scheduled release yet because this will be my first attempt at self-publishing, and I want to take it slow and do it right, but I will keep you informed of any news as I make progress toward it.

So...are we ready for a little Sunday Six?

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something already under contract and available for purchase – and don’t worry, Six Sentence Sunday is for published AND unpublished writers).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.

Today, we're heading back into my currently unpublished contemporary romance, Love by Design.

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?

“You have a very nice view from here,” her voice grew quiet and unassuming.

“What were you expecting, a mansion in Bel-Air? Beverly Hills?”

Derrek walked over and leaned his shoulder against the doorjamb. He studied Jasmine’s profile, the slight pout of her lower lip, the smooth curve of her neck as she stared out the doors.

“What is it you’ve got against me?”

Check HERE for previous Six Sentence Sunday excerpts.

#SCENTsational Saturdays- Through the Years- Wild Heart by Trisha Yearwood

I received Wild Heart from my parents for Christmas the year I was 17. I think I was also wearing a lot of Coty's Wild Musk and Lady Stetson at the time. I listened to Garth Brooks almost constantly and I liked Trisha Yearwood, too. I was just starting to learn to type by using my dad's old college textbook. It was orange and you sat it up beside your typewriter and read along as you typed the lessons out. I'd just gotten my Smith Corona Word processor, as well.

One of my best friends and I didn't speak for almost a year after that Christmas because of a stupid fourteen or fifteen year old boy who looked older so he played it up that he was already 18. Damn, we were stupid 17 year old girls to fall for his bull.

I honestly don't remember what Wild Heart smells like, but I know it was floral and it was loud because it often gave me a headache, but I still loved it. Funny how that works, isn't it? When I think of this perfume, I think of Garth singing "Wild Horses." I would share the video, but apparently Garth shares NOTHING on Youtube which just makes me want to cry.

The very thought of this perfume brings back vivid memories of that holiday...of my youthful stupidity because I had hopes just like any other girl who didn't feel attractive, that someone had taken an interest in me. Unfortunately, he'd taken an interest in a LOT of girls I knew and he played us all for fools.

Standing on my parents' front porch in my mom's green Army jacket, shivering from head to toe as snow fell, the only light from the Christmas lights on the shrubs. Breath puffing out, nose red from the cold, laughing and believing in something...Yeah, I hadn't had a boyfriend yet, so I was believing in love...but that just wasn't meant to be...Ah....Lesson learned. Stupid boy!

Hope you have a SCENTsational Saturday

and an

AWESOME Autumnal Equinox!

Friday Spotlight on Coming To Climax by Bobbye Terry #TMPress #FictionWitches

click image to check it out on Amazon

Margaret Palmer returns to Climax, Virginia, a deceptively quiet country town where Southern charm hides long-buried secrets and evil lurks just beneath the surface of the daily routine. Frustrated and frightened, Margaret knows she will have to face Blue Moon, the only true love she ever had, and his adopted daughter, Carolina. More alarmingly, she may be forced to reveal a long-hidden secret—she’s Carolina’s biological mother. But, will her disclosure no longer matter when a psychotic serial killer eliminating residents, spirals out of control, determined that Blue will be his last victim?

About Bobbye Terry-

A native Virginian, Bobbye Terry now resides in the cotton fields of West Texas with a Chocolate Lab that has a sock fetish. Bobbye is a multi-published author of romantic comedy, fantasy and suspense. Now, writing solo, except for a possible collaboration on special projects, she continues to write with extensive humor, even in suspense, where Southern charm meets macabre reality.

#ThursdayswithTaryn~ Age & Perception of Ourselves

morguefile (mcandea)

The other morning before my kids left for school, I was telling Girly Girl to scoot out of my way so I could get past her and I started singing ♫I like to move it, move it...♫

Little Man chimed in and then commented that it reminded him of Madagascar and King Julien. Well, yeah, it would because he wasn't old enough to remember when that was actually a pretty popular dance mix from Reel 2 Reel that I heard in the club. I even have a cassette around here of Dance Mix music from 1994, I believe that has the original version on it. That was way before he was born!

I told the kids (9 & 13) that I used to hear it at the club. Little Man looked at me like I was speaking Greek.

"A what?"

I said, "A dance club. I used to go with one of my best friends all the time."

Girly Girl said, "yeah, but I bet you didn't dance."

I said "Of course I did. I used to shake my rump."

This elicited all kinds of giggles and laughter momentarily because even I have to admit, rump is a giggle worthy word.

When they finally stopped laughing, I told them, "I'm not joking...you know I wasn't always the frumpy housewife and stodgy mom you all know. I was young and fun once."

Wow...talk about a revelation in my perception of myself.

I mean, I've always thought I was a pretty "hip" mom and you all know I'm the bomb-diggety, but when I find myself having to explain things to my kids like that, it really gives me a bone to chew on. I don't like the taste of it- makes me feel old and stale.

I don't think about it a lot, but the view I had of myself at 10, 20, 30 and all those ages in between and beyond represent varying degrees of my perception of myself and I'd say its like that for all of us.

My sister sent me a letter and included this list of character traits that she found online, wherein it says that characters and real people, have unique qualities called traits. It's the short-list of attributes people can have and used for examples for helping write book reports and essays. She told me what she thought were hers and what she sees in me, then asked me to look through it and pick the ones I feel most sound like me from my POV. Her point was that we are the sum of all our parts.

Here are a few she thought fit me~

• fun-loving
• imaginative
• daring
• considerate
• smart
• loyal

It's also funny to see someone else's perspective of ourselves. I don't imagine myself as daring by any means. In fact, I often feel timid and unsure of myself and my decisions, even at my age. I believe I am the other things she picked, but I'm also

• plain
• messy
• dreamer
• short
•  reserved

(and a few other things)

Last night as I was trying to go to sleep and I kept thinking about it and it reminded me of my 8th grade yearbook. Yeah...at 15 other people's perceptions held a lot of weight and the words sweet and nice were the kiss of death for me. That and the reiterations of "don't change," "Stay the same." I was there in the middle between childhood and womanhood and I wanted to change.

I didn't want to stay the same sweet, nice girl. I wanted to be the sophisticated, beautiful woman who drew the right kind of attention from across a crowded room. I wanted to be the heroine in my own romance story and I would have given my left eyetooth to be told I was cool or cute or beautiful~ anything other than sweet or nice.

I saw myself differently, or I wanted to see myself differently— a sophisticated, beautiful, sexy grown woman. I wanted people to see me as a wild child, and not the goody-two shoes I was known to be, but I guess that wasn't built into my genetic material. If I've ever been the bad girl, the wild child, I hit my peak in my early 20s and it's been downhill since then.

Ironic then that my sister believes me to be DARING in my life NOW.

She couldn't know that about me, or could she?

Which leads me to a few questions~

What words would you use to describe yourself? Which ones would others use to describe you? Are there parallels? Do you find that some people know you better than even you know yourself?

Please feel free to come share with me today!