Tuesdays with Taryn~ Spring Fever Like Molasses #writing #edits #distraction #life

Spring Fever is rolling through my veins like slow warm molasses as we stumble back and forth between cool weather that chills to the bone and humid days that are perfect for sitting on the bank fishing or sunbathing in the backyard.

It's loading my senses with inspiration and distraction and each force is vying for my attention which has made it hard for me to concentrate on one sole thing at a time. I don't feel like I'm multitasking as well as I used to- I originally started writing this blog a week ago and every day I'd come back and pull it up, alter the title to fit the day of the week and then get sidetracked before I could write another word. I'm really struggling to stay on track. I was also reading through Love By Change, the 2nd story in the Love By Series, but I've put it aside momentarily because I need to work on my craft.

Most recently I've been trying to improve it, by taking a fellow author's advice. I invested in The Anatomy of Story by John Truby.

I'll admit right now...I feel that I fail in this area where a lot of my fellow authors have taken time to study the craft of writing. My writing does not come from years of schooling, research or education. My need to write is simply drilled so deep into my heart that I do just that—write the stories that come to mind. I don't really know a lot about the craft of writing or how to build worlds because I'm such a pantser and I have never attended conferences or craft lectures. That leaves me with some disadvantages, like not having strong story arches and I tend to internalize a lot and I'm sure there are a lot of other things, but now it's time for me to build onto what foundation I already have.
 
I am only a few pages into Truby's book and have taken time to pause so I can work through my "wish list" and my "premise list." I'm not sure WHAT all to put on the wish list. I don't really want for a lot of material things and I'm not sure that's part of the list making or not, but I'm giving it my best shot.

It's also been a LOT harder to come up with that single sentence for each story than I thought, so I've spent the last several days chewing over how to write my premise for each and every story idea I've ever had or written or would like to write.

No small task, so I'm not very far into the exercise, but already I sense a shift in my way of thinking and awoke the other morning realizing that there might be a better way for Love By Design to start than what I have already. In fact, it could mean some major rewrites or rearranging of the current manuscript even though I thought I was nearly to the finish line and ready to self-pub it.

Now that I'm looking at it from this new angle, I'm not so sure. I want to be certain I put out the best possible book for you, the reader, so that it's worth your time and money and that means that I'm taking the time to sort things out and make sure I give you my best. Even it if means putting off the release a bit longer than I hoped to.

Sometimes you just got to know when to take a step back and do what you have to do, rather than what you WANT to do. You'll almost always end up with better results.

Have a fantastic Tuesday!

Taryn's Snippit Sundays~ You do want me, don't you? #snippit #excerpt #WIP

“Let me go change.” Derrek headed for the stairs.

“I’ll heat up the food.” Jasmine followed.

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I want to, I’m starving.”

Jasmine busied herself in the kitchen. She felt strangely at ease, and very much the homebody, reheating food for the two of them.

Was this what it would feel like to be married?

Startled by her own thoughts, Jasmine mumbled about her stupidity under her breath.

“What’s wrong with you? As if you’d ever end up being his wife….”

“Is that what you want, Jasmine? You barely know me.” Derrek’s words came as a husky whisper near her ear. His warm arms slipped around her waist. Her heart jumped into her throat.

Derrek turned her toward him. Her face emanated the heated blush of embarrassment and she knew it.

“It’s not what you think…” she stammered.

“Are you sure about that?” Derrek lifted her chin and brought his lips to hers. Her arms encircled his neck of their own will as his hot kiss stoked a flame within her. Her heart drummed out a powerful rhythm. His kisses made her dizzy while his tongue explored the recesses of her mouth.

Her head swam in the sweet bliss of his lips on hers, his hands caressing her. His fingers burned a trail through her clothing and down her neck, until his hand relaxed over one breast.

She broke the kiss and gasped in surprise at the soft weight of his palm. Her nipple rose to meet his warmth, straining against bra and t-shirt. The sensation aggravated her and yet it felt exquisite at the same time.

She wanted his flesh against hers, yet she felt like a shy innocent girl as she stood before him. His hips pressed against her. Jasmine’s backside collided with the kitchen cabinet as Derrek’s eyes locked with hers. She couldn’t look away, but she felt his hand go lower to inch up under her shirt. It came to rest again over her breast as his thumb taunted the hardened nipple beneath the lace.

“You do want me, don’t you, Jasmine?” Derrek whispered.

Taryn's Snippit Sundays~ Painted on Jeans #excerpt #snippit #WIP

“Are you any good at pool?” Derrek wasn’t sure a woman like Jasmine would enjoy such a simple man’s pastime, but it was worth a shot if it meant she would spend more time with him.

Her eyes lit up. “They’ve already delivered it?”

“Yep.” Derrek nodded.

“Well, so long as you don’t mind getting beat by a girl, yeah, I’m all for it.”

They stopped at her apartment long enough for her to change. Derrek waited in the living room while she disappeared down the hallway. Her cat sat and stared at him, blinking. The fluffy fur ball looked at him with big blue eyes, the bluest he had ever seen on a cat. It wandered over and brushed up against his suit, purring so loud it sounded like a vacuum cleaner roaring across the carpet.

Derrek dismissed the chauffeur when Jasmine offered to drive her car back to the house. His heart fell in disappointment at the revelation. If they had taken the limo, Jasmine would have had no choice but to leave when he offered to drive her home. It wasn’t ideal, but he decided he would make the best of it anyway.

“Ready?” Jasmine appeared from the small hallway dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and tennis shoes. It was a drastic change from the formal wear, but it reminded him again, what it was he liked so much about her. She grabbed her keys from the countertop. The jeans fit her backside so snug them seemed molded to her round bottom.

Had she painted them on?

How in the world will I be able to look at her and keep my mind on pool?

Taryn's Snippit Sundays~ Smudged Lipstick #excerpt #WIP #snippit

Sometimes the evidence is just right there in plain sight.

When at last they entered the building, she saw average people lined up to get their tickets, but she allowed Derrek to lead the way to their seats.

“Jazzy!” She turned to see Juni strutting toward her in her silvery swath, her friend, and fellow actor, Remington Patrick following close behind. “I’m so glad you made it. You should always be sitting with me instead of hiding out, mixing in with the crowd.”

Her sister tugged her away from Derrek and left him to chat with Remy. “Don’t worry Derrek, she’ll be with me.”

Juni winked his way and dragged Jasmine back out into the hall and to the ladies’ room. After checking to make sure there weren’t too many others in the room, she turned and looked at herself in the mirror, twisting one of her wayward curls back into place and meeting Jasmine’s eyes in the reflection.

“You look good on his arm, you know.”

“Juni, don’t start this. I told you earlier today that just because I came here with him doesn’t mean I’m dating him.”

“It doesn’t matter, Jasmine. The world believes you’re his new love interest now, or they will soon. I think the man has a thing for you though, but still. Be careful.”

“What happened to you trying to set me up with him?” Jasmine insisted. Still she couldn’t meet her sister’s eyes when she said, “I’m being careful.”

Juni leaned over and dabbed at the corner of Jasmine’s mouth with a tissue.

“If you were being careful, Jazzy, your lipstick wouldn’t be smudged.”

Her sister gave her a wink. Jasmine gasped and turned to the mirror to inspect her mouth for herself. Sure enough, even though Derrek’s kiss had been feathery, it had smeared her lipstick ever so slight.

Taryn's Snippit Sundays~ Pull It Together... #excerpt #snippit #WIP

Arriving at Grauman's for Juniper's movie premiere, Jasmine worries over whether anyone will recognize her from her short-lived relationship with another actor- Liam O'Reilly.

The limousine came to a stop in front of the red carpet. There were flashbulbs going off in every direction. The masses had turned out for Juni’s new movie as had celebrities and the well to-do. That meant lots of photographers and news reporters snapping photos and filming the highly anticipated event.

The spider webs of nervousness meshed out across Jasmine’s skin and she shuddered. The other times she had come to a premiere, she showed up as a fan that happened to know the actor, but now she would be the eye candy on Derrek Martin’s arm. It was scary and exciting at the same time.

The warmth in Derrek’s eyes and in his touch soothed her somewhat, but she still felt like a nervous child, forced to perform for the parents’ friends in the living room, the same awkwardness she felt the first time she had to give a report or speech in front of the class in school.

Pull it together. Gather your composure. She shouldn’t be so anxious, but knowing Derrek was a spotlight actor didn’t help matters and knowing someone might recognize her from the few months she dated Liam filled her stomach with butterflies. All eyes would be on them.

What if I run into Liam?

[Cover Reveal] Am I "The Next Big Thing?" #bloghop #workinprogress #authors

There are the books everyone has heard about: Twilight, Hunger Games, Fifty Shades of Gray. But what about all those books written by people you’ve never heard of? Some of them are treasures, just waiting to be found, and that’s what this blog hop is all about: the books you might not have heard about, but that you might end up loving.

This blog hop is like a game of tag. One author posts and tags five other authors who link back to their website the next week and tag five new authors. If you follow the blog hop long enough, you’re bound to find some books you’ll love! Maybe you’ll even discover a book that ends up being the next big thing.

I was tagged by Jennifer Madden. You can learn more about her book Embattled Love on her website.

This blog hop includes ten questions to help you learn more about an author’s current work in progress, so here’s a little info about my current project and

DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!!

I'm also revealing the cover!
(Cover by Tracy Stewart of All About the Cover)

1: What is the working title of your book? Love By Design, Book one in the Love By Series

2: Where did the idea come from for the book? Love By Design originally started as a single stand alone book idea in 2006 or 20007 when I was brainstorming ideas. I'm not sure where I got the idea, other than knowing that it felt like a rom-com type story with a clumsy interior designer fighting her attraction to a playboy actor who hires her to decorate his fixer-upper.

3: What genre does your book fall under? Contemporary romance with a touch of humor, but I like to believe that all my stories aren't just romance novels, but Life stories with heart. Their pasts aren't always spotless and sometimes it comes back to haunt them. Sometimes it's just a matter of the hardships they face that get them to their Happily-Ever-Afters.

4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? When I was writing LBD I envisioned Matthew McConaughey as Derrek Martin and Sandra Bullock as Jasmine Galloway.

5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? Jasmine Galloway's had it up to here with wannabe actors, so when Hollywood's current blockbuster playboy seeks out her business to decorate his new home, he manages to gets under her skin and put his own designs on her heart.

6: Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? I plan to self-publish the Love By series in the next few months and follow it with the 2nd series, Pryce of Love, which centers around four of five brothers (the 5th brother is the hero in the 4th book in the Love By series)

7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? Approximately a month or so of self-imposed "NaNo-like" determination and reckless abandon. I didn't write this one for NaNoWriMo, but I did set myself to the standard 50K/30 days. I still have more editing to do though before I put it out there. (plot holes, grammar, etc)

8: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? I'm honestly not sure. There are so many wonderful contemporary authors out there but I'm not sure who I could compare my own stories to. As I said before, it does, for me have a very rom-com movie feel to it though.

9: Who or What inspired you to write this book? The characters themselves. As the ideas for the story (as well as the other sisters) started to take shape, Jasmine and Derrek began to really come to life for me and I just had to get their story written. Sometimes they would interrupt my sleep, or my attempts at sleep, trying to tell me about what was going to happen next. (not as bad as Jasmine's sister Juniper, who insisted her story be the 2nd one, though I'd originally planned to write Blossom's 2nd. Juni would NOT shut up.)

10: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? I took a "virtual plane ride" because I spent a LOT of time studying airplane flights, time zone changes and what certain bookings would be like and actually "plotted" out what a trip from LAX to Indianapolis would be, including layovers, and driving distance for Derrek and Jasmine's trip to Derrek's childhood home in Smalltown, Indiana to pick up his sister and pack furniture to move to California in a U-haul while writing this. I've never actually been on a plane. Not sure I ever will, but it was fun to pretend! :)

Here is a list of authors who will be joining the hop for week 27 on December 24th. I hope you’ll visit their blogs next week and learn more about their books. Maybe one of them will become your new favorite author!
(I don't have anyone yet, but if you want to be listed, you don't have to do it during the holidays- you can pick up Week 27 afterward, if it would be more convenient! Just email or leave a comment and let me know!) 

1 Teresa Reasor is also participating in The Next Big Thing over on her blog, where she's talking about her current work-in-progress, Breaking Away, the 3rd book in her Seal Team Heartbreakers Series. Go check out her answers about what she's working on!

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