Book Blog – Page 45 – Tawdra Kandle

Book Blog, Friday Free For All, Promotion and Publicity

A Cause for Paws: Romance to Benefit Our Four-Footed Friends!

February 26, 2016 No Comments

What could make seven contemporary romance shorts by award-winning and best-selling authors even better? Add seven sweet, scene-stealing pets . . . and then make the whole project a benefit for animal rescue charities!

That’s just what we’ve done. LOVE PAWS features short stories with a little bit of steam, a little of sweet and happy endings all around. Each story also includes a pet, just to give the romance a little boost.

This anthology releases April 19th, in celebration of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month. You can preorder your copy today exclusively through iBooks.

Each author will donate her portion of the proceeds to a specific animal charity.

Today, I am very pleased to announce that the charity I have selected is . . . MuttNation!

MuttNation Foundation is a donation-supported organization with the mission to end animal cruelty, neglect, and homelessness. It was founded in 2009 by Miranda Lambert and her mother Bev Lambert.

MuttNation provides aid to animals across the US through efforts such as:

Spay and neuter campaigns
Medical treatments
Adoption events, pet transportation, and pet ownership education
Mill rescues
Legislative changes
Service dog training and placement
Food and supplies for animal shelters

Some of their initiatives include:

Mutts Across America: 50 States/50 Shelters
An annual program which provides funds and support to animal shelters in every US state.
Redemption Ranch
A new low-kill shelter located in Tishomingo, OK.
Cause for the Paws
An annual event which has raised over $1.5 million.
Partnerships with North Shore Animal League and Red Star Emergency Relief
Mill rescue and emergency disaster relief.

YOU can donate to MuttNation right here and now. And why would you not? Go here and give–a little, a lot, whatever.

And follow MuttNation on Facebook and Twitter!

***~~~***

LOVE PAWS

Becca Boyd: Fire Up

Rene Folsom: By Chance: A Playing Games Spin-off Novella

Alison Foster: Saving Grace: A Beautiful Ruin Story

Olivia Hardin: All in the Takeoff: A Rawley Family Romance

Tawdra Kandle: My One and Always (An Always Love Short)

Lyssa Layne: Dig Deep

Juli Valenti: Taunt : A Twisted Wolf Tale

Book Blog, Perfect Dish Romances, Promotion and Publicity, This Author's Life Thursday

Trusting the Process

February 25, 2016 1 Comment

One of the most common questions I’m asked at author-reader events is about whether I’m a Plotter or a Pantser. For those uninitiated in these terms, a Plotter is a writer who carefully lays out the story lines
in her books, giving each chapter a goal, and sometimes even sub-goals and the steps to get there. Many Plotters have tools they use to keep these elements straight; some use complicated systems of poster boards, sticky notes and colored markers.

A Pantser is a writer who flies by the seat of her proverbial pants. I find this kind of a derogatory term, since it insinuates that Pantsers are just writing willy-nilly, with no real aim or focus. Pantsers can’t always tell you how many chapters their books will have or what will happen with every character. As a matter of fact, some Pantsers will end up with unexpected characters in the story.

I might be a tad biased, as I am totally a Pantser.

I wasn’t always this way. I was never a strict Plotter, but I used to lay out my stories. When I began a new book, I had an idea of how it would progress. This worked well with my YA books–mostly. I found that no matter how well I planned, though . . . things popped up. Twists and characters and unexpected dialogue . . . it all happened. At first I was disturbed, but then I realized that my unplanned stuff? It was actually some of my best work. The dialogue was more organic when I wasn’t trying to manipulate my characters, and when new characters insinuated their way into a scene, often they changed the entire direction of the book–for the better.

I leaned to embrace this way of life. Now, I should caution the new writer: being a Pantser is not for the

faint-of-heart. Not knowing exactly where your story is going can provoke anxiety, particularly when people ask you about your work. You learn to hedge. You learn to laugh and act mysterious: “Oh, I can’t tell you what’s going to happen!” Readers assume you’re just protecting your work, when in reality you really don’t know.

If there is one valuable lesson I’ve absorbed during the past three years, it’s that I can trust my characters. I don’t have to know precisely what’s going to happen. I’ll usually have a rough idea, but what happens is infinitely cooler than anything I could have consciously planned.

My favorite example of this happened with my Perfect Dish series. I intended Best Served Cold to be a stand-alone book, the story of what happened when Julia’s planned revenge on Liam Bailey went awry, thanks to her falling in love with Jesse. Liam was a character whom I planned to be totally without redeeming value, and Julia’s roommate Ava was meant to be a small occasional character. Someone to help Julia plan her revenge, someone with whom she could chat and expound.

And then . . . the unexpected happened. I was happily and blissfully ignorant, writing a pivotal chapter, when Ava, in the middle of a conversation with Julia, revealed something that not only changed the direction of that book but kicked off (at least) two more books, making Best Served Cold not a stand-alone but rather book 1 in a new series. What was even better, the next two books were two of my very favorite of my own books.

So now? I trust the process. When I began to feel anxious (“WHAT are they going to do? HOW in the &%@$ are they going to get from Point A to Point B?”), I remember that I can trust my characters. They know their own stories. They know what’s going to happen.

That’s why I have a new motto now: Embrace the Pantsing. Trust the process.

Book Blog, Promotion and Publicity, The Craft of Writing

How do you find new-to-you authors?

February 24, 2016 No Comments

Authors talk. We share information, we vent, we cry and we rally.

Earlier this year, I was part of several different conversations all wondering how readers are finding new authors to read. This inspired me to put together a survey, which ran on my author page for about two weeks.

Here are the results.

This was far from a scientific survey. Although the link to complete the survey was posted on my author page, in an advertised post, and shared by many people on their pages, we only had 74 respondents. Since it was posted on Facebook, there has to be a preference for Facebook as a social media outlet considered. And since iBooks readers tend not to congregate on Facebook, that also should be taken into consideration.

Respondents came from the US, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Of the respondents, 36.5% read 1-5 books a month. 27% read 6-10 books a month. 36.5% read 15 or more books a month.

5% rarely read new authors. 57% read new authors 1-3 times a month. 26% read new authors 4-6 times a month. 12% read new authors more than 6 times a month.

There were 26 options for the question “How do you find new authors?” The top four answers were:

Facebook posts by other authors I know about authors I didn’t know–74%

Free books on Amazon–72%

Word of mouth from readers I know in real life: 65%

Facebook posts by authors about their own books: 59%

The bottom four answers were:

Instagram: 11%

In real life book clubs: 9.5%

Best-Sellers Lists (NY Times, USA Today): 9.5%

Free books on iBooks: 7%

I’m planning on running another more comprehensive poll in the spring which will be posted here as well as on Twitter and in my newsletter. Please consider taking part in this; we want to know what YOU think.

Book Blog, Promotion and Publicity, Reviews, What I'm Reading Wednesday

I’m Reading Historical Romance by Mary Balogh

February 24, 2016 No Comments

My reading genres are pretty particular these days. I have authors I trust, and I’m open to trying new books if someone I trust gives me a recommendation.

However, some of my favorites from my pre-author life have lingered. Although I don’t write historical romance (yet), I still love a well-written historical. And one of my old reliables is the incomparable Mary Balogh.

I think I began reading Mary’s “Slightly” series, and then devoured as many of her books as possible. Over the last few years, I’ve loved her Survivor series particularly, so once I finished a deadline book a few weeks ago, when I realized I’d missed a Survivor release last fall, I was delighted to gobble it up!

Only A Kiss was actually the book I’d been waiting to read, since it was about the one sole female in the Survivors’ Club, a group of men (and one woman!) who experienced devastating physical and/or emotional trauma during the Napoleonic wars. The Duke of Stanbrook, who had lost first his son and then his wife thanks to the war, opened his home to this group, and they formed a tight-knit community of support over the years.

These books are not your typical historical romance. Because they deal with subject matter that is completely relevant to our times, there is always a twist, something that goes beyond the simple romantic pursuit of man meets woman.

After finishing that book, I was perusing some of Mary’s books that I might have missed, and I came upon the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. These books are in re-release, but I was very impressed with the first one, Indiscreet. I was happily surprised that it was a much longer book, and yet the storyline was as compelling and endearing as her more recent books. I’m eager to read the next three in that series.

Book Blog, Keeping Score Series, Promotion and Publicity, Teaser Tuesday

When We Were Us Teaser Tuesday #1

February 23, 2016 No Comments

When We Were Us (Keeping Score Book 1) releases on April 7th! I can’t wait. I think you’re going to love Leo and Nate and Quinn as much as I do.

But it’s Tuesday, so let’s have a little teaser, shall we?

Remember, if you want to read a full chapter of the book, you can download it for free here!

~~~***~~~

“Quinn, what was that all about?” He repeated himself, frowning, and let go of my hand. I felt immediately bereft.

“Um, it was nothing.” I took a step back away from Leo. “Stupid cheerleaders.”

His forehead creased, and I realized I was talking crap about girls who were probably his friends now. Maybe more than friends. God only knew what he’d done with some of them; I’d heard stories about football parties. I only hoped he hadn’t hooked up with Trish. I could handle anything but that.

“What were they talking about? What did you write to set them off?”

Now annoyance flared, almost overshadowing the want surging through my veins. It was typical Leo these days; he’d never assume I was blameless. It had to be me who’d written something wrong.

Plus, this confirmed something I’d suspected—that Leo didn’t read my articles. He gave my work at the school paper great lip-service, but now I knew the truth. “Maybe if you read the newspaper now and then, you’d know.”

“I don’t read anything but school stuff during football season.” He shook his head. “No time. So what did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything.” I hissed out the words. Of course, it was my fault that those bitches were threatened me. Leo would see it that way. Once upon a time he would’ve stuck up for me no matter what, but those days were in the past. “I wrote an opinion piece about the special treatment the cheerleaders get. It’s nothing that everyone else in the school isn’t thinking. Guess some of them obviously didn’t like it. No biggie.”

Leo ran a hand through his hair, his go-to gesture when he was exasperated. “Mia, are you crazy? That’s not exactly the way to make friends.”

Pain sliced through me. Leo rarely used his special nickname for me anymore, and hearing him say it—his voice husky—reminded me of how far apart we’d drifted. And now he was giving me advice on finding friends? What kind of loser did he think I was?

“Thanks. I didn’t know I needed help making friends. I used to have some really good ones.” The words were laced with sarcasm.

Leo winced. “I’m still your friend, Quinn, you know that. But couldn’t you try a little harder? I mean, with other people?”

The truth was right there in his voice. I was an embarrassment to him. Poor Quinn, the too-tall girl who just couldn’t seem to find her own circle. The girl who reminded Leo of a part of him he’d turned his back on when football and popularity became more important. The impact of what he was saying hurt, and I lashed out in response.

“The people I’d want for my friends wouldn’t expect me to be a phony. They would accept me for who I am.” I leaned forward a little, just to make sure he heard me.

“You don’t think I do?” Leo looked stricken, as though what I’d said was some huge revelation.

Anger bubbled up inside me. I was sick of the whole thing. Sick of mooning after this boy, sick of the pain of losing my best friend. Sick of him pretending nothing had changed, when everyone else in the world knew that it had. I took another step back and spoke in a low voice.

“I don’t know, Leo. Do you even know who I am anymore?”

~~~***~~~

The Keeping Score Trilogy is a New Adult contemporary romance. The first two books may not give you complete closure, but hang in there for Book 3; I promise the pay-off is worth it.

You can preorder When We Were Us now at all major retailers.

iBooks/Amazon/Nook/Kobo/Google Play

Read an exclusive excerpt right here!

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