Have you read When We Were Us yet? Did you fall in love with Leo, Quinn and Nate? Are you ready for MORE?
Hanging By A Moment releases on May 24th! And today I’m so excited to share the cover with you. It was designed by the very talented Robin Ludwig of Covers by Robin.
~~~***~~~
When life shatters, it helps to have friends. I don’t know what I’d have done without Leo and Nate to comfort me, to hold me up and to keep me sane in face of sudden and terrible loss.
And if one of those friends happens to be the love of my life, the one guy I thought I’d never be close to again . . . I’m not going to complain. After all, in a vast sea of things that aren’t fair, being with Leo again feels like the only shining beam of hope.
I know there aren’t any guarantees for us. Leo’s heading south to play football, rocking a full-ride at one of the top colleges in the nation. Meanwhile, all of my plans have fallen apart, and I have to figure out what comes next. Having Nate by my side is more important I could have imagined.
The next four years were supposed to be the most exciting time of my life. Instead, they turn into a rollercoaster of uncertainty, complete with breathtaking highs and lows that threaten to break my heart.
In the end, the decisions we make now could change everything for the three of us, forever.
It’s finally here–RELEASE DAY for When We Were Us, Keeping Score Series Book 1. Join us at the Birthday and Release Bash right here.
The Trio. That’s who we’ve been since birth: Nate, Leo . . . and me, Quinn, the token girl. Our mothers met in a prenatal class and became best friends, which meant that the three of us hit every milestone together, from the first day of school to the very first kiss. And beyond.
I’ve always been caught in the middle between the two boys. I’ve been in love with Leo since I was eight, even though he doesn’t see me as anything but his pal. And I know that Nate’s hung up on me. I see the look in his eyes. I wish I could say I felt the same, but I don’t. It’s getting harder and harder to keep him in the friend zone, though.
Things between the three of us aren’t easy anymore. Leo’s popular, the football team’s star receiver, and the object of every girl’s fantasy. I know he doesn’t mean to leave us behind, but now Nate and I are just people he used to know.
What used to be so simple is suddenly messy and complicated. Leo is all I’ve ever wanted, but even if I had the chance to be with him, how would Nate would handle it?
When that chance does come along . . . in the most unexpected way . . . I’m helpless to resist Leo. What was always meant to be is finally happening . . . but will it come at the risk of losing both my friends?
~~~***~~~
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.
Want to enter to WIN a $50 Amazon or iBooks gift card? Visit all the blogs below, collect the letter clues in their posts and complete the puzzle below.
Visit all the participating blogs (linked below) in this release day blitz and collect the letters.
Tawdra Kandle writes romance, in just about all its forms. She loves unlikely pairings, strong women, sexy guys, hot love scenes and just enough conflict to make it interesting. Her books include YA paranormal romance, NA paranormal and contemporary romance, and adult contemporary and paramystery romance. She lives in central Florida with a husband, kids, sweet pup and too many cats. And yeah, she rocks purple hair.
Once upon a time, we had three black cats. They were two sisters and a brother, and they lived together in perfect harmony, along with the puppy who they tolerated.
And then my third daughter’s best friend, Sarah, found a cat outside her house. That cat, Sammy, turned out to pregnant. On June 6, 2010, we were in Augusta, Georgia, at a friend’s birthday party, and Sarah called to tell us Sammy had given birth!
That very day began Cate’s campaign to adopt one of the kittens. For a solid six weeks, she coerced, pestered, begged, made a persuasive movie, posted signs through the house . . . until her daddy gave in. Chessie, short for Cheshire Cat, came to live with us.
The black cats were not pleased. However, the puppy was overjoyed! He fell in love with Chessie right away and adopted her as his little sister. He was afraid of the other cats, but Chessie was his baby. He’d nose her around, roll her over and nuzzle her little kitten tummy.
As long as we lived in Apopka, Chessie was an aloof, independent striped kitty. But when we moved to Sanford, Chessie wasn’t so happy. She hid in my son’s closet for days, and she would only come out for me.
From that time on, Chessie was a mommy’s girl. She doesn’t like to be separated from me . . . for any reason. She has the thickest, most luxurious fur, big eyes, and she rarely meows: instead she trills and chuffs, like a tiger. Pretty sure she might be part big cat!
~~~***~~~
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 through iBooks, Amazon, Nook, Google or Kobo!
Each author will donate her portion of the proceeds to a specific animal charity.
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.
