Last day to enter!

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend!

Just wanted to shout out one last time - today is the last chance to win some prizes in my Broken Branch Falls Summer Blog Tour - August giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

World Building Secrets and a Shelfie Blog Hop

Today is a sad day, yet a happy fun day too!
Sad as my Broken Branch Falls Summer Blog Tour comes to an end... But fun, I get to visit Beverly Fox at the Beveled Edge on her birthday! And I'll be revealing the secrets of world building. Hope you have a chance to stop by. (Well, it isn't up yet... I will let you all know when it goes up...)

And with the end is a new happy beginning!
The beginning of a wonderful, blog hop with a silly, trendy twist - THE SHELFIE BLOG HOP!

Dates: Now thru Monday, Oct 6
Entries: Take a picture of you and your book(s) - your favorites or your own novels. Or you can just arrange the books in a special way and take the picture - but you do get extra points for being in the photo.
Formats: Post on Twitter, Facebook, Blog - just make sure to include a link(s) to each for us.

Use the RAFFLECOPTER below to enter!

I'm excited to have these lovely co-hosts, co-conspirators and contributors: Heather M. Gardner, Christine Rains, Vikki Biram, CD Coffelt, M.J. Fifield, Elizabeth Seckman, and Rena Rocford

And that's not all - check out the fabulous prizes! It's easy and profitable! I hope you'll join us and spread the word =)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pros V Cons of Sequels

Are you excited about the new Star Wars sequel?
Or are you afraid of what they will do to our beloved legendary space saga?

Either way, are you going to go see it? I know I will!

And that's one of the most awesome benefits of sequels. Once you hook readers, they want more, more, more... Join me at Christine's place today as I talk about more Pros & Cons of Sequels!

I can't believe summer is almost over. And I love Fall, but I don't like Starbucks rushing us into it with the pumpkin. I love pumpkin, but I don't want to be sick of it too soon! I also can't believe I only have one more stop on the Broken Branch Falls Summer Blog Tour. Whatever will I do with myself? Oh, yeah. Get some work done (and drink a pumpkin latte)!

I almost forgot. The answer to the question... What's the most sought after thing in this picture?

The empty lounge chair!

People hover, waiting for someone to vacate a chair so they can claim their territory!

I also wanted to thank Natalie Aguirre at Literary Rambles for my prize, THE ACTUAL AND TRUTHFUL ADVENTURES OF BECKY THATCHER by Jessica Lawson. It came this weekend and looks full of fun mischief! I've really gotten into some good MG books lately.

And lastly, I'm getting together with some friends to do a Blog Hop in October. We will announce it next week. But, I'm curious about your thoughts on how blog hops and blogfests have changed lately... What do you look for in a blog hop?

What are you reading? Ready for Fall?

Though my original BBF giveaway at Christine's is OVER

My Happy Summer Book Bday 2020 is in full swing!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Unconventional promoting

I'm finally sharing some of my vacation pictures. I've read some posts lately that we bloggers are getting to "promotional" and not enough "personal" - I tend to agree! Though, once you're published, the books do take over your life!

So today I will start with some vacation pictures...

the feet in the sand pic

the journey into the waves pic

football in the ocean

my oldest son's first oyster

outlet shopping!

took a cruise

the sunset pic

what's the most sought-after item in this picture?

but wait! i promoted at the beach!

Here's my unconventional promotion on vacation. I brought fun swag - I wrote "BROKEN BRANCH FALLS by Tara Tyler" on those beastly kite-looking things that sail through the sky like airplanes. I brought my "Stand up for yourself" footballs and I also dressed up some frisbees with Beast World on the larger ones and my BBF cover on the small ones.

So here's what I did... each day, I left my promotional items somewhere. Footballs in the pool, small frisbees at a bar and on a bench, and the days I went to the beach, I set out the display above. On the last day, I even set out my sign and some of my books when I snagged a table by the pool!

The results... not much direct response, but while I was reading at the beach, it was jam-packed and a girl next to me asked what I was reading (it was Kinetic by S.K. Anthony) I told her it was my friend's book and she was surprised I knew the author (hee hee) and I said it was because I'm an author too! She said she was part of a trading book club and would look me up and get my books - I gave her some swag and bookmarks. Yay!

And one last promotional bit - my Broken Branch Falls Blog Tour stop for this week is at Robin's nest, Your Daily Dose and I'll be talking about Musical Inspiration!

Hope your summer is wonderful! Have you been able to get away? (and hope you're staying warm, my down under friends!)

Ways to find encouragement

#1 - Join in the Insecure Writers Support Group the first Wednesday of each month!
You can use IWSG to give or receive support. Today, I'm going both ways. I'm using the whole post to offer ways to find encouragement. But, I could also use some advice...

I feel I need to reach out to find some fans, since the genres I write are, well, out there. So, I'm going to my first Sci-Fi Con and I'm a little apprehensive. I think this calls for a round of good v. bad:

• It's going to be huge! that's good
• It's going to be full of hardcore sci-fi fans! that's scary
• There are lots of celebrities going - that's good
• There are lots of gory/horror-type sponsors - that's scary
• It's close, and inexpensive, and my friend is coming with me - that's great!
• I don't know if I'll sell anything - that's normal

So, if any of you all have been to a Comic-Con or Sci-Fi Con as a guest or as a seller, please give me some advice on what to expect and what to do or not do...

And I'm especially excited to have the support of ALEX, the founder of IWSG! Today, I'm at his most prestigious blog! I'm so lucky!! I'll be addressing the age old question: Sci Fi/Fantasy - Why are they smushed into one genre?

#2 - Give and you shall receive
This advice works in so many ways!

• when you comment at someone else's blog, you usually get comments back
• when you host others at your blog, they are apt to offer you a spot at theirs
• review and be reviewed, interview and be interviewed, tweet and be tweeted, etc

Speaking of reviews and offers...
Friday, S.K. Anthony has graciously offered to let me come over. And I'll be talking about MORE Ways to Encourage each other - with links to regular goal-setting and updating and feedback opportunities! I hope you'll stop by.

In the meantime, while on vacation I finished KINETIC by S.K. Anthony! Happy coincidence, right?

Here, I give my review:
Annie is a deceptive, petite flower with a powerful punch! She and the rest of the Luminaries work together, using their powers to protect the weak, all except Annie's ex-husband who's gone rogue. Annie is also the subject of her hot boss's affections, though she's not ready to return the feeling. Things get intense when her ex comes back with unbelievable explanations and accusations. Annie doesn't know who to trust. I thoroughly enjoyed the complicated relationships, the twisty, suspenseful plot, and the dynamic characters. Ms. Anthony does an excellent job with this playful, romantic, urban fantasy thriller - it reminded me of Evanovich. Looking forward to the next one!

AND I received three outstanding reviews from:

Christine Rains

Nicki Elson

Sarah Foster

#3 - Host a Giveaway or Blogfest
A giveaway brings support from all over - friends you know, new friends to meet, and promotions, to boot!

Now that it's August - I need to congratulate the winners of my Broken Branch Falls July Giveaway!

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Rachel Schieffelbein - signed copy of Broken Branch Falls

Marcy S Hatch - Beastly Bracelet

C. Lee McKenzie - B&N giftcard

At last, (though it's gone by fast!) Here is my final BBF Giveaway of the summer...
a Rafflecopter giveaway

AND entering contests pays off! See? I won this cute phone cozy in a contest by the Queen of Yarn, Elizabeth Arundel!

What do you do for encouragement? Got any advice for this Sci-Fi shy gal?

Have a great week, you guys!