Careful What You Wish For

Thank you so much for the great responses so far!
I think I got my Broken Branch Falls Release Form up and running... I appreciate all your help! And hey, no extras today =)

My plans for the A to Z challenge this year.

• Writing Advice
• Tidbits from BROKEN BRANCH FALLS, coming out in June (Titles of my posts are chapters in BBF, too)
• And some laughs at the end!

Challenge on!

A to Z Writing advice:
Covers… The first impression! If readers don’t like the cover, they probably won’t bother reading the blurb or reviews or a single word. Title is important, but a picture is worth… you know. So your cover must stand out. It must show the reader a teasing glimpse of what they are getting from your story. They need to feel the vibe of the book, they need to want to enter the scene or find out more about it. The cover is the most exciting thing to show off and one of the most important marketing tools you have. And here is my advice on creating a fantastic cover –

• keep it simple, not too much detail or busy distractions
• the cover should make the reader feel what your book is about just by looking at it and know the genre right away
• colors set the mood as much as the pictures, bright or dark? cold or warm? loud or soft?
• use a professional, it’s worth it! don’t scrimp with clipart or do a favor for a friend who isn’t paid for their work, yet, unless you can critique their work without worry - you have to have it your way! Sorry kiddos, this is serious business and readers can tell the difference, use an artist

Visiting BROKEN BRANCH FALLS:

Ms Shurshot - calculus teacher

centaurs – equine bodies with, humanoid torsos and heads, extremely smart, mostly scholars
City of Learning – where the centaurs live and where The University is located
CRADLE ROCK – Book 2 of the BEAST WORLD series – Do humans still exist? Another exciting adventure with Gabe and Ona and Rove and some new friends, too!

And for laughs:
An alphabetical list of reasons men are happier people... (courtesy of my mom)

C is for Children

Men can never be pregnant.

A woman knows all about her children. She knows about dentist appointments and romances, best friends, favorite foods, secret fears, and hopes and dreams.

A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house.

Battle of Wits

BIG DAY TODAY! Special note: today's post will be extra long with Bonus announcements at the end - most of my a to z posts will be short, but this is a Blessed day! Bonkers!

Here's a quick summary of my plans for the A to Z challenge this year. The A to Zs of:

• Writing Advice
• Tidbits from BROKEN BRANCH FALLS, BEAST WORLD Book 1, which comes out in June (Including the titles of my posts, which are some of the chapter titles in BBF!) Yes, I went crazy!
• And some laughs at the end!

Best of luck with the challenge!

A to Z Writing advice:
As you know, Bob… It's a common mistake for new writers, as I found out early on that I did it. This blunder involves a more experienced character explaining backstory in detail to another character. Like when someone gets a new job and the office gossip gives the goods on all the other characters – it's too much telling and not enough showing.

Visiting BROKEN BRANCH FALLS:

Black Dog Forest – where the werewolves live
Blood Lake – where the vampires live, of course
Bluffs of Ruin – where the giants roam
Book of Ages – source of laws and government for all beastkind
Broken Branch Falls – the town where ogres, pixies, elves, and goblins live

And for laughs:
An alphabetical list of reasons men are happier people... (courtesy of my mom)

B is for Bathrooms

A man has six items in his bathroom: toothbrush and toothpaste, shaving cream, razor, a bar of soap, and a towel.

The average number of items in the typical woman's bathroom is 337. A man would not be able to identify more than 20 of these items.

BONUS 1:
A short note for IWSG - for those new here, the Insecure Writers Support Group meets the first Wed of each month, conceptualized by our Grand PooBah, Alex J. Cavanaugh. There's lots of helpers and clones and even a facebook page. Here's my insecurity this month...

I am getting nervous about Broken Branch Falls coming out soon! I planned my POP TRAVEL blog tour to the hilt and it was wonderful. But, BBF is MG and I'm still figuring out how to market it. If you are interested in helping me, I could use any advice or aid you got. I'm looking for help with:

• the cover reveal (May)
• an ARC review (May/June)
• release day announcement (June)
• then there's the blog tour (June - Sept)

Please let me know. You can mention something in the comments, email me (taratylertalks ala gmail), or sign up on the form I'm working on (hope to have it up soon). Anyone who helps with any of these items will be put into a drawing for a gift card - and I may do more than one winner cause I love you guys! I have lots of planning to do and hope you can be a part of it. And I always like to reciprocate! Thank you!

BONUS 2:
BREATHLESS! A Romantic Flop Blog Hop
To celebrate Krista McLaughlin's release of BREATHLESS, we are telling embarrassing love moments. Here's mine:
In the summer before eighth grade, I got my first boyfriend. We met at camp. Holding hands was such a thrill at that age! But when camp was over, we had to go home and we lived forever apart (30 min is forever when you can't drive). We wrote letters (yes, I'm old. we used paper and pen and licked envelopes and stamps! We were so deprived) and we actually talked on the phone!! with a cord! (love the 80s!) Anyway! We got our parents to drop us off to play raquetball at an outdoor court (I lived in Florida). Being a dumb boy, he whipped my butt. Being a dumb girl, I got mad and pouted. So, he threw his raquet down and came over and kissed me. My first kiss. Awkward, but so sweet =) Awww!

Here are the links for BREATHLESS:

Amazon ~~~ Barnes & Noble ~~~ Goodreads

Eighteen-year-old Lainey is the only witness to her best friend losing her life to the depths of the ocean. She stays close to the water, a small part of her hoping to surrender to the same fate. On her birthday the waters almost overtake her, but a mysterious young man rescues her and disappears.

Lainey can't stop thinking about the stranger from the beach, and one night she finds her rescuer naked and bleeding on the shore. Jon doesn’t know what pancakes taste like, how microwave popcorn cooks, or own shoes, but he seems to be just what Lainey needs. As the anniversary of her friend’s death looms, Lainey opens herself in ways she never thought possible. But when Jon’s identity comes to light, Lainey has to save him before she loses another love to the sea.

Happy Bee Day!

Say it AIN'T So

For those of you who missed the A to Z Theme Reveal blog hop, here's a quick summary of my plans for the A to Z challenge this year.

The A to Zs of:

• Writing Advice!
• Tidbits from BROKEN BRANCH FALLS, BEAST WORLD Book 1, which comes out in June (Including the titles of each post, which are some of the chapter titles in BBF!) Yes, I went crazy!
• And some laughs at the end!

 So, all in all, hoping to make it worth your while! Enjoy!

A to Z Writing advice:
action/adventure – that’s what I love to write. I don’t know how to write an emotional or scary or romantic or dramatic story. The best advice I have for writing action/adventure is to keep the reader on her toes with twists, surprises, and the unexpected. When I get stuck, I think of several possible outcomes and usually choose the hardest to believe or overcome – which isn’t always the worst that could happen. There's always a way out!

Visiting BROKEN BRANCH FALLS:

Argus – studly goblin best friend of Gabe (MC) He’s more handsome and popular than most goblins and likes to take risks. He’s also a loyal friend.

Audra - Gabe goblin's mother, terrible cook, smart and sensible, and has a secret.

And for laughs:
An alphabetical list of reasons men are happier people... (courtesy of my mom)

A is for Automobiles

Car mechanics tell men the truth.

ADDED BONUS! - not all the letters will have extras, but a few will, like tomorrow (IWSG!)

I went to Atlanta for spring break last week and did 2 signings! It was AWESOME! I visited with friends I haven't seen in a long time, met some blog friends face to face, and sold some books - who coud ask for more! Here are some pictures (see my facebook author page for more!):

with Bubba & Sherry Ellis

with Elizabeth Seckman & Ashley Chappell

I mentioned before that I would be dressing up as Tara Tyler the Adventure Author for the conference... What you can't see in the pictures is: I wore metallic pants, the feathery looking things in my hair lit up and my hair was all twisty, and I had some cool eye art and blue mascara - I had so much fun! I met some great people, too, but didn't do the greatest job at taking pictures. It went by so quick!

Happy A Day!