WORDLESS WEDNESDAY WITH WINNER

Congratulations to last week's WORDLESS WEDNESDAY winner: Laura!

I liked her answer entitled:

Image courtesy of [thaikrit] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

ONE STROKE AWAY FROM LOVE

To view, go here.

Wordless Wednesday is actually filled with words--the words, thoughts, and feelings that pictures or images evoke within each of us without uttering a single word!

Image courtesy of [stockimages] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

What WORD/WORDS does this picture evoke within you?

Or, in other words, "TITLE THIS IMAGE."

I'll start: "Scared to express love." 

My favorite answer wins a $5.00 dollar Amazon gift card.

Don't forget to leave your email or I will be unable to name you as winner!

You may leave multiple answers to increase your chances of winning.

Contest is closed by Thursday at midnight and the winner will be contacted. Winner will be announced the following Wordless Wednesday.

Open only to those who can legally enter. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be emailed. If email is incorrect, a new winner will be chosen. Giveaway is sponsored by Taylor Dean Books. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

MONDAY MUSINGS--WIN A FREE KINDLE EBOOK!

Another GIRL OF MINE teaser!

If you missed the other teasers, here they are!

I now have an exact release date . . .

Coming May 25th, 2015!

ARC copies available soon!

Girl of Mine deals with a soldier leaving for war. 

I LOVE the soldier currently appearing on Dancing With the Stars.

In spite of his severe injuries, he has moved on with his life.

Check out one of his dances. He is amazing and truly inspiring!

           

This week, I'm taking a break!

I get to have this cute little guy with me for the week while his mother goes on a business trip!

Meet my grandson, Gavin . . .

Congrats to last week's winner of a Taylor Dean ebook of her choice: Debby! She chose Lancaster House.

Leave a comment on today's post and win a FREE kindle ebook!

(Sorry kindle only.)

You may choose from any one of my books listed on the left hand sidebar. (Girl of Mine is not available yet.)

Winner will be chosen randomly by Raffle King.

If you are the winner, and you already own all of my books, then you may choose a friend to gift one of my books to! I'll even list you as the gift giver!

Don't forget to leave your email!

Open only to those who can legally enter. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be emailed. If email is not included or is incorrect, a new winner will be chosen. Contest is closed Monday night at midnight PST. Giveaway is sponsored by Taylor Dean Books. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

Have a great Monday, everyone!

FRIDAY FAVORITES

Friday Favorites include my favorite images on reading or writing!

(taken from Facebook)

 Enjoy!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY WITH WINNER

Congratulations to last week's WORDLESS WEDNESDAY winner: Karen!

I liked her answer entitled:

Image courtesy of [Kittisak] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

DON'T LET OUR LOVE SLIP AWAY

To view, go here.

Wordless Wednesday is actually filled with words--the words, thoughts, and feelings that pictures or images evoke within each of us without uttering a single word!

Image courtesy of [thaikrit] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

What WORD/WORDS does this picture evoke within you?

Or, in other words, "TITLE THIS IMAGE."

I'll start: "So close to love." 

My favorite answer wins a $5.00 dollar Amazon gift card.

Don't forget to leave your email or I will be unable to name you as winner!

You may leave multiple answers to increase your chances of winning.

Contest is closed by Thursday at midnight and the winner will be contacted. Winner will be announced the following Wordless Wednesday.

Open only to those who can legally enter. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be emailed. If email is incorrect, a new winner will be chosen. Giveaway is sponsored by Taylor Dean Books. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

MONDAY MUSINGS--WIN A FREE KINDLE EBOOK!

Another GIRL of MINE teaser!

And if you missed the other teasers, here they are!

Coming in May 2015!

View the book trailer here.

And . . . as promised, here are the pictures of my brand new ergonomic work station!

I love it, but I'm still getting used to it. There is definitely a learning curve involved!

I love the shape of the keyboard, but it does take some getting used to. And see that little blue ball on the new mouse? That's how I maneuver the mouse on the screen. (with my thumb!) 

I love that the number keyboard is separate. It makes my reach for the mouse all that much smaller. I also love the wrist rest built into the keyboard. I'm going to add a small wrist rest for the mouse also.

I sure hope this works to help alleviate the pain in my shoulder!

I'm typically on the computer seven or more hours a day and the constant small motions were really getting to me.

Leave a comment on today's post and win a FREE kindle ebook!

(Sorry kindle only.)

You may choose from any one of my books listed on the left hand sidebar. (Girl of Mine is not available yet.)

Winner will be chosen randomly by Raffle King.

If you are the winner, and you already own all of my books, then you may choose a friend to gift one of my books to! I'll even list you as the gift giver!

Don't forget to leave your email!

Open only to those who can legally enter. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be emailed. If email is not included or incorrect, a new winner will be chosen. Contest is closed Monday night at midnight PST. Giveaway is sponsored by Taylor Dean Books. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

Have a great Monday, everyone!

FRIDAY FAVORITES

Friday Favorites include my favorite images on reading or writing!

(taken from Facebook)

 Enjoy!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY WITH WINNER

Congratulations to last week's WORDLESS WEDNESDAY winner: Fayth!

I liked her answer entitled:

Image courtesy of [Iamnee] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

ON THE HIGHWAY TO LOVE

To view, go here.

Wordless Wednesday is actually filled with words--the words, thoughts, and feelings that pictures or images evoke within each of us without uttering a single word!

Image courtesy of [Kittisak] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

What WORD/WORDS does this picture evoke within you?

Or, in other words, "TITLE THIS IMAGE."

I'll start: "MAKE TIME FOR LOVE"

My favorite answer wins a $5.00 dollar Amazon gift card.

Don't forget to leave your email or I will be unable to name you as winner!

You may leave multiple answers to increase your chances of winning.

Contest is closed by Thursday at midnight and the winner will be contacted. Winner will be announced the following Wordless Wednesday.

Open only to those who can legally enter. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be emailed. If email is incorrect, a new winner will be chosen. Giveaway is sponsored by Taylor Dean Books. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

MONDAY MUSINGS

ANOTHER GIRL OF MINE TEASER:

Last week's teaser: (In case you missed it!)

Coming your way in May 2015!!

ARC copies available soon!

Watch for the announcement!

   

Meanwhile, I'm busy with my next book:

CHASING FIREFLIES

Sometimes I'm watching TV and there's this moment where I see the inspiration for my next hero. Something speaks to me and I think, yeah, that's him.

You've probably seen the below ad. It's currently all over the TV.

Hmmmm, wouldn't he make the perfect male lead in a romance novel?

He looks great in a tux, but would look good, if not better, in jeans and a t-shirt. His longish hair, combed back on his head, gives him an "I don't care what you think of me" vibe. Maybe he's a little bit of a free spirit, yet smart and successful. A little intense, but has an easy laugh and a quirky sense of humor.

Yep, I get all that from one picture. (or ad)

That's all it took, one short ad, and I had my next hero in my head for CHASING FIREFLIES.

A little inspiration goes a long way.

If you know the story behind Lancaster House, then you know it was inspired by one singing performance.

(Adam Lambert, Mad World, Finale of American Idol)

          

Just one image in my head can set off my imagination.

And that's what the above image for "BLACK" did for me.

What inspires you?

Have a great Monday, everyone!

FRIDAY FAVORITES

Friday Favorites include my favorite images on reading or writing!

(taken from Facebook)

 Enjoy!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY WITH WINNER

Congratulations to last week's WORDLESS WEDNESDAY winner: Jana!

I liked her answer entitled:

Image courtesy of [Archipoch] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

GROWN FROM LOVE

To view, go here.

Wordless Wednesday is actually filled with words--the words, thoughts, and feelings that pictures or images evoke within each of us without uttering a single word!

Image courtesy of [Iamnee] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

What WORD/WORDS does this picture evoke within you?

Or, in other words, "TITLE THIS IMAGE."

I'll start: "A LOAD OF LOVE"

My favorite answer wins a $5.00 dollar Amazon gift card.

Don't forget to leave your email or I will be unable to name you as winner!

You may leave multiple answers to increase your chances of winning.

Contest is closed by Thursday at midnight and the winner will be contacted. Winner will be announced the following Wordless Wednesday.

Open only to those who can legally enter. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be emailed. If email is incorrect, a new winner will be chosen. Giveaway is sponsored by Taylor Dean Books. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

MONDAY MUSINGS

Coming in May of 2015!!!

So . . . besides getting ready to release GIRL OF MINE, it's been an interesting couple of weeks around here.

Here's why . . .

I started writing my first novel, Sierra, in 2006.

I've spent much of my time sitting at my computer writing ever since.

I've never had any pain in my wrists, arms, or shoulders due to the constant small motions of typing and working with the mouse.

Over the past month, however, I have continually woken up feeling as though I had a stiff neck--and it wouldn't go away.

 I couldn't figure out what I was doing to cause the problem. I had no recollection of straining my muscles.

The pain continued and got worse. Now it goes down my to my shoulder and into my arm and wrist.

I've been resting my arm, assuming I somehow strained it.

Then my hubby had an epiphany.

He realized the problem might be from the poor design at my computer work station. (I tend to work at my desktop computer and only use my laptop whenever we travel.)

At first, I didn't think he was right.

But, my shoulder and neck haven't gotten better, in spite of lots of rest over the past three weeks.

(But not rest from the computer!)

That being said, I now have a brand new ergonomic work station on order!

I never realized how important the ergonomics are if you are working on the computer for long periods of time. I typically work seven hours a day.

I think I've just been lucky this hasn't happened until now.

I sure hope this solves the problem!

Can't wait for it all to arrive. I'll take pictures of my brand new ergonomic work station when we have it all set up. 

Have a wonderful Monday!

FRIDAY FAVORITES

Friday Favorites include my favorite images on reading or writing!

(taken from Facebook)

 Enjoy!

Recently, a few people have asked me how I write.

It's a good question.

I'm sure every writer has a different method.

When I write a new book, I know the beginning, middle, and ending before I ever sit down at the computer and start to type. I know what will happen and I know what point I'm trying to make. I never sit down and think, "Hmmmm, what will I write today?"

The next scene I write is always in my head before I sit down to type.

That being said, there's a lot of filler in between the beginning, middle, and end. I believe that "filler" is what trips writers up.

I never know exactly what that "filler" will be.

It's impossible to know every single word you will write beforehand. The important thing is to just go with the flow of your story. The words tend to be there as you immerse yourself in your writing.

When I wrote my first book, Sierra, I remember writing certain scenes, knowing I wanted a conversation to take place between the main characters, but not knowing what I wanted them to talk about. So, I highlighted the scene and moved on. By the time the book was finished, it was easy to go back and fill in the exact conversation I wanted to occur at that particular point in the novel.

Sometimes a first draft is more like an outline!

And that's okay.

Nowadays, I find that once I get started, ideas come to me and I'm able to fill in the blanks much sooner.

However, when I get stuck, I move forward. 

I keep going and get all of my thoughts on paper.

During the editing process, I often switch things up a bit.

I might grab a thought from the beginning of the novel, and change it to a conversation later in the novel.

Why?

Number one, it's more enjoyable to the reader to hear the thought in a conversation.

Number two, I want the thought to be revealed later in the novel.

My ex-agent once said, "Reserve little tidbits to be revealed throughout the novel like treasured golden nuggets."

It's good advice.

But you can't do that unless you get all of your ideas on paper to begin with!

So, WRITE, WRITE, WRITE and see where it takes you.

You may only see what's directly in front of you, but once you put it all together, you'll be amazed!

SPRING INTO CASH GIVEAWAY

     Yay! It's finally SPRING!

Enter this fabulous giveaway for a chance to win

$250.00!!!

     a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway is sponsored by:

I Am A Reader Unshelfish The Discerning Reader My Book Self Lori's Reading Corner A Tattered Copy MK McClintock TMBA Corbett Tries to Write Author Deb Atwood Simple Wyrdings Leisure Reads Bella Street Time Travel Romance Bonnie Blythe Pure Romance Raven Haired Girl Kimber Leigh Wheaton Award-winning Author Kim Cresswell Aubrey Wynne: Romantasy Through The Ages Author Ednah Walters Fat Free Faith Jaleta Clegg inspiredbooksguide Diana's Book Reviews Krysten Lindsay Hager Jennifer Peel Terah Edun Novel Bundle Services Glistering Bs Blog J.L. Weil S.T. Bende {A Leisure Moment} A Casual Conversation About Our Love for Literature Tim Hemlin Craves the Angst Book Blog Books R Us Raine Thomas Laurie Here - Cont Fiction and MORE Taylor Dean Books 

Giveaway Details $250 Paypal Cash Ends 4/15/15 Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use money sent via Paypal. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author, bloggers and publishers on the sponsor list. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY WITH WINNER

Congratulations to last week's WORDLESS WEDNESDAY winner: Kim!

I liked her answer entitled:

Image courtesy of [Danilo Rizzuti] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

HEART ATTACK!

To view, go here.

Wordless Wednesday is actually filled with words--the words, thoughts, and feelings that pictures or images evoke within each of us without uttering a single word!

Image courtesy of [Archipoch] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

What WORD/WORDS does this picture evoke within you?

Or, in other words, "TITLE THIS IMAGE."

I'll start: "How deep is your love?"

My favorite answer wins a $5.00 dollar Amazon gift card.

Don't forget to leave your email or I will be unable to name you as winner!

You may leave multiple answers to increase your chances of winning.

Contest is closed by Thursday at midnight and the winner will be contacted. Winner will be announced the following Wordless Wednesday.

Open only to those who can legally enter. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be emailed. If email is incorrect, a new winner will be chosen. Giveaway is sponsored by Taylor Dean Books. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.