That Moment When...

As a writer I strive to make the reader feel what I want. I love it when I am reading a book and get those uneasy butterflies in my stomach. I love it when a first kiss happens and truly impacts your emotions. I love feeling what the characters do. I love when heartbreak happens and I cry because I feel so bad for whoever it is.

When I write I try to invoke these emotions as much as possible. I think when we read books we try and escape. Speaking from experience, I love to read because books are so much better than my life. Don't get me wrong, I have a great life. I have people who love me and I am truly happy. But there is nothing like a great romance novel. You just can't beat it!

Sometimes I am actually embarassed when I read at work. I work at a gym so during lunchtime it is very quiet. I use this time to edit but recently I have been reading a lot. I actually feel the physical emotions when reading. Sometimes I'll be sitting and suddenly blush. Now a bystander would think I was crazy. How is it that reading a book can make us feel so much! There's nothing like it.

I try to make my characters as real as possible. I think feeling emotions directly corresponds with our connection with the people. If a character is boring or maybe too far fetched, they are unrelateable. How can we feel sorry for someone we don't understand. That's why making a character who is relateable is so important.

I also think dialog plays a huge factor in it. I know how I feel when I wait for a text message from my boyfriend first thing in the morning. I know a normal conversation between us, and we are very much in love. When a character is talking or texting to their loved one in the story it has to be realistic. People don't just come out and say I love you. No, it has to build. You have to take steps.

Photo from Booksdirect@tumblr

I have to go but I will continue this later...

Breaking | Cure to Becoming Burnt Out

I officially understand how people get tired of writing and editing and feel burnt out. This weekend it was my goal to finish up the book. The book is thirty chapters long and I was done with twelve. I figured since I had nothing planned I could bang it out in one day. I found myself procrastinating in the morning which is very unusual for me. I tend to get my best work done first thing in the morning. I kept asking myself why I didn't want to get down to business and found myself unable to answer.

I realized that I was bored and tired of working on it. Instead of sitting at my desk all day and editing, I wanted to watch tv, walk the dog, EXERCISE! I think that says enough. I sat down and just reflected for a couple of minutes and realized what the problem was. I was burnt out.

I've read my book so many damn times that my eyes were tired and ended up skipping over parts and getting to the good parts that I knew were coming. This is so bad! Especially since I am editing I need to read it in depth and find all the errors.

I ended up putting my manuscript away. I told myself even though I want to get it done, it has to be done right. I didn't touch it Saturday or Sunday. Monday rolls around and I bring my manuscript with me to work. I decide to start editing and see where it takes me. Instead of planning to plow through the book, I decided that I would do two chapters and see how I felt.

The two chapters went great. I found myself engaged in the book and really focused. I was able to edit the two chapters in really good time and I really wanted to keep going. I didn't allow myself to. Instead, I put the manuscript down and moved on. I watched two episodes of lost, played games on my phone and did some real work.

Today is here and I am looking forward to editing more. Like yesterday I am planning on only editing two or three chapters. Then I will break again. Your mind may be into the story but it needs a break. After editing and writing for the past couple months, a day or two break is much needed.

Moral of the story? Take breaks. Even though you may feel the need to finish as soon as possible, it needs to be done right. If it's not done correctly the first time, you are going to be wasting your time. You'll have to go back in and fix what you didn't notice before. Even taking a lunch break or playing a game is helpful. It gives your mind a break. My brain is my friend, I should treat it right! :)

TL

Friday Teaser

Hello all! Sorry I have been MIA lately. I came down with the flu Monday night and have been out ever since. I got it pretty bad. Today I am finally starting to feel like myself again. Don't think I forgot about this! It's close to the wire but it's still friday! I'm really excited about this part. I think this might be my favorite part of the entire book. I kept it short because this is from chapter twenty nine in the book. I didn't want to give too much away. I hope you enjoy it!

        The bell finally rings and I gather all of my books. I sling my bag over my back and head out the doors. I run straight into Becca. I stumble backwards and look up at her face. She dropped a bunch of her books. Her little minions rush to gather them off the floor. Her gaze never leaves me though.

“Watch where you’re going, freak!” She says and walks closer to me. She stops right in front of me and I think she is going to push me or something. She has never really hit me before. It has always been name calling or ripping my journal or something like that. Before I know it I feel a sting across my left cheek. What the hell? She fucking slapped me. 

I raise my hand to my cheek and rub it. It is stinging like crazy. Of course no teachers are around. Nobody except Becca and her bitches are even here to see it. I drop my bag and lunge at her. If nobody can see her slap me then nobody will see me beat her ass! 

I am so sick of her. I can’t even take it. She has never hit me and she crossed the line. I won’t take that. I reach for her perfect straight blonde hair. I grab a hand full and yank it. Her head falls back but it brings me down with her. We both are on the ground. She claws at me to get me off her but I refuse to let go.

She deserves to feel pain. I keep pulling her and screaming at her. To be honest, it is all a blur. I don’t remember what I said or exactly what I did. I just know that I refused to stop. I would not let go of that bitch. 

I feel a set of arms wrap around my stomach and pull me away from Becca. I claw at them to get off me. “Stop! Get off!” I say but the arms refuse to move. Before I know it I am facing the floor and butt of some dude. He has me slung over his shoulder. I look back and Becca is standing up and straightening herself out. She looks back at me and flicks me off.

“I’ll come back for you!” I yell to her.

Let me know what you guys think out there! Thanks for all of the support and great feedback. Hopefully I will get on my feet tomorrow and start blogging again. Damn flu season! 

TL

Scrivener | Why You Should Buy It

For my writing I use a program called Scrivener. I started writing my first book not knowing anything about writing, editing, publishing, really anything about the project. I've always loved reading and writing but never thought I could actually write a book. Anyway, I have a mac, so I wrote plainly on pages. This went fine. I created a folder and saved each chapter individually. It was great. Long story short, I scrapped that book. I still have it on file but I wasn't feeling it anymore.

Before starting my curse series, I researched. I found various applications and tried them out. I got trial versions so I could test drive them all. My favorite by far is scrivener. I ended up buying it for $49.99 on amazon. They have the automatic download on there. I fell in love with it. It is much like other applications but with extras and I find it easier to use.

It starts you off with a tutorial. This was extremely useful! It shows you how to work it, which buttons to push for short cuts and everything you ever need to know. If you forget you can click the link and it will go through it again. I am constantly watching the tutorial when I forget things.

This is what the page mainly looks like. It is like a cork board. As you can see it is set up by scenes. Personally I did it a little different. Instead of setting it by scenes I did it chapter by chapter. I wrote it out in pages and copy and pasted it into scrivener. I wanted one place where all my information was. This was extremely helpful.

Another great thing this application does is set up locations, characters and plots. It allow a special area where you can input all this information. You can set up each character. List all their information and even put a picture there. Then you can write out each location. This is a helpful tool because all your notes are in one spot. If you forget what a character looks like all you have to do is click their name. Here is the character cork board.

The best part of scrivener is that it sets up your manuscript. It allows you to export it, compile it, print it, send it out or whatever you need to do. You can create an e-book or paperback. All of this is crucial when sending out manuscripts to editors or publishers. You can add in your cover or pictures. The program is the whole package.

Anything you want to do as an author you can do with this application. It will tell you word count or how many words per chapter. It lets you search for a name or word and tells you how often it occurs and where. You can do whatever you want. Each edit you can make a certain color. It makes organizing your essay easier than ever. I definitely recommend using scrivener if you like to be organized. Your writing will improve instantly.

Editing | Worth the Price?

I have been getting such diverse information lately. I am currently editing the first curse book. I find that my methods of editing have been very useful. My questions will be now what? Should I skip right to publishing or is it worth the second editor? Here are my techniques.

After completing the book, I stowed it away for a full week. Even though I wanted to read it badly, I refused myself. I know that after finishing I needed a break from it. My mind needed a rest and frankly a vacation. After that excruciating week was up I opened up my computer and read it through completely. During this stage, I fixed all the blatant grammar issues. I fixed the tenses of the words if they were inaccurate. I fixed anything that I saw really. I just read through the copy on my computer and fixed whatever I saw.

After that was done, I printed out the full manuscript. I wanted to put it away for another week but I couldn't resist after day five. What can I say, I am weak! Then I started on page one and read it out loud. I circled areas that sounded wrong. I fixed words that seemed off. I added in some scenes where I thought they fit. By the end of this round, the pages were completely marked up. I don't think I had a single blank page.

With my marked up manuscript, I went back into the computer and fixed it all with my edits. I found this technique really useful because even though I was just copying from this piece of paper, it required me to read again. Really, I was killing two birds with one stone. I was fixing the errors I already caught and reading through it again.

After that I thought my book was good. I didn't plan on going back into it. I started working on other things pertaining to the book. For instance, I started this blog, I started talking with my designer for the cover, I started planning out book two and looking for publishers. I think the turning point here was when I did my first friday teaser. I saw in the passage I chose some errors. I thought, what the hell! I edited this already.

So.... After about two weeks away, I printed out manuscript number two. So here I am now, just finishing up this edit. I have actually found a lot of stuff I didn't see before. I've even found some spacing errors. I was astonished that I missed them the first time. I am almost done with this one.

My question now is whether I should spend the money on an editor. Let me start by saying, editors are freaking expensive. My book is long. It's over 90,000 words. That is a lot of time someone would be spending looking through my book. I believe the cheapest editor I have found would be $350 for a basic editing. Is it worth it? I want to do it but because I am a student, I am reluctant to shell out that much money. I'm broke! What to do... What to do....

TL

It's Teaser Friday!!

To be honest, I almost forgot about teasing you all today! I chose this part because I like it. It doesn't give away much. It is almost halfway through the book. This gives a sneak peak into the start of Ryder and Ari's friendship/relationship/bickering. They are pretty funny. Ari gets introduced to Ryder's dad. It's an awkward moment. Here it is... I hope you like it!

        

“Hey dad” I go over and kiss him on the cheek. Ari stands behind me in the doorway. “Is it okay if I have a plus one tonight?” I ask him and pray that one, he says yes and two, he doesn't embarrass me. Although, even if he did embarrass me I don’t think Ari would be scared off. 

“Of course no problem at all.” He stops cooking and turns to face us. He wipes his hand on his apron and smiles at Ari. He looks very femiinine in his apron and slacks. “You must be Ollie.” Dad says cheerfully and I die.

“Dad! No, this is ARI” I make an emphasis on the name. Damn him. 

“Oh I’m so sorry. Pleasure to meet you Ari.” He says but I am still mortified. I can tell he is embarrassed for the both of us. His face is a little redder than it was before. I must get that trait from him. I excuse us and tell dad to call us when it is ready. I take him into the basement which has a couch and tv in it. The living room would be the obvious choice but it connects to the kitchen and I don’t want to be in ear shot of dad. He can be a creeper sometimes. 

I hope you liked it! Let me know what you all think!

TL

Silence or music?

I wrote my first book in the silence. I have observed that throughout my life, studying or doing homework, I get much more done when it is very quiet. If I am doing something that requires my full attention, I need quiet. However recently I have been trying to use classical music. I have been using it in the background while I work and write.

I find that it doesn't distract me nearly as much as other things. I like the music, it puts me into a peaceful state. I am not completely sold yet. I find that if there is a song that I really like, it captures my attention. I stop and listen instead of working.

I read on another blog that writing with music helps your mood. I find that when a happy song comes on that my mood is definitely lifted. I can feel a mental change in my thinking. It is really quite astonishing. The blog also says that you have to play around with which genres work for you. For me, writing with any song in the background that has words is difficult. I find myself wanting to sing along, or accidentally writing the words I listen to instead of my book. Maybe I just suck at multitasking.

I never listen to music [while I write]. I find music much too distracting. – JK Rowling.

I used to agree with her but now I am so torn. I guess I will continue to play with music and writing. I am editing so I don't need as much focus. Maybe this is why it has been helping me. I put together a little playlist of songs that stimulate my brain right now.

The River Flows in You- Yiruma
Pachelbel Meets U2- Jon Schmidt
Colors of the Wind- Marilyn Byrnes
Nightingale- Yanni

These are just the most recent ones I have listened to. I will keep updating on my listening while writing progress. Wish me luck!

TL

How to Write a Synopsis

I have been getting tons of feedback from Google+ on this damn synopsis. I swear to God, this is harder than writing my 90,000+ word book. I have learned a lot and decided to write two posts today. This one I am going to go through my synopsis I wrote and explain what's wrong. I am beyond frustrated by the way. A lot of people have been helping me though, so I thank them. Here is my original.

Ryder has been bullied for the past two years. She is tired of walking into school in fear. On her first day of her senior year she decides she isn't going to care what people think of her. She can't wait to finish the year and get the heck out of town! Then she meets Ollie. He is a sexy blue eyed God. She falls hopelessly in love with him. While Ollie is out of town she collaborates with Ari, a cocky, motorcycle riding bad ass. They travel on an epic journey into the Underworld to uncover secrets Ryder never knew existed. Will her love with Ollie be able to withstand Ari's charm? Will an ancient curse bring them together or push them apart? What will Ryder do once she has the answers?

The first four sentences are much too choppy. I got critiqued that they don't flow together and really are pointless. I should get right down to the point. A reader wrote this out and I kind of like it...

Ryder had one goal for her senior year: to stop being bullied. What she didn't plan on was falling in love, and 'didn't plan' was a massive understatement for her getting involved with Ari. 

I like this as an opener. I would keep the first line and take out the second part. Because this guy didn't know the full story it doesn't completely fit. So now I have...

Ryder has one goal for her senior year, to stop being bullied. What she doesn't plan on is falling for the new guy, Ollie. He is different, that much Ryder can tell. He has qualities about him that scare Ryder, yet not enough to stop her from loving him. She never would have guessed that Ollie's secrets could change who she is forever.

Ari is a motor cycle riding, bad ass. He waltzes into school like he owns the place. Ryder has seen this guy before, from her dreams. She starts to think that maybe her dreams are more than just her imagination running wild. She befriends Ari much to Ollie's dismay, and gets a lot more than she bargained for. Ari opens her up to a whole new reality when he reveals an ancient curse that affects them all. 

In a journey to find herself, Ryder relies solely on Ari as her guide. They travel into the Underworld to confront the man that has ruined her, time and time again. She craves the answers of her ancestry and who she really is. She can't stop the visions from coming anymore. She realizes that the world she lives in is nothing like she imagined. 

I feel like this one is a little better. It is long though so I am not sure what people are going to say about it. While reading about synopsis's and blurbs I learned a lot. Firstly, I should not really be describing anyone. Readers are supposed to decide if someone is sexy or not. Also, I added in some more information about the fantasy factors. People thought it was just a book about romance and love which it isn't! The paranormal and fantasy factors are the key parts of the book. I definitely want to make that well known. Let's see what kind of feedback I get about this stuff! Wish me luck!

TL

Book Description

Hey guys! I finally have been working on getting published. I have created an ISBN, finished all the interior and worked on pricing. Currently I am waiting on my designer to finish the cover. I'm not sure how long it will take so I'm getting restless. Meanwhile... I am working on the description for the book. It can't be long but I want to make sure it hooks people in. Here is the first one I came up with!

Ryder has been bullied for the past two years in high school. She is tired of walking around in fear. On the first day of her senior year, she decides she isn't going to care what people think of her. She can't wait to finish the year and get the heck out of town! Then she meets Ollie. He is a sexy, blue eyed God. She falls hopelessly in love with him. While Ollie is out of town she collaborates with Ari, a cocky, motorcycle riding bad ass. They travel on an epic journey into the Underworld to uncover secrets Ryder never knew existed. Will her love with Ollie be able to withstand Ari's charm? Will an ancient curse bring them together or push them apart? What will Ryder do once she has the answers?

I liked this one because it gives a little background information on Ryder. You know that she has been bullied and had a hard time in high school. You also learn both guys names. I didn't want to mention Ollie without Ari. It also gives foresight into the main quest in this novel. The journey into Hell.

I wanted to end it with questions that intrigue someone to read the book. The first question shows that there is that romance aspect to the novel. The second one shows that there are deeper powers working behind the scenes. It's a fantasy novel after all! I hope you like it! I think I am going to keep this one. I'll see what people say :) I'll keep you posted!

TL

Dreary Day

So I was all prepared to write these great point of view and interviews from each character today! But after being called into work at six am, yes on a Sunday and then the weather I am in no mood. My creative juices are far from flowing. I am sleeping and cranky.

Oh and to add to that, I was up all night with my sick boyfriend. As I'm sure you can tell, I am in a bad mood. Instead of focusing on writing the fun stuff, I will postpone until tomorrow. Hopefully by then I will have rested and be happy! Doubt-able.

Anyway, I hope wherever you guys are, your day is better than mine. Please let this weather fade away. The fog here is incredible. I couldn't even see ten feet ahead of me when driving this morning. I will post a pic. Sorry about not feeling up to a good post. I will be back in high spirits tomorrow.

TL

The Need to Finish

So the past day or two, I have been restless. I want to finish my book so badly! Yesterday, I had a skype meeting with my cousin, Avery Hutchings. She is an art major in college. She rocks! She is such an amazing artist. She is doing my design and cover and inside art. We came up with some pretty amazing ideas. She's trying to rush for me so I can start posting stuff on here. I am just so damn excited!

I am up to chapter three editing. I try to do one chapter at a time. My eyes hurt so bad after reading it. The way that I edit is, I read it out loud first and mark any places that don't sound right. I also mark spots that I want to add or have an idea for. After reading the chapter out loud first, I go back to the beginning. I do it one paragraph at a time. I mark it up! I add whatever I want, take out what I want and make any grammatical errors correct. After doing that for the whole chapter, I read through with the new things. If something is repetitive (which happens all the time for me!) I fix it.

The reason I only allow myself to do a chapter a day is because I need my brain working at 100%. I tend to get in a flow. If I go on to the next chapter, I change from reading as an editor to reading as a reader. I get wrapped up in the book and before I know it, I haven't marked a single thing. :( I'm really not good at the whole editing thing.

Lucky for me, I have friends and family who I am making do this as well. My boyfriend Chris has the first official copy. He is reading it as a reader and letting me know if he notices any inconsistencies, any errors, character issues and that kind of stuff. I have my cousin, Maddie editing as well. She is actually in school to do this kind of thing so it's perfect.

I love having family who I don't have to pay! They all love me so they have to do me these favors. Of course once my book is out there you can see them on the dedication page! Wellllllll, I am off to start chapter four. Wish me luck. I am hoping to get a lot done this weekend. Stay posted for tomorrow because I am going to try and post some character fun stuff!

TL

Friday Teaser | TTYC

I figure since Friday's are usually my least busy day, I will do a teaser. I know usually writers do it on Tuesday or Thursday so it's all cute and double t. I just want it to be special! So I chose this passage from the book because it sheds a little bit of light on Ryder. It doesn't give anything away. This scene makes me personally feel bad. Ryder is bullied. This scene is from chapter one. Here we go!

Dear Diary, Remind me that I owe Junior my life. He is honestly the best best friend ever. After this morning I needed a serious pep talk to even get to class. Just being next to him was comforting. I’m looking forward to lunch since I’ll finally have someone to sit with. It’s definitely a new year and a new- 

“What the hell?!” My journal is yanked from under my hand and off my desk into the hands of precisely the person I would never want it to. Oh hell no. My day was so promising and drama free. 

“Hm, let’s see what the gay girl is writing about.” Becca snickers. She flips through the pages to my most recent entry. I hate that she is even looking at my thoughts. It is private stuff.  

“Stop give it back!” I yell at Becca from my seat. Stupid bitch stole my diary and is threatening to read it aloud. She stands up on top of the desk now. She is prepping herself to read it to the class which is starting to fill up. Great, more people to witness her proclamation. She calls attention to herself and the class quiets down. Everyone is entranced by the show. This is just what I need, public humiliation. I sink into my seat trying to hide my face. 

“Oh Junior I love you so much, just not like that. I like girls now don’t you get it? I’m a lesbian Junior. Les-bi-an.” Becca pretends to read from my diary. She waves her arms around animately. I’m so fucking pissed now. I’m either going to kill her or cry. I’m not sure which yet. I decide to grow a pair.  

“Give it back you bitch.” I say to her. I stand up and reach my arm in the direction of my book. She looks down at me with her evil eye. She jumps down from the table and starts ripping pages out from the journal all while staring me in the eyes. When she’s satisfied that the pages are so small I can’t ever read them, she steps up to me.

“If you ever talk to me like that again, I’ll get you expelled.” She whispers so only I can her it. I shrink down a few feet. A grin spreads across her lips and she throws the papers right into my face. Her little posse hoots and hollers from their seats. They tell her how funny she is. Honestly, they all disgust me. They're pathetic little clones. 

I try to pick up as many pieces of paper as possible. I put them all on my desk, along with the cover and sit down. I try to piece it all together but it’s worthless. I gather them all up in my hands and go to toss them in the trash. The only bin is by the door, but I don’t even care anymore. I feel so defeated and pathetic as it is. They can watch me all they want. They win, like usual. I loose.

I hope you all enjoyed this tease. I can't wait to get the full book out for everyone to see! Let me know what you think about it. It's my baby, be nice!

TL

Should I Do An Outline?

So, I was thinking about the outline to my book. When the idea first came to me, I dove in head first. I was so excited and eager to get started. So I made up the character bios and started figuring out who would do what. I created this insanely elaborate outline. I made each chapter with bullet points. I had the big events. I even high lighted important parts.

Then, I sit down to start writing. Day one I probably wrote five chapters. Which, is a lot. Usually I write about two chapters a day, on average. So I continue to write, day after day. I have the outline next to me making sure I have it going according to plan. I get about half way through the book and go crazy. I had this long weekend from school, might have been Thanksgiving weekend. I sat and wrote and wrote and wrote. I banged out the entire book in a matter of three days. I looked up from my desk and was like, what the hell just happened? It was almost like an out of body experience.

Anyway, I took two days off to just relax and distance myself. I started from chapter one, page one and read through the book like I was the reader. As I went through the chapters I was noticing that this wasn't even close to my outline. I believe my outline started as having twenty one chapters. By the end, I have thirty. I also added in some random scenes and characters.

Main point, I don't do long outlines anymore. I found that I didn't even use it. My book turned out completely different that what I first had in mind. As the book progressed, I ended up liking characters I didn't plan on and creating situations differently. It's not a bad thing but it just happened. I'm not saying outlines are bad! In fact, for book two I have a GENERAL outline. It is nothing like the first book but useful. I didn't do a chapter by chapter outline. I simply wrote out what the important situations were and the order they had to go in.

Not sure if this is a normal writing technique?

I just find that when I get in the zone and am writing, I should leave it to my imagination. I should just write it as I think it. I find that those situations are more realistic than something I wrote down before the book even started. Something to think about.

Productive Day

Well, I officially feel bad for my college. After over one hundred sheets of paper and two, yes two, cartridges of ink, my final manuscript is done and ready to edit! I swear, this better be the last editing. I am so tired of nit picking. I'm pretty sure my eyes are shot! I have a long week ahead of me. I am hoping to finish the edit by next week before my classes start up again.

Drag, college.

I spoke to my cousin, who is creating my cover and art work. We have plans to skype tonight. Our idea for the cover is going to be amazing! It is original and will capture attention. I am so excited to start putting everything together. This project is my baby!

I also joined a group yesterday on yahoo. Cate Rowan is the admin on the site. Look her up, she's amazing! She has been so helpful to me. They accepted me into the group last night! It is a indie romance group. There are 1300 members! It has been really helpful. I spent most of last night reading through various articles. They know their stuff.

I received an email yesterday from a gentleman from amazon I have been talking to. Amazon has this service called create space that I am thinking of using to self publish my book. They have many great services, for free! Not going to lie, I am a little skeptical, so I am doing research on it today.

Hm.. What else? I am procrastinating from getting back to my book. Editing is such a drag. I wish I could afford an editor. Man, would my life be easier. I guess I shall go now!

TL

Editing Process | Starting Edit 3

Today I have decided to revisit, The Thousand Year Curse. This is book one in my curses series. I took about two weeks off from it and refused to look at it. I have some friends editing it but personally I ignored it. Today I think I am going to print it and edit it, for the last time. I'm not sure why it even needs another edit. This will be the third physical print I have done. Thankfully, I am in college so I can print for free in the library.

Perks!

I feel like I want to add some new things. I want more dialogue. I'm not sure though. I have always heard that you shouldn't add things to your book. Editing should always been cutting it down and taking words out. I'm not sure what to do. I guess I will just go with the flow. However, I am excited because I'll be one step closer to finishing this project.

Editing is such a pain in the butt. I went on amazon's create space which is a self publishing website. It is really great. You can pick what to do, if you want an editor, designer etc. However, when I looked, it was crazy expensive. To have a person edit it just for grammar, it was like 2,000 dollars.

My manuscript is 90,000 words so it costs more. I don't have that kind of money! I'm a freaking student. Anyways, I feel a little defeated. I feel like my book is so good! I just need a little extra. I want to put it out there ASAP but I want it to be perfect. I guess I should start saving some money. :(

In the meantime, here I come edit 3!

Bad Boy vs. Good Guy

Bad Boy versus the Good Guy. I am so torn about this. I have characters who fit into both categories in my book. I am debating on which guy Ryder will eventually end up with, if any! I mean I love the bad boys. I like a guy who's dark and handsome. Doesn't every girl love a guy riding in on his motorcycle? What girl doesn't like a guy in leather? What about the good guys, though?

They deserve a little recognition. They treat us right, and respect their girl.

Why isn't that as appealing?

We like the guy who is damaged and needs to be fixed. WHY?

Ryder | Meet and Greet

Ryder is the main character of The Curses Books. She starts off book one in a dark place. She is being bullied pretty badly. She is starting her first day of her Senior year. 

Ryder has long, brown hair. It is waist length and naturally straight. It has a few waves to it. She rarely does it anymore. She is average all around. She is about 5’4”. She hates being short. She isn’t skinny but isn’t fat. She is simply average. Her eyes are her best feature. They are changing daily. Most of the time they are deep blue but some days they are green or yellowish or grey. She hates it. She wants them to pick a color and stick with it.

She lives with her dad. They have an amazing relationship. Her mom walked out on them when she was only three days old. Needless to say, she holds a grudge. Her best friend is her neighbor Junior. He is tall, skinny and reliable. He saved her when she was exiled by Becca Roberts, the queen bitch. 

Book one, Ryder goes through a lot. She falls in love, goes on an epic journey and even gets into a fist fight. Throughout the journey she changes. She becomes independent and strong. Ryder becomes a bad ass!

Ollie | Meet and Greet

Meet Ollie, the next boy toy from the series!

Ollie is simply beautiful. He has dirty blonde hair and bright blue eyes. They are piercing. He is at least six feet tall according to Ryder. She isn’t too good with approximation. He is muscular and defined. He looks very manly but is a student at RHS. His hair hasn’t been cut in a while so it has a wave and flip to the bottom. He has some scruff on his face that makes him that much sexier. 

He also has a confident air about him. He walks like he knows he’s hot. He doesn’t care what people think though. He only cares what Ryder does. He wants Ryder all to himself even though she is an outcast in the school. He is very protective and can get jealous easily, which we see in the book. Overall he is a big hunk!

Ollie begins the story as the new kid. He comes in to RHS senior year. Ollie is very likable with a dangerous side. He uses this voice when he wants his way that is unsettling. People do whatever he says. Whether it’s his boyish charm or sexy voice, they do it. Ryder at first is hesitant to make friends with him. She worries that he just wants her to have sex with him or that he is really with Becca, the queen bitch. In the end, she too can’t stay away from him. 

Ari | Meet and Greet

Meet Ari, one of the main guys in the book!

Ari has dark brown, near black hair. It is longer and curls at the nape of his neck. He has smoldering eyes. They are green. When he is in a normal mood they are vibrant green, almost neon. When he is serious, they turn evergreen. When he is very passionate they turn green with yellow, orange and red flecks swirled around.

He is tall and strong. He has the body of a quarterback, which sometimes he is. He has strong arms and a nice butt. He has six pack abs. Not to mention he is faster than the normal person.

Ari is very reserved. He puts up a front of this bad ass biker but underneath he is a sweet heart. Once you break down his shell, he is vulnerable and cute as hell. He is witty and hilarious. He can lighten any tough situation.

Sexy, tortured bad boy. Yes, please! 

What is this blog about?

This blog is going to discuss and keep you updated on, The Curse Books. They are a new series in Young Adult Fiction. I am the author of them, Taylor Lavati. I haven't launched the books yet. They are currently in the editing stages. I mostly want to get advice, feedback and drop some sneak peaks! The first installment is completed. I just started book two, yesterday! Be sure to check out my tumblr, dedicated to the books. thecurses.tumblr.com I like tumblr but prefer blogger (shh.) I'm really excited to start getting my book out there. Please forward me along! I look forward to getting to know you all. Be sure to find me on other social networks as well! :) Let's get this thing started.