Wingless | Cover Reveal!

ARE YOU READY?

Here is the cover for my next novel, a Young Adult Fantasy, Wingless. 

Here's the blurb, too, in case you've been living under a rock.

When Annie’s wings failed to form on her sixteenth birthday, she was banished to Earth, a life-altering reality that forced her to adapt to a new race, new world, and new challenges. Armed with little knowledge, Annie descends to her new home and learns of other half-angels, those who pull her into a world of demon-fighting chaos.

As an Archer, Micha watches over Earth from the Veil. Sent to help Annie adjust, he finds himself drawn to her long after his orders have dissipated, and when her ruthless demon-killing ways reach an extremity he can’t ignore, he finds himself questioning the very core of his upbringing: will he turn his back on the angels and save Annie, or will he remain hidden within the shadows and watch her die?

Writing Wednesday | Prompt 46

Wingless | Teaser Two

Today I have an awesome teaser from Wingless for you! It's official--Wingless is now out of my hands, at least until I get it back from my editor. Which means more teasers for you! And guess what? Soon enough Wingless will have some pre-order links for you all to check out. Next Friday I will post some character bios so you get to know the main people in the story. But today I have a teaser from Annie, the main character in Part One....

Wingless. 

I think I was seven when I really knew what I wanted to become. I mean, I knew all along that I wanted to fight and kick wings, but it finally clicked in my head that day. I was with my best friend, Perry. She’s downstairs waiting on me, surely wearing a similar outfit. Except we’re polar opposites, so her expression is probably genuine when she smiles. She loves this kind of stuff. She’s the kind of daughter a Guardian wishes she had—a girly-girl to the core, attention loving, and proper speaking, acting and dressing.

Perry loved playing with other kids at school and at home. She’d invite the girls to have sleepovers and gossip and watch earth movies. I dreaded it. I sat there with the girls wishing I was outside in the Viel air, running and leaping, pretending to fly like our Guardians do. 

I hated being confined to these identical houses that have barely anything in them—still do. It completely freaks me out having to live in a box and not have wings. I can’t fly down the street, or go to the library without my Guardians help. It’s just hard to be stuck when I know there’s so much more out there untouched—undiscovered by me.

Writing Wednesday | Prompt 45

True Life: I'm a Binge-Writer

It's true- I am a binge writer. I admit it. This weekend I binge wrote, and I'm here to tell you why that isn't such a bad thing. To be honest, I didn't think binge-writing was a real thing. Then I was speaking with my editor, Danielle, during my writing quest on Saturday and explained what I was doing and how I hadn't showered or gotten out of bed--but I wrote 20,000 words!
I mentioned the phrase binge-writing and she agreed and said I should write a blog post about it to help people understand and maybe influence some people to get to the computer and start writing. So, here I am.

First thing's first: Binge-writing is actually a real term. I only discovered this after doing a google search and coming across hundreds of articles. The term actually comes from Robert Boice. You should check out some of his books. However, he claims that binge-writing is a bad thing.
I'm here to tell you it's not.
I found this article which I agree with mostly. I don't agree when he says binge-writing isn't good, however I agree with some of his comments. For example: he says not to stress, to write daily and to not focus on the outcome. All good things.
Here are my tips to successful binge-writing and just writing in general!
Don't Stress. This is huge, especially for me. Having deadlines is tough and when you put pressure on yourself to write, write, write it sometimes only makes it worse. You're focusing on writing 50,000 words in one weekend and then when you write 5,000 you feel disappointed. You wrote! That should be a success enough.
Sit In Front of Your Screen. Motivation: the toughest thing about writing for me. It's a Saturday morning, a little dark outside, you have nothing on the schedule for the day. Two options: Netflix or open that mac and write. The choice is obvious. But it doesn't have to be.
I like to give myself incentives. I'll self-talk (another thing I believe strongly in) and tell myself if I write for a little (don't set a time) then I can play a video game and feel better about it. So begrudgingly I open my mac, open scrivener and begin. I start writing. It doesn't have to be good--a first draft rarely is--but I write because maybe I'll like some of it, or maybe I'll toss it. But I write. 
Then hours later, I have 20,000 words down and I feel freaking awesome. OR an hour or so later, I've written a few thousand, if that, and I can save and move on. But I still wrote something. And that has to count. Maybe I'll like only one sentence, but I wrote and I feel better.

Write what you feel. Don't feel like you have to write your novel in order. Of course, having an outline before you write definitely helps this. For The Broken Curse, I started writing the beginning but I wasn't really into it. So I skipped to a part that I was excited to write and wrote it. And I wrote way more than I expected.
Then a few days later, I really felt like writing one of the beginning scenes. So I wrote that and because I was into it, I wrote more than I expected. Moods change, feelings change, so write what you feel like in the moment and your passion will translate to your pages.

Binge writing doesn't mean don't write daily. Truth. Just because I do really well binge-writing doesn't mean that I don't write daily. You should do both! Although through my personal experiences, I do way better binge-writing then in short spurts during the week. 
I've noticed that short writing sessions aren't as good for me. Here's what happens: I start to write. It's going great, I get into a scene. I set my alarm so I know when I have to stop. I'm mid-thought, mid-writing when I'm forced by either appointments, or work, or social events to stop. I completely lose momentum and my train of thought. 
And then the next time I sit down to write, I forget where I was and have to start all over. I find that when writing in short spurts, I can only do about one chapter at a time. By the time I get to the next, I'm stopped. By binge-writing, I write until I am ready to stop. And that rocks! I completely control when I'm done for the day--whether it's an hour, two hours, or dinner time. 

Don't be a perfectionist. First drafts are never good. Period. That's what second and third and forth drafts exist for. Don't expect it to be grammatically correct or for all your plot holes to be filled in. Just write without expectations. The raw writing is actually better and through editing you can mold it.

No distractions. Turn off your cell, turn off the wifi and make everyone leave you alone. My husband went away this past weekend so I literally had the house to myself. When there are no distractions you can fully immerse yourself into your writing and leave your body. I know when I write, I don't look at my screen. Instead, I kind of stare into space and picture what is going on, while my fingers do the work. If the TV or radio is on, it ruins the mood.

Final words: Whatever gets you to write, do it. Whether it's setting aside your Saturday and writing until you can't write anymore, or writing fifteen minutes a day, do it. Getting yourself to sit in front of the screen is the hard part. But reward yourself to make it easier. Write the parts you want to write and save the others for another time. Write in a quiet, distraction-free room and don't expect your first draft to be awesome.
Write because you love to write and don't worry about anything else. 

New Book Lineup

Hello everyone! It's been a while since I was able to blog on a Friday. But guess what? I'm back at it and I have some really awesome news. I've gotten some questions about my future books and when releases are so I wanted to get a timeline out.
Since I took all that time out, things are a bit behind schedule but I worked with my editor and we've figured out a tentative timeline of my next few novels.
First, I have some really awesome news! Amazon is now allowing KDP authors publish their books with preordering. So, I'l be able to get you links faster and promote the book more. Which means more teasers for you guys and when you preorder for kindle, the book will just show up on the release day! I'm very excited about this feature.
Here's my new book releases for the year...
Wingless will be coming out first. It goes to the editor in a week and then I'll try for a release date of September 19th. Yes, just about one month away. I will try to get a preorder up after I release the cover next week.
The Broken Curse (A Curse Books 3) is next. I'm looking at a release of November 3rd. I gave myself more time because I'm going to want to perfect this novel. I can't wait and soon I'll release the cover.
For The Love of Ash will be my second NA standalone written. I'm looking at a release date of around December 15th. Hopefully it will be sooner, but we'll see. This novel follows Luke and Maggie and it's a cute story, perfect for the holidays. 
Sam's novella! You heard me right! You asked for a novel after A Reliant Love and I'm giving it to you. The novel will revolve solely around Sam and his life after the book. This novel will come about around mid-Janurary. If you've purchased a copy of A Reliant Love, this book will be completely FREE with a receipt or screenshot of purchase. 
If you have a receipt now, feel free to email it to me with the subject line: Sam's novella. I'll put you on a  list and once I have the book, I will email you a copy right away.
Boundless, the sequel to Wingless, is next in line. I want it to be released right around Sam's novella, so I'm hoping for end of January or beginning of February. 
After these books are published, I'll release another lineup, but here's a sneak peak for all of you eager people. This is not the order they will be published and most likely will be published intertwining the three series.
Fallout Series. A new adult series having approximately four books.
The Risk Project. A new adult series having approximately three books.
Untitled-Red WIP. A new adult dystopian fantasy novel having approximately two books. 
Untitled-Yellow WIP. A new adult standalone. 
Next week, I'm releasing the Wingless COVER!

Writing Wednesday | Prompt 44

Monday Brags

I got married this weekend! 

Officially Mrs. Keating

(although my author name will remain Taylor Lavati)

We're off to our HONEYMOON and I'll be back in action next Monday!

Here's a sneak peek of our wedding...

                                                  it was truly magical

The Curse Books #3 Title

I am happy to announce that I have finally decided on a title for the final installment in my Curses series. Without waiting any longer, here it is..
The Broken Curse
I know the next question will be: When will it come out? Unfortunately, I don't have a date. I'm not even done writing it! But I promise it will be soon. Hopefully this fall. When I know, you'll know. And I promise I won't make you wait too long. 
Teasers soon on both Wingless and The Broken Curse!