Friday, November 29, 2013

BLACK FRIDAY SALE!

That's right my lovelies. You heard me!

Today, through Monday 12/2, Both Books 1 & 2 of The Spi-Corp Series are on sale for just .99!

So, if you haven't picked up your copy of either yet, now is the perfect time to do so!

 
 
 

 
 
 
Oh and because I love you all so very much, I'm going to give you a very short teaser of my upcoming release - slated for 12/10/2013 - I Saw Momma Shoot Santa Claus, which is the introductory full-length novel into the hot, smexy St. Nick Boys and the world of The Legacy!
 
 
 
I Saw Momma Shoot Santa Claus
 
EXCERPT:
 
Half an hour later, Slade McKinney sat back on her heels, wiping a bloody hand across her sweating brow. Smiling cautiously toward her son, she said, “I think that’s got it. Go and get some blankets from my bed and some pillows. We’ll have to leave him here for now.”
Jesse nodded and shot to his feet, racing off to fulfill her request. 
She turned and stoked up the fire. The adrenaline that had carried her through this ebbed and she noted the shake in her blood covered hands. Had she really shot someone tonight? And Santa at that? Surely not. This was a dream, it had to be. Santa Claus didn’t exist.
She looked over her shoulder at the stranger lying in the splintered wood of her coffee table. But there he was. Sure as she was breathing, there he was. She pinched the bridge of her nose, closed her eyes, blinked them open again and focused.
Still there. “Dammit!” she cursed yet again. 
“Mom!” Jesse admonished as he came back into the room. He shot a pointed look toward the mythical being passed out on their carpet. “He’ll hear you. Santa doesn’t like that kind of language.” Arms laden with blankets and pillows, he knelt, stage-whispering toward the stranger to apologize. “Sorry Sir, she forgets herself sometimes.”
Incensed, she snorted out a reply. “I do not.”  But it was a useless argument. She did curse, far too often truth be told, but it was another of those old cop habits she just couldn’t seem to break, especially in stress filled situations such as this.
Her son turned his pointed look on her. “Right,” he said all too knowingly. Setting down the pile of material, he reached toward Santa’s belted waist.
She halted his fingers just shy of the buckle. “No, I’ll do that. Go and get cleaned up.”
Jesse’s small head bobbed on his neck. “You ok Mom?”
“Fine,” she lied softly. “Now go on.”
While he was gone, she darted into her bedroom and grabbed a pair of her husbands old sweat pants. Draping them over her shoulder, she returned to her patient. She quickly made a pallet out of the blankets, setting up a temporary bed next to the fire place. He’d be able to stay warm and dry. She noted the pool of water at his feet. She eyed the front door but it hadn’t been opened. There was no fresh snow on the hard wood. She shrugged it off, storing the mystery away for later. Right now, she needed to make him as comfortable as possible. She reached for the black patent leather belt, slipping the ends apart. Easing an arm under his wide shoulders she gently hefted him into a sitting position.
He groaned softly but thankfully didn’t wake.
It wasn’t easy but with a few tries she slipped the white, fir-lined coat off his torso and lobed it onto the couch. Standing, she wrapped both her arms around his upper body and as gently as she could, put all her strength into moving his three-hundred pounds out of the rubble. 
Settling him among the blankets, she pulled off his boots and tossed them over with the coat. Clinically, she started toward his pants, only to notice they didn’t seem to fit anymore.
Was it her imagination or had his belly suddenly flattened out right in front of her eyes? She blinked twice, shaking her head. Nope, nope, it was definitely flat now. Slowly she lifted her gaze. 
Oh my…! She gulped, hard, swallowing air. No way!
But the proof, as they say, is in the pudding. And dammit if she wasn’t now staring at some very yummy looking pudding!
She gulped again, swallowing more air. In a daze her fingers splayed across his flat abs, watching the muscles ripple slightly when he breathed. Santa wasn’t fat and jolly as she’d first thought. No, he was a drop-dead, model-quality, grade-A, 100% gorgeous beefcake!
“Holy shit!”
Staring hard and wondering if she’d truly cracked, she watched in fascination as the last bit of his beard receded into his strong jaw, leaving only a rough shadow of stubble in its wake. His once white hair was now a chocolate brown, a deep rich, dark chocolate that lay against his shoulders. It reminded her of the treats she allowed herself when she was feeling moody and alone. His face was relaxed in his unconsciousness, but there was no mistaking the classic cheekbones and forehead that spoke of ancient, noble blood. She briefly wondered what color his eyes were but supposed she could find that out later.
“Who’s that?”
Jesse’s voice startled her and she let out an involuntary shriek of surprise. “That’s what I’m wondering son,” she said before she could stop the words.
 
----------------------------

Enjoy my lovelies. This will be out on December 10, 2014!

Until then...

Thanks as always for stopping by.

Margaret Taylor


Friday, November 22, 2013

So, here we go...

This is it folks! I did it!

As promised, the epic story of Jake and Janel continues...finally...and Saving His Love, Book 2 of The Spi-Corp Series is now live and in living color!

That's right folks, you can now FINALLY find out what happens...*please, kindly insert an evil cackle...*

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GTJI3L4
 
Book 2 of The Spi-Corp Series
 

 
Now, I want you to understand, this book, like the first, deals with some pretty rough subjects. Torture, drug induced Psychosis, all sorts of mayhem and destruction. So, just be prepared.
 
And of course you get to meet a whole host of fun, new characters along the way too...*again, please, kindly insert an evil cackle here...thank you!*
 
Now, with Book 2 out in the world, it's time to move on to Book 3, Retrieving His Heart. I won't bore you with the story, but if you pick up Book 2, you'll get an exclusive sneak peek at it. Since my schedule was pushed back (see my last blog post if you don't believe me), I'll just say I'm projecting it to be ready either shortly before the New Year or early January at the latest. I'll keep you posted.
 
And now we can move on to the more pressing matters, the real reason I know you all stop by here. No, no, it's ok. I know you don't stop by for teasers, or excerpts, or hot men, you really come by for the contests...*sniffles...holds up a hand...* It's ok, I understand and don't hold it against you.
 
Anyway, to catch up...
 
Let's start with the swag packs and gift cards I had up back in August. I'm sorry this is so late, but yeah, blame my car! (again, see the last blog post...) But, still, I'll accept slaps on the hand for getting so far behind on this.
 
Winners
 
 
The first $10 Amazon or B&N Gift Card goes to: Samantha Alvey
 
The first signed Swag Pack goes to: Missy Morrison Goodsell
 
The second $10 Amazon or B&N Gift Card goes to: Linda Alcorn-Burg
 
And the second signed Swag Pack goes to: Joe Hawk
 
Congratulations to all of you and again I am so sorry for the delay! Send your email and/or mailing address to: margarettaylor@satx.rr.com and I'll get your prizes out to you ASAP!!!!
 
 
Then we had the Fall Into Romance Blog Hop.
 
Winners
 

 
Winners choice between, The Devil Drinks Coffee, One of the The Rylee Adamson Series, One of the Legend of Regia Books or The Crossroads Saga is: Emily Wells
 
An eBook copy of A First Love Never Dies is: dv8 
 
and the Swag Pack goes to: Donna Simmonds
 
Again, send your email and/or snail mail to: margarettaylor@satx.rr.com and I'll get your prizes out to you ASAP as well!
 
So, that catches us up on the prizes and such and just because I love you guys, no, no, I really do, I'm going to put Book 1, A First Love Never Dies on Sale. Beginning Wednesday, November 27, it'll be .99 and that sale will run through the weekend. So, if you're looking for a fast, fun read while the Alpha Man watches the bowl games, be sure to pick up your copy then!
 
Until next time,
 
Thanks as always for stopping by.

Margaret Taylor

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Two Months of Hel...

Ok, so let me qualify this post by saying first...

I'm not going to tell you the story of the last two months because I'm looking for sympathy. I'm not going to tell you the story of the last two months because I want anyone to feel sorry for me. I'm simply going to explain what's been going on with me so that you'll understand why I haven't been around...anywhere.

I haven't Facebooked. (I know, I know, bad Author!)

I haven't Tweeted. (Again, I know, I know, bad Author! *hangs head in shame*)

And I certainly haven't been writing...(Ok, ok, I'm soooo sorry! *drops to knees and begs your forgiveness...*)

Anyway, I normally do my very best to keep my professional, personal and work lives separate. I really do. But there are times that the lines get blurred between those three and you just can't do anything but roll with the punches each throws your way.

In the last two months, those three lines have crisscrossed, jumped over one another, tangled around each other, chewed me up, spit me out and looked at me like I'm the red-headed step child of a really disastrous one night stand!

Epic Line Crossing #1

On Labor Day, on a trip back from Austin, my poor 2012 Hyundai decided to pick a fight with a pick-up...and lost.

Now, I don't know if the Truck looked at him funny...called him a name I couldn't hear...shouted some obscenity that just sent my little car into a blinding rage, but, whatever happened, my poor, normally kind, gentle and loving Silver Surfer came out on the loosing end of things.

Fortunately, no one human was hurt, overly much. The Truck suffered a bent bumper and my beautiful, wonderful, manly Sonata came out with most of his front end pressed up against the engine. Being that it was still summer here in Texas, this jeopardized the cooling system and thus rendered him inoperable. *sighs*

Also thankfully, I have excellent insurance (It truly was my fault. No, no, I wasn't texting or anything but I wasn't paying attention in Stop-n-go traffic either and I looked down just long enough for the truck to stop suddenly as I was speeding up thinking we were moving again. Neither here nor there, I know, but the picking a fight story sounds better, doesn't it?)

Anyhoo, the other driver was fine and for the most part so was I. Or so I thought...which leads us too...

Epic Line Crossing #2

About a week after the accident I noticed a lump on the back of my neck, right about where the skull ends. Over the course of a week or so it kept getting bigger and bigger and more painful and more painful. Eventually it was about the size of a quarter and I thought it was probably best to get it checked out.

I go to the doctor and low and behold I have a "bleeder" in the back of my head. Apparently, even though I hit the truck doing less than about 20 mph, it was enough to rupture something that was already there.

Now, for years, I would occasionally get a really sharp pain in the area where this was going on. I didn't think anything of it, I truly didn't because it came on and left just as quickly. With the accident though, there was enough of a jerk in my neck to press the base of my skull against a benign tumor I'd been carrying around for goodness knows how long and break it open. The lump that was now growing back there was the fluid and nastiness leaking out...

Which now brings us too...

Epic Line Crossing #3

Once we'd discovered this problem, the doctor decided that surgery was probably a good thing, if for no other reason than to clean it out and make sure it truly was benign. The next day I was in the hospital, waiting patiently and feeling like a complete and total idiot for not having this pain examined ages ago.

I'm happy to report that it was benign and save for the occasional remaining drainage - which is a lot less now than it was - I'm fit as a fiddle once again. More or less.

So, that was the month of September.

Which now brings us to October and...

Epic Line Crossing #'s 4, 5, AND 6

Now, I've not really mentioned it before, because I really do try and keep my professional Authorly self and my real self separate and apart from one another, but in my day job, I work for the Government.

And unless you were living under a *rock* somewhere on like Pluto or something, you're all well aware that at the beginning of October the Federal Government was partially shut down for 16 days. While this helped my recovery tremendously, it didn't help my peace of mind at all. Like most, I'm not a NY Times Best Seller, yet, so I truly depend on the income from my day job. I'm single, have no real family to speak of - save for a few wonderful cousins in my life (LOVE YOU JANA!), and everything boils down to me. All my bills, the food, gas for the car, etc is all paid for by me alone.

And having that uncertainty hanging over my head, for 16 days, is not something I ever want to go through again! It also killed any sort of concentration I might have been able - should have been able to muster up to write! I became a CNN junkie during those 16 days, constantly listening for any breaking news that would tell me when I could go back to work.

I love my day job, I truly do, it's the second job I've ever had in my life that actually fits my personality to a "T". It's only eclipsed by my love for writing and if I could - and when I do - make a real living at writing, I will loose no sleep walking away from it to write full time. But, that hasn't happened, yet, so for the time being, I enjoy what I do and not being able to do it threw me into all sorts of kilter-whompass that I just didn't know how to deal with until it ended.

It's over now, thankfully and I've spent the last bits of October getting that part of my life caught up and back where it needs to be in order for me to function as an Author...

Or, at least I thought I had. But work intervened with something that, were it not for the shut down, would have taken place in the early part of October and not the end part. It's neither here nor there, other than to distract me, but that's over now too and while it's six-days into November, I'm happy to report that I am once again back where I want to be, where I need to be to balance everything in my life and start releasing my work to the world again.

I just wanted to post this, so you'd understand my absence of late and beg your forgiveness for not releasing Spi-Corp's Book 2 in Mid-September like I promised (In my defense, I was kinda in the hospital that day having a stint implanted to drain the ickiness...so, yeah...) and let you all know that the release date for Book 2 is now November 25th. I'm hoping to get it done earlier but that's my firm deadline and come hell or high water, it will be out!

Thank you all though for your patience. It truly is appreciated!

So, until next time.

Thanks as always for stopping by.

Margaret Taylor

Oh, and P.S., I haven't forgotten about the drawings I had up. I'm going to go back and draw for winners and I'll post them here in the next day or so and contact them via email to get the prizes out!!!!