So, I need to share...

I wasn't sure I was ready to do this...not yet anyway, but I need to share what happened yesterday. It was a very sad day for me...

As most of you know, I'm a cat lover. I have, well, had six - up until yesterday.

Many years ago, 2003 to be exact, I was living with my cousin in Missouri. One day we decided to head into town for something to eat. We stopped at our favorite restaurant on a rainy, grungy day, not unlike it is outside right now.

As I pulled my poor little Geo Metro into a space, I noted there was a small, beleaguered and quite drenched kitten sitting by the door. He looked so pathetic, his fur dripping with water, his eyes pleading with me to pick him up...

Well, I did. I carried him into the little foyer between the outside and inside doors and stood there for a moment. He promptly crawled out of my arms and up onto my shoulders, stretching out across the back of my neck and under my hair...

I looked at my cousin, who promptly said, "No! Gerry will kill us both!"

I laughed and batted my big baby blues at her, but she stood firm. I patted the poor thing and said, "Sorry little one, but I'm sure you'll find a good home."

When we got inside, however, her tune changed. Our Uncle Mac was seated in his usual place at the counter and he gave us the look saying in a very calm voice, "You girls are taking that cat home with you, right?"

We both sighed, hung our heads and replied, "Yes Uncle Mac..."

We got our meal - salads - and headed back outside. In the back of my mind I was thinking, surely the little guy has run off, but no. He was sitting on the curb stop...directly in front of my car! He looked up and gave me a look that said, 'What took you so long?'

That, was ten years ago. I named him Eric - for specific reasons better left unsaid and he has traveled this country with me ever since.

We've moved from Kansas to Delaware, Delaware to Wyoming, Wyoming to Arkansas and finally Arkansas to Texas over the years and while I know he had a good life, it still pains my heart that I couldn't have longer with him.

Anyway, over the last six months he'd clearly not been feeling well - loosing weight, vomiting, not eating and so on. And yesterday, we finally figured out why. Eric had cancer and sadly the incurable kind. The vet, a wonderful lady, recommended we could try, but it would only buy him more time and wasn't a cure.

So, with great, big balling sobs, I held Eric, watched with gut wrenching slowness as the vet did her thing and could barely drive home in the aftermath...

I know he had a good life. He was fat and happy, never wanted for toys or nip, but still, he was my best-friend and will be missed for many years to come.

With a heavy heart, I bid him farewell today and dearly hope he's enjoying himself in Kitty Heaven...chasing mice and birds and has found his favored scratching post in the sky.

Goodbye my dear friend...you brought me much joy and happiness over the years.

Eric - 2003-2013

Two Great Giveaways...

So, I'm participating in two awesome Giveaways this week...

The first is from a super, duper cool group of ladies I met on Facebook not too long ago.  They call themselves Nerd Girl and they've gathered together a bunch of Authors to sponsor their 1,000 Likes Giveaway.

All the cool deets are here: http://www.kainas.com/?p=735

Oh, and if you're an Author, they're having a special 2nd contest for us where you can win a group of reviews for your book.  http://www.kainas.com/?p...=737

Not much to enter either, just click, click, click and viola, you've got a chance at some really cool swag, Gift Cards, eBooks and some signed paperbacks too!

The second Giveaway is also for another group called the Winding Stairs Book Blog and is in celebration of them reaching 2,000-2,500 Likes! Now, how cool is that!

Deets are here: https://www.facebook.com/WindingStairsBookBlog?sk=app_228910107186452&app_data

So, if you'd be so kind as to check them both out, I know my lonely little Facebook page would greatly appreciate it!

Also, don't forget, my June Fundraiser is still going strong! From 06/02 to 06/30, $1.00 from every book sold will go to the Red Cross to help the victims of the Oklahoma Tornado's!

So, pick up your copy of

 

Book 1 of The Layren Series

 

 

Or

 

 

Book 1 of The Spi-Corp Series

 

 

Thanks as always for stopping by.

 

Until next time.

Margaret Taylor

 

 

 

Oh a Lovely Sneaky Peaky

As promised, here's a first look at the cover for Book 2 of The Spi-Corp Series!

Is this not gorgeous?!

*sighs*

I may be biased, but I think it is!

Thanks, as always to Carey Abbott! I triple <3's her, truly! She is so very patient with us Authors and does such wonderful work. I cannot recommend her enough. If you're Indie and in the market for very reasonably priced covers, check her out: http://ebookcoverdesignsbycarey.com/  She is well worth it!

Anywho, I just wanted to share this and remind everyone that A First Love Never Dies - Book 1 of the Spi-Corp Series and Wolf's Paradox - Book 1 of the Layren Series are available now and $1.00 from all sales during the month of June is being donated to the Red Cross to help the victims of the Oklahoma Tornado's. All the cool deets are here in Doing My Part

Now, I'm off to get to work on polishing up Book 2 and maybe, if you can come up with a sufficient bribe, I might be persuaded later on this week to post another sneaky peeky excerpt to go along with the cover...I'm just sayin'...

Until then.

Thanks as always for stopping by my little corner of the Blog-O-Sphere!

Margaret Taylor

Doing My Part

Amazon

Amazon

Yes, Ladies and Gents, both my opening books from two new series are now live and in living color on Amazon!

I can hardly believe it myself! Truly. This has been a long road, but it's only just beginning.

As you can see, both of these are Book 1's in two brand new series.

The first, The Spi-Corp Series is currently 17 books long. It's Sci-Fi Romance and with the exception of one or two, all of them are currently written and just awaiting clean up, covers, formatting and then release.

A FIRST LOVE NEVER DIES BLURB:

Janel Canton must be pregnant by the time Fleet Commander Pearson Acto catches up to her again and only one man will do for that. Her one true love, sexy Montana Sheriff Jake Reeves. But returning to Earth she finds he's still mourning his dead wife and has become very comfortable with small-town life. Will introducing him to reality of the Universe be enough for him to move on to a new life?

Sheriff Jake Reeves never thought the nerdy girl he and his cronies picked on in High School would someday become a star ship captain capable of holding her own in just about any situation. But when he meets up with Janel again at their 20 year reunion, that's exactly what he finds! Gone is the nerdy little mouse that never fought back. In it's place, is a rough and tumble, no holds barred, drop-dead gorgeous woman who he's going to have one hell of a time not falling in love with...

The second, The Layren Series, is planned for at least six books. It's Paranormal Romance and while I only have the first written, I've got time for the others.

WOLF'S PARADOX BLURB:

Kathy Granite is not your ordinary writer. She's a Weaver - a spinner of great tales and has the ability to write or rewrite the history of a world. Only one problem, she doesn't know it. She's spent the last six years telling the stories of people dragged to Earth from a variety of places by her Layren Protector, Ronon Wulfdrak.

Ronon has spent that same time keeping Kathy in the dark and only brought her people who simply want their story told. He's carefully chosen who would appear and even though she's become quite the sensation in our world, she's clueless as to her effect on any others. Ronon aims to keep it that way and hopes she's safely hidden from his own people. For, if anyone finds out what she really is, they will tear her apart to get at her power.

Anyway, that's not why I've asked you to stop by my blog today. No, really, it's not.

The real reason I wanted you to stop by was because I want to explain what I'm going to do with these two works. (Aside from dance around my chair today in gleeful joy that they're finally live!)

Many years ago, I drove an 18-wheeler. I went from coast-to-coast, hauling everything from ice-cream cones (I kid you not!) to toilet paper and everything in between. On one such trip, right around this time of year, I was passing through Oklahoma, dead center through Tornado Alley!

Anyway, on this particular trip, me and my poor 1979 International were chased by an F-1 Tornado. Yes, you heard that right, we were chased, not the other way around! I won't bore you with the details, I really won't because even today, it gives me the willies!

I survived, but it's always left an impression and a healthy respect for the undeniable power of nature! I have seen and felt, first hand, what these monsters can do and how helpless you are against them.

So, with that said, for the entire month of June, $1.00 from every sale of these books will be donated to the Red Cross to help the victims in Moore, OK and surrounding areas.

I ask that you spread the word. Tweet it, Blog it, Facebook it, send carrier pigeons and let everyone know about this. Let's help these people in the wake of this devastation.

If you don't feel like helping me do it, then please, donate a buck or two directly to the Red Cross!

But, if you're so inclined to go this route, you can pick up your copy of either work, here:

A First Love Never Dies - Book 1 of The Spi-Corp Series

Or

Wolf's Paradox - Book 1 of The Layren Series

Oh, and check back next week for an ultra-cool giveaway where these two are concerned. I'm going to have some awesomely sweet swag to share with you! So, pick up a copy today, of either work depending on your tastes in reading, enjoy it and we'll see you soon!

Thanks, as always, for stopping by my little corner of the Blog-O-Sphere!

Until next time,

Margaret Taylor

I did it! I did it! I did it!

So, here is it! My very first Independently Published Book! *Happy Squeee!*

It's up at Smashwords - Pending review of course for their premium catalog and is pending review at Amazon too. It should be live in the next 12 hours!

Can ya tell I'm just a little excited? Cause I am! *does another happy squee and dances around her chair!*

Now, I know you were expecting Wolf's Paradox and rest assured, it's coming! I promise. It's with the formatters and should be ready by Monday, at the latest, so we'll have to do this allll over again. Don't know if I can take two days of happy squeeing...Oh, who am I kidding! Of course I can!

Anyway, I haven't spoken about this book much, but here's the blurb and I'll give you a tasty, yummy excerpt after it, just to wet your appetites!

BLURB:

Janel Canton must be pregnant by the time Fleet Commander Pearson Acto catches up to her again and only one man will do for that. Her one true love, sexy Montana Sheriff Jake Reeves. But returning to Earth she finds he's still mourning his dead wife and has become very comfortable in the small-town life. Will introducing him to reality of the Universe be enough for him to move on to a new life?

Sheriff Jake Reeves never thought the nerdy girl he and his cronies picked on in High School would someday become a star ship captain capable of holding her own in just about any situation. But when he meets up with Janel again at their 20 year reunion, that's exactly what he finds! Gone is the nerdy little mouse that never fought back. In it's place, is a rough and tumble, no holds barred, drop-dead gorgeous woman who he's going to have one hell of a time not falling in love with...

EXCERPT:

Reaching for the handle of the bar’s front door, it flung wide nearly taking his fingers off. He had just enough time to jump out of the way of the body that tumbled head over heels onto the side walk.

It rolled to a stop lifelessly then groaned as Randy Kelly, one of Hollywood’s Golden Boys, pushed himself over onto his back. He was bleeding from a cut over one eye and the other was already swelling shut. A deep bruise was coloring up on one cheek and the corner of his lip was split open. He sat up enough to spit a tooth at Jake’s feet, laughed drunkenly and promptly passed out cold, his head cracking against the concrete.

Jake reached out and caught the handle before the door swung closed again and could only stare in open mouthed shock at the sight before him. Standing there was a tall woman wearing mirrored sunglasses, a tight black t-shirt, even tighter blue jeans over a pair of black and red cowboy boots. Swiping her hands together as if to brush off some imaginary dirt she nodded once, looking at the bloody heap near his feet.

“That’ll teach him to pinch my ass,” she growled.

The patrons gave a loud yell as she spun and headed back inside.

Jake followed, shaking his head in sheer disbelief. There wasn’t a single woman in town that didn’t occasionally appreciate Randy Kelly’s attention. He was gorgeous, a former movie star that had relocated to Franklin after a disastrous, headline making divorce. He’d come here to lay low for awhile and ended up sticking around.

“Excuse me Miss,” he said, tapping her on the shoulder once she was seated again. “But I’m afraid I’m going to have to arrest you for assault.”

She spun, tilting her head up toward him and Jake felt every single cell in his body spring to life. She was, by far, the most beautiful creature he’d seen in a long time. Her long black hair shimmered invitingly in the lights of the bar and her smell, like that of finely aged bourbon invaded his nose, tightening the junction of his thighs without warning. Her full lips parted in a smile, revealing blindingly bright and even white teeth. His own reflection stared back at him from her shades and he saw, much to his own chagrin, his mouth hanging open.

Stamping down on his more manly instincts, he snapped it shut and cleared his throat.“Miss, you’re going to have to come with me,” he said again.

Brian came to her rescue. “Awww, come on Sheriff. The little lady here was only defending herself. If you want to arrest someone, go on and lock up Kelly,” he said, from his side of the bar. “He got a little rambunctious that’s all and she just handled the problem without you. Don’t go gettin’ your gun belt in a twist.”

“Yeah Sheriff,” Sandy Hillson, a regular, concurred. “Kelly got drunk hours ago and has been tryin’ to get laid ever since. Lock him up for the night. The little miss here didn’t start nothin’.”

Jake looked from Brian to Sandy then back to the woman. “Is that the way of it, Miss?” he asked, hoping his reaction didn’t show in the crack of his voice.

She nodded slowly, smile never wavering.

“Well, alright then. It’s late, so I’ll only ask that you come by the station in the morning and give a statement. Fair enough?”

Again, she nodded, not speaking. And that smile. It was beautiful, sure, but it was like it was stuck there or something.

“Good.” He looked at Brian, to distract himself. His body had other ideas and the moment he turned away, the junction of his thighs tightened even more. “Brian? Everything else alright?”

The barman/owner nodded, smiling in the woman’s general direction. “Everything’s fine Sheriff. I don’t think anyone else is going to get out of hand tonight as long as she’s here…” 

--------------------

So, there you go ladies and gents! You can pick up a copy for any format here: Smashwords and it'll be available on Amazon before you know it!

*Does yet another happy squee dance and spins around her home office!*

I know it might not seem like much, but after 10 some odd years on this journey, this feels good and I'm going to enjoy it!

Thanks, as always, for stopping by.

Until next time!

Margaret Taylor

The Two Best Words An Author Could Ever Write!

Ok, such a long title, but it's for a good feat!

I have done it and typed the two most wonderful words known to a Author...

THE END!

That's right Ladies, Ronon and Kathy now have their HEA. Ok, well it's more like a...No, no, I won't spoil it but I do need your help.

I'm in need of 3 or 4, yes you heard me, 3-4 of you wonderful fans to give this an official Beta Read.

Now, let me tell you what I'm looking for and the time frame cause I know you're all busy with your own stuffs.

First off, I want honest feedback - like any other Author. I say that because this is my first foray into a 1st person Point-Of-View and I need to know if I've pulled it off successfully.  Don't be afraid to tell me if I haven't. I don't want gushy, "Oh, it's awesome!" Ok, well I do, but that's not the real purpose behind my request. I need honesty and to know what I did wrong. Or if I did manage to pull it off then say that too.

Don't worry, I won't make your feedback public - unless you give me permission to of course *wink*

Secondly, and I know this is a short notice, but I'd like it back in two weeks. That's by May 24th. If that's too quick for you, that's fine, don't volunteer. I'm only giving that deadline so I can get this out by June 1, officially and my formatter needs at least a week. If you can get it back sooner, great, fabulous! But if not, it's ok. I won't ask you to interrupt your busy lives just for me.

Plus, I'll need some time to take your suggestions and feedback into account and make the changes.  Now, I've edited this as I went, so it's fairly clean but if you do happen to spot a typo, don't hesitate to highlight it, or note it in your response. I'm not perfect after all!

So, here are the deets.

It's a little over 37k, or approx. 152 pages. (That's double-spaced in a word doc).

Here's the blurb for it:

Kathy Granite is not your ordinary writer. She's a Weaver - a spinner of great tales and has the ability to write or rewrite the history of a world. Only one problem, she doesn't know it. She's spent the last six years telling the stories of people dragged to Earth from a variety of places by her Layren Protector, Ronon Wulfdrak.

Ronon has spent that same time keeping his Karista in the dark and only brought her people who simply want their story told. He's carefully chosen who would appear and even though she's become quite the sensation in our world, she's clueless as to her effect on any others. Ronon aims to keep it that way and hopes she's safely hidden from his own people. For, if anyone finds out what she really is, they will tear her apart to get at her power.

And here's a tasty excerpt to wet your appetite...

            I turned back to Ronon, jerking a thumb at Ethan. “That didn’t help. Let’s go with your version. You had a dream?”

He sighed and eased back to lean on the edge of my poor desk. I worried it might collapse under his weight, but it held. “Four hundred years ago, I dreamed of you, Kathy.”

There was my name again and my girly bits went haywire at it. It wasn’t the name itself but the way he said it, like an endearment that stirred my womanly parts into high-speed action.

One corner of Ronon’s lips lifted in a smile and his eyes blazed intently as he jerked his chin toward Ethan. “As he said, we are Layrens. It is our job to protect Weavers.”

He was talking in circles and it was frustrating. “You’re not making sense.”

“Thousands of years ago some of my ancestors evolved into two types. A Weaver was tasked with traveling from world to world, writing their history for posterity. Layrens went with them as their Protectors. We had a strict policy of non-interference. We were simply there to record, nothing more.” He shrugged a shoulder. “But, the Founders discovered Weavers were more than what they seemed when one in particular changed the history she was told and stopped a War that had kill millions.”

His blue eyes locked with mine and the heat in my veins rocketed off into outer space somewhere. “She rewrote the very fabric of their existence and while her intentions were quite pure, it had a disastrous effect through the ages. The changes caused a ripple effect through time that the particular race never recovered from. Ultimately they destroyed themselves, but that’s neither here nor there.”

He sighed and his shoulders dropped a bit. A pang of sorrow clutched my heart because I could see the tale was weighing heavily on him. He continued though and I was proud of him for it.

“As a consequence, the Founders banished the Weavers, sent them off to worlds unknown, without their Protectors. Most of them were wiped out but a few survived.” His chin jerked toward me. “I suspect you’re a descendant of one. It’s the only thing that explains your powers.”

I blinked. “My powers? Ronon, I don’t have any powers!”

He chuckled and his smile widened ever so slightly. “Oh, but you do. Your stories,” he pointed at the floor. “In this world, are nothing more than that. But where they come from,” he pointed now at Rysen. “Whatever you write comes true.”

I sat up a bit, anger flowing through me at the implications in what he was saying. “Wait a minute! Just hold on. You mean to say, if I was to just make up a story,” I jerked a thumb at Rysen myself. “About him, it would come true?”

Ronon’s head tilted in a nod. “It would.”

It was worse than I thought! I couldn’t have that kind of power. It wasn’t right! And damn Ronon for not telling me sooner. Focusing my anger on him, I ground out, “And you’ve been keeping this from me, this whole time?”

His stoniness slipped and I saw the brief flicker of pain cross his face. “I had too,” he admitted. “At first, I did it because you weren’t ready. Then…”

Rage vibrated across my thoughts, replacing the heat of attraction that had been there moments before. All this time I knew he was hiding something, but I never suspected it was as preposterous as this! It couldn’t be true though. Just couldn’t. One look at his face and I knew he was deadly serious. I turned on Rysen. “Is this true? Is that why you came here? For me to change your world?”

The poor Leprechaun shrunk back in the face of my temper. His throat worked, bobbing his Adams Apple up and down. “Yes,” he squeaked out.

I pushed off the couch and staggered across the room, stopping in front of Ronon. Unable to help myself, I slapped him, hard. The crack reverberated across the air. “That’s for lying to me.” I brought my good arm back around and backhanded his other cheek. “And that’s for being too stubborn to think I couldn’t handle it!”

-------------

So, there you go ladies. If you'd like to volunteer for this assignment, leave your email in a comment below. If there are more than 3 or 4 of you *crosses fingers*, then I'll draw randomly from all those who commented. I'll leave submissions open until Tuesday, May 14th at Midnight and then I'll get this emailed to you first thing Wednesday morning.

Up front, thank you, from the bottom of my heart for being my guinea pigs! Erm, no wait, my fans, yeah, that's what I meant. 

*ahem* Let's try that one again.

Thank you, from the very bottom of my soul, for being my most loyal and trustworthy fans.

There, that's much better! *nods*

Thanks, as always for stopping by.

Until next time.

Margaret Taylor

A nice, lazy Sunday...Oh, and a Cover for your enjoyment...

I'm sorry I haven't posted something here in awhile - other than a few guest spots over the last couple of weeks, so I thought I'd give all my lovely, faithful peoples a sneak peek of why.

As I said on my alternate personalities blog, time really is a Monster for me.  I don't have a lot of it.  And when a project consumes me as this one has over the last couple of weeks, I tend to fill this with other things.  Like guest spots, new releases for my fellow authors and so on. (By the way, thank you Ladies, Ana and Heather, for being here.  You are both fabulous!)

Anyhoo, today, before I get going on some edits for another MS waiting in the wings, I'm going to reveal the cover for my new Indie work, Wolf's Paradox.  This is Book 1 of the Layren Series which I hope to release in early/mid June...

So, without further Ado, I give you,

BAM!  Ladies, meet Ronon.  He's a Layren from Nanturan who's currently on our world - Earth - protecting his Karista, Kathy.

And because all my lovelies have been so nice and continue to visit my poor little corner of the Blog-o-verse, I'm also going to give you a very tender moment from the book - one that still makes even me go awwwww *sniffs*...

I do so hope you enjoy it!

Excerpt

 



I gulped, hard.  This couldn’t be right!  It just couldn’t.  It’s what I've always wanted, since the night of my dream, but it was too good to be true.  There had to be a catch. 

His lips crept closer to mine, just a hairs breathe away and I wanted more than anything to shift that last millimeter and, and, and…

I stopped myself and pressed a hand against his shoulder.  “Put, me, down.”

He jerked as if I’d slapped him and slowly lowered the arm under my knees.  I did note that he kept the other around my back, presumably to keep me upright.  I’m glad he did, because my legs didn’t want to hold me.  They shook and I hated them for it.

“What is wrong?” he croaked around a growl.

I took a moment to gather my strength and, regretfully, shifted back a step.  I needed distance to think clearly and pressed against his rock hard chest definitely didn’t allow me to do that.  “There’s more.  Explain,” I managed to say.

He sighed, roughly and the stoniness of his face cracked again.  “I have broken several Covenants already, so what’s one more.”  His free hand came up and cupped tenderly around my cheek.  “I am not allowed to love you Karista,” he whispered raggedly.  “It goes against everything I was raised to live with.”  His throat worked.  “We are trained, from the time we are a cublet, to hate you.  The Founders fear your power and if we find you, we are supposed to bring you back to them.”

Ha!  I knew it!  I put another step of distance between us.  My heart pounded, my shoulder throbbed and my gut twisted into a hard knot.  “So, why haven’t you?”

I wasn’t really sure I wanted to know the answer to that one.  I could guess at it given his statement from a moment ago, but at the same time, something in me needed to hear him say it.

His thumb roamed slowly down my cheek then grazed a fire-laden path across my lower lip.  “Because, I would sooner die than see you torn apart by them.”

--------------------

So, there you are ladies...is that not an awww moment? *grins*

Thanks, as always for stopping by my little corner. I'll see you very soon with more details on the official release date.

Until then,

Margaret Taylor.