Spoiler Alert! Where will we go from here?

To those of you who haven't yet read Nightfire, be warned: this blog will contain spoilers, or at least hints of them. If you don't have your copy yet, what are you waiting for? :) Go get one (there's a handy-dandy link in the right column of the blog just waiting for you to click on it!).

If you've finished the first book in the trilogy...thanks for reading!! Are you chomping at the bit to see what happens next? It's a new experience for me, being on this side of the story - but I know exactly how you feel. In fact, I'm one of those readers who will (if I can) wait for an entire series to be published before I start reading, simply because I read SO fast and I don't want to have to wait too long in between books to find out what happens! If you're like me, I'll go ahead and say thank you for picking up Nightfire despite the fact that the second book isn't out yet - nor is it completely written - and for being patient with me while I work on doing just that. My goal is to ideally have the second book out in 8-10 months, but we'll see how quickly I can get those fingers typing! ;) I'm not going to say too much, because let's face it - I don't want to give away the plot just yet...but I'll give you some things to look forward to.

A lot happened in the first book. You met the core group of characters, perhaps even fell in love with one or more of them, watched them struggle and fight and change in ways that you may not have expected. You learned what it means to be Nyiathan, and a little about what it means to be Siek. You watched a forbidden relationship bloom, felt the sting of betrayal, saw futures change forever in an instant. So where do we go from here? Here's a short glimpse into what you can expect from a few of the main characters...but for those of you who might still be reading and haven't yet read the book...seriously! You'll want to read the book first!

Kaida. She has a lot of recovering to do, both physically and emotionally. She had a pretty rough go of it in Nightfire, but as you know by now - she's strong, and though she's found herself susceptible to some of the most powerful human emotions (love, for example), she'll end up even stronger as a result. Killing Ari changes her, frees her from the dark chains that were holding her down.You'll see her "mature" as the series progresses, moving on from a reckless, broken girl to the fierce, confident warrior that, deep down, she's always known she was capable of being.

Sam. I'll admit, without pause, that Sam is one of my absolute favorite characters. He's really been a favorite of mine since the conception of this idea, and I can't wait for you to see him grow and change and maybe even completely blow you away. It's ironic that Sam is now the "bad guy," because he's good, through and through. Becoming Siek will prove an immense challenge for him, an internal struggle that he will fight to overcome...though not without some stumbles along the way. In the end, he'll have to decide what side he's really on - and what he'll sacrifice to protect the people he loves most.

Nuriel. Almost losing Kaida to the Sieks was more traumatic to Nuriel than he wants to admit, and in her darkest hour, he begins to see her in an entirely new light. Once frustrated by her negligence and inability (or her simple lack of desire) to follow the rules, he'll find himself impressed by her strength and drive to overcome the battle that almost ended her life. We'll see a more vulnerable, "human"-like side of him than we've ever seen before, and his relationship with Kaida will evolve as a result. The Guard will face terrors worse than they've ever imagined, and Nuriel will lean on Kaida's new strength to help lead them.

That's all the insight I'm going to give you for today...but I hope you're excited about seeing what will happen next!

So now it's your turn...tell me, who are your favorite characters? What do you hope to see happen for them? Oh, and if you haven't already, please take a few minutes and write a review (an honest one) on Amazon. I'll love you forever :)

Until next time...

My Writing Style

Now that Nightfire is out, there is one question that I get from people quite often:

"How did you have time to write a book?"

The answer to that question is a little tricky, and I'm not actually sure that I've pin-pointed the right one just yet. Sometimes I laugh and shrug my shoulders, not really knowing what to say. But the more I think about it, the more I know...I had time because I made time, because I committed to this, even though that decision may have been a subconscious one. This has always been a dream of mine, and I guess when I look back at it, I think I probably told myself that I'd be darned if a little thing like time was going to get in the way.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not nearly as busy as some. For one, I don't have kids (no, I don't count my dogs or my turtles, though some people might - I don't). But I do work 40 hours a week at an office in the city an hour away from my home, and I'm typically gone from 6:15 a.m. until around 5:00 p.m. during the work week. Once I get home, I make dinner for my family, feed the dogs, do a little bit of housework and spend some time with my husband. I don't spend too much time writing during the week, mostly because I'm very focused on my full-time career during those days. I wouldn't change this schedule, though. I'm very blessed to work for an awesome company and I enjoy what I do.

As far as free time goes, the weekends are hit or miss; my husband and I are lucky to have a large family, and we often have birthday dinners or graduations or baby showers, etc. to attend during the two short days that don't require us to go to work. When we're not doing that, we're typically tending to things around the house that need to be done (from dishes and laundry to painting and working in the yard). I'm not telling you anything you don't know. If you're an adult, you work, and you own a home, you are quite aware of the never-ending slew of chores and tasks that will not do themselves in this life.

So, the answer to the question about having time to write a book is this: I multi-task, and I set deadlines for myself. When I'm driving into work, I plan. I'm not an "outliner" in the way that some writers are...I don't write down details as I think of them, or sit down and map out an entire plot in one session. My ideas come in pieces, and I build on them from there. I'll sort them out in my head, figuring out what works and what doesn't, and then I'll sit down and add that part of the story to my draft. Plotting my stories while driving has been something that I've done forever - I find a sort of peace in it that I can't really explain. But I come up with the best ideas while on the road, and so that's when I do most of my thinking. When it comes time to actually sit down and do the writing, I set aside an hour and make a deadline for that hour (in 60 minutes, I will write at least 5,000 words). Usually I'll start a load of laundry before I start writing and finish it up once I'm done with that hour. If I'm on a roll and need to write more, I'll take a break to switch loads and then continue. It may sound silly, but this is the way I get things done. I put my headphones in, turn on some music (I listen to a lot of film scores while writing - I'll blog about that some day, too) and type out all of the things that are in my head, all of the ideas I came up with while on my commute that week.

I set deadlines for myself because if I'm really honest, I need them. And I need someone to hold me accountable for them, too. I've enlisted my best friend Emily to be my accountability partner when it comes to this, and so far she's done an amazing job (I haven't missed a deadline yet!). If I didn't set a deadline, I'd never meet it. Remember, though - these deadlines are MY deadlines, time limits that I've set for myself. I give myself plenty of time to do what I know I have to to get things done. I still maintain what I said in my previous post (The Decision to Self-Publish) - I want to be in control of this success, as well as the timeline that I use to get there.

So that's the long and short of it (okay, mostly long) - but there you have it. I had time because I made the most of the (too few) hours that we get in a day. I think dreams are like that, though; they don't let time get away from you, refuse to know "boundaries." Eventually, if you fight hard enough, your dreams can and will come true.

Cool Stuff Happening!

Check out the awesome contest we're running on the Facebook!! Click here to visit the page.

Give Me Your Best...And Your Worst!

Well, it's official - Nightfire has now been out for a week! It has been an exciting, emotional ride so far and I'm loving every minute of it! I'm exhausted of course, but hey...work hard, play hard, right?

I really appreciate the love and support for this story. I'm feeling it more and more with each passing day, and I really can't thank my readers enough for making this such an awesome experience. It's truly amazing.

Now, if I can just ask one more favor from you, I promise I'll get back to the keyboard and continue writing so you can see what happens to Kaida and Sam and all of your other favorite characters.

Remember a few posts ago when I told you that I wanted your feedback - your HONEST feedback? Well, I wasn't just saying that for my health. Now that the book is out, I'd like to ask and encourage each of you to please take a few minutes and type up a review on Amazon. I cannot stress enough that this feedback should be your honest opinion, because I can't reach my full potential unless you tell me how I can improve. If you love the book, tell me. If you think it needs work, I need to know that, too. Heck, if you hate it, that's okay - tell me (just try to be as nice as you can be about it....I mean, I do have feelings, after all)!

One of my biggest pet peeves is seeing a self-published book with glowing reviews, only to pick it up and realize that it looks more like the author has published a rough draft rather than a strongly edited, best-it-can-be version of their story. Those reviews are doing the AUTHOR a disservice, not to mention those who choose to read the book based on the ratings. Self-published authors don't have the luxury of a professional editing team (among other things), so a lot of the feedback that we will get is that which our readers give us. As I've said before, it's SO important. If you want to share your opinion with me but don't feel comfortable posting it online for everyone to see, I still want to hear your voice - please e-mail me at lauraetaylorbooks@gmail.com.

So, give me all you've got. I'm ready for it, and I thank you in advance for allowing me to be the best writer author I can be!

If you haven't already purchased your copy of Nightfire, click on the link below to get one now! Available in Kindle and Paperback.

Until next time...