Saturday

The numbers for my free day are in and they aren't great. I'm not sure why. It's possible the sites that knew about the promotion didn't end up showing them or the word wasn't spread as I hoped it would have been. Not that no one helped out, and I appreciate all of you who told someone. I guess it's just one of the many frustrating things about the author life.

On another note, didn't March just barely start? I can't believe it's almost over. Most of my days are pretty much the same, since I work from home, so sometimes I don't even know the date or day of the week. Usually Saturdays are a bit different, because I get to spend more time with my hubby, but he had to work today. Bummer.

Oh, hey, I'm finishing up the last chapter of Sources! Yay me! I had planned to publish it in April, but due to my slow progress, I'm now looking at the end of May. Possibly the beginning of June. And, because of reasons, I think the second book I finish/publish this year will be Book Three of the Vessel series. It does not have a title yet, though I have a long list of possibilities. It will most likely be ready by December.

Reminder: amazon reviews, Name Game. Thank you.

Free Day, Round Two!

*this promotion has ended*

All right, everyone, time to get the ball rolling. Many people downloaded Soulless last time. I want to beat that number! If you got your copy already, that's great! Tell someone else, even if it's just one person! Turn to your nearest neighbor or text a friend and let let know they can get a free ebook right now! If you need a link, use this---> http://mybook.to/kacietaylorsoulless It is universal and will take anyone who clicks on it to their appropriate amazon site.

To all you wonderful readers out there who have finished Soulless, I need two easy things from you. First, a review on amazon. I know it seems like a hassle, but it will help me sooooo much. Just click here and I'll get you there myself! Second, I want more name ideas for my Name Game. If you need a refresher on the instructions, click here. I will continue to accept emails until the end of April. Then the voting can begin. Remember, the creator of the winning name will receive an awesome prize! Thanks in advance for the help!

Top Ten Tuesday #42

I've established the fact that I watch a lot of Netflix. If this is news to you, you must be new here (welcome, by the way). One show that I adore is The Office, and luckily all 9 seasons are on Netflix. Since getting Netflix about 2 or 3 years ago, I've gone through the entire series at least 4 times. I guess I'm not sure this is something I should be admitting. Anyway, one of my favorite things about the show are the Jim/Dwight pranks. There's one to enjoy in almost every episode. I also like how those two crazy guys actually become friends by the end of the series. And the way was paved by pranks.

Today's Topic: Best Jim/Dwight Pranks **Spoilers**

10. Jim moves Dwight's desk, making him play "hot or cold" to find it. Where could it be? The bathroom, of course. His phone is ringing and when he answers it, it's Jim asking a paper related question to which Dwight takes a seat and answers as if it's just a typical morning. (Season 2, The Fight)
9. Dwight believes he's been recruited to the CIA. This one was started by Pam as a Christmas present for Jim, which he eventually finishes off by texting Dwight that his cover has been blown and he must get rid of his cell phone. He throws it off the roof where's he's been waiting for a CIA helicopter. (Season 3, A Benihana Christmas)
8. When Jim is working at another branch, he occasionally faxes notes to Dwight using Dwight's personal stationary pretending to be Dwight from the future. Of course, Dwight believes it. (Season 3 Branch Closing)
7. While at Benihana with some of the guys, Dwight is forced to sit away from the others. He can't hear their conversation, so when he asks Jim what they're talking about, Jim says the waitress can't remember how to butcher a goose. Dwight proceeds to tell her, quite loudly, the proper procedure. (Season 3 A Benihana Christmas)
6. When Dwight walks into work, an Asian guy is sitting at Jim's desk. Dwight demands to know who he is. Guy claims to be Jim. He knows Jim's phone code, has a picture of himself with Pam and their baby on his desk (Pam is in on it). Dwight's eyes widen as he wonders if this guy has been Jim all along. (Season 9 Andy's Ancestry)
5. Jim has dressed up like Dwight and starts talking the same way and about the things Dwight would. Beets, bears, Battlestar Galactica. (Season 3 Product Recall)
4. The company has a new website to help sell paper. Dwight is annoyed, claiming he can sell more than a computer. Jim and Pam send him instant messages, claiming to be the new website which has suddenly become self-aware. Dwight and the website compete for the day, with Dwight being victorious. (Season 4 Launch Party)
3. A bat is found in the office. While Dwight tries to capture it, Jim pretends to have been bitten and is slowly taking on the characteristics of a vampire, convincing Dwight that it could be true. (Season 3 Business School)
2. Andy uses Dwight's beet farm as the setting for his garden party. To make sure it is a success, Dwight buys a How To book from amazon, which gives him all sorts of crazy things to do as host. The book was written by Jim. (Season 8 Garden Party)
1. Dwight has been made Honorary Security Advisor for the building. He decides to issue ID badges to the office workers. His own badge is made by Jim, who makes the badge huge and changes Dwight's middle name from Kurt to Fart. (Season 2 Conflict Resolution)


There are tons of other funny pranks. I'll probably start watching the series again in a couple of months.

You can get Soulless for free on Thursday!! Tell everyone you know!

Opportunity?

So, last post I mentioned my thoughts on sales for The Bride and Taela on the sites other than amazon and how I might switch to being exclusive on amazon. Later that day, I received an email from lulu.com to inform me that their distribution was now going to include Kobo. I don't know much about Kobo, but I do know it is an opportunity to sell my books to a new group of people. With that in mind, I'm going to postpone any drastic changes and add Kobo to the mix. The Bride and Taela will soon be available on Kobo sites. It could take up to 8 weeks for them to appear, so the waiting game begins.

You probably won't be surprised to hear that I'm still finishing up Sources. I swear, no other book has given me as much trouble as this one! I have about 1 1/4 chapters left, but even after that I need to go back to a few parts and tweak some things I'm not happy with. Grrr! I need to stop the frustration from creeping in and focus on the task! And eat chocolate.

Have a great weekend!!

Free Day is Coming!

One week from today will be my next free day for Soulless! I'm interested in comparing the numbers from last time. It would be awesome if I could get more. The number to beat is 1200, and that was for two days. I'm also hoping that the next round of readers will participate in my Name Game, which will continue for another few weeks to give them time to read the book. If you still haven't emailed your ideas to me, get going!

I've been looking at sales from the sites (other than amazon) where The Bride and Taela can be purchased and find them disappointing. This has lead me to consider enrolling them in the Kindle Select program, same as Soulless. It would mean taking them off of lulu.com, barnesandnoble.com, and iBookstore. I think it's time to take some chances if I want to see some progress. I'll let you know what I decide.

Top Ten Tuesday #41

In previous lists, I've compiled my favorite Beatles' songs by singer. I looked over the lists and made another to determine my favorite songs overall. This list may change from time to time, depending on my mood or which album I'm listening to, but it's a pretty good representation.

Today's Topic: My Favorite Beatles Songs

10. You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
9. Can't Buy Me Love
8. Do You Want To Know a Secret
7. I Want to Hold Your Hand
6. Blackbird
5. Taxman
4. Help!
3. Come Together
2. Act Naturally
1. I've Just Seen a Face


So, my plan to be done with Sources is still forthcoming, but I am soooo close. I can be a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my writing. Just know that the extra time means I'm doing all I can to make it the best it can be. I will even put off doing housework to make it happen! We don't need clean dishes! :)

Cookie Time!

How many of you have Girl Scout cookies in your house right now? I certainly do. Some local girls set up shop in front of a supermarket starting yesterday and my wonderful hubby stopped by to pick up a few boxes. We both LOVE Samoas and I like Thin Mints. I was thinking he'd get two Samoas and one Thin Mints. Instead, he got four Samoas and two TM. I'm not complaining. When it comes to cookies, more is always better. We're already done with two Samoas (we took a box to our friends' house last night for game/movie night). I'd like the rest to last at least a week, but that might be difficult. I'm pretty good at moderation, but I have lovingly refered to my husband as the Cookie Monster. I may have to keep a close eye on him. I've seen recipes for DIY Girl Scout cookies, so I might have to give those a try when our supply is gone.

I mentioned on Thursday that I'm having some trouble wrangling the last couple chapters of Sources. When that happens, I usually have to set it aside for a little while until a solution comes to me. I think a solution has come. My next post will almost certainly contain the words "I am finished!". Cross your fingers!

Keep your Name Game submissions coming!!

Funny Stuff

I haven't watched late night talk shows in years. As a teen and into my 20s, I watched Letterman pretty regularly. He was consistently funny, especially earlier on. I rarely watched Leno. The only thing about his show I liked was Headlines. Leno himself was never that clever or humorous in my opinion. Recently, just before Jimmy Fallon took over the Tonight Show, I started watching some of his Late Night clips on Hulu. His Late Night #Hashtags was always a riot and I enjoyed watching him play games with his guests. So when he moved to the Tonight Show, I decided to give him more of a try (again, on Hulu) and have found him to be quite amusing. The content is usually pretty clean. If I don't like something, I can fast forward through it. I rarely watch the music guests, mostly because my taste in music doesn't match what's popular nowadays. For the most part, I enjoy his show.

_______________
I'm so close to the end of Sources, though the part I'm at is giving me a bit of trouble. What I had planned isn't flowing the way I thought it would. Hopefully I'll still be about to finish by the end of this week! And feel free to email your name ideas for my Soulless Name Game anytime!! I'm eager to add to the list of possibilities!

Top Ten Tuesday #40

I'm on my iPad all the time. It's a great little machine. There are some pretty amazing apps out there and I try to find ones that are enjoyable as well as useful. And others are simply ways for me to waste time.

Today's Topic: IPad apps I Use/Enjoy the Most

10. Notes. I love making lists. It's pretty much the only way for me to remember stuff.
9. Email. I have several email addresses, each for a different aspect of my life. I check them often.
8. Netflix/Hulu. I can watch my shows anywhere in the house.
7. Facebook. Mostly a time waster, but, you know...
6. Romi. It's a rummy tile game that I love to play.
5. Kindle/iBooks. I have several books here that are waiting to be read.
4. Sketchbook Pro. This little beauty is where I do most of my digital artwork. Love it!
3. MovieCat. Movie trivia game featuring cats. My hubby and I play this together.
2. My Singing Monsters. Silly monster breeding game. Silly, but fun.
1. Pinterest. Obsession.

----------------
I have about 2 1/2 chapters left to write for Sources. It will be done by the end of this week. I sense a cover reveal in the near future...

What To Do...

Sometimes I question my ability to do this whole self promotion thing. I knew self publishing would require a lot of extra work on my part. I'm still learning the ropes. At this point, I try to stick to promos that don't cost money, like Facebook, Twitter, and this blog. I've added my books to several websites that list books for free and I've tried to find book bloggers to read/review my work. Sometimes it works out, but I don't really have any idea how well I'm doing. Actually, I have a vague idea. Since sales are mediocre most of the time, I'm thinking whatever I'm doing isn't working very well. It's kind of discouraging. What I'd like to do is use more prominent promo sites and opportunities, but they often require some sort of fee. That's not possible at the moment. Word of mouth is awesome and so are simple reviews. But sometimes that's up to the people who read my books. If you are one of those wonderful readers, I would really appreciate some help. I hope this hasn't sounded too whiny. I don't want to be whiny. I just want to get better at this.

FYI, I've updated my amazon book links. I've felt kind of bad that all my links were only for the US amazon. Using a site called booklinker.net, I've been able to create a universal link for each book that should send you to your country's amazon site. I think that's pretty neat. Try it-----> SURPRISE!

----------
My husband finally finished reading Soulless. Though it's not particularly the type of book he picks for himself, he enjoyed it. I'm always a little nervous when he reads my stuff because I want him to like it, but I also don't want him to say he likes it if he didn't. He majored in English and has editing experience, so he tends to be particular about certain things. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but since he isn't my editor, I just need him to be a reader. He's been very supportive about this.

Speaking of Soulless.... Don't forget about the Name Game. I'll be accepting emails for the rest of March (at least), so you have plenty of time to think of some names. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you can click on the link on the right or find the post from last Saturday. There's also a countdown for the next free day for Soulless!

Have a great weekend!

Granola

Around Christmas time I made granola to give to our neighbors. It was my first time making it and it turned out okay. Since then, I've continued to make it, adjusting the ingredients and amounts until I believe I've found a pretty delicious combo. I'm going to share my recipe. Just a heads up, it won't include exact measurements because I rarely measure when I'm making stuff up. Ready?

Kacie's Delicious Granola

4-5 cups of Old fashioned rolled oats (not quick oats)
4-5 cups Crisp rice cereal
1 cup coconut
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2-3/4 cup nut of choice. I like slivered almonds
1 Tablespoon black chia seeds
2 Tablespoon wheat germ
1-2 cups dried fruit. I like cranberries and apricots.

1 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup oil. I use coconut oil.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
In small saucepan, combine corn syrup, maple syrup, peanut butter and oil. Heat on low until melty, stirring occasionally. Set aside. In large bowl, dump oats, rice cereal, coconut, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, wheat germ, and nuts. (The fruit will be added later) Mix together. Carefully drizzle syrup mixture over the granola, stirring as you go. Continue mixing until all the dry ingredients are coated. If it looks like you need more sweet stuff, add a bit more of the two syrups. It shouldn't be soggy, but all the dry ingredients need to be coated. This amount should fit on three large sheet cake pans. Spray them with nonstick spray and then put the granola on each (or one at a time) and spread evenly. I bake two pans at a time, one on top rack one on bottom. Bake for 12 minutes. Take out and stir around. Put back in oven, switching places. Bake additional 10 minutes. Granola should be golden brown. Remove and let cool on pan for at least 20 minutes. For the third pan, add the dried fruit AFTER first 12 minutes. Just scatter them on top and stir a bit, then bake for 12 minutes (not 10 like the others). I tried putting the fruit in at the beginning and baking it the entire time, but found it made the fruit too dry/hard. I return all the cooled granola to the large bowl (cleaned first) and mix to incorporate the fruit into the whole thing. Now you can put it in airtight containers, probably more than one.

I eat this for most breakfasts, as well as snacks and more snacks. It's good with yogurt too. It sounds like a lot of work, but I think it's worth it.

Top Ten Tuesday #39

I did not watch the Oscars on Sunday. I haven't in many years. I think the last time I watched was when Return of the King won best picture. It seems that most of the nominated movies are ones I've never seen or heard of, which means I don't really care which one wins. I wasn't surprised by Frozen's multiple wins, even though I'm not a huge fan of the movie. It was all right, but, in my opinion, Disney has done better.

Today's Topic: My Favorite Disney Movies (cartoons, not Pixar)

10. Cinderella
9. Sleeping Beauty
8. Emperor's New Groove
7. Aladdin
6. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
5. Tarzan
4. Beauty and the Beast
3. The Little Mermaid
2. A Goofy Movie
1. Tangled

Frozen would probably be #20 something if my list was longer. It wasn't a bad movie. But I found myself cringing at some of the dialogue, and even some of the songs. I wasn't impressed with Let it Go at first. I like it more now, but only because I've heard other people sing it. For example, at the talent show I mentioned a while ago, a 14 year old girl sang it and it was BEAUTIFUL! (FYI, hubby and I didn't end up doing our musical number because hubby got sick) And also the version that Alex Boye did with the children's choir was excellent. Maybe I just don't like Idina's voice. *gasp!*

I hope you're putting together an awesome list of awesome names for my Name Game! If you don't know what I'm talking about, read my previous post. I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Name Game

The main character in my book Soulless doesn't remember his name. Being a Soulless creature, he has no memory of his life before his soul was taken. He eventually gives himself a replacement name, which is used throughout the rest of the book.

But he actually has no real name. I never gave him one.

Since the book is written from his point of view, we only know what he shares, or is able to share, with us. If he doesn't know something, then neither do we, myself included. True, I'm the author and can do whatever I want. When I first started writing this story, however, I decided that nowhere in the book would the reader learn his real name. So why give him one?

Then I started thinking. What if I let fans of the book choose a name for him? It's either the best idea I've ever had or a huge mistake in the making. Of course, I want suggestions from people who have read the book, because you have to get to know the character first. (If you need to buy a copy, click here) The only way I can think of to monitor this is to make you answer a question about the book in order for me to consider your entries.

So.......

If you're interested in participating, fill out the form below and I'll take a look at your ideas! Please be creative. I won't choose Dave or Brian. (No offense, Daves and Brians)

Depending on how many names I receive, I will choose my top favorite (10 or so) and then post them on my blog for voting. The person whose name idea gets the most votes will receive an awesome prize! (to be decided later) Since I have no idea how this will go, I don't know when I will reveal the winner. I'll let you know as time goes along. Sound like a plan?

Fill out my online form.

The easy to use Wufoo form builder helps you make forms easy, fast, and fun.