A great place for authors to hold book events

     As many of you know I had a book signing this past weekend. This time around I thought a lot about where I wanted to hold my book signing. A bit of back story... I live in a very small town in Wisconsin where books tend to be less important than hunting or watching sports. I wanted to hold my book signing for Finding Elizabeth somewhere where I would get more exposure. To do that I knew I had to go to either Green Bay or Appleton.

     I had a few location ideas; libraries and a couple bookstores but because of my love for their store I put Half Price Books in Appleton, Wisconsin at the top of my list. This turned out to be one of the best decisions I've ever made so far in my publishing career.

     The woman that I spoke to to set up the book signing, Sarah, was extremely accomodating. I was afraid at first HPB would turn me down because I'm an indie author but they welcomed me with open arms; not only did they allow me to hold my book signing at the Appleton store but they day after I scheduled the book signing with them they had the information put up on their website.

      From there my book signing also showed up on the events calendar for several of the local news channels.

     I did my thing and put posters up in the area and ordered book marks to give out at the book signing then patiently waited for November 28th to arrive.

     Finally the day of the book signing arrived and I arrived about an hour early to get everything set up. When I arrived I was introduced to an employee named Sam who helped get everything set up. She and one of her coworkers set up the table next to the door and even brought a chair for my grandmother (who had tagged along) to sit on. HPB provided balloons and cookies and Sam brewed coffee which was set next to where I was sitting.

     I don't have one of those card readers so the store would have even made their old carbon machine available to me if I had needed it.

     At one o'clock, the start time of my book signing they made an announcement letting everyone in the store know about the event going on.

      I can honestly say I am so happy with everything Half Price Books did for my book signing. They went above and beyond anything I could have asked for. They were accomodating, friendly, and professional and I can't gush about them more.

     If you're an author looking for somewhere to hold a book signing/reading/event and you live in one of the 16 states where Half Price Books has a location I highly recommend contacting them and inquiring. You won't regret it!

     Again, a huge thank you to everyone at the Appleton Half Price Books! You guys are amazing and I am eternally grateful!

A Day In My Life & Week 3 of NaNoWriMo

       To make up for my lack of post last week I'm doing a double post! 
        For the first part of the post allow me to take you through a typical day in my life:
        9:00 am:
           I usually wake up sometime between 9-9:30 in the morning. Hey, don't judge... I'm up late writing at night, you'll see. 
        9:15-10:15 am: 
           I usually spend about an hour first thing in the morning checking my emails and social media and answering any email, following/repsonding to people on Twitter that I feel need immediate attention. 
        10:15 am - 12:00 pm:
             I spend most of the morning getting housework out of the way. I hate doing dishes but I suppose they have to be done eventually... anyway this time is spent doing anything from vacuuming to taking out the garbage and cleaning out the refrigerator, etc.
         Noon-3:00 pm: 
             What I do in this time chunk varies. I'm either writing out a chapter by hand in my latest WIP or I'm typing up a newly finished chapter. It depends how inspired I feel... sometimes writing comes easier at night than during the day. Also during this time I post on Twitter and Facebook or schedule posts to go live later in the day. Sometimes this part of the day switches with the morning if I have to run out to do errands. 
        3:00-5:00 pm: 
            Alright I admit it, I spend this two hour block doing absolutely nothing Monday-Friday. And by nothing I mean watching Dr. Phil and Judge Judy. We all have our guilty pleasures. 
       5:00-6:00 pm:
           Dinner usually happens around this time, but that can very depending on how hungry I am, how long it takes to cook dinner, stuff like that.
        7:00-10:00 pm:
            Lost hours spent watching television, reading (although I haven't had as much reading time lately), showering, or playing games on my nook. 
         10:00 pm - 1:00 am:
              Pure, enjoyable writing time. Alone in my bedroom, just me, my notebook, and Halestorm blaring on my ipod. Or, you know, typing if I wrote during the day. 
          So that's a typical day in my life. Sure there are days when I spend a whole day out doing something else, but this is mostly how my life works Monday thru Friday.
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       Part two of this double blog post is all about Week Three of NaNoWriMo. Are you still with me? Good!
        How are you doing on NaNoWriMo? Are you stuck in a rut? Way behind on your word count? Don't fret, you'll get there and even if you don't reach the 50k goal you're still awesome! Why? Because you wrote something. You had an idea and you started writing something. No matter what your word count is you should still be proud.
        Here are some ways I've kept myself going this month:
             - Writing to an upbeat playlist. Whether you write best to Mozart or AC/DC or Taylor Swift it doesn't matter. Make a playlist for yourself and plug in while you write. What's worked best for me is selecting the rock genre in my itunes library and tuning it. I love writing along to loud rock music, it keeps me pumped up and drives me onward.
           - Log off Twitter. Or instagram, facebook, buzzfeed, or whatever is distracting you online. I know you just have to know the latest gossip about Minnie's boyfriend's cousin but it can wait. Reward yourself after finishing your chapter or a certain word goal. You'll feel so much more accomplished.
           - Plan out goals for the next section / chapter of your novel. If you're stuck and don't know how to go on just write out what you want to happen in the next chapter or section and it should get you back on track.
          - Take a break. Take a walk, watch a movie, grab a bite, go shopping, spend time with friends, hell go ahead and take a nap. You don't need to spend every second of the day writing. (Gasp!) All that will do is burn you out and you'll start resenting your project. Just rest a little and come back to your writing when you feel rejuvenated.
          - Talk to another writer. They're going through the same thing you are so whether you chat in the forums on NaNoWriMo.org, in person at a coffee shop get together, or on the phone you'll feel better after talking to a fellow NaNoWriMo-er. And they might even inspire you or give you tips on how you can move forward with your novel.
          - Take a notebook with you everywhere. Ideas are everywhere and you never know when or where they'll hit so its best to be prepared. I've written on napkins, magazines, post its... whatever is handy when an idea knocks me in the head.
         Good luck fellow NaNoWriMo-ers! May your pen never run out of ink, may you have a never ending supply of coffee, may you always remember to back up your work, and may you reach your goals! I hope to be reading your novel someday.
         Current NaNoWriMo Word Count: 48,331
          Look me up on NaNoWriMo.org:
http://www.nanowrimo.org/participants/Taylor-Fenner
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         Don't forget! I'll be signing copies of FINDING ELIZABETH at Half Price Books in Appleton, Wisconsin Saturday November 28th from 1-3 pm! As a special holiday bonus you'll get The Haunting Love FREE when you purchase Finding Elizabeth! Hope to see you there!
         Happy Thanksgiving!

After The Book Signing... What I'm Doing Now

Hey everyone! I know this blog is outrageously late today but my website where I usually post my blog isn't letting me onto my blog app. I bet you didn't know that my blog also posts on Blogger (blogspot), did you? 

This week has been a mixture of incredibly slow and hyper fast. My book signing was last Saturday and I think it went pretty well for my first book signing. Thank you to everyone that came out; I hope that you are enjoying The Haunting Love!

Obviously Sunday was Mother's Day so my grandmother and I just hung out and watched movies. It was very relaxing. 

Q: What am I up to now that the book signing is over? 

A:        Well relaxing for the most part. I planned to get a lot of writing done in my current work-in-progress, Into the Light, this week but I got a little sidetracked. I did go over some cover options for my next novel, Finding Elizabeth though.

            I'm aiming to self-publish Finding Elizabeth this fall. It's currently being edited and I'm working on what I want to see as the cover art. To me, the cover art is the fun part. The editing part is sort of boring, but of course mandatory. Its more of a chore. 

Q: Will there be another book signing for The Haunting Love? 

A:        At this time I don't have one scheduled, but I might set one up in the next month or two. I haven't decided yet. Be sure to keep checking back for updates though. 

Q: I'm reading The Haunting Love and I love it! Will there be a sequel for Johnny, Iza, and the gang? 

A:         No. At least, there isn't one in the works right now. I felt that Johnny and Iza's story was finished at the end of The Haunting Love. Who knows though? Maybe Marco and Angie will someday get their own spinoff novel or novella? Or maybe even Aidan or Quinn... ideas, ideas...

I hope this gives you a better look at what I'm up to lately. I hope you have a great weekend! Despite next weekend being Memorial Day weekend my Friday blog will post as usual! 

Me at my book signing at The Living Room Coffee Shop in Clintonville, WI on May 9

One Week To Go + Author Interviews

From my Author Website http://www.taylorfenner.com:

Hey everyone! It's the first day of May; do you know what that means? We're that much closer to summer! Ah, I can taste the s'mores and smell the sunblock already. 

Also, as of today we are EIGHT days until my book signing at the Living Room Coffee Shop in Clintonville, WI on May 9th. I'm getting more excited by the day and I hope all of you are looking forward to it too! It should be a great event. 

In preparation for the book signing I've placed posters in local libraries (as mentioned previously) and I'm pretty sure they're still posted in 2 of the 3 libraries. You might also have seen the articles about the book signing in the Shawano Leader, Clintonville Tribune-Gazette, and Marion Advertiser. I'd like to thank them for putting the articles in for me, they all looked great! 

So now all there is to do is sit back and wait until next Saturday. The books are here anxiously waiting to be claimed, my hair is newly touched up, and my nerves haven't kicked in yet. 

In other updates I've done a couple interviews for a few different blogs over the past two weeks. Two of them have posted already with three or four more to be posted within the next three months. Here are the links if you'd like to take a look:

Awesomegang Blog: http://awesomegang.com/taylor-fenner/

Book Reader Magazine: http://bookreadermagazine.com/featured-author-taylor-fenner/

The interviews are great ways to learn a little bit more about me and how my mind works. The "Awesomegang" one is a bit more in depth, but I hope you take a minute and check them both out! 

That's all I've got for this week. I'm in the midst of working on a chapter in Into the Light, the sequel to my upcoming novel Out of Darkness, and I'm really immersed in the story. I hope you have a great weekend, and a good week next week. I hope to see you a week from tomorrow! 

Running Around

From my weekly blog on my website http://www.taylorfenner.com for the week of Saturday April 11- Friday April 17, 2015:

Morning everyone! As usual I hope that you all have had wonderful weeks! Mine has been crazy busy from the word go. Luckily I had taken a break last weekend to go book shopping and to spend some time at the library. I stocked up on a bunch of books by authors that I love. I'm finding that the Appleton Public Library has a good selection of books by indie authors. 

Monday brought the second shipment of copies of The Haunting Love. Not to diss UPS but I can't figure out why when I get something from FedEx I always get it early in the morning but UPS doesn't get here until almost (or after) 5 at night. This time the guy handed me the box (32lbs mind you) and says "It's a little heavy". Don't even get me started...

Tuesday luckily brought my posters and promotional items for my book signing from Vistaprint. I'm now fully ready for the book signing on May 9th! On the otherhand I spent a lot of Tuesday online answering mundane emails and not getting much writing done. Thankfully I got quite a bit of writing time in on Wednesday to make up for not getting much done on Tuesday.

If you saw me running around the area it was probably on Thursday. I got up early and spend the morning running to libraries in the area (Marion, Clintonville, and Shawano) to drop off posters for my book signing. Be sure to check them out if you need more info about the book signings. I also dropped a larger poster off at the coffee shop where my book signing will be held in so they can use it as the date gets closer. I had a few other errands to run considering book stuff before getting to everyday household errands. I swear by the time I got home yesterday I felt like a chicken running around with my head cut off. That combined with my phone ringing every two seconds made for a busy day. 

As for today and the rest of the weekend I'm just going to relax and enjoy the nice weather while it lasts. I'm reading a new book by an author I hadn't read anything by before (Torn by K.A. Robinson) and I'm really enjoying it. Maybe I'll grab a blizzard at Dairy Queen and take my book down to the lake for a little while once my laundry is finished. 

I hope you have a nice, safe weekend! Until next week! 

Hope to See You May 9th!

From my weekly blog on my author website www.taylorfenner.com:  

        Hello everyone! It's Good Friday, so thank you for taking time out of your long weekend to read this week's blog! After I finish this post I have to get my chocolate cheesecake in the oven, so I'll try to keep this week's blog short and sweet. 

As I'm hoping most of you saw earlier this week, I got the details for my book signing finalized. For those of you in Wisconsin that are interested in attending my book signing it will be held: 

Saturday May 9, 2015 

at 

The Living Room Coffee Shop 

    in Clintonville, Wisconsin

    from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm

I'll be signing paperback copies of The Haunting Love, that are available for purchase at the signing and I hope to see you there! More details (such as the address for the coffee shop) can be found here: http://www.taylorfenner.com/news-and-events

As for the rest of my week I've been keeping pretty busy. I have to get some posters printed up to promote the book signing and I had to write up a couple press releases for local newspapers that I have to send in next week to further get the word out about the signing. I've also managed to get in some writing time this week which was a relief because I haven't had much down time over the past couple weeks. 

I've been busily searching for new music to inspire me with the current novel I'm working on but nothing seems to fit. Do you know of any loud, edgy, dark, and alternative music I might like? Let me know! I'm interested in your suggestions.

I'll be spending the next couple days leading up to Easter baking and making some make-ahead dishes for the holiday. I hope that you and your families have a wonderful holiday whatever your plans are. Try not to eat too much candy. I personally have never seen the appeal in jelly beans or peeps. Especially not peeps, just thinking about them makes me gag, but don't mind me. Anyway, have a great weekend and a great week next week! 

Busy Week

Also found on my website www.taylorfenner.com for the week of Saturday March 21 - Friday March 27, 2015: 

Hey everyone! I hope you've had a good week. My week has been busy but good for the most part. I'm seriously disappointed that there is currently snow on the ground outside my window. It sucks! 

I received the paperback copies of The Haunting Love on Tuesday night. I have to admit, I'm one of those people that when I'm expecting something to be shipped to me I track it relentlessly. I always wonder if there's someone at UPS keeping track of how many times I log on to see where my packages are. It's a bit obsessive, I know. Anyway, I woke up really early on Tuesday, figuring that if I slept in the UPS guy would be ringing my buzzer and waking me up. Alas, I waited all day and the books didn't show up until after 5. 

Wednesday was especially busy for me, as I've had quite a few inquiries from people wanting a copy of my book (Thank you very much by the way! I truly appreciate it!) and I also started working on setting up a book signing. I've pretty much chosen the location for the book signing in Clintonville, WI. I'm just working with the chosen venue at this point to finalize the exact date and then I will post all the information on Facebook as well as on Goodreads and my website. So far we're working on an early May date for the book signing if that works out for them. I hope everyone is excited as I am! 

Thursday was pretty much the same, working out the details for the book signing, and working on things to go with that as well as getting a couple books out to people. Now that it's Friday I'm mostly looking forward to resting for the weekend and maybe getting a little writing done in my current work-in-progress. It's been a busy week and I'm looking forward to some down time to visit with friends and just hang out. 

I can't believe next weekend is Easter already, but either way my usual Friday blog will still be posted as schedule next Friday! I hope everyone has a relaxing weekend whatever you plan to do!