NEW FALL OF ANGELS COVERS!

I've thought about redesigning the covers for the Fall of Angels for a while now.  While I DO love the old covers, they are pretty boring, flat, and just too black.  But for a very long time I couldn't think of anything I wanted to do differently.  And I didn't want to totally scrap the images I've used in the old covers.  Partly because I love them, and partly for branding reasons.  A LOT of people have downloaded at least one of the books, and a lot of other people have at least seen the covers.  I wanted people to be able to still recognize the covers.

I don't even remember what I was looking at, something on Pintrest I think.  But it all of the sudden hit me!  I knew exactly what I wanted to do.  I was in the parking lot of Costco, waiting for my husband to come out, so I grabbed a notebook out of my purse and started frantically sketching (they are bad... I seriously can't draw).  The next day I sat down with Photoshop to make my latest creation.

So without further ado, here are the new covers for the FALL OF ANGELS trilogy!

All together now!

So what do you guys think?  Like them?

FALL OF ANGELS

Jessica’s had the nightmares for as long as she can remember. Nightmares of being judged for people who have died, of being branded by the angels. Her friends and family think she’s a crazy because of it all. Yet she carries the mark of the condemned, seared into the back of her neck, and hides it and herself away from the world.

But when two men she can’t ignore enter her life everything changes, including the nightmares. The two of them couldn’t be more different. She will do anything to be with one of them. Even tell him the truth about angels, why she never sleeps, and the scar on the back of her neck. But one of the two has set events into motion what will pull her toward her own judgment and turn her into the object of her greatest fear.

AMAZON PAPERBACK | BARNES & NOBLE PAPERBACK

KINDLE US | KINDLE UK | NOOK

GOODREADS

It's been four months since Alex gave everything to save Jessica. Life should be perfect; she has Alex, she's been freed of the nightmares, and most of all- she's alive. But some things have changed, some things haven't. That's the problem. Alex still hasn't asked "the question". Jessica can't see the reason why and it's tearing her apart. He's keeping something from her.

Alex isn't the only one who has changed though. Something is different about Jessica but she doesn't understand what's happened. She just knows something's wrong, that she feels different than she used to, on a skin deep level. And it may keep her and Alex apart. Forever.

But while Alex and Jessica struggle to stay together, Cole is not about to be forgotten. There are a few things he didn't tell Jessica, about his past and her future. There are reasons why he came after her, reasons that are tied to his history that is darker than she could have ever realized.

AMAZON PAPERBACK | BARNES & NOBLE PAPERBACK

KINDLE US | KINDLE UK | NOOK

GOODREADS

With the pain of the past behind them, Jessica and Alex are ready to move on with their lives. But moving on is hard when it involves reconnecting with the family who wanted to send Jessica to an institution. And living life isn’t easy when someone who doesn’t belong is watching her, threatening her life, determined to take Jessica back to the afterlife she should have joined months ago.

And every day becomes a little harder for Alex. Time is ticking and if it runs out, Alex won’t be returning to the world of the living. It all boils down to Cole’s final words to Jessica: What are you willing to do to save him?

The answer to keeping Alex lies in Jessica returning to the place he saved her from.

AMAZON PAPERBACK | KINDLE US | KINDLE UK | NOOK | GOODREADS

Afterlife is the 11,000 word novelette companion to Vindicated (Fall of Angels).  It is included in the paperback version of Vindicated.

Cole Emerson never was and never will be a good man. He has his position for a reason. But there are consequences for returning to the world of the living. He is about to lose the one thing he still has, his leadership of the condemned. As if that wasn't punishment enough, one of his brothers is hell bent on exposing what has happened to Jessica and Cole has no choice but to protect her. And he’ll stop at nothing to do it. Even if it means ending a few lives.
Cole never was and never will be a good man.

KINDLE US | KINDLE UK | NOOK | GOODREADS

Forsaken is on Amazon!!!

That's right!  My dear friend Jenni let me know today that Forsaken is now available on Amazon!!!  So I clicked right over and there it was!  Woohoo!  *does a little dance*  It's right HERE!  Amazon is still setting up the page so the synopsis isn't there yet but I'll post it down below for you.

So now all of you need to go and get it now =)  jk  Only if you love me ;)  But seriously I will love you forever if you can help spread the word around, blogs, twitter, facebook, texting, word of mouth...

Last reminder if you haven't already let me know: if you want a signed copy I'm selling them for $12.  Just leave me a comment with your email and I will be in touch with you.  I would like to order them tonight so the sooner you can let me know the better.

YAY!  I'm so happy!  Now off to do more happy dancing!

It's been four months since Alex gave everything to save Jessica. Life should be perfect; she has Alex, she's been freed of the nightmares, and most of all- she's alive. But some things have changed, some things haven't. That's the problem. Alex still hasn't asked "the question". Jessica can't see the reason why and it's tearing her apart. He's keeping something from her.

Alex isn't the only one who has changed though. Something is different about Jessica but she doesn't understand what's happened. She just knows something's wrong, that she feels different than she used to, on a skin deep level. And it may keep her and Alex apart. Forever.

 

But while Alex and Jessica struggle to stay together, Cole is not about to be forgotten. There are a few things he didn't tell Jessica, about his past and her future. There are reasons why he came after her, reasons that are tied to his history that is darker than she could have ever realized.

Hey, guess what...

Look at what I got in the mail today...

And yes, that is me with no make-up....

I was sooo excited to get this in the mail today!  I was worried it might not come till after Christmas with the post being slow this time of year.  Yet again, I thought I might cry when I opened the package but didn't... lol.  I was worried this day might not come but here it is!  I have a printed, finished, beautiful copy of Forsaken!

So, there's a chance Forsaken may be available on Amazon a bit earlier than the release date of January 11th... =)  I'm going to put in an order for copies tomorrow so I'm trying to get a count of how many to get.  If you'd like to get a signed copy from me I am selling them for $12 (that's $2 less than you'll be able to get them on Amazon).  Just leave a comment with your email if you would like a signed copy and I will get in touch with you!

Thank you all again for all of your support!  I wouldn't have gotten here without you!

Almost there...!

Alright, I feel great.  I finished formatting Forsaken yesterday and wrapped the cover up this morning.  I submitted the files and am now waiting for them to be approved.  As soon as I get word back, as long as there are no issues, I will order the proof copy and have it in hand in a week or so!  YAY!  I'm trying to push this as quick as I can cause I'm hoping to be able to get copies for myself by Christmas.

Here for your enjoyment is the full cover of Forsaken, front, back, and spine!

And just the front cover with the few adjustments I made:



It is DONE!

The day that I worried might never come has arrived!  I FINALLY finished Forsaken!!!!  It only took me about 13 months (with a 2 month break in there somewhere) to get to this point but it is finally done! 

How do I feel right now?  One word:  RELIEVED.

I love Forsaken.  It's got so much tension in it, so many truths are revealed, some great new characters are introduced.  But seriously, I thought this one was going to kill me.

Now all I have left to do is format everything right and put the final few touches on the cover.  About 2 days worth of work, maybe only one if I can keep kids out of my hair.  I'll finish it all up when we get home on Tuesday.  I can't wait to have a copy in hand!

Thank you everyone out there who kept pushing me to finish this!  I don't if I would have if it wasn't for all of you!  But I feel GREAT now that it is done! 

=)

Taking a deep breath...

Great news! I finished the massive re-write of the first half of Forsaken! It is such a relief to have it done! I have to say, I am SO much happier with the new stuff. I really did hate most of what I had before. It was overwhelming to start all over again with it but I’m so glad I decided to do it. And it was so nice to just copy and paste the last 30,000 words onto all the revisions. Guess I rewrote the first two thirds of it… lol. And it took me just under a month to do all the rewrites. Not too bad.  Now just 2 more rounds of editing and it will be FINISHED!


That being said, my brain is totally exhausted with editing and revisions! I went from not having worked on Forsaken in a few months to rewriting most of it! I think my brain needs a bit of a break from it for a few days. So, I’m going to take a step back from it till, um… Saturday I’m going to say. No, Monday. Jenni and I are having an epic all night writing marathon this Friday that I am so excited for! Hopefully I can get a ton of writing done in Eden! I’ve been itching to get back to it! I even had a fan add it to Goodreads, even though I’m not even done with the first draft. I think over 30 people have already added it to their TBR piles!

Next on my ramble: I’ve been having a LOT of different people asking for friend requests on Facebook. Most of them are book bloggers or something like that, others are just people who have found me. I think I’m going to make a new fan page on Facebook. My current one is too hard to find and it’s just for Branded specifically. I’d like to make one that is just for all my writing. I think that will make things easier and cleaner for me. I think it’s important to keep some separation with personal life and work related stuff (work = writing, couldn’t ask for anything better =) ). I’ll let everyone know when I get the new fan page up and running!

Lastly, the latest review for the Branded Tour! http://booksbytheirstory.blogspot.com/2010/11/branded-by-keary-taylor.html

Today's tour stop!

Thanks to Flipping Pages for All Ages for the great review!  http://flippingpagesforallages.blogspot.com/2010/11/review-branded-by-keary-taylorblog-tour.html

I'm so happy with the things I have seen happen with the blog tour, just in these 4 short days that it has been going on!  I'm seeing my name pop up all over, my works-in-progress have suddenly shown up on Goodreads, among other things.  It is so exciting!  Things are really starting to go somewhere!

Just a quick Forsaken update.  I think I'm about a week away from being done with the rewrites and then I can start the super in depth editing (grammar, spelling, etc).  I can't wait to get it all wrapped up!

The FORSAKEN Cover!

I've been so excited to reveal this!  Today is such an exciting day.  I get to share the new awesome cover with you and my blog tour starts today!  The first post for the tour hasn't been made yet but it is still only 8:00 in the morning here in Washington State.  But, thanks to the help of my great friend Jenni, here is the awesome FORSAKEN cover!

I haven't gotten the book trailer quite up to par yet so I'm going to hold off on showing that off.  I've still got to find the perfect music for it.  But there you have it!  I love this image more and more every time I look at it!  It will be so fun to get a print copy in hand! Soon.

I'll be sure to post the link to the fist stop on the blog tour!  Keep an eye out!

Forsaken Excitement!

I'm finally starting to feel like I'm wrapping things up with Forsaken.  Geesh, it's only taken me about a year to get to this point...  There's still quite a bit to do but it's finally getting there.  I'm over a third of the way done with the rewrite of the first half and at the rate I'm going I should be done in less than 3 weeks with it.  That will give me plenty of time to finish up all the edits.  I got the idea that it would be really nice to have everything done before Christmas so I can give a few ARC's as Christmas gifts to a few people.

Also, I'm working on the book trailer for it as well.  This one is tough for some reason.  I can't find any music I'm very happy with for some reason.  I think all the images I've gotten together for it are pretty good though. 

Another thing, I've been working on the cover!  I've enlisted Jenni to help me again and it's coming along very nicely.  I am in love with the cover image and Jenni just keeps making it more and more amazing! 

So, I'm thinking of trying to do a big November 1st reveal.  If I can get everything done in time, wrap up the cover and trailer, I want to do a big show off on here.  That will also be my kick off to the blog tour.  It's so exciting, there is so much happening lately with writing stuff, it's great!

For your enjoyment, the Branded trailer:

14 days to go!

I just finished the last of the interviews for the blog tour.  This one was an interview with Alex.  It was a LOT of fun to do!  While I was writing it up I realized if there was a theme song to Jessica and Alex's relationship it would  be Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls.  Seriously an awesome song that I never get sick of.



I haven't gotten much done the last week or so.  I was on mini vacation the beginning of last week and then I had family come up this weekend.  It was great so see them though and I already miss them!  But now it's back to work!  The deadline to Forsaken is getting closer and there is still much to be done!

Fall of Angel's updates

A few things to update on as to the Fall of Angel's series.  I've been working on editing Forsaken again!  YAY!  I think I just needed a total brain break and Eden has been giving me that.  I've edited the first 100 pages almost.  I'll still have 2 more rounds of editing once I'm done with this one.  That will bring it up to a total of 6 rounds of editing, plus all the time my beta readers have put into it!  No wonder it takes so long to write a book!

And so, I think I'm ready to pick a real release date!  Don't hold me to it with a gun cause who knows what life is going to throw at me!  But as of right now, January 11, 2011 (01/11/11 haha) is going to be the release date for Forsaken!

The new Branded cover is coming along nicely!  I had to let the new image stew in my brain for a few days but I think we've finally figured out what is going to work best!  I'm sooooo excited to get a proof copy once it's done!  Now I just need to make myself work on formatting the manuscript as well!  That always takes forever to get done.

And finally, I think I've chosen the name for the third book.  VINDICATED!  I was chatting with Jenni the other day about it and it just feels right!  That's how it was when I finally chose the title of Forsaken.  So all three titles:  Branded, Forsaken, and Vindicated.  And I'm getting anxious to write Vindicated!  It's going to be awesome.  Jessica's ready to fight back...

Here's the mock cover I hacked together for the third book:

Awesome covers and posters!

Here's a few new covers I came up with:

A different version of the Eden cover, doesn't exactly fit but I thought it was kind of cool in the end.  And then the new Forsaken cover.  It's still just a preliminary but it is pretty close to how I will have the graphic designer do it.  It was weird, the day after I did this I saw a guy who looked exactly like the guy in the picture.  I was very tempted to ask if I could take a picture of his back... lol

More awesome pictures by my awesome friend Jenni for Forsaken!

Isn't this one awesome!

So dark and sinister, and awesome!

What I really want...

I've been playing in Photoshop again...

I guess the picture I used wasn't very big since it's pretty grainy.  I loved the image though! 

So it's time for an update on what I am working on lately.  I thought I was ready to work on Forsaken again but it's being put on hold again.  It feels forced right now to I think it's best to continue the break.  It's frustrating when it's so close.  But considering the requests made by agents I think it best to wait and see what happens.  If nothing comes of it I will continue working on it and make it available!

In the meantime, I've been working on Eden.  I am so excited about this project!  It's coming together quite nicely!  It's a whole new thing for me and I've gotten really positive response so far.  I'll try updating up on my website soon. 

So this is what I'm going to throw myself into.  It's what I want to work on and so I will!

A bit of good news

I've sent query letters out to a few new agents and a few that requested Branded in my first batch.  I had one agent say she would look again (the one I would most love to be represented by!) and another new agent who looks awesome!  I was really excited because they both requested it within a few hours of sending the query letter.  It's nice not to have to wait.

My editor (aka my mom) finished reading Forsaken, the second book to Branded, while she was up here visiting me over the weekend.  I was really excited for her to finish it, she's been really supportive of my work and has a really good eye for editing.  She said she really enjoyed it (of course she hast to say that... jk, she really did like it).  So, as I let this round of submissions and requests run it's course I'm going to try and get back into writing it again.  I've had some issues pointed out to me that need to be fixed and had a few ideas for things.  Hopefully I can figure out what has been missing from it and finally be satisfied with it.  But it's getting closer and closer to being done!  I've been getting excited to start working on the third book (title still not decided). 

All the while I've been getting anxious to work on Eden more.  I'm finally feeling like I'm connecting with the characters in it and sorting out my feelings for them.  What I have so far (only 14,000 words) needs massive editing, I mean massive, but it has gotten really good response so far.

So there you have it!  That's the latest and greatest!

There Is Still Hope

A little bit of good news.  I finished the read through/paper draft edit of Forsaken this morning!  That's kind of the easy part.  I just cross words out, pick better ones, write "expand" or "clarify" in the margins.  Stuff like that.  But hey, it's a start!  The hard part now is to go back and do all those expansions and clarifications.  It really won't be that bad once this edit is finished, and I'm half way done with it. 

I have 3 people who I have emailed Forsaken too.  I haven't heard back from any of them yet but I'm curious to hear what they have to say about it.

So there it is.  A little glimmer of hope.  I'm not going to say that I'm still going to have this finished by the date of September 1st like I had planned on.  I just don't know if it will happen.  But it will be finished.  By the end of the year at the very, VERY latest.

For your pleasure, here's a canto that is at the beginning of Forsaken that sums up the whole book.  It's from Dante's Inferno.

““For such a falling short, and for no crime,

We all are lost, and suffer only this:

Hopeless, we live forever in desire.”

When I heard this, great sorrow seized my heart,

For I saw men of great distinction there

Hovering in Limbo at the edge of Hell.”

More Editing and a Request For YOUR Opinion

So, despite yesterdays too long post of the editing process I've decided to take a little bit different route. I started working on the next step of edits but it didn't feel right. I decided to go ahead and print the first copy of it. I've been working on a round of revisions for Branded (catching a few typos, working on the typesetting, etc) and I've noticed a lot of things stand out to me that I've never really noticed or thought about before. I've heard that it's good to have some time apart from your work and it's true. So, even though it's not long, I'm taking a week off of Forsaken. I can't really afford to take any more time off than that but a week will have to do. Ideally I would take a month off but the deadline doesn't permit, and honestly I don't think I could take that much time away from it.

So maybe I will work on The Ever Chronicles re-write in the next week. I got the sudden itch today to work on it. I've rekindled my love for William Colegrove! Who knows though, this weekend is going to be really busy so I may just not write at all in the next week! Weird thought... lol

Last item on the blog list today: I've been trying to come up with a title for the third book in the Fall of Angels. I've tossed around a few things but nothing has really struck me like Forsaken did. Here's what I've considered so far:

*Descended
*Relentless
*Retribution

I'm liking Retribution, just thought of that one today, but it's not a adjective like my other titles. So, cast your vote below and let me know what you think! Or if you think of something else let me know in the comments!

What should the title of the third book be?

• Descended
• Relentless
• Retribution

View Results
Create a Blog Poll

My Editing Process

I've finally finished the second draft of FORSAKEN, both Jessica and Alex's POV's. It nearly killed me but it's done! Now I have to go back and fill in a few rocky spots in the next draft, then I'll do a quick read through of the whole thing, fix any miss-used words and anything else that stands out to me. Then I'll get a copy of it printed and read through it again. It's weird how your work reads different on the computer than it does in real print. I always catch a lot of different things, find things that I want to change/add in. Once I transfer the edits back to the computer I will send it off to my editors (aka my mom and brilliant sister Ashley). When I get all my mistakes back from them I'll do another transfer, one more read through and call it done! And I'll be totally exhausted and sick of it by that point! LOL THEN, I'll talk to the graphic designer and get the cover done and send it off to the printer. Whew! Lots of work to get done before September 1st! But it will get done! (unless I happen to get signed by an agent or publisher before then, keep your fingers crossed!)

So wow, that ended up much longer than it was supposed to be! Maybe it's a little messy and disorganized but that's my editing process!

FORSAKEN Playlist Now Up!

I just created the playlist for Forsaken! It's over there -----> under the "recent posts". Check it out!

Getting There!

I just finished the second draft of Jessica's POV for Forsaken!!! Now to just go back and work on Alex's POV, then onto the serious editing!!!