C.D. Taylor's Blog

OMG! You ’ re So Weird!

Do you ever look at a creative/artsy individual and think “that is one weird human being”? Do you ever sit back and wonder why they’re so strange and different from all the rest? What makes them tick? Why do they do things so differently than everyone else? There’s so many questions you could ask about us weird folk but I decided to do a little research and give some insight to the way we are. One of the most interesting things I’ve found are the things we do so differently than everyone else. The things that really set us creatives apart.

Time to Turn it Around:

Creatives tend to turn obstacles around. Ever wonder why the iconic stories and songs are about gut wrenching heartbreak? Think about it. The artist must’ve went through something to find inspiration behind those lyrics and words, right? Let’s take Taylor Swift for example. Each of her songs have been written based on failed relationships. She used something that would ground most of us and she turned it into something positive for herself. Miss Swift found the silver lining in those fails. As creatives we do that. We take what was supposed to be a roadblock and we turn it into a speed bump. You could learn a thing or two from us. When life gets you down, get back up, punch life in the face and tell it “you fight like a little bitch!”

Ask Away:

Creatives ask questions. We are inquisitive by nature and want to know the who, what, why when and where of every situation. Ever talk to a creative person? Have you told them a story or an experience about your life? What did they do? That’s right, they asked so many questions, by the time you were done telling the story you forgot what the hell you were even talking about. We want to know EVERYTHING. Why? Because we learn from every single nuance of life. We can take a small fragment of a conversation and imagine it in a song, or the pages of a book. We aren’t happy with simple answers, we want details. Give us the freaking details!

Eyes Are The Window:

Creatives are the masters at people watching. Yeah, it’s a bit creepy but we do it, and often. You probably haven’t noticed that guy sitting in the local Starbucks sipping his latte while pecking away on his laptop. Think he’s just doing school work? Nope. Chances are he’s watching the people around him and getting a feel for a character or subject of something. Maybe that lady chatting loudly on the phone at the counter inspires him to create a character that will annoy his audience. Or the barista behind the counter wiping the sweat from her brow might just be the muse for his next bestselling novel. For us, it’s fun to watch people. We pick up on body language, the signals others miss. We aren’t making fun of you, but you guys are super interesting to us.

Can’t Spell Risk Without…Risk:

Creatives are massive risk takers. We have to be. You try writing a novel and having it tossed into the great unknown. Every single time an artist debuts a new song, painting or book, we are risking everything. We are risking being ridiculed by those who hate what we’ve created. If that’s not risk I don’t know what is. Risk in our work isn’t the only thing we tend to be risk takers in. The majority of creatives aren’t afraid to take risks with food, fashion or just about anything in life. To us, it’s fun. It’s what inspires us to keep creating.

That ’ s Beautiful:

Creatives constantly surround themselves with beauty. We need things to stimulate our senses when creating. What better to do that with than beautiful things, right? Ever wonder why an author tries to find different places to write? We will go outside, to a coffee shop, or even just a different room of the house to write. Why? We are looking for something beautiful to inspire us. Beautiful people, places and things get the creative juices flowing and set our passions on fire. We are always searching for the next beautiful thing to make all of that happen. Who knows, you might just be that beautiful thing we’re looking for.

What Time is It?:

Creatives constantly lose track of time. My husband can attest to this. When I write, I get in the zone and damn near nothing can yank me out of it. The house could be burning down around me and I would keep on writing. Time doesn’t exist when you’re creating your masterpiece. Your fingers fly over the keys, your mind is trapped in an alternate universe and you’re so immersed in what you’re doing that nothing else matters. Think of it this way…an athlete enters an arena with ten thousand screaming fans. He has to play a game. A game that he’s damn good at. But how does he forget the pressure, the cheers that are so loud they are making the court vibrate? How does he block out the worry and stress that comes from all of these factors? That’s right, he gets in the zone. He puts his game face on and plays like he’s never played before. He doesn’t hear those fans. He doesn’t even see them. He blocks it all out and just does what he’s good at. The same goes for us creatives. We block out the world around us and begin to create our own.

Passion isn’t just a fruit:

Creatives follow their true passions. We are designed to act from some internal desire, rather than a desire for external reward or recognition. What does that mean? It means that our passion is so deep, we only want to be self-rewarded. The outside opinions and recognitions don’t really matter to us. Passion is what drives us in all things. Not only are we passionate about what we do, we are passionate about EVERYTHING. Ever heard that an artist is a sublime lover? Yeah, think about that one. Have you ever gotten into an argument with a creative? No? You’re lucky! We don’t tend to back down very easily. We will argue our point until we’re blue in the face. Every word that comes out of our mouth will be passion driven during said argument. It’s such a deep seeded thing with us that we can’t help but throw passion into everything we do and say. Don’t fault us for it, celebrate it with us.

Adventure Time:

Creatives tend to seek out new experiences. Every experience for us is a lesson, an inspiration. Have you read the book Eat, Pray, Love? You’re missing out if you haven’t! This was a creative who was stifled in a relationship just dying to break free. She wanted to see the world, to taste it, to touch it. She wanted experience things that she’d only once dreamt about. So she did. She sought out adventure. That’s what we do. We want to know everything about everything so we seek out answers about what we’re searching for. We aren’t afraid to hop on a plane and land in a place we’ve never been before. We aren’t afraid to challenge ourselves by doing things that others think are insane. Want to step out of your box? Make a friend with a creative. I guarantee that person will pull you out of your box so fast your head will spin.

Time to Work:

Creatives also tend to work the hours that work for them. Have you ever noticed that creative individuals will either tell you they work best either early in the morning or very late at night? Well, that’s how it is with us. That’s why most of us are pegged as ‘vampires’. For me, my time to work is when the sun goes down. During the day I sit and absorb the things around me. I people watch, I find beauty and I seek out my new experiences. When the sun falls below the horizon, I take all those things and wind them into a story that will one day be between the cover of a book. It’s not that I’m out sucking blood from innocent humans. I just find that this is the time for me. This is when I feel the most inspired. It’s nothing for me to begin writing at 10pm and keep going until 4-5am. If I’ve hit the zone, I will pull and all-nighter.

I Heart You:

Lastly, creatives are such loving people. Believe it or not we are some of the most heart driven people you will ever have the pleasure of meeting. We are thankful for everything in our lives, we tend to make friends quickly and we are giving in a way that shocks even ourselves at times. If you have a creative in your life, hug them and tell them they aren’t really weird, they are just plain awesome.

Thanks for sticking around and reading this post. I hope you’ve learned a thing or two about creative types, including myself. Sure, we will always be the black sheep of society but instead of finding negativity in that fact, we celebrate it.

Peace, Love and Pages!

C.D. Taylor/Taylor Dawn

OH SNAP! IT’S A COVER REVEAL!!!!

Okay you guys, I’m super stoked to show you this amazing cover for The Skull Collector by author Paris Singer. This stunning piece of art was illustrated by Designer Yosbe Calma. This chick has some kick ass talent if you ask me. And if you didn’t ask me…you should have! Check out the gorgeous cover, the blurb for this amazing Dark Fantasy Novel and the links to find Author Paris Singer and his Designer Yosbe Calma!

The Skull Collector Blurb:

In a world in which children are exploited, monsters are saviors, and dark magic is constantly at play, a little girl will go to any lengths to be reunited with her lost ones. After the Disappearance of her parents, a heartbroken child is sold to the Doll-Maker who promises to revive them. In return, she is to travel from cemetery to cemetery, unearthing graves and collecting skulls. While doing so, she must avoid the Violinist and his crows, who are determined to steal the skulls she has painstakingly gathered.

As she travels across the province, with her life in constant peril from vengeful policemen to furious villagers to strange creatures, the little girl must use her wits to succeed in her macabre mission.

THE SKULL COLLECTOR COVER

Where to find Paris Singer:

(I’ve even made it simple. Just Click the icons and you’ll be in his world in no time!)

Paris Singer on Facebook

Paris Singer on Twitter

Paris Singer on the WWW

Where to find Yosbe Calma:

(Yes, all you have to do is click the icons again)

YosbeDesign on Facebook

YosbeDesign on Twitter

YosbeDesign.com

Don’t forget to check out The Skull Collector when it hits the online shelves on November 17th 2015! This is one book you won’t want to miss!

Peace, Love and Pages!

C.D. TAYLOR/TAYLOR DAWN

Crimson Lips Blog Now Offering Book Reviews!

What do we specialize in? ROMANCE! That’s right, we love romance around here. And all types too! It doesn’t matter if you’re an indie author with a handful of followers or a big time literary master, we cater to everyone! Keep in mind that we are not paid for our review services and all reviews and ratings will be 100% honest. If we feel the book is below a 3 kiss rating, we will contact the author or representative before placing the review on the blog. There are two fabulous readers just waiting to dig into your romance and see what you have to offer! Myself and my trusty sidekick, Candie are ready and waiting!

Please visit the submission guideline page for details and signups!

Social media. A place where you can connect with friends, family and for an author, your readers. But lately I’ve also realized that it’s a place where you can get hit on more than if you hung out at the local bar. Not that I hang out in bars, I don’t. I’m no stranger to advances from the opposite sex. I’m not saying I’m a gem, but I’m also not a gorilla either. It makes a woman feel good to know that she still has it after having a kid and will be turning 29 again soon. Okay I lied, I’ll be 35 this year. Women crave attention. If you are a woman and you disagree, then you are lying to yourself and everyone else. Having a man give you a second look while in the grocery store makes you feel good. I’ve been married for almost 11 years. If you’ve been married for any length of time, you know that things aren’t always going to be honeymoon moments. As time ticks by, your significant other forgets to remind you how beautiful you are. You start to wonder if your age has turned you into some hideous creature that should wear a bag on her head for the foreseeable future. That’s just not the case. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I complimented my husband on his looks. Maybe I should. I’ll get right on that.

But this post isn’t about my marriage. This is about something that’s happening more frequently to myself and people that I know. This is about men who troll social media in the hopes of finding women to ‘hook up’ with or have cybersex with. Recently I’ve received tons of friend requests on my personal Facebook page, and as an author I accept quite a few of them. But only if I have friends in common. If I don’t, then they go bye bye. With a friends list of almost 800 people, I know others are bound to find me, that’s a given. My profile is also set to public. Why? Because even though I have a fan page on Facebook, I like to make it so my readers can find me and connect. I open my social media platforms to allow access to me. Maybe that’s my mistake. Or maybe these men are just ignorant. In the past week I have received around 50 new friend requests, half of them have been rejected. So as you see, I do screen the ‘applicants’ so-to-speak. I’m not out there freely accepting every Tom, Dick and Harry so I can have a bigger friends list. All of these newbies have had several friends in common with me, so sure, I let them in. BIG mistake! But it isn’t until you start to receive private messages from these ‘friends’ that you realize your blunder.

What are they saying when they contact me? Oh let me fill you in. For the most part it starts off like this…

Man: Hi, thank you for accepting me as a friend.

Me: You’re welcome!

Man: How are you today?

Me: I’m great. And you?

Man: Doing good. Do you like sex?

HOLD THE PHONE!!!!!

How can a person go from an innocent greeting and fast forward to “Do you like sex?” Wow. But let me share the newest one with you. This one started off okay but morphed into territory that caused me to unfriend and block the person.

Man: How are you?

Me: Doing good. Yourself?

Man: I’m good. What do you do?

Me: I’m an author.

Man: What kind of books do you write?

Me: I write romance and urban fantasy.

Man: How many books have you written?

Me: In total, 10 and I’m working on my 11th now.

Man: How long have you been writing?

Me: I started writing poetry in High School and wrote my first full length novel in 2012.

Man: Wow, you’ve written a lot of books in a few years.

Me: LOL, I guess I have.

Man: I think you are beautiful and sexy.

Me: Uh thank…

Man: Are you married?

Me: Yes. I have been happily married for almost 11 years.

(No reply after that.)

I do have to give this asshat credit. At least he didn’t start off with his advances. He tried to play on my weakness of my love of writing and books. But what gets me is how every single one of these douche canoes use the term ‘sexy’. Is that supposed to make me shuck my panties and start rubbing my lady parts on my webcam? Is that supposed to make me so hot that I engage in cybersex with them? How do they think things will play out? That they say the word ‘sexy’ and I’m hot and ready to go? Are there really women out there that fall for that shit? First of all, if women DO fall for that, they need to see a therapist for their daddy issues. Clearly they don’t have self-esteem and look for validation through meaningless online trysts. But I’m not that woman.

The dictionary defines the word ‘sexy’ as: sexually attractive or exciting. But how do you know I’m attractive? You see only pictures of me online. I could be the most awkward person you’ve ever met. Personally, sexy has a different definition in my mind. What is sexy to me? Sexy is a certain attitude, an air of confidence if you will. It’s the way a person carries themselves and how they project their personality to the people around them. Sexy should not be based solely on looks alone. Sure, looks can play into it a little, but it shouldn’t be the sole reason for using the term. There is one thing that I find extremely sexy…intelligence. Knowledge is power. If you have the ability to carry on an intelligent conversation with me, are able to engage my brain more than my panty hamster, then yes, that is sexy. But men online today think that every woman falls to her knees by giving her a few compliments. News flash, I am not so insecure with myself that I need your verbal validation. I know that when I get dressed up, have a bit of makeup on and my hair clean, I don’t look half bad. Am I full of myself? Nope. I’m just confident in who I am as a person. There’s nothing wrong with that.

There is something wrong however with men that have zero class. It makes me wonder what kind of role model they had growing up. Did their dad teach them that objectifying women was okay? Did they school them on the art of being an idiot to gain attention from the fairer sex? What the hell is wrong with this world?! I for one teach my son that women are to be respected. We are not something to put on a shelf to use as your personal trophy. He knows that treating a female with dignity and respect will get you further than catcalling. I set a good example for him because one day, he won’t be under my roof. He will be a productive member of society. If I find out that he tries to pick up women in the manner I’ve spoke about, he will have me to answer to. And trust me, that won’t be pretty.

So to all women out there, I know what it feels like to be treated in this heinous manner. I know how it feels to question if you’re putting off the wrong message on social media. I contemplated removing all photos from my Facebook account and replacing my profile pic with Gary Busey’s mug shot. But as someone pointed out today, if I do that, they win. And no, my posts on Facebook do not ask for trouble like this. I am just a victim like every other woman that this happens to. It is frustrating and degrading to have someone say these things to you. Unfortunately Facebook doesn’t issue a punishment for this kind of behavior. You can mark the person as spam but that’s it. But let me ask you this…what happens when things escalate? What happens when the man finds your personal information and tracks you down? What happens if he gets so fixated on how ‘sexy’ you are and decides to act on it by raping you? What then, Facebook? These men are predators, plain and simple. It makes me afraid for young girls and teens who use Facebook to connect with friends. Would you want some guy hitting on your daughter? Would you want her walking home from school and getting pulled into an alley and violated? Something has to be done to protect us. We shouldn’t have to be afraid of using social media. There should be a policy where if these creeps contact you with this sort thing, you can screen shot the conversation and send it in. Then the person gets banned from using Facebook. Yes, I know, they can always create a new profile. But if they do it again, the same thing would happen. Maybe then it would deter them altogether from using Facebook. It’s crazy how you can get thrown in Facebook jail for offending someone with a meme, but if you want to be a predator, well, that’s just perfectly fine.  I don’t know, maybe I’m being a drama queen about it. Or maybe I have a valid point here. The internet is a vast array of lunatics waiting to pounce on an unsuspecting victim. Well I have news for you, I’m not that stupid.

I just want to say to all the women who think this is okay, you’re wrong. You don’t need anyone to validate your self-worth. You were created to be a strong, intelligent creature. Don’t let anyone dull your sparkle. Don’t give into these men because you need to feel special, the only person that can make you feel special is you. Look in the mirror and know that you are amazing. Tell yourself that, every day of your life because it’s true.

To my husband Paul: I don’t tell you enough how awesome you are. But you are a great father, provider and best friend. You put up with a lot from me. Oh and I think you’re SUPER SEXY. Love you babe!

Peace, Love and Pages

C.D. Taylor/Taylor Dawn

Death. It’s one of those things that happen every day but do we really stop to think about the dreaded D word? I’m writing this post because someone in my life recently took their last breath. My husband’s grandmother, to be exact. But she wasn’t just his grandparent, she was mine as well. She was family, and family is something that I cling to in all areas of my life. To receive a phone call telling me “she’s gone” is devastating. If you’ve ever lost anyone close to you, you know what I’m talking about. There aren’t enough tears in this world or hugs from others that will quell the pain that sits deep in your chest. There isn’t any amount of phone calls or texts that can fill the hole that was opened up by such a loss. Grief is a funny thing. It grabs ahold of you and won’t let go until it decides to. It’s in a word…uncontrollable.

I know each person’s time on this earth is limited. I’ve faced many deaths in my 35 years on this earth. But that fact doesn’t take the sting out of the wound any less when you are faced with it once again. It manages to rip you to shreds when you least expect it. But why is death so hard for us human beings? Why can’t we just accept that these things happen and we need to move on? For me, it all boils down to selfishness. I want my loved ones to be here forever. I want to hear them laugh and see them smile every day. But with all things in life, we don’t always get what we want. In short, life is unfair.

I won’t yammer on about how I want my loved ones back so bad I would move mountains to do it. I will make this post short and sweet. Take a look at the people in your life that mean the world to you. Hug them close and tell them how much they mean. Tell them that you love them. Someday, you’ll open your eyes and they won’t be there to chat with you and make your day brighter. As for me, I will eventually heal. I will see that Grandma is no longer suffering and is in a much better place. But it will take time. But even as the memory of her death begins to fade, I won’t forget the impact she made on my life, and the life of my 10 year old son. I will see her again someday, and that is the reason I try to keep smiling.

Goodbye for now Grandma Yvetta Barnhart. Fly away from here and be at peace. You were the light in a world filled with darkness and I hope to be even half the woman that you were. Love Always.

Yvetta Barnhart, gone but never forgotten.

Peace, Love and Pages

C.D. Taylor/Taylor Dawn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wVYEL216Rk

In life we find so many instances to celebrate. Birthdays, anniversaries, graduations. We turn baked goods into balls of flaming death and wait for someone to blow saliva all over the treats so we can devour them and cheer on the recipient of our congratulations. I for one have celebrated many things. Birthdays of course are the number one on my list but this year I have something new to celebrate. Something that I never thought I’d be cheering myself on about. Sobriety. Yes, you heard me. I’m coming up on one solid year of being clean from narcotic pain killers. Some may say that isn’t something to celebrate, that I should be ashamed that I was ever in that sort of situation. Truth be told, I was ashamed. I didn’t want anyone knowing I had a problem. What would they think of me? Would they turn away from me because of my past? The fallout I envisioned was comparable to nuclear meltdown in my life. I didn’t want or need for any of those things to happen. What changed my mind? Secrets can only be hidden for so long. Eventually they rear their ugly head and somehow you are exposed in a negative light without being able to tell your side of the story or defend yourself. The best way to combat that was to come clean (no pun intended). You’ll notice that recently I did come clean about my problem (there’s a blog post about it). Somehow I found healing in that post, like it was something I needed to do in order to close the wounds that were so ferociously ripped open by my addiction. Clicking the ‘publish’ button on that blog was one of the most nerve racking things I’ve ever done in my life. But after it was over, I sat back and thought ‘this is it. This is where I begin the new leg of my journey.’ And it was. It was a day when I put the old me into a little box and told her to behave. Believe it or not, she’s been behaving like a dream!

One year. A lot can happen in a year. Births, deaths. In a way I was reborn and I killed off the person I was before. It feels great not having to depend on something that was literally killing me from the inside out. I wake up with a clear head and I’m always ready to face things with positivity. Life is pretty damn good.

After a whole year of being clean, I began to ponder some things about addiction. The foremost of them was the ease of actually getting pills. I never bought them off the street, but I did doctor shop and lie about something happening to the bottle I already had. Yeah, I was a shitty person. It’s okay, you’re more than welcome to call me that, it doesn’t hurt. I found myself visiting with my regular physician today though and fired up a conversation about this topic. She was more than happy to discuss this with me, knowing my history with pills. I wanted to hear her opinion as a professional about how she toes the line in issuing narcotic pain killers. First of all, doctors are primarily compassionate people. They went into their field of study because they care about people and want to heal them. So in my mind, I would think it would be hard to turn someone down if they walked in saying they were in pain. She confirmed my suspicion. “It is hard. There’s a line drawn between professionalism and what’s legal, compared to what I feel personally for a human being. It’s difficult to look at someone who claims they’re in pain and say ‘I’m sorry, I can’t give you this’”. “We are here to help people feel better, but in the back of your mind you have to think of the worst case scenario.” I have to agree with her on this. I am a fairly compassionate person myself. It would kill me to say no to someone who claims to be in horrible pain. I went on to ask her how she deals with something like this. “Honestly, I don’t deal a lot in pain management. If I think they are being truthful about their pain, I refer them to a pain management specialist.” I know from firsthand experience that a pain management specialist isn’t like a regular physician. In order for you to get drugs from them, you are required to take a psych evaluation. They make you jump through so many hoops that by the time you’re done, you’ve already found a sucker doctor to give you more pills. So kudos to her for making the right call when it comes to people in pain. Point blank, if someone is in real pain, they will do what they have to in order to heal from that pain.

Another topic that my doctor and I discussed was about my future. No, not my career or anything like that. It was a discussion about “what happens if you need another surgery, or even do something like break your leg?” It was a valid question. “Sure you could try to tough it out and suffer through it, but I don’t recommend that.” No, I don’t really think I’d like to ‘suffer through’ my femur being snapped in half, if this unfortunate event ever came about. I’d want something to dull the pain for sure, who wouldn’t? I’m no martyr that’s for damn sure. To her question though I already had an answer ready. See, when you go through something as epic as addiction and come out alive on the other side, you always need a contingency plan. A plan B, if you will. I’ve had my plan B ready since the day I decided to give up my addiction. If I ever meet with an unfortunate accident or require surgery, I have let my husband know he will be my ‘dealer’ for all intents and purposes. He will give me the prescribed dosage of medicine when I need it. Now, it won’t be one of those things where I’m allowed 6 pills a day and he hands them to me each morning…no, that would be stupid. The brain of an addict will always try to revert back to past behavior. Giving a recovering addict 6 pills is like giving a small child 6 Snickers Bars and expecting them to not eat every single one in 30 seconds. It’s hard to practice self-control when you have a past of addiction. Ask any former addict, they will tell you the same thing. Medicine will have to be dosed out individually. And I’m okay with that. I’ll need help, and I’ll ask for help. I’m not too proud to ask for help in keeping myself clean. It’s all part of the game. A game that I am winning and will continue to win. Retraining your brain isn’t an easy task. It takes more determination than you can possibly imagine. But what’s the only saying? “Anything worth having, is worth fighting for”? Something like that I suppose. Yeah, I did this for me. Making the decision to be clean was one of the most selfish choices I’ve ever made. But instead of feeling bad about it, I feel empowered. Like I’ve slayed the dragon and I now hold its head in my fist as a trophy, a reminder of sorts.

Maybe this has opened your eyes to other types of celebrations that people do. Maybe you will read this and be judgmental about my past. But here’s the thing…I’ve spent the past year judging myself. I have beat myself up more times than I can count. Did it do any good? No. I was still the same person after my lashings. I am still standing strong and learning from my mistakes. The great thing is that I can recognize them now. I can look at things with a fresh perspective and smile because I was given a second chance. I was given the opportunity to make amends with myself and say ‘it’s okay, I messed up. But I will do better’.

Don’t be so hard on yourself for your shortcomings. Most of them are only stepping stones to get to a brighter future. The less time you spend hating yourself, the more time you have to enjoy the life you’ve been given.

Peace, Love and Pages

C.D. Taylor/Taylor Dawn

Will you be in the Harrisburg PA area on July 25th 2015? If so, come by and see me at the Kiss and Tell Author Event! Get books signed, awesome swag, and a chance to have lunch and party with some awesome authors…including me of course!

Grab your tickets here!

http://www.kissandtellauthorevent.blogspot.com/p/spon.html

AVAILABLE NOW!!!

The List. That Signified Finality.

The Journey. That Would Span The Globe.

The Sacrifice. That Would Decide The Outcome.

The Choice. That Could Unleash Evil On Earth.

The End Is Only The Beginning…

“You have terminal cancer.”

London Patterson, a seemingly healthy young woman, had her entire life ahead of her. That was until four little words brought everything to a screeching halt. As the shock and grief begin to fade, London decides to map out her last year and embark on an epic journey to complete a bucket list. She wants to do the things she’s been afraid to do in her life, step out of her self-contained box, and see the world. What she didn’t expect was for a mysterious stranger named Adam to breeze into her life like a breath of fresh air.

Adam offers to help London complete her list on one condition…that she sees it through to the end. Agreeing on those terms, the two set out on an adventure of a lifetime. But London soon realizes that Adam isn’t quite…human. Along their journey odd occurrences happen that cause London to question who or what Adam is and why he’s helping her.

Follow London as she checks off her bucket list in this inspiring new Urban Fantasy novel from Taylor Dawn.

Click the buttons to buy now!

Saving London Book Trailer

Click here to watch!

WORLD DOMINATION?!!! NO PROBLEM, LET ME GET MY CAPE…

So you’ve been asked to do a Facebook takeover for a fellow author or event? I know what you’re thinking and feeling—if you’ve never done one of these. It can be an intimidating proposition to say the least. What should I do? What will I say? Holy shit, I have to talk to people for a whole hour?! *cue horror music and bloodshed*.

Seriously though, it’s not that bad! If you know what steps to take, these events can be more fun than a barrel full of monkeys. (I’ve never had a barrel full of monkeys, I’m just assuming here). I’ve done more than my share of takeovers and with each one I gain wisdom on what it takes to make yourself a success during that 30 minutes or hours’ time.

I’d like to share my steps with you, to help get you over the takeover hump!! (You can thank me later)

STEP 1: What exactly are you selling here?

Books right? I mean, you are an author after all. So you’re there to hock books and shove words down the throats of readers, right? WRONG!!!! If this is your mindset, then you need to decline said invite to the party. You’re not there to sell books, you’re there to sell YOURSELF. Yeah that’s right, it’s your time to pimp YOU. Readers want to know who you are. They want a glimpse into the person behind the keyboard, so freaking give it to them. Sure, you could spend an hour posting links to your novels, tell them to like every page you have set up, but doesn’t that get boring after a while? YES IT DOES! Here’s a familiar scenario that everyone has certainly been in…You’re walking through the department store and BAM, you get sprayed in the face with perfume by some crazy lady at the cosmetics counter. She gives you 9,000 reasons why you need this junk and does everything but offer you sexual favors if you buy it. So you go home smelling like you’ve been in a brothel all day and have a bottle of fragrance that is a cross between eau de skunk and roses. She didn’t let you choose if you liked it, she shoved it on you and you felt obligated to purchase it. Same goes for books and readers. Readers are fickle, I know this because I am one myself. I want to make damn sure the book I download is going to be one I will enjoy. So post your links, show me a fun teaser, and back the F off for a bit. I don’t need a million reasons as to why I should buy your book. I am a human being completely capable of making decisions on my own. Moral of step 1…Let the guests have freedom of choice.

STEP 2: A picture is worth a thousand words!

When you scroll through Facebook what is the one thing that usually stops you dead in your tracks? Is it the story of Sally Jane’s 6 kids taking a bath in peanut butter? Or is it the meme of Batman twerking to a Justin Bieber song? Yeah, it’s the second one for me too. Human beings are visual creatures. We see the world in bright colors and love to grasp the spectrum of those colors through images. The good news, the internet it chock full of images, ripe for the picking! Harvest them my young grasshopper! Don’t just write a sentence about how the weather is where you live, go find a funny image of a half-naked chipmunk dancing in the rain. People will be hitting the like button like crazy. I put some sort of image with every single post I make. I search for something along the lines of my topic and I add in a photo. Facebook is like a black hole, things get lost in the blink of an eye. If you write out a sentence only and no body comments or likes it, well, it’s gonna fall to the bottom of the page, never to be seen again. *Insert crying kitty meme here*. So use the tools in front of you, Google Images is a wonderland of awesomeness if you’d just utilize it. So save images and memes to your desktop for the event. For those OCD and don’t want clutter on your desktop…well, I’d tell you where you can save them, but this is a happy place here.

STEP 3: Even actors have scripts!

Nah it’s not cheating to have a script ready! I certainly do. Before I even begin my takeover I make sure to have something in front of me to go by. Here’s my trick…I open a Word doc and write out my script for the event. I keep it open along with the event page and when I’m up to bat, I just copy and paste my lines. Now, I’ll admit, I do half improv and half scripted. Sometimes you need to just go with the flow and stray from the planned assortment of awesome you have waiting in the wings. But having the words right in front of you will take most of the stress away and let you enjoy yourself and your fans. Oh and be sure to go in and type ‘DONE’ in front of something you’ve already copied and pasted into the event. Trust me, I’ve been the ass of many jokes by re-posting my stuff by accident.

STEP 4: What? You mean I actually have to interact with these people?

I’ve seen it time and time again. A post is made, guests comment, and that’s it. The author fails to interact with their people! This is a huge NO NO. Like I said in step 1, the readers want to play along with you, they want to know YOU. So give the people what they want. You aren’t some posting robot, only there to throw things at the Facebook wall and see if it sticks. You need to talk to people. So make sure you keep on track of what is going on during your event time. If they ask you a question, answer it to the best of your abilities. If someone says something funny, reply with ‘LOL’ or ‘LMAO’. You don’t have to write a novel back to them, just show them you care by showing your face. Ask open ended questions. Things like ‘what is your biggest fear?’ ‘Who would you want to meet—living or dead—if you could meet anyone?’ even ‘where does everyone hail from?’ works as a good conversation starter. Stay away from religion and politics (unless it directly relates to the topic of your book). Offending people is a sure fire way to become a grade A Author Asshole. You don’t want to get into a fight with someone because you think the pope should dance to Gangnam Style on Easter morning. You practice safe sex, so put your brain condom on and think smart when it comes to interacting with people online. Sometimes words can be misconstrued in writing, so tread lightly when choosing your topics.

STEP 5: Free shit rocks!!!!

Who doesn’t love winning things? If you don’t, dare I say you are some sort of communist. Personally, I love giving things away, but that’s just me. You may be stingy and think that your books need to be plated in gold and kept under lock and key, but how they hell are you to gain new readers with that snarky attitude? You’re not. So stop being a douche biscuit and give things away! Offer a free E-book to a contest winner, gift a copy of a fellow author’s book to someone. It’s not like I’m asking you to give your first born child over for ritual sacrifice. Another thing that readers love is what we like to call ‘book swag’. It can be anything from keychains, bookmarks, coffee mugs or even an inexpensive piece of costume jewelry. Let’s face it, most authors aren’t rolling around in piles of cash. If you are, kudos to you, you clearly slept with the right person (ha-ha it was a joke. Lighten up.) So look around next time you’re out shopping. You might run across a cheap pair of pearl earrings that look like the ones your character wore in your romance novel. A reader would love to hear the story and possibly win those!

STEP 6: Time is money!

Yes, time is money. Authors realize this better than most. Every minute we aren’t tapping away on the keyboard is another book that isn’t getting published. So the lesson here is that if you are scheduled for an event, show the hell up for it! Tardiness is not acceptable. You are putting a strain on the author who will be up after you. You are shortening the time of everyone, not only yourself. If you think you might have a schedule conflict, contact the event coordinator ASAP. They can either move you around or find someone else to fill that time slot. Moral of the story is: Don’t be an ass.

STEP 7: How often am I supposed to post stuff!?

Okay, don’t panic! I’ve got this. Think of it this way, the more you post, the more your face is seen, right? So you want to find a balance between ‘sweet flow’ and ‘holy shit, is that the flash on the other end of this thing?!” Most takeovers will either be 1 hour or 30 minutes. This is how I do mine…

1 hour Takeover- 9-10 posts. This will be an average of a post going up every 6-7 minutes. It’s enough to keep the spotlight. You don’t want to try for too many more or people can’t keep up with you. If I see that one of my posts are becoming pretty active, I will hold off on one of my posts so I can interact more with my fans.

30 Minute Takeover- 5-6 posts. I try for 6 because that puts me at every 5 minutes posting. 30 minute spots are fast and furious, so it’s okay to post more frequently, people expect it. Beware though with a 30 min spot, it will buzz by very quickly. So don’t get up to pee or have a cig. Your time will be gone before you know it.

*Note*

Always have a ‘spare’ post waiting in the wings. You may not use it and that’s fine, but you for sure don’t want to run out of things to post. You’ll be wide eyed and in a panic to try and find something to say. A good spare post to have on hand is an “Ask me Anything” post.

STEP 7: You mean I have to play games? I hate monopoly!

No worries, the monopoly guy stays hidden for this one. One thing I adore doing during a takeover is playing games with fans! But there is that ever daunting task of figuring out what type of games to play. So let’s think about this shall we? We are authors, the creators of alternate universes, the makers of erotic love scenes, the Dexter’s behind the keyboard. Surely you have some creative cells left to think of some fun games to play right? Well the internet is your guide once more. Search and you will find! But I will provide you with a small list of games that I’ve found to work extremely well in getting interaction.

Takeover Games

Replace a word in a movie title with the word…’goat, bacon, boobs, etc.’

Make a happy song sad… ‘Flabby-instead of Happy by Pharrell’

Caption this pic

Find me a hilarious meme

Post the 13th (or whatever number you want) photo in your camera roll

Post a pic of your dream guy (Works great for romance takeovers)

What’s on your bucket list (Tell them something on your list too, it shows them you are in fact a human with hopes and dreams)

Now, this is a short list of the ones I use, I have an entire arsenal at my disposal. So use those creative juices for something other than killing people off and making them drink a thousand cups of coffee in your books.

STEP 8: Stop trying to keep up with the Joneses…

We are all different, so don’t compare yourself to the author that did the time slot right before you. If you sit back and say ‘uh, I can’t do as well as he did’ then chances are, you’re going to blow it and suck balls. You have one chance to make a good first impression, don’t stub your toe because Penny came on and rocked out her hour ahead of you. First of all…YOU’RE NOT HER!!! So suck it up buttercup. You didn’t get pushed out of the same womb the other author did, and you didn’t share your mac and cheese all through grade school with them. So stop trying to be like them. BE YOURSELF! Some will love you and some will hate you. You cannot control how others feel. But you can control how you handle yourself. So when it’s your time to bat, grab that hunk of wood, take a few practice swings and aim for the parking lot. If the balls fouls, then you rear back and hit it again until you have a homerun you can cheer for. You won’t be perfect on your first attempt either. I stumbled over myself like crazy during my first one. I wasn’t sure which way was up and I literally made shit up as I went. But I’ve learned that the best offense is a good defense.

STEP 9: It’s not the end of the world…is it?

I can assure you that it is NOT in fact, the end of the world. Doing a takeover is a small blip in the space time continuum. Yes, you will have sweaty palms, you’ll feel like you’re going to pee your pants, and yes, your children will choose that hour to behave in a manner that is only fitting for zoo animals. Chill the hell out. The people on the other end of that takeover have lives too. They know that children act crazy, animals poop in the floor, and that a human needs to potty every now and again. So you need to relax. They don’t expect you to exude perfection, but they do expect you to exude confidence. Even online I can tell if someone is less than confident in what they are posting. It’s not pretty. It’s the equivalent to a plane going down in flames. In fact, let me give you an example of confidence vs. non-confidence…

Example 1 Non-Confidence Posting: Hi, I’m C.D. Taylor. I write romance books. How are you today? Below are the links to my social media sites. I hope you check them out.

Example 2 Confidence Posting: Happy Hump Day peeps! I’m known by 2 names in the book world, C.D. Taylor for my steamy romance and Taylor Dawn for my awesome urban fantasy. I’m excited to hang with you guys for the next hour. So let’s say we play some games, talk some books and cause some trouble?! If we crash the internet…I’m blaming it on you guys! Below are my links if you wanna stalk me when we’re done here. So let’s get this party started!!!!

You tell me…which one would you want to stick around for? The decision is easy for me. I want the person who inspires excitement in me, someone who clearly wants to have some fun for the next hour!

STEP 10: FUN? What is this FUN you speak of?

Imagine you’ve just gotten off work, you log into your Facebook account and see that you joined a party you’d forgotten about. You’re so damn tired, but you really want to see what’s going on. You click in and find that all there is, is links to buy books….BORING!!! Yeah, I’d be visiting my good friend the pillow. If I join something, it’s because there’s an opportunity to have fun. I want to laugh, joke around, and be stupid…yes I said stupid. That’s what your fans want. They don’t want an hour of someone saying ‘blah blah blah books, blah blah blah my cat, blah blah blah’ they want to have genuine fun. My motto has always been ‘Life is short, pull the stick outta your ass’. It’s a good motto to live by. But don’t steal it, it’s mine! So when you plan your takeover, put yourself in the shoes of your fans. What would you want if you logged into an event? Some stuffed shirt giving you the Gettysburg Address? Or some crazy fun person offering you a chance to caption a meme with 2 hamsters, a half dressed man and a goat?! I’m going for the goat, all the way, baby!

There you have it, my steps for a successful Facebook takeover! This may help some, and some may push it to the side and say ‘EW’. But that’s okay. This won’t be for everyone. But for those who don’t have a stick up your ass, I really hope this will inspire you to go out there and sign up for some takeover spots. I know you have the creativity to do this, otherwise, you wouldn’t be writing books in the first place. I wish you the best of luck in your quest for Facebook domination and if you need me, you know where to find me….Facebook, Twitter, Email…hell, I’m freaking EVERYWHERE!!!

Peace, Love and Pages

C.D. Taylor/Taylor Dawn

5 Reasons to Read Saving London

 Travel the World without leaving home: Saving London is a story about an epic journey to complete a bucket list. London gets to visit countries all over the world to complete her list. Travel with her and experience her adventures.

Laughter is the best medicine: Who doesn’t love to laugh? London and Adam have a funny friendship that will have you giggling at their comments and comebacks.

What is LIFE: London’s life is timed. What would you do if yours was? Would you sit and wallow in misery or be like London and do the things you’ve always wanted to?

Family is forever: London was adopted when she was a small child. She didn’t have the best childhood and she longs for the connection of family. Do you have family? Hold them close and cherish them. London would if she had the option.

Emotion ocean: Fear, Sadness, Excitement….yeah, the list is endless with Saving London. You will find yourself on an emotional roller-coaster while flipping through the pages. Isn’t that what a great book is supposed to do?

What are you waiting for? Pre-Order Saving London on Amazon now! Get ready for the journey on June 9t

Peace, Love and Pages

C.D. Taylor/Taylor Dawn