Super Short Snippet of Aileen 4

I'm on my final read through of the book. I'd planned to have a cover and preorder for you guys, but I'm still waiting on one piece. I'm hoping to have everything in order by the end of this week. Here is a bribe in the meantime. 

Snippet

“What was that?” he asked through gritted teeth.

“I didn’t want to risk blood staining this dress,” I told him.

“Why am I not surprised?” he asked, not giving me time to look around the room as he hurried me to the dais where Thomas sat on an ornate chair, like a king surveying his subjects.

It was a surprising sight. Thomas expected a certain respect from those under his command, but he hadn’t struck me as the type to go this feudal. He watched us with an interested gaze, noting the tension in both our faces.

“Usually one tries not to bring themselves to the attention of the biggest predator in the room,” Liam said.

“You’re welcome,” I told him.

“For what?”

“For interfering before you could do something you’d regret.”

“I had myself perfectly under control.”

I gave him a sideways look. “Uh huh.”

A small growl slipped from him as he propelled me up onto the dais, positioning me at Thomas’s side, just behind his chair before taking his place next to me on Thomas’s other side.

“Problem?” Thomas asked.

“No,” came Liam’s abrupt response.

Thomas looked at me.

I shrugged. “He’s sensitive.”

Time To Beta

It's been a longer road than I anticipated getting to this point. Aileen 4 was more difficult to write than what is typical for a book in this series, but I did it. IDraft two is complete and Aileen's fourth adventure is finally ready for eyes other than my own. That means it's time to reach out to beta readers. 

For those unused to the term "beta reader", this is the stage of the process where the author (me) reaches out to readers (you) to get their impression of the book. It's a way to check the stories temperature and make sure it hits all the notes I want it to with readers. At this point, it's still fairly unpolished with odd grammatical and factual errors. I'm not looking for a hardcore grammar edit. Instead, betas help with pointing out inconsistencies in the story line or character.

For example: Aileen has a gun at the beginning of the scene, then big bad attacks and there is no gun by the end of the scene. What happened to the gun?

Or - I don't understand how we got from point a in the story point b. Something just doesn't feel right.

In Wayfarer's Keep I actually reworked a good chunk of the ending because of the feedback I got at this stage of the process. People felt Shea didn't react in a way consistent with how they'd come to know her in the series. For all that it added almost 15,000 words to the manuscript and took a while to rewrite, I think it's a better book for the changes.

If the above hasn't scared you off and you're still interested, keep reading. Below is an explanation of my expectations. It's a first come, first serve type of opportunity and priority will be given to those who've beta read for me in the past.

Please, please, please, don't volunteer unless you have the time and attention to do this. You'll take the slot from someone who does. I will be doing advanced reader copies again this time which is a lot less of a commitment.

Beta Reader Guidelines and Caveat

Here's how you can volunteer: Private message me through my Facebook page or email me at info@tawhiteauthor.com asking to be a beta reader and committing to the guidelines posted below. Also please let me know if you'd like a kindle version or other ereader version. I can't guarantee I'll choose you as there has been a lot of interest in this in the past, and I can only wade through so many comments at a time without getting overwhelmed and falling into a dark pit of despair.

Beta Guidelines:

This part of the process for me takes place before I send the manuscript to the editor. That means the copy is a little rough still. I'm not looking for intense grammar editing. I'm more focused on comments on the story- pace, structure, characters, things that don't make sense. That kind of stuff. I will outline these questions in more detail for those who participate.

The other thing I ask is for people to send it back to me in the time allotted. I'm asking for it back by Sept. 26th.

I also ask that you agree not to share the story with anyone or upload it to any sites. I know for most of you that would never cross your mind, but I need to say it anyway.

Also, be aware that I may not use your suggestions as my opinion trumps everyone else's. Sometimes you ask questions that I want asked or a suggestion goes against what I'm trying to accomplish.

One final note: Beta reading is not for everyone. For instance, I don't beta read for people because I like getting caught up in the story and not paying attention to the things that irk me. For that reason, I will be doing advance reader copies that will take place at the end of the process and will require less critical thinking on the reader's part--hopefully.

If you're interested, let me know. If you're not, I hope you enjoy the book when it comes out.

Sneak Peak

Only a few more weeks until Moonlight's Ambassador is released into the wild. I'm very excited for this book. A lot happens in Aileen's world. Things are revealed, people are betrayed, and vampires. So many vampires. I can't wait for you guys to read it.

In the meantime, here is chapter one for your reading pleasure. :-)

Chapter One

Checking In

Since we're over the half way point of the year, I wanted to resurrected my post from January that laid out my game plan to see how I've fared in achieving my goals

• Pathfinder's Way audio book and print version Published in January
• Midnight's Emissary Published Feb. 7 in both print and ebook
• Dragon-Ridden 2 Published as Of Bone and Ruin on May 18 
• Short story set in the Dragon Ridden World Written and released through the blog. Ebook coming soon
• Pathfinder 2 - Written and in the editing stages
• Revamp of website and blog - Not even started
• Writer's conference in May - Didn't happen 

New items to add to the list

• Create marketing plans for the different series
• Short story in the Pathfinder world
• Begin planning Aileen 3

All in all, I think I have been pretty successful so far cutting through the items on my to-do list. I still have a ways to go, but I feel confident as I work through the back end of the year. I'm excited to see what's in store for me in the coming months.