Followers, Readers, and Everyone else...

If you're not a follower or a reader of my blog...well...I'm not too sure what else you'd be then. A hater? I hope not. Either way, this is for you.

I have a new URL and with it a new blog it is www.tyffanickemp.com. This is my official author webpage. There you will find news on all my releases and upcoming work as well as the updates that I slowly put up here from time to time. lol HOWEVER, I will continue to use this page. I'm planning to start a serial, just to see if it works for me. I'll post half of a story over a period of a few weeks. I may do two posts a week. I haven't decided on the frequency yet. The second half of the story can be acquired by purchasing the ebook version of the story. It's just a trial thing. I'm attempting to do this without the help of Amazon. So in the next few months or so, this blog will be transformed. I hope I will keep your following here, but you can follow my other blog at the link above.

Thanks for your patience over the years. =)

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Guest Post with Diana Pharaoh Francis

Today, I have a guest on the blog! Diana Pharaoh Francis has come by to do a guest post! So I won't carry on about nothings. Welcome Diana!

Hi Tyffani and everybody! Thanks for having me here.

I’m not sure how many of you are acquainted with my Horngate books, so I thought I would do a bit of an introduction and then see if you have questions for me.

There are now four books in the Horngate series and this latest book pretty much finishes the story in a satisfying way.  Max is a Shadowblade, a warrior created and enslaved by her former friend, the witch Giselle. As things begin, Max is involved in doing Giselle’s dirty work. But things rapidly change as a magical apocalypse hits, and everything Max thought she knew is turned inside out.  In the course of the books,  Max finds romance, friendship, and danger.

Okay, that’s the quick and dirty version. But really, I need to tell you that Max is snarky and rude, endlessly loyal, prickly, and stubborn. Her fellow Shadowblades are loyal to her past the point of reason, largely because she is completely unreasonable when it comes to looking out for them. She doesn’t care how much she has to suffer or what horrors she has to go through in order to protect her people. She also doesn’t care how much she has to suffer in order to make Giselle’s life a living hell.

She gets involved with demi-gods, angels, hags, red-caps, demons, and a slew of other mythical creatures.

One of my favorite elements of these books are Max’s relationships with her friends. They know how to laugh and play. They have triumphs and joy balanced again loss and heartbreak.  They depend on their tight bonds to get through it all.

Here’s a teeny tiny taste: 

Max overtook him stepping in front of him as a shield. “Just because you helped them doesn’t mean they aren’t going to try and kill you,” she said.

“I’ll take my chances.”

Tyler came abreast of Max. “You’re taking our chances, too,” he said.

“Walk away then. I won’t tell.”

“Yeah, that’s not going to happen,” Tyler said. “Even if I was willing to leave you, Max wouldn’t, and I won’t leave her. We’re like those cousins who show up at holidays to eat all the food and never leave. You’re stuck with us.”

These books are jam-packed with adventure, magic, romance, and fun. I hope you get a chance to pick them up and I’d love to hear with you think. If you have any questions, shoot! I’m here to answer.

Reader chapter exerpts on my website and get a lot more info: www.dianapfrancis.com

Follow me on twitter: @dianapfrancis

Or look me up on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Diana-Pharaoh-Francis-Fantasy-Writer/163098893459?ref=ts&fref=ts

Thank you soo much for joining us, Diana! I know I can't wait to dive right into this one!

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Next Big Thing Blog Hop

I was invited to participate in the Next Big Thing Blog Hop by Lynn Crain.

Ten Interview Questions for the Next Big Thing:

What is your working title of your book? It's a duology. Right now I'm calling them the Beasty Books but the titles are Beast Within and Beast Anew.

Where did the idea come from for the book? I had a dream starring Chris Hemsworth. =) One scene in particular stuck with me, so I wrote it down and kept writing. It became the Beasty Books.

What genre does your book fall under? Adult Supernatural Urban Fantasy

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? Chris Hemsworth, Paul Bettany, and James Purefoy so far. Maybe Jennifer Lawrence as well. I haven't casted my female MC yet. lol

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? Gabriel Slade has an ancient curse and only the unconditional love of the right woman can break it.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? I will self-pub under my publishing company SideStreet Cookie Publishing LLC.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? Beast Within took a week. Beast Anew took a little over a month, but I was preoccupied with NaNoWriMo and didn't have an exact ending point for it when I first started.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? Hm...That's a good question. Now that the stories are done, it's a little harder to choose. It is a Beauty and the Beast remake, but there are some twists that I don't want to give away yet. ;)

Who or what inspired you to write this book? Chris Hemsworth and his pretty blue eyes and blonde hair. lol

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? Well, if you can picture Thor while you're reading it, I think that should be good enough. lol

Now, I will tag five other bloggers to participate!

J.A. Howell @ Midtown-Underground.com

Shannan Albright @ www.shannanalbright.blogspot.com

Amy Ravenel @ http://www.ravenela.dreamwidth.com

Casey-Lyne @ naughtypagesofphoenix.blogspot.com

Donna Hole @ donnahole.blogspot.com/

For the ones that I've tagged, the goal is to tag five more people. In the first paragraph, tag Lynn as she is the originator of the hop and tag me for tagging you! Then copy paste the questions, answer about your current WIP and keep the hop going. Tell everyone you can about your post and the posts to come. The idea is to keep this going as long as we can for the ultimate in author sharing!

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Zombies VS. The Bible Fail

So, I know I said I was going to do these blog posts about Zombies in the Bible, and I had every intention of doing it, but I got caught up with some really great writing (Seriously, you're going to be blown away) and then NaNo came up and I just haven't had the time to do much blogging. With Christmas and New Years coming up, not to mention ALLLLLLL of the edits I need to do because of all the writing I've done this year I don't think I'll be able to do it before the year is over. SO, what I'm going to do is after the New Year I will start it up. I promise no less than 5 posts. I know that's not a lot, but it will last a little over a month. Who knows. While I'm doing my research, I'll probably end up with more or I may get requests from others to check other things out. =)

Thanks for bearing with me. Also, if you were following my Bake-A-Palooza...yeah, I've baked, I just haven't posted. I'll work on that too. =)

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**YOU** Could Star in My Video!!!

In case you were unaware, back in September my friend Kim and I started an indie publishing company called SideStreet Cookie Publishing LLC, under which name I have published my first novel Scorned. It is available at Amazon.com. It's not easy starting a publishing company, of course I know that, and with the limited resources (aka, monies) it's been more than difficult to get started.

Okay, I am NOT asking for $$$ from any of you, but I AM asking for your faces. =) And your voices. I am entering SideStreet for a business grant by Scion for entrepreneurs for the chance to win $10,000, a scion car of my choice, and time to spend with mentors who can help push my company forward. All I need from you are testimonials in the form of two or three short videos: (1) Telling why I should be considered for this grant, (2) I will probably have you say a short sentence or two that I have decided on, (3) I may ask you to write something on a sign or wall or mirror or anything creative and cute and hold it up for the camera.

I will have more details about the video later. Of course, it will be posted here and on youtube so you can share it and let everyone know about it. Once I have the details ironed out, I will post again. And I will come up with a gift or something to show my gratitude to everyone who helps.

Please visit and like SideStreet's Facebook page. Share this post and help get the word out.

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NaNo - Day 5

I've hit just above the halfway mark for NaNoWriMo. It's going well and I'm absolutely loving this story. Halfway through I decided my MC wasn't what she needed to be. So instead of being the mild-mannered hybrid human-angel who follows the rules even though they go against everything she desires, she has become a rebellious, tattooed, badass hybrid and something else. I'm not entirely sure what yet. lol So the story continues to develop as I go. I was going to post a synopsis to kind of give an idea, but I don't have one anymore. This story keeps getting darker and I'm loving it.

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Author Marketing Club

I think one of the hardest things about being an Indie author is marketing and promotion. I did a little research before I started. At the time I thought I was being thorough, but as I continue to research I find all the things I missed and realize what I was doing wasn't really as great as I thought.

The other night I stumbled across The Author Marketing Club. It's free promotion. All you have to do is sign up. It's pretty impressive. I found this right before my book went up for free over Halloween and I got almost 250 downloads. =) Authors need to check this out. It's proven helpful so far.

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