Literary Love

Readers: Thank you for being so patient while I work to complete 'Keeping Claudia,' the sequel to Saving Toby. In the meantime, I thought I would offer you a little insight to my creative process. When writing a novel, an author must know her characters well enough to consider how they will react and behave in almost any situation. For this, we create a character bible. A character bible is a bio of sorts that  includes a charcter's basic backstory, attitudes, desires and such. This one was created for 21-year old Toby Faye. Some of you will recognize a part of it that I adjusted to fit into the actual storyline.  Enjoy! The room has a decent-sized crowd, but I'm not nervous nor intimidated by this. It's an informal gig, and most of them don’t even know who I am, but that’s okay. I gonna play anyway. I begin to talk to them like we're all friends. They quiet down, and I begin to strum. I like the feeling of my guitar in my hands, and I am p...

A note from the author My Friends: The release of my debut novel, “Saving Toby” has been the most incredible journey! I have been stopped by people in my hometown, contacted through Facebook, emailed, and been private messaged by readers who fell in love with my characters and were moved by the story. There is nothing quite like having someone gush about your work. I truly feel blessed by the amazing reviews and outpouring of love that have followed the release of the novel. I am currently working on the sequel, “Keeping Claudia,” but writing a book is a huge undertaking, especially for a slow, measured writer like myself. At times, I envy those authors who can crank out a novel every few months, but unfortunately, I will never be one of them. I apologize for making readers wait for the continuation of Toby and Claudia’s story, but I am deeply passionate about crafting the best possible work I can before it goes out for public consumption. Please know I am in the ...

This might be the most painful question ever asked an author. At least it was for me. When well-meaning friends or acquaintances approached me at parties and gatherings with this question, I almost always stumbled to answer. What was my book about? I’m the author—if anyone should know, you’d think it would be me, right? Saving Toby is my debut novel, and when I set out to write it, I wanted to produce a piece of writing I was proud of, to plow my path and firmly set my place in the literary world. So why did my ears burn and words fail me whenever this question arose? It’s because, early in the process, I honestly didn’t know what the book was about. Sounds strange, but it’s true. Starting with a small idea, I wrote Saving Toby from my heart. I never once considered what genre it would be, or how I would market it. The story is contemporary because one of the plot issues is, unfortunately, a current event—a hate crime and the lack of acceptance of diversity. But it’s ...

(Tour ran February - March 2014, and is currently over, but you can still click on the links to see reviews) Saving Toby Month-Long Book Blog Tour   Enter to win an autographed copy! Or click here to buy the book Hop on board and join me on this ride! Irresistible Read Tours is a reader blog that, in conjunction with other reader blogs, reviews books and gives Indie Authors like myself a place for the public to get to know us and hear about our books. This tour will include over 20 Blog Stops! Each stop will feature something about Saving Toby, book excerpts, and/or reviews and guest posts from me.  THERE ARE PRIZES TO BE WON!  Each stop will offer a chance to win an Amazon gift card. In addition, two copies of the newly released Saving Toby paperback will be up for grabs! DAILY TOUR STOPS: Thursday, March 6 Promotional bit at Haloangel Reads. Rafflecopter is posted and boasting 1880 entries for the giftcard and book giveaway. Tour is wind...

Sexy bad boy, Toby Faye, 5 star hot? Nowadays it is so easy to get free or inexpensive ebooks, it's almost insane. I currently get emails from BookBub and SweetFreeBooks... Daily emails, each one offering anywhere from two to six free or low cost books. And these are just two of many ebook sites. Like a food buffet, I was excited about the many choices available, and at first, downloaded anything that sounded interesting. But in grabbing these literary bargains, I found for the most part that as I continued to accumulate title after title, I lost track of what I had. And like those overloaded  restuarant  buffet plates that often go uneaten, my Kindle is loaded with books that remain unread. In trying to put myself on a download diet, and consume more mindfully, I now  check titles on Goodreads.com in search of decent reviews and ratings before I download new books. Oftentimes, however, my  opinions  don't align with the ratings given by readers...

For your entertainment, I present a  fictional  short story, a contrived version of my writing process during my first novel. Loosely formatted, not professionally edited (please excuse any typos!)  A Writer's Love Story   Part I A disgruntled sigh breaks into my sleep. I open one heavy eyelid, then the other. Sitting up, I yank my blanket to my chin as if they will offer me an iota of protection against the guy sitting at the foot of my bed. But the stranger didn't appear to be menacing. Or all that interested in me. Leaning forward, he interlocks his fingers and seemingly contemplates the complexity of his hands. 
 I take his rumination as a chance to get a good look at him. He is young—in his early twenties—thin, but well built, with broad muscular shoulders. His tawny colored hair is on the longish side and curls around his ears and midway down the back of his neck. He is dressed casually in a T-shirt and faded blue jeans. The jeans hug his hips and su...

When my second, and youngest, child got his driver’s license, the ecological side of me decided I needed to downsize my car. It’s been years since I’d toted around Girl Scout or Boy Scout troops or organized carpools to and from school or extracurricular activities. A smaller car made sense. But moving my eldest child back and forth between cities for clinical rotations made me long for the vast boxy-ness of my previous Chevy Astro van. A road trip to Pittsburgh from our Long Island hometown this past week, served two purposes: to celebrate Thanksgiving as a complete family unit, and to move my daughter out of her latest, clinical setting at UPMC. My family and I enjoyed traipsing through the mountainous and picturesque ‘City of Bridges.’ We laughed, we took silly pictures, and we ate turkey, together. But on our last night, I could see the stress begin to set in. Both my husband and my daughter, the two so much alike, began to dwell on the move. He asked, “Does she ha...