Unexpected Metamorphosis and Unexpected Entrapment is available online as a paperback and many forms of ebook at:

Amazon

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Also available on Itunes

Autographed paperbacks can be purchased through the publishing company via Paypal for $14.00, or $26.00 for two. That includes U.S. shipping and sales tax. Please be sure to list the name and address you would like your copy mailed to. Also, be sure to write whose name goes inside the book and any special message if you have a preference for what is to be written.

Who is Tianna Holley?  I am a wife, mother and author living outside of Atlanta, Georgia.  When I’m not writing, I love to bake with freshly ground wheat and travel to new places.   The fantasy genre has always been a favorite of mine, and you can see that by the books I read and the movies I watch. I can easily get lost in another world and spend an entire night reading until I’ve made it to the end, even at the cost of exhaustion the very next day. Some stories are just too hard to put down and walk away from.

After leaving my career as a paralegal over thirteen years ago, I have spent my time home schooling and caring for my children at home.  Call it a midlife crisis or my passion of writing has finally caught up with me, but I am now taking the leap of faith and doing what I love.  Reading has always been an escape for me, and now I have passionately fallen for writing.

I would love to hear feedback from each and every one of my readers, and I eagerly await your comments.

Are you an aspiring author with a work in progress?  Since becoming a published author, I have met many people filled with questions about publishing, writing, and marketing.  After many hours of research, classes and a conference, I am ready to share my knowledge with others.  Do I know everything  to know about being an author?  Of course not!  However, I wish that someone had given me all the information I now have a year before the release of Unexpected Metamorphosis.  A lot of my timing was off, and I had to learn a lot from trial and error.  I can save you some of the mistakes I’ve made. Having a book published is not all about writing.  There’s a lot of hard work and many hours that have to be spent in doing other things. I love to write, and I love to talk at speaking engagements.  Answering questions and helping other aspiring authors is somewhat a passion of mine.  The idea of using Skype to do an hour training session came to me one night, and I’m willing to test it out.  For $20 paid via PayPal, I will sit down and go over the following:

• Self-publishing vs. traditional
• ISBNs
• Building a platform/social media (FB, Twitter, LinkedIn, Amazon Author Page, Shellfari, Google+, etc.)
• How to use all of Goodreads as an author
• Giveaways (Goodreads, Rafflecopter, and Flash)
• Website
• What to expect at conferences and book signings
• Networking
• Marketing
• And most importantly, when to begin doing these things.  Timing is key and should begin way in advance of publication.

Be sure to have plenty of paper and pens handy, and the best part is you can ask me questions.  The  call is private and personal. If this is something you are interested in, please click on the contact button in the top menu.  I look forward to meeting you.

Many years ago I left my career as a paralegal in trying to slow down.  I had gotten off track and had begun to put my job before everything else, working weekends and missing children’s ball games.  My driven personality had gotten in the way, and I had gotten my priorities mixed up.

I thought staying at home would change things, and it did, for a while.  I started homeschooling my son, then I added some college classes to my schedule, had three more children, learned to bake from scratch using healthy ingredients, and so much more.  I did what most stay-at-home mothers do, I put my family first, but with my extreme personality, I somehow lost myself along the way.

Some people think homeschooling means a life of solitude and unsocialized children.  Well, not so.  There are many classes and groups that support homeschoolers, and since my children got finished with school early, they could participate in all kinds of sports activities.  Eventually, my schedule was crammed with children’s activities, school, and hosting parties.  My life was crazy and hectic, and although children are rewarding, they don’t exactly tell you they are grateful at the end of each day.

I eventually burned out.  My stress level was high, and my weight went below 100 pounds (can’t eat when stressed).  During the process, I found myself in writing, which is strange and not something I predicted.  It just happened.  Now my children go to public school, and I focus on my writing career most days.  However, I continuously have to remind myself to walk away from my to-do list without feeling guilty.  Same goes for my writing, especially this month with NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) coming up.  Although I’m not participating in this, I’m surrounded by authors that are, and I see the posts and tweets.  Everyone is getting ready to go extreme, while I’m telling myself to settle down and take time to enjoy my hot tea.

While I am focused on writing the second novel in the Alissia Roswell series, marketing, public speaking, and all the things that go along with being an author, I am also taking time for myself and my family.  I’m trying to find that balance I think we all search for, and I believe it’s working.  I’m gaining the weight, which always comes with happiness.  (Thankfully, my daughter can wear the jeans I’ve had to pull from my closet.)  I’m also coming along on the second novel without staying up into the wee hours of the night.

If you find that you can’t keep up with yourself, I urge you to take a look at your life and see what you can drop.  Don’t wait until you crash and burn.  Pull back on the reigns and dump some of the load.  Enjoy life before it’s too late.  Sit back and read a book.  (I happen to know of a great one.)

There’s something about cold weather that makes me want to throw on some old, comfy clothes and withdraw from the world to write, read, or bake bread.  Although I was wearing shorts and sitting on my back porch just last week, this week the temperature has dropped, and it’s cold.  Luckily, my calendar is empty (which is rare), and I get to spend the week without running errands, packing, or preparing for a weekend party at our home.  Instead, I get to focus on my writing, and I’m watching my word count go up.

What makes a writer happy?  Going to bed each night feeling productive and getting closer to the end of their work in progress.  Writing a novel is extremely time consuming, and most writers never get a return in pay for all those intensive hours of writing.  So why do we do it?  We can’t not do it!  When we have a story consuming our mind, we have to get it out.

Somehow, writing lessens the chaos around me.  It soothes my soul (along with a cup of hot tea).  So, as I sit here by the fireplace with my tea, typing away, I wish you a good day.  If you’re a fellow writer, I hope you find the time to get some words typed out.  If you’re not a writer, I hope you’ll find a cozy place end your day with a good book in hand.  Hmm… I do know of a good one, but I may be a little biased 🙂