Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Author Erin Albert interviews me...check out 12 Random Facts!

I've found a great circle of author friends who share their spotlight with a generous heart. Erin Albert is one of them. She is a YA writer. Albert's debut novel, The Prophecy is due November 2013! Please support her by liking her Facebook page.


CLICK HERE to check out the fun interview I did with her. Find out why I freaked her out...read random fact #8! And, discover why I'm excited to have this guest blogpost come out today, July 24...Lynda Carter/Wonder Woman's 62nd birthday...random fact #4.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Bruno Mars Packs So Much YUM!


Date night with the hubby ended up being a Chamorro group fieldtrip to Seattle's Key Arena to watch Ellie Goulding open for the tiny and terrific, BRUNO MARS.


He was charismatic, sexy, musical (playing electric guitar and drums), and entertaining. He had my husband dancing and me and my girls hooting and hollering.

Just blogging for posterity. We sat as usual in our nosebleeds seats (still a whopping $50.00 each/parking another $10.00), section 206, row 13 (my special number), seats 1-7. Thank goodness for the large screens.

Footage from YOUTUBE, by fans with more expensive seats.
LOCKED OUT OF HEAVEN (Encore)



GORILLA



WHAT A MAN!

Friday, July 19, 2013

Jackson Baer Interviews, Tanya Taimanglo

"I’d say Scotland. I’d like to learn more about kilts and sip tea in J.K. Rowling’s castle, talk shop with her perhaps and dance to some Celtic jams." Tanya Taimanglo


Thank you to author, Jackson Baer for taking the time to interview me for his blog. Authors supporting other authors is so important. Check out the interview by clicking on the link below his picture. Be sure to follow his Facebook page too! His upcoming novel, The Earth Bleeds Red comes out September 2013.


Tanya Taimanglo INTERVIEW-Click Here!

Thursday, July 11, 2013

I ♥ Boy Bands 4-Eva!

A 1980s/1990s teenage dream fulfilled with my bestie since the 10th grade this past Tuesday. We attended The Package Tour at the Tacoma Dome featuring Boyz II Men, 98 Degrees and The New Kids on the Block aka NKOTB. It was packed with women (and some men mercilessly attending with their chicks) who share the same rabid boy band obsession as me.

One thing about these now nearly middle aged men. They have all aged well, like wine, maybe a few like cheese--but I like both. And, they were punctual! Show started at 7:32 which was great. And, more impressive, no one in the audience (at least in my area) sparked it up....if you attend concerts, you know what I mean.

Boyz II Men sang gloriously and I was reminded of how much I love "Water Runs Dry."

98 Degrees were still hot. Nick Lachey, what can I say (my bestie's fave) and Jeff Timmons (my fave) still have the biceps and singing chops. Not such a fan of "Una Noche" but I was ecstatic that they ended with my favorite song, "Because of You."

The last two hours of the concert were reserved for the main attraction, NKOTB. Men in their 40s, they still have it in all senses of the phrase. Donnie was still the bad boy, six pack to match. At one point, he knelt and sang to a fan off stage. Cameras zoomed in and this bold lady beckoned him. They engaged in a twenty second french kiss which had the dome raving. He even looked at the camera and mouthed, "What the F*ck?!"-but went right back to kissing her. Shocking. Jordan Knight (my bestie's fave) moved very much like Michael Jackson, and sang falsetto flawlessly. He gave us some skin too and obviously, this father still works out. Danny did some athletic break dancing moves and Joey, the baby of the group was a raunchy dancer, much to my surprise. My fave of the five is and always will be, Jonathan Knight (yes, he likes boys) but, I've always liked his face and personality. He and Danny remained clothed through the whole show. While the rest of the boys did crazy pelvic thrusts to the audience, he was lukewarm and mainly stomped his feet a lot. Call me crazy, but I don't like overt. Oh, Jon--in another life, I'll be a dude.



It was nice to experience this concert with my bestie and my 17 year old god-daughter & Co. She laughed a lot, mostly at us, but had fun too. Donnie invited a surprise guest, Seattle's own Sir MixALot-whom up until that night I didn't know he was a Seattle-lite. He brought about 10 brave women on stage to shake their healthy butts, singing "Baby Got Back!" We were all dancing in our nosebleeds seats.



During Jordan's falsetto a story line was conceived in my writer brain and it's been festering and growing non stop since Tuesday night. It's shaping up to be a YA, sci-fi, comedy thing. I'll keep you posted.



Overall, seeing this wonderful grouping of boy bands is now off my bucket list--a great night.

Here are some YOUTUBE clips of the concert I found.



















Monday, July 8, 2013

Hey, Taimanglo! Can we go thrift shopping?

Yes. Readers you can pop some tags and get your copy of SECRET SHOPPER for just 99 cents!
Amazon, Kindle eBook only. Less than a buck for a digital copy of my novel. Good until the end of JULY!
Thanks in advance and enjoy! Don't forget to rate and review on Amazon.


*Don't forget you don't actually need a KINDLE to download. If you have a smart phone or droid, Google Play has a free Kindle app and you can buy your digital copy through that.

Monday, July 1, 2013

72, Seventy Two

72, that’s the number of books I’ve sold in 7 weeks.

For an INDIE AUTHOR, that’s satisfactory. 72 is average, right? I can’t have my husband retire from the Navy next year (and he technically can, reaching 20 years), but it’s a start. Mathematically, speaking in averages, that’s 10 books a week, every week for the last seven weeks. 72 books makes an Indie Author about $3.00 per print book and 60 cents or so per eBook, so I’ve made a little over a hundred bucks.

As a perfectionist, control freak over-achiever that I am, it’s not quite enough. Profit wise, it pays for a week of groceries, wait, my teenage nephew is visiting, it pays for three days of groceries.

A few things I want to clear up.
1. I’m defined as an INDIE Author because I am SELF-PUBLISHED. In the literary world, indie authors being self-published and all was looked down upon. We do things our way in regards to our books and promotion of it. This is a plus. The negative side, we don’t have a large powerhouse publishing machine to help promote our books. I’m an introvert with social tendencies, so I have to shine and do the sales-lady bit. I’m happy to do it, but it can be intimidating and exhausting. I secretly hope celebrities with clout, like Zooey Deschanel will read my novel, laugh her ass off and give it to her agent to make into a series or movie. Anyone out there know Zooey? I’d like to send her my book. Anyone?

2. My novel Secret Shopper doesn’t compare to other books in the same genre as far as the BOOK COVER. I’ve recently joined numerous Facebook Romance Writers/Readers groups, friended and LIKED fellow Indie Authors. Many have a distinct book cover choice, NAKEDNESS, sultry, sexy Nakedness…hot people in embrace, locked lips, panty lines, ab muscles, lots of male ab muscles, you get the picture. I do not have that. I have a pair of cheap sunglasses, an orchid and a shell lei on a woven basket. Do I want the sleek covers? Yes and No. There are several sex scenes in Secret Shopper, but like my cover, they are let’s say, understated, subdued, suggestive rather than expletive. My book is Sexy, but she doesn’t know it…yet.

3. I have an author page, and hope to reach 500 LIKES by the end of the year. I’ve slowed down in promoting it ad nauseam on Facebook and hope that via word of mouth or one’s search for all things Tanya and Secret Shopper, people will find me and LIKE me by their own free will. But, I do envy the other indie authors who somehow by a wave of support have reached their 1,000 likes, 2,000, 3,000. Kick me now…I did UNLIKE a successful Indie author who had over 1,500 likes after she posted that she doesn’t give a sh*t how many likes she gets because she wants someone to like her because they want to and that when another person asks her to LIKE ‘em back, she gets pissed. LIKE away y’all and I will LIKE you back if you kindly request it.

4. I will write forever, whether it pays the bills or not. WHY? Because it pays the bill in my creative soul.

So, maybe I’ll see my name in lights (at a library). Maybe a book I write will be bastardized into a movie that I can have a cameo in, where I will sniff (secretly) the hot, but legal, male lead. One thing I do know, I will promote my book the way I want to and write books I enjoy.

Thank you for your support always. Hope you find the time to read SECRET SHOPPER. Amazon.com paperback or Kindle eBook.

Whispers, “Zooey? Call me. I have a free book for you.”
Look for my upcoming article feature in Marianas Variety and my upcoming interview with author, Jackson Baer on July 18th. Big THANK YOU to Denise Mendiola Hertslet and Pacific Island Coffee Co. for taking a chance on this Indie Author and selling copies of my book on Guam. Click, LIKE and tell 'em Tanya sent ya'.

7, Seven 5 Star Book Reviews on Amazon.

81, Eighty One views on Youtube for my book trailer.


Book trailer #2

Esta Later!

A Story of a Stolen Mermaid--(and the Infringement of an Artist)

Fact: I wrote Sirena: A Mermaid Legend from Guam in 2010. Fact: My brother, Sonny Chargualaf is the talented artist behind the imagery. ...