Welcome to Empty Net Book Week Day 2 with Author Toni Aleo!
We had such a great response to Day 1 (Excerpt) & Day 2 (Character Interview)
I hope the good responses continue with Day 3!
You guys are amazing!
We still have lots more in store for you this week! (:
 
Today will feature a Guest Post from Toni Aleo herself!
Nothing like hearing straight from the Author!
&& she has a BIG surprise she talks about in here; so be sure to check it out!
  
Be sure to check back DAILY for extra entries in the giveaway! :)

Guest Post: ME by Toni Aleo

First, before anything, I will break out in song:

This is real, this is me, I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be now, gonna let the light shine on me, now I’ve found who I am, there’s no way to hold it in, no more hiding who I wanna be!

This is me!

Yes, I totally went all Camp Rock, Demi Lovato on y’all but by now, I think y’all know my whole life can be told through song lyrics. So let’s get this thing started! Who’s excited for a guest post about a complete dork!?

Hell! I am!

Haha. So I titled this as Me, because basically I’m gonna talk about how awesome I am. The ups, the downs, the all arounds. You may think with that prior statement that I think I am all that and a bag of chips. You couldn’t be more wrong. I am more insecure than Elli and Audrey put together. I am this southern girl, that cusses way more than a man, goes from diet to diet each week, that loves hockey, Disney, and Harry Potter. A girl that is scared that I am not the best mom and wife, and also that I suck at this writing thing that scares the living shit out of me. So how do I go on? Hell, even I don’t know that, but I do. I think it has a lot to do with my husband and kids; they remind me that I am awesome, that I am the best, and damn it, maybe one day I’ll believe them! So the big question is, do you think you can handle this post? Do you want to handle it?

If so, jump on this crazy train to crazyville and hold on!

Before we get to the nitty gritty of my mind, I want to thank y’all. I know that a lot of authors and famous folks call you fans…I don’t. Call me quirky, or weird, but I honestly consider all of you my friend. If you talk to me, you better believe I’m gonna talk back. Wanna meet me? Sure! Why the hell not? If you have bought every single one of my books that means you are invested in me, and damn it, I’m not gonna fail you. I am a good woman, I care a lot about my fellow woman, and I love to meet the people that consider me awesome. Sometimes it is weird. I’m not gonna lie. I remember the first time I met one of my fans/friends. She was so intrigued by me, and asked me question after question after question. I remember when she wrapped her arms around me and hugged me so tight, I swore she was gonna cry, hell, I was scared I was gonna cry from the happiness of meeting my first real fan. She was amazing, and now she is one of my closet friends.

This road of becoming something I dreamed up has been insane. Almost every day I get emails from people wanting to be where I am in the writing world, and one time, I asked my friend, Tara, I said, “What the hell? This girl is saying I’m up there!” Tara laughed and said, “Because you are.” I never saw it coming. When Taking Shots hit, I sat in front of my computer and waited for the reviews. When they started rolling in I was flabbergasted by the response I got. Then Trying to Score came, and Lord, did it break my heart some of the things people said, but I made it. I still can’t believe I did, because I have an intense anger issue!

Everyone always laughs when I say that, but it’s the damn truth! I have learned to control my anger and when people say really mean things about me or my characters, I’ve learned to not dwell. I remember when Trying to Score came out, it was only a couple hours after it was released, and I got this HORRIBLE review. I mean, God awful horrible. I still to this day, think of the things that girl said, and I remember breaking down something insane. I was crying, and basically wanted to die. I know what you are thinking, dramatic much? But it’s hard. I’ve put my world, my second home out for people to read.

No, I am not schizophrenic, but I swear that Elli, Fallon, and Audrey live in my head. They are all sitting in Elli’s living room, in designer everything of course, with Shea, Lucas, and Tate, shirtless, building cribs.

Weird. I know.

And when I read these reviews, and people say things about my character, I feel this insane need to defend them. They are like my children. The crazy thing is that everyone LOVES my heroes but they can always find something wrong with my heroines. Elli is a whining fat bitch, Fallon is just a bitch, and Audrey is stupid.

Um. I disagree.

But it doesn’t matter what I think. I put this out for the world to read and I have to accept what people are going to say. The good, the bad, the ugly. In my heart, Elli will always be the amazing, sweet country girl that stole the captain’s heart. Fallon will always be this strong will, hard headed woman, that was scorned by the man she loved, but realized her mistakes in the end. And now, Audrey will always be the girl that got her Happily Ever After, after her journey through hell. They all sit in my head, smiling at me and telling me how proud they are of me. It’s invigorating, and I love it, but now I have Piper watching me, rubbing her belly and saying ‘Hey lady, where’s my story?’ And I am scared to death! What if people don’t like the way Piper’s story goes? What if they hate the hero? AHHHH!

Haha. Told ya, I’m a drama queen to the core.

Overall, I’m always going to want to defend my characters, my Assassin world, but I can’t. I have to hope I wrote the story the best I could, and take the punches. But it’s not just my characters, let’s face it, the other big issue is my editing. Yeah, I called it out. It’s the big white elephant in my world. I have been through hell and back with editors, and I found my team, I was happy, but then SOMEONE CALLS ME OUT! Blah! I just don’t get it. I read the book before I published it! It looks fine to me! AHHHHH! Lmfao. I think people just hate the way I write, which is fine; if you don’t like it, don’t read it. I mean we are to the third book, I’m still writing the way I talk. It ain’t gonna change. I feel like I am always gonna have this issue, unless I get picked up by some big ole company but then, my books might not be what they are now. They will be like condense soup.

Eeekkk! Isn’t that a sad thought?!

Blah. This author business is so hard. The world you have dreamed of and worked hard for is under a microscope for people. And what do they say? That I need to kill off Fallon, or have Lucas leave her. Or have Shea kick Elli to the curb and find him another woman. Or have Audrey stay with Levi because she doesn’t deserve Tate. Or have people say that I write worse than a 3rd grader and I need to go back to my hick town and leave the writing world to real authors.

Yup, people have said it all. More even, and yes, it still hurts, but I’ve almost made it to where it doesn’t bother me as bad, anymore. Because no matter what, I have done something that people dream of every day. I write hot smutty books about hot sexy hockey players! Who could ask for more?
I’ve learned a lot through this journey, and I’m excited for the road ahead. I want to thank Tabby for having me, and I want to thank you for reading this. I hope I didn’t bore you, and that you still read my books after listening to me for 1,300 words. Thank you.
Oh, are you only here to see why commenting everyday would be a good idea? That’s cool, at least I kept you this long! Lol. – commenting on every post, every day, enters you for a chance to become a beta reader for BLUE LINES!

BETA READER!

Yea; she LOVES her readers. Trust me, I was a Beta Reader for Empty Net & it was like watching the book come together, rather than reading the finished product all at once, you know? I got to see it as she did it.. Changes and everything. I think that’s why Empty Net is one of my favorites. I was there through the entire thing. Tate & Audrey will forever be special to me (:
 
Thanks for stopping by Toni!
As always, it was a pleasure having you! :)
 

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She loves nothing more than hearing from her readers!