The Bridesmaid's Checklist by K.T. Castle - Book Tour - Book Sale - Guest Post - Giveaway - Enter Daily!

Hi lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host K.T. Castle and her new book series, “The Bridesmaid's Checklist”!  For other stops on her Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in this post.

Be sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win exciting prizes like paperback copies of both featured books, digital copies of both featured books, and $10 Amazon Gift Cards!!  Also, come back daily to interact with K.T. and to increase your chances of winning!

Both books in this series are on sale during the book tour for ONLY $0.99 each!!!  See below for more details.

Thanks for stopping by!  Wishing you lots of luck in this fabulous giveaway!

The Bridesmaid's Checklist

by K.T. Castle

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GENRE: Contemporary (New Adult) Romance

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BLURB:

Kassandra is a single, independent woman who prides herself on her own success. But when she’s asked by her best friend Laura to be the Maid of Honor in her wedding, Kassandra finds herself questioning her lifestyle. Helping Laura plan the wedding is no problem—she’s done it before for all their other friends. The first time was a blast, the second super fun, but doing it without receiving any help from the rest of the girls gets old really fast.

The whole event kicks off with the worst kind of surprise when Kassandra discovers who her friend's fiancé really is, and she's torn between supporting Laura's future happiness and hiding the deeply buried, intimate past she shares with the groom-to-be. Struggling to be the bigger person and do all the hard work on her own, Kassandra finds surprising comfort in Josh, the best man in the wedding and someone she's been avoiding for years. He's charming, thoughtful, handsome, and the worst kind of womanizer, but she just can't seem to stay away. All the while, Kassandra can't help wondering if the wedding could be any more cliché—until she finds unexpected ways to change things up a bit.

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EXCERPT ONE:

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. I’d heard that saying more than once now. And I was about to hear it once again.

“Kassie! Kassie, wake up! I’m getting married,” a high-pitched voice squealed at me at 3:00 a.m.

Who the hell is this? I had picked up the phone without even looking at the caller ID. Oh, Laura. Great.

“Kassandra, are you listening? I’m engaged!” Laura screamed from the other side of the phone.

“Yeah, wow,” I said. “Congratulations.”

“I can’t believe you, Kassie. You should be more excited. You’ll get to be my bridesmaid!” The volume of her voice kept rising.

“I’m happy for you, Laura.” I really didn’t know at the moment how I felt. I was trying to look around to see exactly where I was. “Believe me. It’s just…it’s three o’clock, and I was sleeping.”

After looking at my surroundings, I remembered I was in my own house. I had a minor headache, probably from all the drinking the night before, and my body ached a bit. I looked beside me and found the reason for my hurt.

Next to me I found the silhouette of a beautiful man. The memories of the few hours before my abrupt awakening came back at me:

A bar. A blond. My home. Some sex...in that order.

“I know it’s late, but I had to give you the good news.”

“And news it is.” She was the last of my best friends who was single; not so long ago we roamed all the bars in town together, looking for men to hook up with, and suddenly she was engaged.

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GUEST POST:

How To Hold Yourself Accountable

Accountability is a way of being transparent with your work, the first step of becoming autonomous or independent. Accountability comes hand in hand with responsibility and trust. Either if you work on your own or someone else, being accountable with what you do is very important. When you have a boss you should ask for coaching and feedback, even from peers and your team. But when you’re independent, it can be a little trickier.

Becoming a writer has a lot of benefits and satisfactions, even if you still have a part-time or full-time job. Here are the steps I recommend to be accountable to yourself:

●     Make a plan

You have a great idea for a book. You know the steps of the writing process. Now it’s time to get your hands dirty.

The first thing that you have to do is set a writing schedule. It’s not enough to think about writing and accommodate it to your schedule, writing has to be part of it. I know it can be difficult, I have a family and a full-time job that is demanding. But even if it’s only an hour a day, make time to write.

Wake up earlier, go to bed later, block that time out from anything else. It’s your writing time and you have to make it count. It is imperative that writing becomes a priority if it is really something you want to achieve. You may feel that is impossible to create a consistent schedule, but that is entirely up to you. Have it on your calendar, set up alarms, work in a place you know you’ll have the privacy to do it. When it is something you really wish to do you’ll make it happen. Keep that in mind and you’ll always succeed.

●     Set deadlines & goals

Now that you have your writing time, you need to “attend” your writing dates. Depending on your plan, the time you can dedicate to writing and how much you plan to write, the next step is to set deadlines and goals.

Depending on your preferences, you can set your writing goals to measure number of words, scenes or even chapters. I like to have a word count word for every week, since my chapters vary in length.

Trackers are really important for this step. You like graphs? Great moment to use them. There’s apps, websites and gadgets that can help you visualize your advances. It is a great way to know you’re on the right track and advancing.

Be careful with the deadlines you set for yourself. It’s easy to plan to write half a book in two weeks, then look back and see that you’re far from that goal. That doesn’t mean you aren’t working and advancing. It might be your chapters are longer than expected or that you’re using your writing time for something else (even if it’s still towards writing your book).That’s why a tracker comes in handy. With the tracker you’ll see how much you’re advancing and rethinking your deadlines. Set realistic deadlines and goals.

●     Know your role

It happens all the time. You have your “writing date”, you have the scene/idea you’re going to focus on, you’re ready… until you decide to read what you wrote yesterday, or make some research, or rearrange the chapter order in your draft.

When making your writing plan also consider your role. Are you going to write? Edit? Research? Asses? Critique? It’s tempting to fall in any of this roles during your writing time, but it is up to you to decide how often you do it. My recommendation is to start writing, and keep writing. Then make notes about questions you have, facts that you want to investigate, things you want to revise later. You could do it all in a notebook or as a comment in the document.

Know exactly when you’ll fall into each of the roles your writing requires, and don’t let yourself get confused about what you’re doing and then eventually sidetracked.

●     Find support in others

Tell everyone what you’re doing! Believe me, you’ll find the support encouraging.

Lot’s of writers like to keep private and work best on their own. It’s completely fine. If it works for you, keep it up. As the saying goes, “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it!”

But if you find yourself in need of a little external motivation, there are several ways to do so.

Get involved in a writing group, either virtually or in person. There are great writing groups on Facebook, I’m sure your niche has one too. I personally like to post pictures on Instagram and follow a writing challenge every now and then. If you have writers that live close by, meet with them and discuss your ideas, maybe even collaborate. A great online place to meet writers, while you’re publishing a little something and start building your audience is Wattpad. There’s also being part of a movement. I am part of NaNoWriMo and participate in their activities.

●     Ask for feedback

This can be difficult, I know. Who can you trust with your writing project?

How about a friend? A good coworker? The librarian? An online peer? Your editor? It has to be someone that you know likes to read your kind of writing, but also someone that is going to be honest with their feedback.

Feedback helps us grow. Take it as positive criticism. If you’re a little wary about it my suggestion is to make a list of questions or topics that you rather discuss. It also helps to tell whoever is giving you feedback that you want to start with everything they liked, then discuss the areas that need improvement and finish with ideas they might have for you to improve.

Remember that you’re in control of what you’re writing. Feedback can potentially make you a better writer, but listening to someone else's ideas doesn't mean you have to change anything you aren’t comfortable with.

●     Celebrate success

Writing is no easy task, if it was anyone would do it. Celebrate your achievements!

You only wrote 7,000 words this week? That’s 7,000 more you had than last week… keep moving! Small goals are as important as long term ones. You don’t have to finish the book before you allow yourself to celebrate. Part of your intrinsic motivation is to give yourself credit for what you’re achieving to led you to greater success. The more you write, the better you're going to do it. Enjoy the journey as much as you can, and when you reach the ultimate goal give yourself a big hug before you start it all over again ;)

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AUTHOR BIO:

K.T. Castle is an author/artist on a quest to find the words, forms, and colors to materialize the worlds and people of her imagination.  She never saw herself as an incurable romantic, but lately, that's what she finds herself musing about.  Love is found everywhere, regardless if it comes from a nice person, an ass — mundane or even vampire.  When she's not busy with work, in front of a computer placing many thoughts in order, she makes her best to be creative or relax with a good book and a snack.  Some of her favorite characters are Sookie, Rule and Shaw, Bella, Edward, Clary, Jace, Wrath, Hollywood, Blaire, Woods, Ethan, the Sleeping Beauty, and Ariel.  Get to know her more on her social media pages.

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CONNECT WITH K.T.:

Website:

www.ktcastle.com

Blog:

https://ktcastle.wordpress.com

Wattpad:

https://www.wattpad.com/user/KTCastle

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/KTCastle.author

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/KTCastle_author

Pinterest:

https://es.pinterest.com/KTCastle_author

Google+:

https://plus.google.com/112477461847437130851

Goodreads Author Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15502713.K_T_Castle

Goodreads Book Page – Laura’s Wedding – Book One:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31178170-the-bridesmaid-s-checklist

Goodreads Book Page – Marisol’s Wedding – Book Two:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33153705-marisol-s-wedding

Amazon Author Page:

http://amzn.to/2wo1mNP

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BOOK BUY LINKS & BOOK SALE INFO – LAURA’S WEDDING – BOOK ONE:

**This book is on SALE during the book tour for ONLY $0.99!!**

Amazon Kindle:

http://amzn.to/2wo1mNP

Amazon Paperback:

http://amzn.to/2wgazap

Amazon UK:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01IOOBO0I

Amazon CA:

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01IOOBO0I

Amazon AU:

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01IOOBO0I

Amazon MX:

https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B01IOOBO0I

Barnes and Noble:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-bridesmaids-checklist-k-t-castle/1124351743

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BOOK BUY LINKS & BOOK SALE INFO – MARISOL’S WEDDING – BOOK TWO:

**This book is on SALE during the book tour for ONLY $0.99!!**

Amazon Kindle:

http://amzn.to/2vRmElx

Amazon Paperback:

http://amzn.to/2il29sK

Amazon UK:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01MT0ECVP

Amazon CA:

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01MT0ECVP

Amazon AU:

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01MT0ECVP

Amazon MX:

https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B01MT0ECVP

Barnes and Noble:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-bridesmaids-checklist-k-t-castle/1125378920

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GIVEAWAY INFO:

K.T. Castle will award paperback copies of The Bridesmaid's Checklist Series and a $10 Amazon GC (US/Mexico only) to one randomly selected commenter and digital copies of The Bridesmaid's Checklist Series and a $10 Amazon GC (international) to a second randomly selected commenter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a purchase made I may receive a small commission to help support this blog.  This does not cost you anything, it just helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**

This contest is sponsored by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish Promotions.  Prizes are given away by the sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.