Woo-Hoo!

Lone Star Justice is finished! Sending to beta reader and copy editor in the morning. Should be up on Amazon by Monday.

Satisfaction Guaranteed is #1!

It's been a dizzying ride for Satisfaction Guaranteed this month, right to the top of one of the Amazon Bestseller Lists and into the top 100 of two others. The reviews have been wonderful and I wanted to thank everyone who read and enjoyed this story. I loved writing it and love hearing that others have enjoyed it as well.

Thanks for helping it make the lists!!

Tori

New Review for Undercover Vices

I love how this one got off the ground and running between Reed and Cassie. It didn't have the long drawn out wait for the main characters to hit the sheets and sometimes that's just down right refreshing! It cracks me up that Reed had a chocolate addiction and even has a "chocolate stash drawer" in his desk at the police station LOL, how cute!!! It was equally funny everytime Anderson tried to steal it hahaha. On another note I wanted to punch Amanda Mason the bitch! Reed was totally up front with her not leading her on in any way and she was just plain nuts, and a troublemaker. I really enjoyed this book it had depth, sizzling sex scenes and great characters. I definitely put this as a great read worth buying! Enjoy ;-) (*****)

New review for Lean on Me

I really enjoyed this book and have sort of a personal affinity due to the military association throughout the story. I was pulled in right from the start and went through a myriad of emotions throughout. It is well written with a good pace to keep you interested and excited page after page. The issues and struggles within this story are realistic and raw, they are things anyone in real life could and probably has dealt with or gone through themselves or someone they know. The emotions and relationships between characters are to follow and stay focused throughout the book. There are a few steamy scenes between Sandy and Hunter that are well written, I do wish there would have been a little more but that's just me LOL. I absolutely love the Epilogue in this one it is probably one of the best wrap ups I've read in awhile. All in all I'd have to say this story felt "real" in a way that life happens for all of us in one way or another, not overblown occurences or over dramatized situations that only happen in books and not everyday people. I would definitely recommend this book and look forward to more from author Tori Scott.

By cinful1121 http://www.amazon.com/review/R2HL5IKKZDJ0TC/ref=cm_sw_su_r

I wrote this poem the evening of 9/11, after I returned from a frantic trip to Dallas to bring my youngest home from boarding school. I was terrified Dallas would be attacked as well. I couldn't stop praying, couldn't stop crying. Reading and hearing the stories of families and heroes of 9/11 still brings tears.

The poem ended up being published as a full back page tribute in our local paper, sponsored by many of the businesses in town. It also appeared in an anthology published by WorldNetDaily.com. It's not at that well written, but it came straight from the heart.

Freedom 911

A moment forever frozen in time
In all of our hearts and all of our minds
As we watched with horror what a few evil men
Can do with hatred and evil intent.

So many emotions filled us that day
Stunned disbelief, anguish, anger, and pain.
Our minds as clouded as New York's city streets
We could only pray and tremble and weep.

We waited for news of loved ones so dear
And listened to stories of bravery and fear.
We cried with the mothers and fathers and wives
We grieve for the children who want to know why.

How can we answer their questions when we,
as adults never dreamed how evil mankind could be?
So we hold our own close, so glad they are safe
And ask God to surround them with angels each day.

Then we lift our heads high and stand firm and tall
As we proclaim to the world that our country won't fall.
We stand united, red, black, white and brown.
And say you can't keep America down.

We'll see these men punished for what they have done,
No stone left unturned till we've found every one.
We'll pray for our soldiers as they fight and they win,
Then we'll put it behind us and build once again.

But we'll never forget the ones who were lost
in airplanes and buildings, we've counted the cost.
We'll mourn and grieve the heroes once more,
and emerge even stronger than ever before.

God bless America, this land of the free
May you always reign righteous and always believe
In the Almighty God who holds us upright
And ever continue, for our freedom, to fight.


September 11, 2001

Why I went Indie

I started writing in 2001. Well, seriously writing. I'd been jotting first chapters in notebooks for years. But with the advent of a new century, I decided it was time to pursue the dream I'd had for years. To write a book and get it published. I had no idea how much work, heartache, work, rejection, work it would take to get there. I had a lot of initial success. I wrote my first book in 6 weeks, got a request for the full from a Silhouette Special Edition editor, was asked for revisions, but ultimately turned down. Then I entered the Blaze contest after writing 50 pages of my story in two days and squeezing in just under the deadline. That book very nearly sold. Then the first book finaled in the Golden Heart and I was off to New York for the RWA convention. I met with editors and agents, got a lot of close but not for me rejections, some with great comments and advice. But still, not the "yes" I hoped for.

I had big hopes and big dreams. I knew I was a good writer, that I had the potential to do very well. So I wrote another book, and another. But as I wrote, Harlequin started dropping the lines I was targeting, authors were complaining about longer and longer wait times, more and more rejections even for already published authors, and with the popularity of the computer and internet making it easier for wannabe writes to flood editors' desks, the wait times got longer.

An editor at Red Sage asked me to send her the book that nearly sold to Blaze. I did, and after a few rounds of revisions, they bought it (Double Exposure) for their new ebook line. I was ecstatic. Okay, so the advance barely paid for a nice meal out, but I was now a published author! Unfortunately, after the first initial rush in sales, they dropped off to a negligible amount. I even wondered if it was worth cashing the royalty check. The ebook market didn't seem all that great to me.

Then we had some personal tragedies in our family that meant I had to go back to work. The ideas dried up, the voices stopped talking. What was the point, anyway? Publishers were now grabbing rights that had previously belonged to the authors, contracts were a minefield of legal trickery, advances were being slashed to the bone, agents wanted lifetime rights to royalties. It was all too discouraging.

Some of my friends started talking about self-publishing. I was interested, but with working 70 hours a week, I just didn't have time to think about it. And the voices still weren't talking anyway.

Finally, the economy caught up with our industry (photography) and I found I had time on my hands for the first time in 6 years. And I had 5 completed manuscripts on my computer. I started listening to the stories other authors were telling about huge sales and even bigger royalty checks. Okay, since I hate my job, that got my attention. I cleaned up that first book (it had already been through a professional editor, but my writing was less mature than it is now), set it aside for a re-read, and worked on the next one. That one was more recent, cleaner, closer to my voice so I decided it would be first, my experimental books.

I talked the hubby into learning to make a book cover, taught myself to format, and put it (Undercover Vices) up on Amazon and Smashwords. It started selling almost immediately, but slowly.

Then there was this great little book (Satisfaction Guaranteed) I'd started that I just loved. It was short, a novella, really, but I knew it would sell. And it has. It's my top selling work by far.

Finally, I uploaded that Golden Heart manuscript (Lean on Me). This was the book of my heart, and though it has some sales, not nearly what I'd hoped for. But that's okay. It will find its niche and take off one day.

Book five is almost ready to go up. Instead of one of the finished manuscripts I had, I chose to finish one that was only about a third of the way finished. But I knew it was good, and it deserved its chance to be read. That one (Lone Star Justice) should go live in a couple of weeks--or less if I'd quit procrastinating and get back to work.

Books six and seven I hope to have uploaded before the Christmas rush starts, but this is also our busy season at work, so we'll see.

For a person who loves instant gratification like I do, this has been the perfect venue for me. The voices are talking once again, I'm having to get up in the middle of the night to jot down ideas and snippets of conversations like I used to, I have my excitement and joy back. No, I haven't gotten rich yet, but while we could definitely use the money, it's more about getting my stories out there so they can be read, and hopefully enjoyed, by others. I love my characters, every single one of them. They are amazing people who finally have a chance to tell their stories for a wider audience.

I no longer have to write with a line or an editor in mind, I don't have to wait months and jump through hoops, only to have the prize yanked away at the last minute. I don't have to change my story to meet some arbitrary guideline. (For example, the reason Undercover Vices didn't sell to Blaze was because my heroine was unknowingly doing something illegal. Oh my, can't have that!) I can write my characters' stories exactly the way they tell me to. And yes, I do know the rules. I've read enough, written enough, and been through enough revisions to know how things are supposed to go. But my imagination is now my only limit. And that, my friends, is a wonderful thing.