Kirkus Review A Life Worth Living

Hello faithful readers,

I am pleased to let you know that the Kirkus review of A Life Worth Living is out and online.  Check it out here: Kirkus Review A Life Worth 

Please share your thoughts and as always share with those you think would enjoy a good story.

All the best,


TL Scott

A Life Worth Living is now available

Great News!  You can now get your copy of A Life Worth Living.  This is the revised version.


http://www.amazon.com/Life-Worth-Living-T-Scott/dp/1511607963/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1434213956&sr=1-1&keywords=a+life+worth+living+t+l+scott

A Life Worth Living Revised Now Available

Hello Faithful Readers,

I am pleased to announce that the revised version of A Life Worth Living is now available for your reading pleasure on Amazon.

I look forward to hearing your feedback.

I have been hard at work on the upcoming release of Fault Line.  It is the story about a group of Soldiers that are at home on some well deserved leave when they are called upon to do their duty on Main Street USA.

I am planning on a fall release for Fault Line.  I will keep you updated.

Wishing you all the best,

T. L. Scott

Revised A Life Worth Living Now Available

Hello Faithful reader,

I am pleased to let you know that the revised story A Life Worth Living is now available on Smashwords.  In the next couple of days I will update you on what other outlets you can download it from.

I have also released it to the print publisher.  I will update you when I know when you can order your copy of the paperback.

The changes in the revision tighten the story and resolves some of the gaps that existed in the original story.  I plan on leaving the original up for sale so that those that want to compare the two can do so.  Please provide your feedback and if you think that the story should take yet another direction please let me know.  I dearly care for these characters and can't help but feel that they still have more to say.

I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/508823


All the best,

TL Scott

A Life Worth Living Preview Chapter One

Hello faithful reader,

I know I have been keeping you waiting for too long.  I am pleased to tell you that the release of the revised A Life Worth Living is almost here.  The digital version should be available for your reading pleasure before the end of the year and the print version soon after that.

Your patience is about to pay off.

In the mean time here is the first chapter.  I look forward to hearing back from you.

All the best,

T. L. Scott

Chapter 1

The light from the computer monitor washed the color from his face.  It was impossible to tell how much the dark circles under his bloodshot eyes were caused by the shadows and how much by fatigue.   The sun had set hours ago.  On a distant level of his consciousness he had registered that fact and stowed it away as not immediately relevant.  His now cold cup of coffee sat close at hand.  It too had been forgotten a long time ago.  This, along with many other things, he was not aware of.  He was so engrossed in his work that all other things had faded into the background for him.  He was scrolling through the numbers with his left hand on the mouse while his right hand, seemingly of its own volition, entered numbers at a furious pace into the adding machine.  The seemingly endless loop of paper which issued forth from it was another testament to how long he had been at this task.

This ability to block out the distractions around him and focus on the task at hand was one of the things that made him so good at his job.  But, as with all things, a balance must be maintained.  Dave was not balanced.  He was focused.

The shrill ring of his desk phone brought him back to the here and now.  He looked up at the clock above his door and was surprised to see how late it was.  Everyone else in the office had already left for the night and here he was, yet again, still working.  He leaned back in his chair rubbing his tired eyes with one hand as his other hand reached for the phone.

“Thompson here.”  He says.

“Do you have any idea what time it is?”  Debbie immediately asks.

“Yes Debbie, I just looked at the clock and I. . .”

“Don’t tell me,” she said cutting him off.  “You lost track of time again right?  You didn’t realize that it’s already past eight?  Sometimes Dave I feel like you prefer spending your time at the office instead of with me!  You know what?”  She pauses and takes a calming breath.  “I don’t even care anymore.”  There is a tiredness in her voice that hadn’t been there until recently.

“Debbie, calm down a minute, I’m in the office working.  It’s not like I’m out at a bar or something.  I’m working hard here!” He said with heat in his voice.

“Dave don’t you get it?  You are still deciding to spend time doing something else than to be here with us.”

“Do you think I like working so many hours?  I want to be home with my feet kicked up watching a movie but instead I’m here wracking my brains.”

“Don’t you dare talk like you are the only one that works around here!  I put in damn long hours too!  The difference is that I at least try to work my schedule around our kids’ big events.  Speaking of which, while you have been wracking your brains Aidan scored the only goal of the game and not only were you not there to see him do it, yet again, you were not even home for dinner so he could share it with you then!”  She told him.

Dave didn’t have anything to say to that and the silence hung heavy over the line.

“Do you want to know what he said about that Dave?  He said I should go easy on you because you were working hard for all of us!  Do you get that Dave?  He was defending you for not being there for him.”  Debbie had dropped her voice and was speaking slowly, enunciating each word.  Dave knew from long experience that she only did it when she was really upset about something, like now, for example.

“Dave, we have a great son and you don’t spend nearly enough time with him and you know it!” she fumed.

“I already put your dinner in the fridge for whenever you decide to come home.”

Dave looked at the phone in his hand for a minute.  “She hung up on me?!!”  He could still hear the click as the line had gone dead.  After a while he just shook his head and put the phone down.  As upset as he was about the conversation he had to admit that everything she told him was true.  They both knew it too.  He leaned back in his leather chair, let out a long and tired breath, and rubbed his eyes.

This conversation had been played out many times in many different ways over the years.  He wanted to be with Aidan, not only because he knew how great he was, but also because he knew that his son deserved better from him.  He really wished that he could get it all done and have the time to spend with Aidan and with his daughter Summer too.  She was as neglected and just as deserving of his time.  Dave knew that she was also pretty awesome in her own right.  He knew that they had been blessed with two great kids.  He was torn.  He worked so hard to provide for his family.  All he really wanted was for them to have the best life possible.  All of these long hours were for them, not for his ego.  All he wanted to do was the right thing.  To be honest though, this problem had only gotten worse over the years.

His eyes focused on the picture on the corner of his desk.  It had been taken how long ago?  Was it possible that three years had already gone by?  Aidan and Summer were on each side of Debbie and they were all making funny faces.  The picture had been taken on the dock behind her parent’s vacation house on the lake.  It had really been a great vacation.  That was the reason it was on the desk.  No matter how bad the day was seeing his family always brought a smile to his face.  It did so this time as well.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

At the other end of that broken line Debbie was trying to get herself under control.  The kids were up in their rooms so she didn’t think they had heard the heated exchange.  After hanging up the phone she had sagged back against the doorframe in the kitchen and slowly collapsed onto the floor.  She was so tired, mentally and emotionally exhausted.  She was now sitting with her arms wrapped around her knees and her head resting back against the solid wood with her eyes tightly closed.  There was such a weight pushing down on her and she didn’t feel like she had the strength left in her to get back up again.

“Why does he do this?” She asked herself for what seemed like the thousandth time.  She didn’t really believe that he was cheating on her.  But that was what it felt like.  He was choosing to spend his time at work instead of home with her.  The job was his mistress and she was damn tired of it.  A tear leaked out from her closed eyelids.  She angrily wiped it away and took a couple of deep breaths before forcing herself to stand up again.  Hearing footsteps on the stairs Debbie picked herself up off the floor.

“Hi Mom,” said Summer as she walked to the fridge.

“No ice cream at this time of night young lady.  You know the rules.”  Debbie said without turning around.  She was surprised how normal her voice sounded.  Inside she felt like everything was coming a part.  She was sure her hands were shaking.  It was a good thing that she had them busy rinsing off the dinner plates before putting them into the dishwasher.

“I know Mom.  I’m just getting a glass of milk.”

“Mom, are you okay?”

“Yeah honey, why?  Asked Debbie as she turned to look at her daughter.

“You just looked, I don’t know, mad there for a minute.”

“Everything is okay sweetie.  Is your homework done?  It’s almost time for bed.”  Debbie was reminded just how perceptive her little girl was.  She had been that way since she was very young.

“Yeah, I really just came down to give you a goodnight kiss.”

Debbie finished loading the dishwasher then followed Summer up to her room.  She spent a few minutes talking with her before tucking her in for the night.  They had their routine.  She still liked to have the covers tucked in tight on both sides.  Once she was snugly tucked in, almost swaddled, Debbie would kiss her on the forehead, both cheeks, her chin, and then a quick peck on the nose.  Then she would touch her forehead to her daughters and say: “sweet dreams baby girl.”  To that Summer answered: “You too Mom.  Love you.”  By the time Debbie put her hand on the doorknob her little girl was already drifting off.

Debbie knocked on Aidan’s door.  She hoped he was not still playing video games.  He was good about following the rule of homework first but not so good about stopping his game to go to bed on time.

After she was done following the same routine with Aidan, Debbie made the long walk down the hall to settle into her bed.  It was times like this that she felt so terribly lonely.  She hated going to bed alone.  She had spent enough nights alone when Dave was in the Navy.  That was different though.  He was away from her for a good reason.  He was serving his country.  Even though she hated being alone then, she understood why.  Lately her well of understanding was running dry.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back at the office Dave was still working away.  He looked over the spreadsheet that had held his attention for the better part of the last twelve hours and wondered, yet again, where things had gone so wrong.

The economy could not account for the negative yield by itself.  What was behind the dip?  He truly hoped the trend he felt that he was onto was not true.  Something did not add up and when that had happened in the past it was because someone had tried to cover something up.  He really hoped that was not the case here.

Bob had been with the company for as long as he had.  He knew his family.  The kids had played Frisbee together at the company picnic last year.

Dave hoped there were other reasons for the disparities he was seeing.   Oh well, that was a knot to keep worrying at tomorrow.  He put all of the pages back into the file.  The Styrofoam container that held the remnants of his meatball sub he picked up and put into the trash can.  He took a minute and looked around his office to make sure that he wasn’t forgetting anything.  As he closed the filing cabinet and locked it for the night he went through the routine of closing his office for the night.

Fortunately at this hour traffic was light and he pulled into the garage in less than 20 minutes.  He quietly let himself in as the digital clock on the oven changed to 11:27.  “Damn, I didn’t think it was that late.” He said to himself as he put his keys on the hook by the door.

He didn’t have an appetite for leftovers and decided to quietly make his way up to bed.  Before he reached the stairs he noticed the pillow and blanket on the couch.  He just stood there staring at them for a minute.  The message could not have been any clearer.

Update Revison A Life Worth Living

Hello all,

I want to drop you a line to let you know what is going on with the revision to A Life Worth Living.  In short the more that I dug into revising the story to refine some points the more the characters demanded their own perspectives be heard.  For example one of the major things I noticed was that Debbie did not have much of a voice in the first edition.  She is a major character in this story and yet her character was almost flat.  Well needless to say she was not happy with that.  Summer has also come more to the forefront in the revision.

I am working diligently to get this revision into your hands for your reading pleasure.

I have also decided to go with a new cover for the revision.  I will post it here for your feedback next week.

I look forward to talking with you again soon.

All the best,

TL Scott

TL Scott A Life Worth Living

Hello Faithful readers.  I want to update you on what I am working on.  I have decided after much painful deliberation to undertake a revision of A Life Worth Living.  I am not going to go into what the main revisions will be but rest assured that everything will be directed at making the story flow smoother and faster while developing the characters more.

If you have read the original version I don't want you to feel cheated.  This revision will not take away from that experience for you.  In many ways it will enhance it.

I am also thinking about a different cover for the revision.  Please leave a comment about what you think of the current cover and tell me any changes you would like to see.

Alright it is time that I get back to the revision.

I look forward to talking with you again real soon.

All the best,

TL Scott

IBP's Trailer: A Life Worth Living by T.L Scott

Fiction Writing: Who are you writing for?

Hello again faithful readers.  Things are busy now that the days are longer.  I always find it harder to find the time to do everything I want to do this time of year.  Well that is because I want to do to much.  Even with this I have to remind myself to focus and keep things in balance.  Life is a series of trade-offs.  So with that said I will trade-off a few minutes of my time basking in the sun to sit down and talk with you.  You see, I am trying to balance things?  After this I will go back to basking in the summer sun. 

Alright, so you have the idea for a story knocking around inside your head.  It is taking shape and you are ready to start writing.  For each of us that process is different.  Some may outline until the whole story is plotted out.  Others may brainstorm and jot down thoughts on sticky notes till their creative space looks like someone from 3m re-decorated your space.  Still others will simply step off the ledge and leap "write" in.

I wholeheartedly encourage to follow this process all the way through to the end.  I am a firm believer that during this essential creative phase you should not be distracted by, well, anything if it can be helped.

After this initial phase has been completed I have found that setting the story aside for a while is a good thing to do.  Let it ferment for a little bit.  That is if the story will let you.  I have found that some stories tend to go at their own pace.  Some are a sprint while others are a more leisurely stroll.

When you pick up the creative thread again read through it with an eye to your audience.  Whoever you have determined your primary target audience to be, that is who you should focus on.  You should focus on them almost as much as you should focus on your characters.  After all this is a conversation between your characters and your target audience.  They are the ones that will be reading it.  You are a storyteller.  Weave your tail with all of the eloquence you are gifted with.  Tell your story to those that are interested in pulling up a rock and taking a seat around the campfire to listen to you weave your tale.

Keep in mind that your audience will be a select few.  While many of us like to read different genres there are many that focus only on their favorite.  Whether you tell romance, science fiction, or horror tales, tell them well and remember who your are telling your stories to.

Always keep in mind that it is your responsibility to your readers to tell them the best possible story you can.  Do not release your story until it is told.  Write it, refine it, edit it, re-write it, re-refine it, then edit it again.

Thank you for joining me once again.

I look forward to talking with you again soon.

All the best,

T. L. Scott