Maggie’s Musings

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Monday Mayhem – Old Dogs and Happy Goats

This weekend was the annual Diamond State Romance Authors writing retreat! We rented a lovely house on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs. Here was my writing view from the deck:

This time, I didn’t have a deadline pressing on me, but I had a couple things I wanted to work on. Like many of my writer friends, I’ve found myself struggling with the words over the summer, so I was also looking for some new tricks to jumpstart the old motivation.

Most writers will classify themselves in one of two ways: plotter or pantser. Plotter is pretty self-exlanitory. Those writers plot each bit of a book before they even begin. Pantsers write by the seat of their pants.

I started out as — and still naturally identify as — a pantser. But my career has moved at such a pace that I find I am selling books to publishers based on a synopsis of what I think future book will be. If I leave it up to my pantsing tendencies, I tend to veer off course from that synopsis, so I’ve evolved into sort of a plotser.

Adding dictation to my bag of tricks has also changed my writing style. I found I needed to have a pretty good sense of what I was trying to accomplish in that scene before I could speak it. Which meant, I had to do some *gasp* plotting.

This weekend, I took my first steps toward becoming a full-fledged plotter. The fabulous Brinda Berry showed me an awesome template she’d started using. I bought the book (FOOL PROOF OUTLINE) and downloaded that template.

In one afternoon, I’d done over 3,000 words of story outline, character worksheets, and scene plotting for a new project. Here’s hoping this new trick will work for this old dog.

In other news, Kelli Reep and I saw a goat riding in the back of a truck on the way home.

 

Welcome to Arkansas.

How about you? Did you learn any new tricks this week?

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Monday Mayhem – A blog about blogs

As I type this (on Sunday), the state of Florida is under siege. Please know I’m praying for all those impacted by Hurricane Irma and those still coping with the aftermath of Harvey. And then, we have the anniversary of 9-11…

It’s hard to think/talk about romance when it seems the world is splintering around us. Then again, what better time for a little escapism? If you’re in one of the areas impacted by the hurricanes (and can access your computer or electronic reading device) and need a little something to take your mind off your troubles, please email me at maggiewells1@gmail.com and I’d be happy to do what I can to provide some escape.

Release day is coming for PLAY DATES, and that means I am prepping my promotion efforts. That means I will be writing at least three other blog posts on varying topics as well as making some graphics to go along with them. Like this:

Wanna know where to find me when I am not here?

Well, on September 23rd, I’ll be sharing my experiences with loving a single parent AND the cover reveal for Play Dates #2, EASY BAKE LOVIN’ on the Kensington Books blog.

On the 25th, I’ll be sharing a chat I had with literary agent extraordinaire, Sara Megibow, here on my blog. Sara will be sharing the same chat on the kt literary blog as well.

On October 3rd (release day!), I’ll be at Janice Hardy’s Fiction University talking about National Novel Writing Month and preparing to write 50,000 words in 30 days.

On the 4th and 5th, I’ll be at Just Contemporary Romance talking about how I scored two kids and a house in just fifteen minutes in front of a preacher.

Whew!

I’m sure there will be or two more in there in addition to my regular Monday Mayhem posts. One thing I can tell you for certain, by the time Colm and Monica’s story is launched, I’ll be more than ready to retreat into the world of fiction again. Just in time for NaNoWriMo. Coincidence?

In the meantime, stay safe, friends. Stay safe.

 

 

 

 

 

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Monday Mayhem – The High Life

Happy Labo(u)r Day, you working stiffs (I added the U for the Canadians)! I have spent most of my long weekend not laboring, and I have to tell you, I’m pretty good at it.

Fodder and I ran away to Hot Springs for a night. This is the closest you will ever see me come to touching an actual bird. As always, the can Miller High Life is a homage to my grandmother, for whom I am named.

I’ve been thinking about my grandma a lot this weekend. She’s been gone since I was in college, but occasionally, flashes of memory pop up. This weekend, I found myself thinking about her hands.

My grandparents were already in their seventies when I was born, so in my mind, Grandma’s hands were already a map of blue veins under paper-thin skin. Her knuckles were swollen with arthritis, and she always wore a dark blue star sapphire ring that spun on her pinkie finger.

When you walked into their living room, there was a good chance you’d find Lawrence Welk on the TV, a can of Miller High Life (the champagne of beers) on the side table, and an embroidery hoop on her lap.

This was Margaret Carbery, in her natural habitat.

My grandmother had both cataracts and glaucoma. The bit in Sixteen Candles where Molly Ringwald’s character complains about being felt up by her grandmother?

Yeah…All the time. Our conversations usually started like this:

“Margaret Mary? Is that you?” *grope-grope-grope* “Well, it’s not Jimmy, Grandma.”

By the end of her life, she had little vision left, but more often then not, you would still find her sitting in her chair under the light with the tiffany-esque shade, embroidering pillowcases. She gave them to people as gifts. In our house, they weren’t kept as heirlooms. We used them every day. I don’t think I rested my head on a pillow that wasn’t enrobed in a case hand-stiched by my grandmother until I was in my twenties. I have a couple of sets stashed away:

 

I don’t have many pictures of my grandmother. Even fewer have been scanned into the computer, but she is still fresh in my mind. If you need a visual, here’s a photo of her (the lady in white with the big old star sapphire on her pinkie) dancing a hula with Don Ho at the Polynesian Palace:

That’s what we Margarets do. We live the high life.

Rest well today, my friends, for tomorrow we are back to laboring!

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Monday Mayhem – Joy Thievery

Sadly, my favorite picture of Teddy Roosevelt has proved to be a fake.

But one thing the 26th President got right was this little gem:

It’s true. People rarely come out feeling better about themselves or their accomplishments when they hold them up against someone else’s.

We tend to stop and look around when we are needing some kind of validation we’re on the right track, but it rarely works out for us in a positive way. There will most likely always be someone smarter, richer, funnier, more talented, more successful than we are at that moment.

So, as the nuns used to say, keep your eyes on your own paper.

I know it’s a lot easier said than done, but you have to keep working on it. Like meditation, or yoga, any practice that forces us to look inward can be uncomfortable. But in the end, those are the ones that help use find peace, become more flexible, and ultimately, allow us to celebrate our achievements on their own merit.

So, if you feel the need to stop and look around, focus on enjoying the last of the summer flowers, the sweet stickiness of a campfire s’more, or the hum of the cicadas. Soon they will be replaced by breathtaking autumn leaves, crisp breezes, an pumpkin spice scented toilet paper. That’s when you’ll realize there was no point in comparing the two seasons. They were both just doing their own thing.

Do your own thing. Keep your eyes on your own paper. Try not to anyone thieve your joy. I may not ever ride a moose, but neither did Teddy Roosevelt.

Not that I was looking.

This week’s celebrations:

Cover art for LOVE GAME! This will be the cover for my first mass market paperback release, coming to bookstores near you in Feb 2018!

Trade paperback copies of PLAY DATES (Oct 2017)! These are much prettier in person. The lighting in my house is horrible.

Hope your week is as fabulous as you are!

 

 

 

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Cover Reveal!

Look at the gorgeous cover for Love Game – book #1 in the upcoming Love Games series!

Love Game – February 2018 – Sourcebooks Casablanca

Kate Snyder scored her first national championship in her undergrad days at Wolcott University, and now she’s a coaching legend. The last thing she wants is to work beside a washed-up coach escaping scandal, but the university hands her Danny McMillan.

Danny was hoping his transition at Wolcott University would go smoothly, but clashing with snarky Kate has made things difficult. Even as she finally lightens up towards him, a local reporter can’t get enough of their verbal fireworks on camera. What the cameras don’t know is that the sparks are even hotter behind the scenes…

Preorder at: Amazon ~ B&N

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Monday Mayhem – Third time is a…

…pain in the tuchas.

I’m still working on the first draft of A RING FOR ROSIE, book 3 in the Play Dates series.

Still.

Forever.

And ever.

I just can’t seem to wrap it up. And now, 38 books into the writing career, I’m afraid I may have a book three block.

I had this problem with LOVE & ROCKETS as you may recall. And I never did finish CONTAINMENT (book three after CONTENTMENT and COMMITMENT). I cannot tell you why I struggle so much with the number 3, but apparently, I do.

I blame SHERLOCK. It’s the Sign of Three (Season 3, Episode 2). And excellent choice for procrastination. I just hope I don’t bleed out before this this is done.

Oh! And be sure to watch Heroes & Heartbreakers tomorrow (August 22, 2017) for an exclusive sneak peek at the cover for LOVE GAME (formerly Full Court Press) coming in February 2018!

Cheers!

 

 

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Monday Mayhem – Mayhem

I can’t ramble about writing romance novels. It’s hard to think about happily ever afters when it seems everything I believe in is being challenged.

I’ll try again next week.

In the meantime, think peaceful thoughts and turn your face to the sunlight.

 

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Monday Mayhem – Ask and you might possibly receive

This week I started reading a book called THE ART OF ASKING by Amanda Palmer. It’s an interesting book – part memoir, part self-help.

The premise is that we don’t ask people, particularly our friends or family, for the things that we need. Our society values self-reliance, and often views asking for help in the same vein as begging. In other words, asking has a shameful connotation.

This is ironic considering that one of the first things you learn in any type of sales job whether it’s taking orders at McDonald’s, or selling insurance, or selling any type of product or commodity, is that you don’t get if you don’t ask. Maybe it’s this connection to sales that make us view asking in the more negative light.

Anyway, I’m horrible asker. I’m definitely control freak. I live and die by my calendar. Collaborative work makes me a little bit crazy because not everybody has the same type of work ethic I do. If the world would just bend to my way of thinking, everything would be so much easier, but it doesn’t.

That leaves me with few options. I either work myself into the ground trying to do it all, or I let things slip through the cracks, or I learned to ask for help.

I’ve gone the first route before, I’ve been living the second one for a while now, and now I’m working on the third. That’s why have challenged myself to ask for something every day. It could be small or large, but it has to be something that I wouldn’t have asked anyone else to do for me last week.

For example, I did a couple of twitter threads, designed to spark interaction with other authors or with potential readers. A few of my good friends hit the little heart icon on twitter to like my tweets to let me know that they’ve read them, and were feeling what I said. That’s awesome. But the point of me doing these types of discussions is to cast a wider net. So, I asked my friends if they would consider re-tweeting the first tweet in the thread, rather than simply liking it. This shares it with their followers on twitter, which adds another ripple to the stone I tossed out into the conversational pond. They were kind enough to re-tweet my threads, and agreed to do so whenever they saw me engaged in a similar activity on Twitter.

The next day, I asked a different friend who is proficient in Microsoft Excel, if she would help me finish a project I had started in a spreadsheet. Pretty simple project, but a tedious one, which involved gathering information from a number of websites on each of my books. Nothing time sensitive, just something I like to have as a convenience. She said she was happy to help, and I sent the file along.

Yesterday, I was in my local Barnes & Noble, eyeing the spot on the shelf where LOVE GAME would sit come February 2018. (!!!!!) As I was wandering, a woman stopped to ask if I needed help. It turned out she was the store manager. I confessed that I was stalking the shelf space where my book will go, and then proceeded to ASK her if the store did any promotions for local authors. We talked for a bit she took my card, and I know to get in touch with their outreach manager to arrange possibly appearing at a group signing.

Not bad, so far.

Asking is not easy for many of us. Sometimes we have to get to a point where something is important enough to us that were willing to sacrifice our pride/ego. I guess I am edging up to one of those points. I have two new series launching in the next six months. I want them both to be successful.

I can’t do it all alone.

I need your help.

As an asker in training, I’ll probably be practicing on you here on my blog and in my FB reader group, The Margaritas, just I am practicing my dictation by speaking this post rather than typing it.

I hope you’ll help me out. As always, I’m happy to reciprocate in any way I can.

This is today’s ask: A WILL AND A WAY is on sale for $0.99! Will you help me get the word out?

Please tell your steamy-romance-lovng friends? You can use any means you’re comfortable with using – social media, word of mouth, text stalking, or simply buying one for a friend. Right-click and steal this graphic, if you want. Here’s the link to my publisher website. It will direct them to the retailer of their choice: http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/book.aspx/33189

How was that for an ice-breaker?

I thank you in advance. I appreciate all you do.

(This post brought to you by Desdemona Dragon. Sorry for any typos. We’re still learning!)
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Monday Mayhem: Uhhhh

So, yeah. In the last two weeks I’ve completed revisions on one manuscript, approved and completed copyedits on two others, added 15k to my WIP via dictation, and there’s a galley to proof in my inbox.

Yes, it’s safe to say I’ve hit the Kahn level of tired.

So I’m taking the rest of July off. Yep, a whole day.

In the meantime, I have this to keep you entertained:

Lyrical Press is so excited about my upcoming Play Dates series, they are doing a special pre-release giveaway on Goodreads. You can enter to win here: http://bit.ly/2tPeJpg

Oh! And don’t forget to join my Facebook reader group, The Margaritas, if you haven’t already. I haven’t be slaving away on a whole bunch of nothing, you know. There’s going to be some good stuff coming up!

 

 

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Working 9-5 and 5-9 (Or, don’t quit your night job)

This is a compilation of the tweets I shared this afternoon as part of an online writing conference called #notRWA17. I’m collecting them here, but will include a link to the actual tweet thread at the end. 🙂

Welcome to Working 9 to 5 and 5 to 9. Or, Don’t Quit Your Night Job. #notRWA17 #notQuitting

I’m Maggie Wells, and I am THIS CLOSE to completing the 1st draft on my 38th contracted novel/novella. #notRWA17

I am published with Kensington/Lyrical Press, Harlequin-E, Carina Press, and in 2018, Sourcebooks. #notRWA17

I’m also indie publishing my reverted titles. Throughout this entire process, I have worked full-time as a mid-level manager. #notRWA17

This discussion it geared to those of us who are committed to spending 30+ hours per week doing something other than writing. #notRWA17

That includes those who take home a paycheck, as well as those who hold unpaid positions as primary caregivers. #notRWA17

I just want to spend my days writing. Who among us hasn’t said something along those lines? #notRWA17

But the dream may never be a reality. Not because we lack the drive or talent, but because life is messy and complicated. #notRWA17

My situation: My husband is self-employed. His income is fairly steady, but subject to the whims of the economy. #notRWA17

I’d need some SERIOUS BANK to be able to leave my job. I make good money, a steady paycheck & I carry our health insurance. #notRWA17

I’m not saying I don’t dream about it, but dreams are free, and groceries cost money. This is my reality. #notRWA17

The writers who cling to the dream and rail against reality are the ones who give up. But you don’t have to be a quitter. #notRWA17

Now, I’m not saying I don’t THINK about quitting the author gig. I do. A lot. But I won’t. 2 reasons: #notRWA17 A) I’m stubborn as a mule. B) It’s not like I can just shut it off, so why not try to make something of it? #notRWA17

And a 3rd: I know it’s possible to balance the day job with a thriving writing career. They are not mutually exclusive. #notRWA17

Goal setting is essential IMO. Time is a limited commodity, and you need to know exactly what you are after. #notRWA17

Remember, goals should be S.M.A.R.T. – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Result-driven, and Time-based. #notRWA17

Experiment with various writing practices to know which work for you when you need to turn on the faucet. #notRWA17

Examples of practices: Journaling, sprints, group writing, morning pages, dictation, etc. #notRWA17

A writing practice is a tool that can help you get into the groove of your story. My current fave is dictation. #notRWA17

I dictate the next scene in my story on my 13min commute. It’s bare-bones, but I have something to work with when I get home. #notRWA17

Now, the big one: motivation. I spend all day at a computer. There are days when the last thing I want to do is write at night. #notRWA17

We all have days when the motivation isn’t there. The trick is to find a way to spark it. #notRWA17

This is where things like word counts or scene-by-scene book building (I’m using this in combination with dictation) come in. #notRWA17

I swiped one of my new faves from @KarenBBooth . A kinder, gentler approach to word counts. Read it here: http://bit.ly/2uxgbLO

Learn to love leftovers. Never stop when you finish a scene or chapter. Try to start the next so you can hit the ground running. #notRWA17

But the biggest challenge is always time management. If work and writing were the only things in our lives, it might be easier. #notRWA17

We have laundry piles, oil changes, t-ball, and flu. There are babies to squeeze and dogs to walk. And naps. We need naps. #notRWA17

Life is for living, and you cannot let your work/life balance tip into work/work mania. It’s not healthy for you or your stories. #notRWA17

There will be times when work wins, others when life takes the wheel, but that doesn’t mean you can’t manage them. #notRWA17

Real life example: This is my summer of revisions. I have 3 finished manuscripts in editorial with 2 pubs, and a WIP. #notRWA17

I’ve already gone through developmental and line edits on 2 of the 3. In the last 2 weeks, all 3 were returned for the next step #notRWA17

After curling into a tiny ball and moaning, I reviewed the work requested on each ms and agreed that the deadline was feasible. #notRWA17

I tackled & returned 2 copyedited mss first, leaving me free to focus on the more in-depth revisions on the last. #notRWA17

And, using the dictation and transcription method I mentioned earlier, I was able to add (a very rough) 15k to the WIP. #notRWA17

This works for me. Your mileage may vary. The important thing to remember is that it is do-able. #notRWA17

Keep your goals in front of you. Set your expectation dial to ‘realistic’, and be kind to yourself. #notRWA17

We may never get to quit the day job. But that doesn’t mean we haven’t achieved something tremendous. #notRWA17

If you have started a book, you are ahead of most people. If you have completed even one ms, you’ve done something magical. #notRWA17

I wrote more about accomplishment vs ambition on my blog. Here’s the link if you are interested: http://bit.ly/2tYKwPZ #notRWA17

Thanks to @OliviaWrites for organizing this wonderful event and to you for watching me babble here. #notRWA17

I’m happy to answer questions or just commiserate. #notRWA17

If you’d like to enter to win some of my books, enter here; http://bit.ly/2uXkssN I’ll pick the winners Sunday evening.  #notRWA17

https://twitter.com/MaggieWells1/status/891343362376298496