Maggie’s Musings

Posted on

Monday Mayhem – Lightning round!

Enough about me, let’s talk about you!

1) How’s your Monday going?

2) What are you wearing?

3) Seen a movie lately? Good? Bad? Ugly? Too many naked people? Not enough naked people?

4) Read any good books? (Not fishing for anything but suggestions to add to my ‘To Be Read’ pile, I swear.)

5) If you could be a shape-shifter, what animal would you be?

6) Tell me the name of at least one of the celebrities who would make your ‘Freebie List’.

7) Quick! A memorable quote! Any quote. Doesn’t have to be verbatim; just something that has lodged in your mind.

8 ) What would your dog name be?

9) If you had to choose the shoes you’d be buried in, which pair currently in your collection would win?

10) Condiments. Beneficial addition to the flavor of our society, or imperialistic sauces hell-bent on camouflaging the evil that lies beneath bun? Discuss.

Happy Monday, my friends. I think you’re awesome regardless of your answer to #10.

Posted on

Monday Mayhem – Meet Maggie and Tom!!!!

Just in case you haven’t heard me shout it from the rooftops…It’s release day for COMMITMENT!!!

All digital formats are now available – trade paperback coming later this week.

The ebook is only $3.99 at the TMP Bookstore, Amazon, B&N, All Romance eBooks, and Smashwords . Whew! That was a lot of links. I hope I got them all right.

Okay! Let’s talk about Maggie and Tom…

We first met these two in Contentment,  but their story is not truly a sequel. Commitment runs concurrent to Contentment. That’s a fancy way of saying, the timelines overlap. If you’ve read Contentment, you know what’s going on with these two, but you don’t really know how they got there or how it will turn out for them. Well, now you know…

Author true confession #1: I did not read Paramour or Contentment after they were released.

I mean I never sat down (or in my case, crawled into the tub) and read them like I book I just picked up. It’s not that I don’t love the stories or the characters. If you had any idea how real these people are to me, you’d call the men in the white coats. It’s just that by the time a book gets to market, I’ve been through it at least 6 times since I turned it in to my editor. After a while, the words begin to blur.

True confession #2: The first draft of this book took  me a total of 9 months to complete. Getting to the point where I could type ‘The End’ almost killed me.

Those of you who were around when I was writing Commitment know. It was so frustrating. I loved the characters. I loved the story they had to tell. I knew exactly where it was going to go and how I wanted to get them there, but something kept holding me back. I simply could not force the words from my fingertips. Thankfully, I have one of those painfully honest friends who pointed out a few areas she thought I could improve. In other words, she gave me all the reasons why she hated my book. I didn’t agree with her, but the feedback lit a fire under me. I went back in to make a few changes, determined to prove her wrong. Voila! It all clicked. For that, my painfully honest friend will receive extra kisses of gratitude.

True confession #3: I adore Tom and Maggie.

These two crack me up. Their story is much more light-hearted than the one I hung on poor Sean and Tracy. There’s nothing I love more than two snarky people in lust. Or love. Or both. LOVE these two together. I love the steam that rises between them. I think of all the couples I have ever written, Tom and Maggie are the most evenly matched in tone and temperment. That makes their tug-of-war more fun to watch.

True confession #4: I started reading Commitment on my Kindle last night.

I didn’t mean to, honest. I opened the file to re-read the dedication (because I couldn’t remember what I wrote) and thee next thing I knew, Mr. Man was snoring away and I was five chapters in.

True confession #5: In a roundabout way, I may have dedicated this book to myself.

Want to know how?

Buy the book. 

Happy Monday to you all, my friends. I hope your mayhem is marvelous. 

 

Posted on

Monday Mayhem – Slo-Mo Dream Sequence Edition

It’s Martin Luther King Day here in the States. That means that most government offices, schools and banks are closed, but most of the rest of us are at work. The morning radio personalities were talking about how many people are using MLK Day as a service day—volunteering their day off from work or school at shelters, children’s programs, etc. I think that’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard.

Of course, they played parts of Dr. King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. It got me thinking about dreams, both large and small.

We all have them. Our dreams may be for the greater good, or they may focus on personal gratification. Some may be pie in the sky, and some are easily within our grasp. We all chase them. We work through the ins and outs until the impossible seems merely improbable, and the improbable simply a quest to be undertaken.

Need a truth that proves to be self-evident?  Dreams change. The ultimate goal may remain the same, but the path one takes to get there fraught with twists and turns. Our dreams are shaped by experience and circumstance, they’re subject to whim and whimsy, and they can be rooted deep or disappear in a puff of smoke. Don’t worry; another dream will form to take its place.

The good news? We have an unlimited supply of dreams, and each and every one of them is absolutely free. And dreams are forgiving. Like a pair of perfectly worn sweatpants, they are elastic, stretching to fit our needs at that moment and molding to the shape of our life experiences. They expand like that crazy foam stuff my hubby buys at the Home Depot, filling in the cracks in our lives and sealing in our hopes for the future.

Today is THE day to celebrate your dreams—big or small, serious or silly. Today and every day embrace those dreams and chase after them at a full-tilt-boogie.

No one else can catch them for you.

Do you have a dream? Care to share? Go ahead, we’re all friends here.

Posted on

Monday Mayhem – Begin as you mean to go on…

Did you hear? It’s a new year. Yep, 2012 slipped in while I was sleeping. Sneaky little bugger. Oh well, I’m glad it’s here at last. Not that 2011 didn’t treat me right. I think we can all agree that it did. Even in the end, 2011 kept giving and giving. It was incredible!

Contentment was named Most Memorable Story of 2011 by Another Look Book Reviews, and Paramour made a couple of end of year polls, and was ranked #3 in Top 25 books or series of 2011 by Heather Brewer at Everybody Needs A Little Romance. I’m still a little flabbergasted. The past couple of years have been a whirlwind—of the very best kind.

And now, a fresh new year. It’s hard to believe 2012 is here already. So much to do, so many things to look forward to already! What’s my plan of attack? I will begin as I mean to go on—head-first, full speed ahead, damn the torpedoes, and watch out, here she comes!

There’s tons of good stuff coming our way this year, so here’s a quick rundown from my little corner of the world:

Week of January 23: Commitment from Turquoise Morning Press

 I got cover art – wanna see?

 

Isn’t it pretty? I cannot wait for you to spend a little time with Maggie and Tom. These two are fun, sexy, and oh-so-delicious together. And they’ll be available soon! Squee!

Week of April 23: Spring Chickens from the Wild Rose Press

Oh my goodness, Lynne and Bram. I hope you fall for them as hard as I did. I loved writing this book. I love that this hero and heroine aren’t exactly spring chickens. I love that they fell in love, despite the fact that they can’t see each other clearly when they get up close and personal. Who says presbyopia can’t be sexy?  Certainly not me.

Week of June 4: Inamorata from Turquoise Morning Press

He’s baaaaack! The sexiest ghost ever to be stuck in a 60s-era light fixture is back. I’m editing now and preparing to send this baby off to my editor, but I can tell you that a new family has moved into the Stafford house, and Frank DeLuca seems destined for a new love. That is, if he can let go of the past and learn to trust in the promise of eternity.

(Cover art to come)

Whew! Pretty cool, huh? Well, that’s not all. I’ve been huddling with my editor and publisher about the possibility of finishing out the Long Distance Love series. That’s right; there will be more Jack and Ellie to come! The plan is to combine all of the published stories with five or six new short stories to round the series out and bring them full circle. I’m working on them now, and I can’t help looking at this for inspiration:

I love that cover. It’s sooooo them. Anyhoo – stay tuned for details.

That’s what I have on the docket for now. I plan to start chasing the plot bunnies running around in my head, and hopefully will have a new novel or two completed in this brand-spanking-new year. Perhaps I’m being a little ambitious, but I don’t see the point in aiming low.

Whatever happens, I’m excited for 2012. How about you?

What are you looking forward to in the coming months? Any goals or plans you care to share?  Happy Monday, my friends. Thank you for making 2011 a banner year for me. I wish you and your loved ones a healthy, happy, and prosperous 2012.

Now go out there are kick some ass!