I have a new release this week! TO MAKE YOU FEEL MY LOVE will be live on all platforms on Thursday, May 14, 2020. Be sure to mark your calendar or pre-order now! Don’t forget, you can order digital copies directly from me by clicking the Buy Direct button on the menu above. Use this coupon code to get 25% off your direct purchase: 25OFFMAGGIE
Brittany Owens is a young woman on the brink. As Brit’s career soars past up-and-coming and hurtles toward the stratosphere, she feels like she doesn’t have any control over its trajectory. Her grandfather is country music royalty. Her momager is determined to get Brit to the top at all costs. And then, there is the man she fell for when she was far too young to know any better.
Cash Dorsett once had stardom within his grasp. But the excesses that come with a life in the spotlight had him landing flat on his face when he reached for the success he craved. Clean and sober now, he doesn’t let himself think about the blue-eyed girl he left in the wreckage of his career. Much.
A chance encounter leads to an intense collaboration. But can Brit and Cash find a way to make beautiful music together without allowing her rising star to burn their love to the ground?
On Friday, our friend Michelle lost her battle with cancer.
This isn’t the first time I’ve dealt with grief. I’ve lost grandparents, both my father and mother, all but one aunt and uncle, a few co-workers and acquaintances, and grieved each and every one of them.
But this one is hitting me hard.
There are a lot of reasons why I may not be dealing well. It happened too soon. The disease progressed too fast. She was too young, too bright, too vibrant, too determined. All of those toos and too many others.
Her family asked if I would write something about her life, not knowing that she was the reason I became a romance writer. She loved the fan-fiction I wrote and was always after me to write something original. She gave me her story, and I gave her a prologue for her birthday in 2009. She read it, liked it, and then pushed me to write the rest of the story which would become the first novel I wrote, Contentment.
Here is the last thing I wrote for Michelle:
Michelle Kelly lived a life filled with passion and unmatched generosity ofspirit. Family, friends, acquaintances – no one was immune to her bright smile or the mischievous twinkle in her eye. She had a laugh that drew people to her and used it well and often. Michelle will forever be known as a determined shopper, willing and able volunteer, world-class adventurer, and master of all things organizational. Her wit was stealthy and her humour good-natured. She frequently amused her friends by misappropriating words with intent to tickle.
But mostly she loved. Michelle loved her family and friends with unreserved gusto. Shakespeare had the measure of Michelle Kelly when he wrote, “And though she be but little, she is fierce.” Our Michelle was the fiercest of women – bright, beautiful, and brave.
How do you say goodbye to someone who altered your life in such a profound way? Someone who shared your highs, lows, passing enthusiasms, and enduring loves?
The truth is, I have no idea.
So I’ll just sit with it a while. Feel all these feelings, and cry all these tears. The only way forward is through, right? I do know one thing for certain. Kelly Clarkson was right, my life will suck without her.
I did a cover reveal for my upcoming release. Did you see it? If not, it’s because you are not in my reader group. Why aren’t you in my reader group? I only send newsletters once or twice a month, and there’s usually a giveaway.
I’m ponying up a gift card in the one that just went out. Ten whole American dollars to spend at Amazon.
Definitely worth one more addition to your inbox, don’t you think? If you haven’t signed up, you can do so by entering your email address into the sidebar and I’ll catch you next time.
If you did receive my email and have not opened/responded, why not? Don’t you like free money? You can buy books with that, ya know… 😉
Anyhoo…
I hope you are well. I pray your families are healthy and you are finding ways to cope with the turbulence in our world.
Last weekend, I spent a good deal of time trying to look forward. Sunny days are coming. Flowers will bloom. We’ll feel hopeful again. I’m so convinced that we will, that I have a new book that will make it’s way into the world this spring, so how about that cover reveal?
This time I decided to do something a little different and use two different images from the same session for the ebook and print editions.
So there you have it. I hope you like them.
Brittany Owens is a young woman on the brink. As Brit’s career soars past up-and-coming and hurtles toward the stratosphere, she feels like she doesn’t have any control over its trajectory. Her grandfather is country music royalty. Her momager is determined to get Brit to the top at all costs. And then, there is the man she fell for when she was far too young to know any better.
Cash Dorsett once had stardom within his grasp. But the excesses that come with a life in the spotlight had him landing flat on his face when he reached for the success he craved. Clean and sober now, he doesn’t let himself think about the blue-eyed girl he left in the wreckage of his career. Much.
A chance encounter leads to an intense collaboration. But can Brit and Cash find a way to make beautiful music together without allowing her rising star to burn their love to the ground?
To Make You Feel My Love will be live on May 14, 2020!
In the meantime, be well, be safe, and be kind to one another.
I have a new project running around in my head. I don’t want to talk about it too much, because I’m not quite to the point of writing it. What if the kind of magic I have in my head doesn’t translate to the page? But I am excited about it. I’m just… waiting for that magic moment when I feel ready to start spinning the tale. Maybe this guy can help:
In the meantime, work is coming along on TO MAKE YOU FEEL MY LOVE. No release date set yet, but we’re well into editorial and I have cover art, and I love it. Here’s a little hint of what’s to come. Reveal to come as soon as I set a release date. In the meantime, I’ve got plenty to keep you occupied on the My Books page.
Spring has come to Central Arkansas. Thank goodness. As much as I love and miss my friends and family up north, I do not miss the winters. There’s a fresh-cut hyacinth in my bud vase. Last week, Fodder clipped these beauties and brought a little sunshine into the house. We’re supposed to be entering into a rainy stretch over the next 10 days, so Sally and I sat outside soaking up the vitamin D over the weekend. Hopefully, the rain will help keep the green pollen monster at bay.
Speaking of Spring…I will be attending the Chicago North Spring Fling in Chicago again this year. There’s a multi-author book signing scheduled for Saturday, May 2, 2020. If you’re in the Chicago area, be sure to mark your calendar!
I don’t have much to say. At this point in the year, I usually recap what I’ve accomplished, note items that were successes or disappointments, and lay out a few goals for the coming year.
But I have nothing to report.
Zip. Zilch. Nada.
I have barely touched the book that was 2/3 written at the end of 2017. I didn’t write any new words until NaNoWriMo rolled around in November, and those words had nothing to do with the previously written words. Oh, and those words are also nothing remotely resembling a novel.
Yet.
I remain hopeful. In spite of the burnout, and in the face of an industry that fluctuates from indifference to implosion on a near-daily basis.
I’m still a writer.
I still have 40 completed works under my belt, two in progress, and dozens of ideas left to nurture. I’m just…doing things a little differently these days.
Writing isn’t my life. It’s not who I am at my essence. It’s just something I like to do. But, I used to love doing it. And I want to get back to that place again.
So here I am, looking forward to 2020 armed with nothing more than a battered ego, a dusty keyboard, and a bucket-full of self-awareness. And, hopefully, I’ll get something done.
Oh, and to that end…don’t look for me on Twitter anymore. I have deactivated my accounts. You can find me on Insta @maggiewells1, the book of Face in all the usual spots, and-as always- here. Like Luke Danes, I’m always here.
Wishing you all the best health and happiness in 2020. Thanks for hanging around with me. <3
I did it (and won!) every year from 2009 – 2018. A nice, even 10 years of literary abandon. A good place to stop, right?
Yeah. I’m totally doing NaNo again, but I am rocking it old school this year.
Okay, maybe not that old-school, but I am doing some things a little differently.
I’m writing an all-new story. I had to set the problematic WIP aside and try to focus on something less resistive.
I’m totally pantsing it. No loose outline. No character sketches. No beat sheets. Just telling a story.
I don’t even care if I make the 50k. Okay, I say that, but we all know I’m just enough of an achiever to take my best shot at it. I know I can do it. I’ve done it 10 times before, so I have nothing to prove by killing myself.
I’m free-flowing it in a good, old-fashioned Word document. Nothing against my Scrivener software, just feeling the need to get back to basics.
I have no idea if this story is a romance. I assume it will develop into one, but I’m not going to force it.
So, yeah. You know the drill. I’ll see you sometime in December!
I finally feel like I’m reaching the top of this burnout hole I’ve been in. I’ve been reading a lot – fiction and non-fiction – and watching a good chunk of PBS and Netflix programming. And college football, though my teams are not doing much to excite the fan-base.
I’ve also been making notes. The books, articles, and coaching sessions have helped me see some place I might improve my stalled work in progress, and breathe more life and purpose into the characters.
So, yeah, that’s where I’m at as of today.
But seeing the light at the top of the hole also scares me. If I want to get back in the swing of things, I’m going to have to step out there again. And the one thing I fear more than failing, it’s burning out again.
I don’t want to feel the same level of anger, frustration, and futility I’ve been marinating in for the last year or so.
So. I’ve given myself the month of October to ramp up. In November, I will dive back into the work. I won’t be doing NaNoWriMo this year. I don’t think I have it in me. For the first time in over a decade, I will not be spending November sweating word count totals.
Because I’ve come to realize that I want to write for the long haul, and for here on out, I will be treating my publishing career as a marathon, and not a sprint.
In my last post, I talked about my burnout. In this one, I’d update you on my recovery, and what I have discovered.
I may have mentioned it in my previous post, but I had a bit of an, “Ah-ha!” moment while watching Becca Syme’s QuitCast videos.
Becca is a Gallup certified strengths coach, but she is also an author and a member of the Romance Writers of America. She started talking about burnout issues because most of the authors she speaks to started listing the same worries/concerns.
I won’t go into detail about burnout and all the things she said that spoke to me and the way I was feeling about my writing career. I’ll just tell you that I connected with it enough to sign up for a class she was offering that helps authors identify their top five strengths (according to the Clifton StrengthsFinder) and works with them in a coaching capacity author-to-author.
Here are my five: Input|Relator|Empathy|Achiever|Responsibility
There’s quite a bit of logic behind each of these strength labels, but for the most part, they are self-explanatory. Since the Gallup and Becca’s definitions are copyrighted material, I’ll just give you my hot take on them.
Input – High input people need to take in a lot of information. They don’t necessarily become experts in everything they learn, but they store it away for future reference. I attribute my vast store of movie quotes, superior Trivial Pursuit skills, and ability to sing every word of a song I haven’t heard in 20 years to this strength.
Relator – This means I need to have a strong connection to the people closest to me. I don’t gather friends everywhere I go, but the ones I have are close and well-chosen. I think this may be why I like to include close-knit groups of friends in my stories.
Empathy – I’m good at reading the room. Whether it’s an individual, or a general consensus, I pick up on vibes pretty easily. Which may explain why the negative onslaught we’ve been enduring since 2016 has been overwhelming for me. This is why I have retreated from most social media and holed up in my blanket fort.
Achiever – The name pretty much says it all. I am compelled to complete tasks. If there’s a list, I must tick off the boxes. Like all of these traits, this can also become a weakness. This is why I broke up with my Apple watch. I don’t think it’s healthy to cuss a piece of wearable technology for not giving me stand credit for hours I know I was on my feet. Yeah….
Responsibility – I’m just a girl who can’t say no. Okay, I can, but I don’t very often, and that weighs on me. I am your get it done girl. Once I agree to something, I have to see things through. But when it’s a situation where I have to rely on others to do their part, well… it can take a toll too.
So, yeah, I’ve been talking to Becca about where these traits are working for me, and where I may not be using them to my best advantage. We’re also talking strategy for dealing with those moments when my strengths become a weakness.
So here is my self-portrait for the week:
I’m still not writing, but now my not writing is purposeful. I’m refilling my input well, and hunkering down with those people who help me generate good energy. I’ve made my blanket fort a safe space for the plot bunnies to come and play. I feed my achiever by taking notes on all the happy writing-related stuff I want to keep for later. And I am learning to identify those tasks that I truly own, rather than simply taking responsibility for everything.
I feel good. I feel optimistic. I feel like my writing career will go on for many years to come. Perhaps not at the breakneck speed of the first 10 years, but that’s okay. I’m playing the long game now.
If you are looking for me, one of the places I’ve been hanging out at the most lately is on The Corner of Smart & Sexy. It’s just me and some fabulous author friends talking books and playing silly games. Join us there! You never know who you may run into…
I won’t lie, it’s been a rough year (or two…okay, three) for me. I’ve been struggling with my writing for a while, and this year, I finally hit the wall.
I’ve spent some time sulking and whining, and even more pretending everything is okay, this was just a phase, and I would get through it if I could just focus, manage my time better, buy 3-5 different planners, convert my bulletin board to a kanban, etc.
But mostly, I’ve spent 2019 wondering if I am done.
I realize now (thanks to this series of videos by Becca Syme), that I’ve been sliding into burnout since about 2016.
Looking back, it’s really no surprise. While 2016 was the annus horribilis personally (and not because of anything political – though that didn’t help), it was an exciting year for me as a writer. I signed contracts, made plans for mass market and audiobook releases, and generally threw myself and my balled up emotion into all the things that go along with writerdom.
I worked steadily through 2017, my eyes on the prize that 2018 was sure to be. 2018 started out fabulous, back to back releases, and a starred review from Publishers Weekly. And then the hits started coming.
Rejection. Disillusionment.
You’d think I’d be used to the subjective nature of the business by now, but you never really get past the gut-punch. Somehow, I muddled through another two lackluster releases, plastered an ‘all is well’ smile on my face and played the conference circuit, then struck back with an ‘I’ll show you’ indie release that netted me more profit in one month than the 4 others have combined since publication.
But it wasn’t about the money.
I was reeling. Am reeling. After 9 years and 39 books, I am out of contract. An orphan. I am a woman with lots of planners, but no plan.
I’ve spent much of this year dealing with the fallout from what I see now were unrealistic expectations. I’d been listening too much to the noise around me. I’d been immersing myself in the quicksand of social media and other forms of busy work and distraction to self-soothe.
But it isn’t working.
I haven’t been working. I’ve been sulking. And hurting. And wondering if there’s anything left in me.
I’ve had a first draft on my computer that has been thiiiiis close to being complete since November, but I just can’t stir myself to finish it.
But I don’t want to quit. I know that much.
If I did, I would have a while ago, and wouldn’t have spent so much of this year fretting over it. So what to do now? I’ve licked my wounds for long enough. It’s time to figure out how to move on.
My biggest leap will be stepping off the forced productivity treadmill. I will no longer conform to what “everyone says’ is the ‘right’ way to do this author thing.
I will refill my creative well.
I plan to read, listen to music, watch television and movies… In other words, do all the things I eschewed over the last few years in the name of productivity. These are the things that feed me. They spark ideas and give me the impetus to ask, “What if this happened?”
Those who have been around since my Gilmore Girls days know my biggest works of fanfic started with Lorelai asking Luke if he was ‘good at dating’, and I wondered, “What if Luke took that opportunity to tell Lorelai he didn’t want to wait around for her to finally see him and pick him?”
I want to get back to that feeling…the need to explore possibilities within my books. The possibilities inside of me.
So yeah, that’s probably more than you ever wanted to know about what goes on inside my brain. But there you have it.
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
Yes, I am taking the sage advice of Mr. Ferris Bueller this week and taking of for a fun-filled weekend with my girlfriends. It’s been far too long since I’ve been able to spend time with them.
Life has been moving pretty fast.
The last time I was with them was 2015, and this happened:
Can you blame me for hoping something equally awesome happens this time?
So far we have karaoke, pedis, pool time, and possibly a day trip planned.
I. Cannot. Wait.
If you don’t hear from us in the next couple weeks, collect some bail money, will ya?
