Tag: Real Life

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Monday Mayhem – Going Pro

I’ve decided to turn pro on this weekending thing. I think I have the balance nailed.

Yesterday, I wrote a bit, then went running around town with the man. Came home, napped, edited, then watched the Outlander finale (sigh). After a brief recap with my girl, Lulu, I crawled into bed with one of Mary Balogh’s Survivor’s Club books.

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Today, my beloved brought me delicious Diet Coke from Sonic to start the day. Fueled, I went upstairs and cranked out some words. At break time, I went to fetch chicken salad from the deli and a new blow drier, as mine decided to give up on life yesterday. The man and I attempted a nap, but were thwarted by bleating noises from our cellular devices. Kids. They’re never too old to ruin a good snooze.

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The afternoon started to cloud over, so the man decided to take the opportunity to do some yard work. I spent the prelude to the storms making more words and heating a chicken enchilada casserole my friends at Stouffer’s prepared for us. As is our after dinner custom, Sally humored us by letting us play with her squeaky chicken whilst she watched tolerantly.  At last, the three of us had a delightful 20 minute doze on the bed in my office.

All in all, a nice weekend. I wish I could do it all over again today, but alas, back to the mines….

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How was your weekend? Are you a member of my Facebook reader’s group, The Margaritas? If you aren’t yet, click the link to join. I post all the juicy stuff there first!

How about that new release? A WILL AND A WAY is available now!

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I’ll have some good news coming this week. Yay! So be sure to stay tuned!

 

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Monday Mayhem – Free, free, set them free!

Allow me to wish my fellow Americans a Happy Independence Day!

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And a belated Happy Canada Day to my friends up north!

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Been a big, busy week…as usual. I turned A BOLT FROM THE BLUE in to my editor. Wooot! Now, I’m working on the first book in a new series featuring hot single dads.

But the big news is…A WILL AND A WAY releases into the wild tomorrow, July 5, 2016!

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I’m really excited to set this one free. A WILL AND A WAY is the follow up to my super-hot seasoned romance, THREE LITTLE WORDS, and I can’t wait to introduce you to Will!

In the meantime, Fodder and I will be blowing up the back yard tonight. Have a safe and happy 4th!

 

 

 

 

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Monday Mayhem – Back again

Sorry I missed you last week. I was attacked by a norovirus Sunday afternoon, and unable to come to the computer.

This unexpected turn of events caused great upheaval in my routines. Not only did I miss posting here, but I missed a day in my 100 day challenge. Quite a bummer, considering the 100 days are up next week. Still, I plan to get 99 out of 100, and my overall word count shouldn’t be worse for wear.

Still, lots of things happening this week. If you have not downloaded copies of GOING DEEP and FLIP THIS LOVE for only $0.99, do it now! The sale ends this week. Share this with your friends!

Beach Reads sale

Amazon Apple B&N Google Kobo

Later this week, everyone’s favorite redhead will be back, and he’s FREE!

SEDUCING STEVE free June 29 – July 2 exclusively on Amazon!

160 pages of red-headed hottie

All of this as I sprint to the finish line on A BOLT FROM THE BLUE so I can turn it in to my editor at the end of the week.

Oh, and as of Thursday, I’ll have been married to this guy for 15 years:

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So, all in all, a busy week leading up to Independence Day and the release (finally!) of A WILL AND A WAY!

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What have you been up to?

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Monday Mayhem – Tell Me Something Good

There are days when I consciously make the decision to wear blinders. This doesn’t mean I’m oblivious to what’s happening around me or uncaring. It simply means I choose not to focus on things I cannot control. Just one of my particular coping mechanisms.

Like everyone with a feeling heart, I am horrified by the events that took place in Orlando this weekend.

As a woman, I’m angry about the flaws in our judicial system and the misogyny we allow to permeate our society.

I’m fearful for our country’s political future, and frankly, giving a good number of my fellow Americans the side eye.

And, as ever, I’m worried about my husband / children / siblings / nieces / nephews / greats / grands / dog / and even the baby birds in my hanging baskets (which, is amazing in itself if you know how I feel about birds).

In other words, this:

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All of the above are reasons why I choose fiction. The very essence of why I choose to read and write romantic fiction. I need stories with happy endings. Otherwise, I’d be a quivering mass of fear and worry and hopelessness.

This weekend, I hid out in my imaginary world quite a bit. You know what happened there? This:

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So, I’m going to focus on this piece of positivity for the next week or two, then I will send it off into the loving embrace of my extraordinary editor.

How about you? Did anything good happen in your little corner of the world this weekend?

 

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Monday Mayhem – Catch up, but not ketchup

Because I don’t do condiments…

Hi, friends! It seems a while since we caught up. As Ferris says:

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It seems things have been on some kind of special effects warp speed around here. Life is flying by, but in that weird slo-mo sort of way. I’m on deadline again. The ink isn’t dry, so I can’t say too much, but I think you’ll find it Worth The Wait. (BTW – That was a crazy big hint if you’ve been following my series titles.)

I’m in head-down writing mode, but also trying to deal with some heads-up life stuff. Which means I’m a bit scattered. So before I forget – GOING DEEP and FLIP THIS LOVE are both an SALE for $0.99 each this month. Please, please, please tell your book loving friends.

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I’ll be signing copies of FLIP THIS LOVE at the Diamond State Romance Authors 10th Anniversary book signing on Saturday, June 18, 2016. We’ll be at the Hastings bookstore in Benton Arkansas, so if you are in the neighborhood, come and see me!

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You can read more about DSRA and see pictures of me and my pals in this Only In Arkansas article!

Remember, book #3 – LOVE & ROCKETS is coming in November so this is a great time to catch up. I’ll have some gorgeous cover art for L&R to share soon!

Oh, and book #2 in my *ahem* Worth the Wait Romance series, A WILL AND A WAY will release on July 5, 2016, so be sure to mark your calendar. Better yet, you can preorder a copy at your favorite retailer!

Amazon ~ Apple ~ B&N ~ Google ~ Kobo

A WILL AND A WAY

So yeah, busy-busy!

In the meantime, Fodder and I took Ferris’ advice and headed out of town for a night. We went to Hot Springs, and poked around a bit. My boyfriend even bought me presents:

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Does he know me well, or what? He should. At the end of this month, we’ll have been hitched 15 years.

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The pool a water behind us is one of the hot springs. It’s hot tub (or bathwater for me) warm to the touch and you can see the steam rising from it. It has been a rainy week off and on. The system finally cleared out yesterday evening, but it left us a parting gift.

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When we got home, we decided we ought to re-bond with our dog and our patio before going about the business of laundry, grocery shopping, and other unsavory tasks.

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I said life moves pretty fast, I never claimed we did.

So there you have it, friends. I think we are up to date. See you next week!

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Monday Mayhem – How about a quickie?

That got your attention…

Just home from a fabulous weekend at the Chicago North RWA Spring Fling! Thanks so much to all the hardworking volunteers and speakers who gave their all to make it an awesome conference. I also want to thank all those who came out to the book signing. I had a blast sharing FLIP THIS LOVE with the world!

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Proud to report that I kept up with my daily word count (barely). I also left my room even though I wanted to hide from the stranger danger. As a reward, I got to meet some fabulous people I’ve only chatted with in a virtual world.

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I’ll have more to report once I’m caught up with the laundry, but here are some teasers for stuff coming in June: A sale! Another sale! And a new Yankee Candle newsletter giveaway!

In the meantime, check out the bling that was waiting for me when I got home. 🙂

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Monday Mayhem – More more more!

Another whirlwind week on deck! Wanna play a game of where’s Margaret?

    1. In case you missed it, I was at Fiction University last week talking about writing mojo and the tricks we writers play on ourselves to make things happen.
    2. I’m at Just Contemporary Romance today and tomorrow talking about the differences between a house and a home.
    3. I have a GoodReads giveaway starting this week! Be sure to enter and to tell all of your friends!
    4. Less than 2 weeks until I terrorize the Northwest Suburbs! I’ll be signing copies of FLIP THIS LOVE at the Chicago North RWA Spring Fling Conference book signing Saturday, May 21, 2016 from 3-5pm at the Hyatt Regency Schaumburg. Mark your calendars!

 

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Okay, now that we have that mess out of the way… Hi! How are you? I’m happy to report that things are finally looking up around here. I can’t give any specifics about good things in progress, but let me say I’ll be cranking out plenty of reading material for 2017 and beyond!

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Ahem. Thank you, Buzz.

I’ve started a new novel this week. It’s called A BOLT FROM THE BLUE and I’m having a lot of fun writing it. In this book, I’m reimagining the first original character I’d ever developed. Our heroine is a free-spirited former debutante named Hope, and she’s about to give an ultra-grounded electrician named Mick one hell of a jolt.

Oh, and in case you missed it, FLIP THIS LOVE is available and readers are really falling for Harley Cade, rough edges and all! Have you read FLIP THIS LOVE? Please, please, please consider leaving a review at Amazon, GoodRead, iBooks, B&N, or wherever you buy books. Reviews not only give an author feedback, but they provide an excellent marketing tool (See below).

“Before I say anything else, I need to confess that I’m hopelessly in love with Harley Cade. There. I said it.” 

“Harley, Harley, Harley how to describe him well he’s sweet, but at the same time he could be a smarta**”

“Furthermore, the story itself features my favorite kind of hero—a self-made entrepreneur who works with his hands and who treats his mother like a queen.”

“I liked that Harley never gave up on Laney. It’s a true testament to how much she matters to him.”

And my friend Karen made this pretty graphic for me

Nothing draws a magnate like a steel magnolia...

If you blog or use social media, please feel free to grab it (right click and save photo as…) and use it to help share the love!

xoxo

Mags

 

 

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Monday Mayhem – Ten good things

Lots of good things going on. Ready for a check in?

  1. I’m over the halfway point with drafting Ransomed Heart! Woohoo! This is the point in the story where I have no idea what my characters are doing, and I just hope they will bring it around again. You see, they’ve stopped listening to me a few thousand words back. Being a panther, I’m okay with letting them go for a little bit. I can always rein them in at revision time. Screen Shot 2016-03-20 at 3.11.13 PM
  2. I have received and returned the first round of edits on book #3 in the Coastal Heat series, Love & Rockets! And…just one of the many cool parts about this book: it will release on my birthday! Look for it at your favorite retailer on November 16, 2016!
  3. Speaking of Love & Rockets, the cover art fairy visited my inbox this week, and I may have squealed a bit. I’ll share the goods as soon as I get the green light.images
  4. Got an AWESOME 5 STAR early review for Flip This Love (Coastal Heat #2, April 26, 2016) at Epilogue Book Blog! From the feedback I’ve had so far, readers are loving our new hero, Harley Cade. Yay!!!!WellsMaggie_FlipThisLove
  5. Going Deep (Coastal Heat #1) is on sale this month for only $0.99. This is the first book in the series, so if you haven’t read it, grab it now!gd
  6. Six? Funny, I have about 6 future story proposals under consideration. Cross everything!Sheldon-Cooper-Freaking-Out-Reaction-Gif-On-Big-Bang-Theory
  7. Six must be the number of the week! It’s been just over a year since I sent a query letter off to Sara Megibow, asking her to read Full Court Press. Since then, we’ve done deals for 6 books together.sara
  8. Have you tried the Buttered Toffee shakes at Sonic Drive-Ins? Yeah. Best. Shake. Ever.unnamed
  9. Completed my 100 word/100 days challenge. Stats: Total words added to WIPs 88,446! Today, I am starting a new 100 day challenge, but this time I’m going to try to go for 500 per day.Snoopytypewriterplotthickening.jpg~c200
  10. This week, I was reminded again of how very lucky I am to have such loving and supportive friends and family. Thank you for being a part of my life. You are the very best part.7dde1588-dead-4def-8ab9-128a02da884b

 

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Monday Mayhem – Venturing forth

It has rained for more than a week. Not a few intermittent showers, either. We’re talking steady, pouring, sometimes torrential rains. While it wasn’t as bad here as it was in southern Arkansas and the northern part of Louisiana, the flash flooding in prone areas was bad enough to make us have to alter our usual routes for a few days.

Those of you who know me know that I’m rather like a kitten when it comes to getting wet. I don’t care much for it. Oh, I kept myself busy with writing in the evenings. Even picked up a few beach-y themed prizes for the FLIP THIS LOVE launch next month:

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But by the end of the week, we were getting restless. So what did we do? We went off to the races!

It’s racing season at OakLawn track in Hot Springs, so we drove down to meet up with some friends to watch the ponies run a muddy track. It was Daffodil Day at the track, so my boyfriend bought me a crown. 🙂

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After a day of tossing $2 bets around like we were big money, we headed back to Little Rock for the real big time. A date with a 3 year-old and a giant rodent. Due to the ceaseless rain, my boy’s birthday party had to be moved from the nice little park near their house, to the dreaded Chuck E. Cheese.

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We survived. A nap was procured (for him and for me), and now I am back in the chair and past the halfway point on this draft of Ransomed Heart. Oh, and the sun is supposed to make an appearance today. Keep your fingers crossed!

 

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Monday Mayhem – Farewell February

Okay, ‘farewell’ wasn’t my first choice of ‘F’ words to use, but I’m trying to keep things polite.

What craptastic month is has been. It may be the shortest month on the calendar, but February more than made up for its deficiencies by hitting me, my friends, and loved ones with an overabundance of deaths, illnesses, accidents, financial hurdles, as well as personal and professional disappointments.

So, yeah, buh-bye, February.

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Take your extra day and hit the road, Jack. We’ve had enough of you and your shenanigans.

Coming next week: Attitude adjustment and forward progress. Stay tuned.