Real Life Archives - Page 16 of 24 - Maggie Wells-Margaret Ethridge

November 10, 2014

Monday Mayhem – November Nuttiness

It’s November and I’m knee deep in NaNoWriMo. This year, I’m working on a novella about a young widow looking to cut loose, and the guy who’s just the man to help. 🙂

It’s also birthday month. That means I dragged Fodder out to the movies. Hard to make the man sit still for 2 hours, so I need to take advantage when I can. We saw St. Vincent. I can definitely recommend it.

I’m also doing Weight Watchers again. So far I’m down 5 pounds total, but I might have indulged a bit this weekend. I needed that chocolate chip cookie. I needed it bad.

This year, I will have the day after Thanksgiving off for the first time since 2002. I’m looking forward to the long weekend. I hope to finish the first draft of Bossy Pants by then and start in on the first book in a new series I’m calling Hooligans to finish out the 50k I need to complete the challenge.

Finally, the Diamond State Romance Authors will be hosting our annual public meeting next Saturday, November 15, 2014 at the Thompson Library in Little Rock. The program will be about Writing Short, and will start at 10am. Coffee, donuts, and good company – all for the low, low price of FREE! Here’s the blurb:

There’s more to writing short than less story. Join the Diamond Sate Romance Authors for a glimpse into the beauty of brevity. Learn tight writing, secondary plots, characterization and backstory. We’ll discuss tips and techniques that will help you craft a better story of any length with fewer words.

This free public workshop will prove you with the tools you need to improve your pacing, tighten your plot, and make every sentence count.

November 3, 2014

Monday Mayhem – Revisiting old friends

This week I spend a bit of time with some old friends. Remember Lynne Prescott and Bram Hatchett from Spring Chickens? Well, I just finished the first round of edits on the revised manuscript, and I have to admit, I still love these two. It was great spending time with them again.

The second edition will be all scrubbed up, repackaged with a new cover (thank goodness), and available in January 2015.

Along with the change to standard time, NaNoWriMo started this weekend. I’m about 4.5k into a new story I’m calling Bossy Pants. Wish me luck!

The Ethridge Estate was attacked by a T-Rex Halloween night. Thankfully, only the candy bowl was destroyed.

Lastly, we’re being held hostage by our animals. I think we may end up just abdicating and leaving them the house. If any has a lead on new place….

What’s happening in your world this November?

October 27, 2014

Monday Mayhem – I saved it for you

Okay, so there was going to be a Facebook party that never happened. I was all set to be entertaining for my allotted hour and now I’m stuck with a bowl full of Halloween candy that apparently isn’t Weight Watchers friendly (who knew?) and a bunch of silly questions. Fodder has gallantly volunteered to eat the candy, therefore I have decided to ~~inflict~~, uh, I mean share the questions with you.

Want to play along?

1) What Halloween candy do you eat first, and what would you trade? Me, I’m all about the Reese’s cups, but you can keep your peanut butter kisses. I’m funny that way.

2) What do you think about this pumpkin spice craze: super nice or overripe? Can’t get into it. Believe me, I’ve tried.

3) One time I dressed as Peg Bundy from ‘Married with Children’ for Halloween. Sorry for the pic of a pic, but my scanner isn’t working. So, tell me…what’s the zaniest costume you’ve ever worn? Share pics if you have ‘em!

4) Let’s talk pie…I’m all over the pecan. What’s your favorite? Mine is pecan, but key lime is a close second. Your turn! Go!

5) You’re being haunted – choose your ghost: Rex Harrison or Patrick Swayze? Write in votes accepted.

October 20, 2014

Monday Mayhem – Thank you!

It’s been a busy couple of weeks with the release of Enchanted Lover, and you managed to hang in there. Thank you all for your support! As you can imagine, I’m a little burnt out on blog posts. I don’t really have much to say other than I think you are AWESOME!

September 29, 2014

Monday Mayhem – Home again!

We had a fabulous time on our trip to New Orleans and Vicksburg. Here is the story of our trip in photographs:

I’m back to work in every way this week. Be sure to look for Paramour in the upcoming Enchanted Lover paranormal boxed set! You can pre-order your copy now at:

Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Smashwords

In other news, I just typed ‘The End’ on another Maggie story and will be revising and adding to it in the coming weeks. I have an idea for a new series (fired by our trip down the Mississippi) that I’ll be fleshing out, and some edits coming from Kensington/Lyrical.

So yeah, I’m ready to hunker down and get to work.

How about you? What are you up to now that they days are getting cooler and the nights growing longer?

September 22, 2014

Monday Mayhem – Drive by posting

I’m just back from a fabulous weekend with some of the Diamond State Romance Authors! We had our annual writing retreat at this weekend and it was incredible. Not only did I add over 8,000 words to my work in progress, but we got to spend the weekend in this fabulous house on Lake Hamilton.

It even had this fabulous infinity pool (Author Megan Mitcham as Vanna White)

But we were there for a purpose, and that was to put words on the page. So I wrote. I wrote in the comfy recliner:

And on one of the nice, shady balconies:

And for a little while, I did the word putting into sentence doing out by the pool:

All in all, I added 8,143 to my work in progress. Whoo hoo!

Then I did this:

When I got home, I got to see the new carpet!

We still have a lot of work to do on the room, but it’s really starting to come together. I even picked up a pretty piece of inspirational artwork for the big wall:

So that’s the update on my works in progress. What’s up with you this week?

September 15, 2014

Monday Mayhem – An-ti-ci-pation!

This weekend I worked a little and goofed a little. In my book, that’s the best kind of weekend.

I kicked the weekend off by picking up the latest Susan Elizabeth Phillips book, Heroes Are My Weakness.

I’ve been parsing it out chapter by chapter between construction duties. The walls in the upstairs bedroom/office are up and the seams mudded. The new windows are in. We start priming and painting today and the carpet comes Wednesday.

It’s bound to be a crazy busy week again. I’m within striking distance of finishing the first draft of Full Court Press and I have a new story to plot. The good news is, annual DSRA writing retreat starts this Friday and I can’t wait! And after that, I’ll be on vacation.

In other words, this will be the longest short week of my life.

How about you? Anything coming up in your world that’ll make the seconds between now and then drag by?

September 8, 2014

Monday Mayhem – It’s a mess ’round here

Sorry I don’t have anything fun to blog about, we’ve been up to our ears in renovation. We’re finally gutting the room upstairs:

My handy hubby has been wearing his tool belt and putting this stuff to good use:

I’m his lovely assistant. My job is to hold things, help him measure, and listen to him cuss. The only thing I can tell you conclusively is that we do not have a wall in this house that is square and true. But we will have walls.

Eventually.

And one day soon, I’ll have a lovely new office/guest room.

In the meantime, I have dust. Lots and lots of dust.

What’s new in your world?

August 4, 2014

Monday Mayhem – Gotta Get Away

I’ve been suffering a pretty strong vacation urge for the last couple of years. When one moves 500+ miles from family and friends and marries into a ready-made family, vacation time is usually eaten up with trips back home or activities to entertain the kids.

My husband and I haven’t taken a trip that wasn’t work or family related since our honeymoon in 2001 when we went to Eureka Springs and stayed at the beautiful (and haunted!) Crescent Hotel.

We had a taste of what it might be like when he flew to south Texas last spring to meet me for a quick weekend. I was working in McAllen for a couple of weeks, and the flight times to and from Little Rock just didn’t make sense for a Friday afternoon to Sunday evening turn around, but the proximity to South Padre Island and frequent flier miles made a couple days at the beach possible.

Boy, did that whet the whistle.

When inclement weather forced us to stay overnight in Cape Girardeau, MO on our way back from Illinois, we discovered that we both enjoy exploring these old Mississippi River port towns. It didn’t hurt that we came out of the riverboat casino $60 ahead for the night.

So yeah, we’ve been itching to get away again, but with job/family/pet/financial obligations, it hasn’t been easy to take the time away. But then I had a flash of genius.

No, I didn’t invent an intermittent windshield wiper, but I did manage to put a couple of random thoughts together and come up with a semi-plan.

You see, I’ve been entertaining thoughts of a story or two with a historic South backdrop. Towns like Vicksburg or Natchez, MS. Both are within few hours of our house, so the man and I have been tossing around the idea of a road trip. The easy proximity from either of those locales to New Orleans, and the fact that my husband has never experienced The Big Easy, and well…it’s safe to say there’s a plot afoot.

We like diner food and flea markets. We’re easily lured by roadside stands and local attractions. Photos of plantations turned B&B have spawned more than one fantasy involving sneak-drinking brandy whilst I observe the size and strength of Rhett Butler’s hands….

http://www.anyclip.com/movies/gone-with-the-wind/drunk-rhett/#!quotes/

Ahem. Sorry. I digress.

How about you? Are you a road trip person or do you prefer to make a beeline for your final destination? Anyplace in particular you’re yearning to see?

July 28, 2014

Monday Mayhem – Nesting edition

Now, before my beloved Jewels goes bonkers picturing me acting like some kind of winged creature, let me state for the record that my kind of nesting looks more like this:

I was quite the homebody this weekend, and though I sacrificed a writing date with the fabulous Katie Kenyhercz for a couple of alarm-free days, I feel it was the right decision. As much as I enjoy being on the go, it was time for this girl to whir and shut down for a bit.

Of course, being the obsessive compulsive I am, you know I managed to be terribly productive whilst on the nest.

The bathrooms have been scrubbed and the laundry is fairly caught up. I cooked pollo guisado patos (because I am turning into a Latina trapped in a body of Irish/German extraction) one night and meatloaf and oven roasted potatoes another. I smooched the grandbaby and spoiled the fur-babies. In my downtime, I did some banner work for my friend Maggie, read a galley proof and added another 6k to a work in progress.

I did leave the Ethridge Estate on occasion. You know, the usual errands – Diet Coke stockpiling, grocery procurement (read: we were out of chips), and the mailing of newly signed publishing contracts.

*waits a beat*

*proceeds to chair dance*

Nope, it never gets old. Of course, the contract was for one of Maggie’s stories, but never fear, boring old Margaret got a little action this week as well. It’s official! Turquoise Morning Press will be releasing a new edition of Spring Chickens! Whoo hoo! New life for Lynne and Bram!

All in all, it was a pretty good weekend. How about you? What’s new and exciting in your life?