Writing Archives - Page 15 of 27 - Maggie Wells-Margaret Ethridge

March 30, 2015

Monday Mayhem – Special Guest Star…Jennifer Anderson!

Today, I’m excited to have my pal, Jennifer Anderson back on my blog! She’s always a hoot to have around. 🙂 I sent her a list of random questions. Just wait until you read some of her answers!!!

Heeeeeere’s Jenny! (Sorry, couldn’t resist)

****

I have to start out by telling you lovely folks how the Faboulous Ms. Mags and I met. Before I attended #RAGT and received my first TMP contract, a blogger friend suggested a book by Maggie Wells (Seducing Steve) and I was so bummed she wasn’t there that year. Over the course of the year, we fell in love over email, Twitter and FaceBook and the following year, when I was knocked-up with kidlet #3, we met and it was like the Fourth of July! I love this woman and continue to be thankful for her friendship and continued support. **She really means it about the support. I was the one holding the preggo steady while she was standing on a chair for a group photo. She’s a nutjob, but she’s my nutjob and I like her just fine. 🙂

*smacks hands* Alright, let’s get this show on the road…

Describe yourself in three words. Impatient, motherly, clever

Any nicknames? Mom, You, Jen, and by my close friends, Bitch

What was your favourite Christmas present? I do recall be overly joyed when I received my first Cabbage Patch Kid, but more recently, my husband had made for me a necklace with my birthstone, my daughter’s and my grandmother’s, who passed away that same year.

What’s your dirtiest secret? I pee in the shower! *dies* But I think it started when I was pregnant and having to go all the time and unable to move very quickly. I promise, I only do it alone (boring) and never in the bath!

In your opinion, what’s the most important part of the sandwich? The bread. I mean, yes, I love meat and cheese, but if the bread sucks, why bother. #GoTeamJimmyJohns

As authors we tend to have to research many bizarre and unusual topics. What’s the strangest thing you’ve Googled research-wise? I recently finished writing a New Adult about a girl off to college and she sells sex toys. While I’m familiar with the industry and even attended one of those house parties, I still needed more information. But I have to say, it was one of my favorite research assignments!

What was your favourite childhood toy? My purple bike with a flowered banana seat and white basket. I don’t recall where I got it and it was used but man, I loved that bike! That was back in the day when you’d leave first thing in the morning and not return until you were called. And by called, I don’t mean on the phone!

Share your favourite word or phrase with us. Right now, my 3-year old says “Sure thing”. Not sure where she got it (I blame TV) but I find myself using it all the time. I’m also a fan of awesomepants!

Do you believe in love at first sight? Absolutely! But I think it’s more of a physical attraction but that can certainly bloom into the type of love you read about! I mean, I think you have to be physically attracted to the one you love.

What writing accomplishment are you most proud of and why? I haven’t won any awards and that’s okay, because I’m good, smart enough and gosh darn it, people like me! But seriously, for me, it’s goal of getting published and to make it sweeter, my husband reading my book and then telling me how surprised he was by how good it was. There was also the time my beta reader told me she got teary when she read Ice Princess. Sick, maybe, but nice to hear!

If you had the opportunity to live one year of your life over again, which year would you choose? The year my grandmother passed. I would be more aware of her and how she was feeling. Because she knew she wasn’t well and hid it from her family and if I could have lengthened her life for 6 more months, or even a year, I would have been happy. I know this seems selfish, considering she knew she was sick and I should respect her wishes, but she was such a big influence on me that having her gone leaves me a little empty at times. She was my best friend.

What’s the funniest/weirdest/dirtiest status message you’ve posted on a social networking site? Friends don’t let friends drink and show their muffs.

Quick and dirty:

Cake or pie? A sliver of both

Jocks or nerds? a sliver of both

Coke or Pepsi? COKE

Boxers or briefs? A sliver of both

Poolside or beach? poolside

Pancakes or waffles? pancakes

Baked or fried? Baked but my alter ego insists on fried!

Aaaaaand, last but not least, tell us about your new book!

Finding You, a New Adult novel

Jessica Crispin sets out to find her mom but discovers more than she planned.

***

A long-lost grandfather dies, leaving Jessica Crispin a sizable inheritance. The only catch? She has to find her mom, whom she hasn’t seen since she was two, and she only has thirty days to do it.

Enlisting her best friend Violet, Jessica sets out on a road trip determined to solve a mystery fed by deceit and misinformation from people she thought she could trust.

On the way, she meets Jackson, whose kindness and sexy pale blue eyes make her wish he would come along for the ride.

Clues from her mother lead her far from home and to a secret Jessica never imagined. And as the deadline looms, Jessica must make peace with the ghosts of her past and risk dreaming of a future pursuing her secret passion with Jackson by her side.

AMAZON / BARNES&NOBLE / iBOOKS / KOBO

Website / Facebook / Twitter

About Jennifer:

Ref, chauffer, master chef and booboo kisser. When I’m not wielding my super mom powers, I like to weave sentences together and offer a little escape to my readers. You can usually find me sitting in the dark in front of my computer, falling in love with my characters. Send chocolate!

Additional Books by Jennifer Anderson:

Ice Princess

Prince Charming

Queen Mean

King of the Lake

Spider

My Brother’s Wedding

March 23, 2015

Monday Mayhem – Consolation Prizes

I received a rejection on a submission the other day. I half-expected one from this person, given what I’ve read about her preferences, etc., but it was a request and definitely worth a shot, right? Right. But…ouch. I still hate getting those letters.

Yes, they are the way of the publishing world. I know that, and I’m much better about receiving them than I used to be. To tell the truth, I think I’m about as good at it as I’ll ever be at accepting the rejection that is part and parcel of this business. And in the interest of efficiency, I’ve whittled the five stages of grief down to three:

1) Righteous indignation

2) Wallowing

3) Self-indulgence

So yeah, I zipped right through number one this time. Like I said, I was somewhat prepared for a no answer. The Wallow took place in the bathtub, where I gave myself the usual “You can do this. It’s just one person’s opinion. Other fish in the sea. somebody other there will love this book,” pep talk. Then Fodder and I hit the road. first stop, delightfully greasy hamburgers and fresh-cut fries. Then, we wandered around until something pretty caught my eye.

I’ve never had an orchid before, so it may prove to be as successful as this submission, but hey, it’s pretty and now it’s in my office. Keep your fingers crossed for this poor helpless plant, and my other submissions, will you?

How about you? Do you have a little risk/reward system going? What do you to to cheer yourself up when things don’t go your way?

March 16, 2015

Monday Mayhem – Kicking names and taking…

I have to tell you, I had a killer awesome weekend writing-wise. I started a new project called Play Dates. Yes, I know, you wanted Hooligans next, but trust me when I tell you that there’s a whole bunch of convoluted reasoning behind the switch in schedule. Anyhoo, I started Play Dates this week, but didn’t have a lot of time to get words in. So, I scheduled some play dates of my own.

First, I hooked up with my pal, Parker Kincaid, for pastries and pantsing at Panera. No, that doesn’t mean we pulled each other’s drawers off. It mean we both write by the seat of our pants. Fueled by bagels, danish, and toffee-nut cookies, we managed to put up some respectable numbers in the old word count column.

But then on Sunday, I took part in this:

As I type this, we are in the dinner/break portion of the day, and I am proud to report that I have over 4k for the day!

Between sessions, I did a little stint on the elliptical (part of the Body by Gilmore Girls program-I’m on ep 3), threw together some crock pot salsa chicken with black beans, ran to the store, and frolicked outside with the puppies.

I hope to get at least another 1000-1500 words this evening, and round out chapter 2. Jewels has totally kicked butt too. We’ve decided that we like having more defined writing times. Eyes on the prize and all that.

How was your weekend? Hit any goals? Take any naps? Share! I like to live vicariously. 😉

Oh! And starting this week, I’ll have a new feature on my blog – Teaser Tuesdays. These will give me a chance to introduce you to some of my writer friends and their latest projects.

That means this joint is jumping at least 5 days a week. Remember to stop by for all the fun:

Sunday – 8 sentence challenge

Mondays are Mayhem

Teaser Tuesday

Whatcha Reading? Wednesday

Fangirl Fridays!

Oh! Oh! Don’t forget to add your email address to my newsletter list. I have combined Margaret and Maggie’s previous lists and will start moving most of my future contests, excerpts and giveaways to the newsletter mailings thanks to Facebook and other social media outlets restricting the fun stuff, so be sure to hit then newsletter sign up on the sidebar if you aren’t already on there. 🙂

Happy Monday!

March 9, 2015

Monday Mayhem – Written in the Stars

This weekend, Fodder and I packed a suitcase and a snack bag and hit the road. I decided at the eleventh hour to attend the North Louisiana Storytellers and Authors of Romance (NOLA Stars) Written in the Stars conference, and I’m sure glad I did.

Friday evening, I arrived in time to hook up with my DSRA pal, Nena Clements, and say hi to fellow Arkansan, Keri Ford. I was also in time for the food and fun of the meet and greet reception. 🙂

Saturday was jam-packed with great workshops, a chance to meet some writers I’ve only chatted with online, and (dun-dun-dun) my first-ever, live pitch to an agent or editor. That’s right. I have 8 novels, 16 novellas and over a dozen short stories published without ever having to sell a story with just the words coming out of my mouth.

You know what I learned?

I’m no good at it. The second I got past the introduction, my thoughts went haywire and all semblance of cool went flying out the door. I…am a babbler. Thankfully, the agent and editor that I spoke to were both very kind and patient. They’re also at least partially fluent in babble, because they both asked to see what I was offering.

So…yay! I did it! And now I know what I need to work on before zipping out to NYC for RWA nationals. Well, that and the stories I want to write before I go. So this week, I will once again be preparing submission packages for Full Court Press.

*claps and bounces* I’m just so relieved that people seem interested. I’m also relieved that I don’t have to do that again until July.

How about you? Are you a savvy salesperson? Can you talk your way through anything? Or, are you one of those people who purposefully chose a major that involved mainly essay tests and blue books?

March 2, 2015

Monday Mayhem – Submissive me

I’m kicking a couple out of the nest!

Once again, ladies and germs, I am on submission. Gird your loins.

I emailed the manuscript for Bossy Pants (sequel to Three Little Words) to my editor just minutes ago. Now, I have to polish my proposal package for Full Court Press and send it out (on request!) this week as well.

Sending fresh manuscripts out into the world is always nerve-racking. What’s an author to do while she waits? Well, there’s usually a little binge snacking, a lot of hand-wringing, multiple neurotic emails to the critique partner, and then I move on to the final solution…start something new.

Last week, I pitched a few ideas your way and you were kind enough to give me your feedback. Book one in the Hooligans series will be the next full-length manuscript I write, and I am super-excited to tackle Rory and Mary Pat’s story.

But first, I have a couple of chances to pitch/propose other works if I can pull together outlines before the deadlines. So yeah, I’m going to be scrambling for the next couple of weeks. But there are worse problems than too many opportunities, right?

How about you? Do you have multiple projects going in your life? How do you decide which ones get attention first?

February 23, 2015

Monday Mayhem – Catching up

So, yeah… I made it back from Vegas! Came home to ice and ick, but I got to sleep in my own bed. Had a fabulous time with my girls. It’s only been a few days, but I’m already jonesing for next year.

I learned a new skill this week. Don’t think it’s one I’ll be using a lot, but I did learn to make banners using Pixlr Express. I used Spring Chickens and a silly pun for my practice run:

Since last we chatted, I finished the draft on Bossy Pants and sent it off to Jewels for her to work over. Got back to work on finishing the first draft on Full Court Press this week and guess what? I did it! I’ve been working on this story on and off for the past 10 months. There’s still a lot of buffing and polishing to be done, but I’m looking forward to working on something fresh and new.

Here are a few of my options. What do you think I should take on next?

1) Play Dates – On an outing at the park with her niece, our heroine, Monica, meets a sexy single dad. The only trouble is, he doesn’t know the precocious little girl who calls her ‘Monnie’ isn’t hers, and Monica doesn’t know how to break it to him.

2) Executive Privilege – A widow uses her late husband’s Senate seat as a springboard for her Presidential campaign. The only trouble is she’s in love with her husband’s former chief of staff and best friend. Friends turn to lovers on the campaign trail but the press is hot on their tail.

3) Dirty Blonde -She’s the scandalous small town hairdresser – dresses in Daisy Dukes, cowgirl boots, and knows unbuttoning the third button down ups her tips nearly 20%. He’s a former Army engineer & wounded warrior. Scarred inside and out, he’s happy to be home, she’s dying to get out. They should never have fallen in love.

4) Something Stupid – An aspiring actress nearly loses the role of a lifetime when she makes the mistake of confessing her feelings for her best friend’s brother – Hollywood’s hottest young filmmaker.

5) Hooligans – The first in a series of stories about three generations of single men who run a neighborhood pub in Chicago. There’s nothing Rory Houlihan wants more than to get married and have a family and his meddling grandmother thinks the girl next door, Mary Pat Brady, would make an excellent candidate. As a matter of fact, it just might be her dying wish.

What say you? Do any of these trip your trigger?

January 19, 2015

Monday Mayhem – I get by with a little help from…

…my friends.

I am blessed with tremendous friends. Old friends, newer friends, work friends, reader friends, and writer friends. Friends that have been with me for years, some I’ve never met, and a few who still seem to like me even when I morph into Extra Bitchy Recipe Mags.

This week, I’ve had opportunity to appreciate all of then above. The fact that my old friends and I sometimes have to schedule a hook-up eighteen months out (next year will be 30 years!) doesn’t seem to put a damper on our enthusiasm.

I get to see some of my Super Cool Party People in just 24 days. And if you think the official countdown isn’t honed to hours, minutes and seconds, you’d be sadly mistaken.

We don’t often think about our work friends, but we really ought to give them more credit. We spend more of our waking hours with them than with our significant others. The best ones are those you keep even after career paths diverge.

I’ve been lucky enough to meet a handful of readers who fell in love with my characters, then blessed me with their friendship as well.

But lately I’ve been relying pretty heavily in my writer friends. The publishing game is a lot like playing round after round of Cards Against Humanity. Sometimes it’s so harsh you have to laugh or you’ll spend all your time crying. Trust me, it’s tough to revise a manuscript when you’re fighting back tears. But my writer friends always seem to know just what I need–whether it’s encouragement, a kick in the ass, or a little pastry and sympathy.

Friends are fabulous, and I am so lucky to count you as one of mine. Thank you. Thank you so much.

January 12, 2015

Monday Mayhem – Mmmmkay?

Hiya gang!

How’s it going? I’ve been completely…lazy. Okay, maybe not completely. I did have a release last week – Yay! Spring Chickens!

Also available in paperback for those of you who wish to bump the old cover off the shelf, though I imagine I may be giving away a signed copy or two once I get mine.

In other news: I added about 4k to Bossy Pants on revision. For those of you who don’t know, Bossy Pants is the follow up to Three Little Words

It features Greg’s best friend and perennial bachelor, Will Tarrant. Will is a bad boy who may be just a tad misunderstood. He also looks a suspiciously like Dermot Mulroney.

Funny how that happens.

I am also getting the rights to Seducing Steve back and will be preparing to revise and re-release it as an self-published title. 🙂

And did you know that every Sunday I post 8 sentences from one of my works on my blog? It’s part of the Weekend Writing Warriors challenge and it’s a lot of fun!

In other news:

Had a hot writing date with the fabulous Parker Kincaid on Saturday, and got the scoop on what’s been happening with her Shadow Maverick Ranch cowboys – all I can say is it sounds yummy!
Received print copies of novella bundles submitted for RITA award consideration. The Last First Date in print and with the Harlequin logo on the cover. I might have geeked out just a little.
I’ve started my tenures as President of the Diamond State Romance Authors and Vice President of Passionate Ink RWA, so I will soon be a Google Hangouts master.
The not-so-new-anymore day job continues to be a vast improvement in terms of mental/physical health as well as general happiness.
Took Fodder to pick out his first-ever pair of prescription eyeglasses. Don’t be surprised if you start seeing some hot professor types popping up in my work.

Other than that, I’ve been spending a lot of time on Netflix, but I’ll save that for Fangirl Friday. I’ve also started a book I’ve been waiting for, but that falls under Whatcha Reading Wednesday, so I’ll just ask…What have you been up to?

December 29, 2014

Monday Mayhem – Notice anything new?

Christmas may be over, but I’m still unwrapping stuff on the new website. I believe my #8Sunday post went live, but I forgot to update the new blog address for the sign-up list. I’m scheduling this post for Monday morning. If you see it, I didn’t screw it up….

So, how do you like the new digs? Click around a bit, let me know what you think.

My Christmas was fabulous, and I hope yours was too. I’m looking forward to a quiet New Year’s Eve. At least, as quiet as it can be with the fireworks stands open this week.

But I’m happy to make your 2015 a little spicier. That’s why I’m giving away a copy of my New Year’s Eve gone wrong story, The Last First Date PLUS a copy of my pal, Lisa Fox’s One Kiss to one lucky commenter. All you have to do is answer one question: Are you more likely to kiss or be kissed?

Please share this post with your friends! I’ll pick a winner from all comments made before Midnight, December 31, 2014!

December 15, 2014

Monday Mayhem – Overhaul edition

Did you see? Did you see? We have new cover art for Spring Chickens!!!! Just a few more weeks until release day – January 8, 2015!

In other big news: I’m in discussions with a web designer on the planned Margaret/Maggie website makeovers. I’m loving the samples she’s shown me and I think it could look pretty slick. Stay tuned!

Oh! And Maggie has a new release today! If you’re looking for a short, hot read featuring a couple who aren’t twenty-something, check out Three Little Words!

It’s never too late to make the best impulsive decision of your life.

Jo Masters isn’t the party girl she used to be, but now that she’s a woman without obligations, she’s ready to recapture a little of her misspent youth. Her niece’s wedding, with its open bar and dark dance floor, proves to be the perfect opportunity to let loose.

Gregory Stark is just trying to make it through his son’s wedding day… and make some time with the gorgeous brunette on the bride’s side of the aisle. His kid’s wedding probably isn’t the best occasion to put the moves on the sexy woman, who introduces herself only as ‘Josie’, but his best friend is closing in on her too and he has to act fast. With a couple of tequila shots under his belt, Greg propositions Josie — and neither wants to refuse.

Amazon ~ Apple ~ B&N ~ Google ~ Kensington ~ Kobo

And finally: All of the TMP boxed sets will be going back to full price as of January 1, 2015. Please, please, please help me with one last push on these. Each set is only $0.99!

Unforgettable Heroes – includes Long Distance Love

Love Finds A Way – includes Contentment

Enchanted Lover – includes Paramour

Heat Wave – includes Maggie Wells titles Seducing Steve and The Art Lover

Hot Nights in St. Blaise – Maggie Wells – the complete 12 novella collection