30k word challenge…

Starting on February 1, I joined the members of the New Jersey Romance Writers and participated in their February 30K for 28 days challenge.

To those of you who aren’t writers, this is a challenge where by you write a minimum of 30,000 words in whatever you are working on during the 28 days of this month. The goal is to write to 30K, but in my mind, it was really to get into the mood and habit of writing something every single day.

Many days I had over 3000 words to show for my efforts of sitting down at my desk and not moving my butt for hours.

Many days I had less than 1000 words to show for the same efforts.

Yesteray, Febraury 17, I hit my 30,000 word goal. Not bad. A little over 2 and half weeks and I nailed it.

And since I haven’t finished the book I’ve been working on, I’m continuing with the challenge until the end of the month or I finish the book – whatever comes first!

This was just what I needed to get me motivated and going, so a big thank you to the New Jersey Romance writers for the impetus, all the daily love and praise, and the challenge itself!

This is the book I’m working on:

Her job as an assistant wedding planner means everything to Charity Quinn. She’s got a bullet-point plan for her future, and she’s not about to let anything get in the way of her goals. But a drunken hookup with a coworker – a guy she’s had a hate/hate relationship with from the get-go – may put her plan in jeopardy.  Charity has to ensure her boss never finds out about her indiscretion. But every day it’s getting harder to hide how much she wants a repeat of that amazing night.

Or at least she thinks it was amazing. Seems Charity can’t quite remember the details.

His life is a series of one-night stands and Kolby O’Brian’s not about to change his status for anyone – not even the little fireball who’s been the bane of his existence since the first day they met. Why, then, are his eyes always straying to Charity when he should be concentrating on work? And why does being around her suddenly make him want to be a different kind of man? A better one? One who thinks about…the future?

These two polar opposites need to decide if they want a future together or a life without the other in it, because an emotional volcano is churning and it’s about to erupt.

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A cool interview…

A week or so ago, I was honored to be interviewed along with Clair Brett, romance writer and former President of RWA, on Turning Pages by host, Margaret Porter.

I forgot to post the interview here, so since I just remembered…here ya go.

(I swear this menopause brain is killing me!)

Also, note to self: the next time you are interviewed for television, wear something that shows off your 70-pound weight loss and not something that makes you look bigger than you are!

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It’s snowmageddon here…cuddle up with a book!

Preferably, one of mine, lol.

Just a reminder, kids, that I’ve got 2 books on sale right now for just 99cents. And they couldn’t be more different, so…

If you like suspense, serial killers, and a kick-ass heroine, RETRIBUTION is available on Amazon and in wide distribution right now for #99cents, but the sale is only on until 2/17, so get your copy downloaded today!

And, of course, if you like sweet with heat, romcom novellas, 3 WISHES is available on kindle, in print, and on ku right now. The ecopy is only #99cents.

If you’re snowbound like I am right now, take advantage of the free time and cuddle up with some hot cocoa, some snacks, and some romance books.

Happy reading, kids ~ Peg

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A nice thing to wake up to…

So, yesterday, my Valentine’s Day Novella 3 WISHES was released, and today, I’m running my sales stats and checking all my social sites to see if there’s any buzz about it.

Yeah, it’s just something writers have to do, lIke actors check their acting reviews, writers do the same with the added check of social media and book sales.

For social stuff, one of my favorite Instagram Influencers, The Sebrero Sisters, added me to their daily shoutout of new releases – which, believe me , is HUGE!

This is free advertising at its finest, and these influencers are top-notch!

As for sales, well in the new releases category over on Amazon, this morning I am # 17 in sales in kindle romance>medical books..

and # 70 in the category Short reads (90mins-2 hrs) because it’s a novella…

To rank so high in both of these categories is, to use the same words again, HUGE!

No, by the time you read this post, those numbers may have changed because Amazon updates sales hourly. But right now, at 330 a.m. on Saturday, 2.15.25, these are accurate.

Have you gotten your copy yet? 3 WISHES is only 99cents on kindle and 5.99 in print.

Happy reading, kids. Hope your Valentine’s day was filled with love, laughter, and a good book! ( preferably mine! LOL)

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Happy Valentine’s Day and Happy release day…to me!

When two extraordinary events occur on the same day, you’ve just got to celebrate!

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY, kids! I hope you and your significant other enjoy the day. And if you’re celebrating Galentine’s Day – power to you, and have a blast with your gal friends!!!

Part 2 of this lovely day – and the part I love best(!) – is that it is rerelease day for 3 WISHES, the San Valentino Family Romance that started it all for my favorite Italian Family.

If you’re looking for a book about love to read on this day devoted to love, here ya go! 3 WISHES is just for you!

Valentine’s Day is chocolatier Chloe San Valentino’s favorite day of the year. Not only is it the busiest day in her candy shop, Caramelle de Chloe, but it’s also her birthday.

Chloe’s got a birthday wish list for the perfect man she pulls out every year: he’d fall in love with her in a heartbeat, he’d be someone who cares about people, and he’d have one blue eye and one green eye, just like her. So far, Chloe’s fantasy man hasn’t materialized, despite the matchmaking efforts of her big, close-knit Italian family.

But this year, for her 30th birthday, she just might get her 3 Wishes.

Available in print, kindle, and on KU!

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a #99cent sale you should take advantage of if…

you like:

~FBI profiles

~serial killer fiction

~fast paced writing

~lots of suspense and red herrings

What am I talking about? RETRIBUTION of course, my FBI profiler/serial killer/suspense novel.

For a limited time ( like 4 days!) it’ll be just 99 cents for the ecopy and that’s everywhere digital media is offered. I recently released the book into wide distribution and not just available on the ‘Zon.

Here are the links:

RETRIBUTION on Amazon kindle

Universal link which includes Apple Books, Kobo, Smashwords, Hoopla and many more!

4.8 star average on Amazon. 4.73 on Goodreads

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A little reminder…

I thought I’d take the time today to remind you that I recently pulled a few books out of KDP and began publishing them through venues other than Amazon. This way, I can reach more people than simply the ‘zon readers.

RETRIBUTION is just one of those books. Here is the universal link to more than 10 different places that are offering it. Retribution.

The other books that are currently WIDE include, and you can find them at APPLE BOOKS, KOBO, SMASHWORDS, HOOPLA, and many more

Balance

Fixing Christmas

It’s a trust thing

Mistletoe, Mobsters, & Mozzarella

Mix and Match

Santa Baby

The Sheriff and the Psychic

Woke

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Read all about it…

Yesterday, I mentioned that 3 WISHES (A SAN VALENTINO FAMILY ROMANCE) was releasing this Friday, 2.14, Valentine’s Day.

Today, I want to give you a little teaser from the story.

“You should be out with some hot guy who’s all into you, at a club, just having the time of your life. Not stuck behind a counter or in a kitchen, slaving away,” Gia said.

            I let her drone on because, really, I’d heard this too many times before.

            Anyway, there was no hot guy in the background, foreground, or any other ground just dying to take me out on my birthday or any other day. Unlike Gia, who inherited our mother’s genetics: small-boned, blonde-haired and blue-eyed northern Italian features, I’d been blessed with daddy’s Sicilian DNA: average height, black-haired and prone to hairiness (I had to shave my legs every time I showered), with the tendency to run to chubby if I didn’t watch myself, and the already noted one blue eye, one green.

            Gia had hot guys beating down my parent’s door to get to her. I did not.

            The last guy I’d dated was a setup courtesy of my Aunt Gracie. He’d been a wise guy wannabe with old-world theories on women, namely the barefoot and pregnant kind. He’d picked out the names of our first six children before the tiramisu was served.

            The guy before him told me I was married to my career/shop/lifestyle when I wouldn’t devote every minute of spare time I had – which is not a lot – to him.

            The one before him liked my candy more than me.

            Face it, at just a week shy of thirty, my dreams of happily ever after were starting to dwindle into the cold reality of perpetual singledom.

            Later on, in my apartment over my shop, I dragged out the banker’s box again and pawed through the rest of the contents Mama had shoved in there. But I kept coming back to the wish paper I’d written at fifteen.

            Funny thing was, I still wanted those three wishes, even now at almost twice the age I’d been when I’d written them. I knew the blue-eye/green-eye thing was probably never going to materialize. I’d grown to be comfortable with my weird-eyed status over the years. It was one of the first things people noticed about me and the comments were usually positive and inquisitive, not hurtful and mean-spirited as they’d been during childhood.

            The healer request could actually happen. My shop is in a busy neighborhood surrounded by hospitals, urgent care centers and nursing homes. It wasn’t too out of the ballpark to think I might meet a doctor, or a physical therapist, or anyone connected with the healing arts.        

The last wish – the one where the guy fell in love with me in an instant was a total dream, I knew. Stuff like that just doesn’t happen in real life.

Intrigued? I hope so!

Happy reading, kids ~ Peg

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5 days…

Did you ever make a wish as a kid and pray that it would come true?

Maybe you wanted to meet your favorite rock star?

Or have an entire year with just dessert as dinner?

Maybe you wanted to grow six inches overnight so you wouldn’t be the shortest kid in your class?

Or maybe you wished you could have straight hair instead of curly?

We’ve all wished for something in our lives, something we wanted, desired, hoped to get for no other reason than we wished for it.

Chloe San Valentino had 3 Wishes when she was a kid about her future husband. He’d fall in love with her in an instant; be someone who cares for people, and he’d have one blue eye and one green one just like her.

She’s pulled her wish list out every year on her birthday and so far, her dream man hasn’t materialized.

But this year, for her big 3-0, she just might get her wish. That is, if her crazy family doesn’t interfere.

3 WISHES (A SAN VALENTINO FAMILY ROMANCE) releases on Valentine’s Day, this Friday, 2.14.25. Do you think Chloe’s wishes will come true?

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It’s Monday and that means…a book release!

It’s hard to believe we all survived January – me especially! Such a busy, rollercoaster of a month, right?

Anyhoo…

Today the second book in the MacQuire Women series, PASSION’S PALETTE, releases into the book-reading world.

Serena MacQuire’s story was such a fun one for me to write because she’s feisty, has a temper that she tries to contain, loves her family unconditionally and to no end, and she lives for her art.

Until Seamus Cleary shows up, that is…

Talented and witty portrait artist, Serena MacQuire, is successful in everything but love. Her gift for capturing people on canvas is rivaled only by her fiery and legendary temper. A tragedy from the past keeps her heart securely locked away, preventing any man from getting close enough to claim it.

But Seamus Cleary isn’t just any man. After he left his professional football career to become a veterinarian, his bitter wife ended their marriage. Now, as he starts his life over in a new town, love is the last thing he’s looking for. The more he tends to Serena’s horses, though, the more he realizes her own heart needs tender care and healing as well.

Will he be the man who finally unlocks and claims her heart?

Here’s a little taste…

With a hip resting against the tabletop, he browsed through her paints and brushes, lifting one color pot, then another.

“So. You’re an artist.”

She nodded.

“What do you paint?”

As he opened and closed the pots, Serena observed his hands, silently assessing the length and width of his fingers. Her mind registered the dexterous movements of each action, the deliberate, steady way his hands performed each task.

“Portraits, mostly.”

“This is pretty big equipment for a portrait. Where do your pictures hang? In castles?”

“Three do,” she told him, charmed when his neck reddened. “But this stuff will be for a mural I’ve been commissioned to do for a hospital.”

His eyebrows lifted. “Impressive. You must be good.”

Allowing a smidgeon of playfulness to creep into her voice, Serena gave him a shrug that rivaled his own. “Better than some. Not as good as others.”

He returned the smile.

Her heart giddyapped.

Intrigued? LOL.

Happy reading, kids ~ Peg

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