Category Archives: Author

One Week Countdown!

I’m all aglow because in just 7 days ( the time it took God to make the world!!!) I get to introduce you all to Gia San Valentino and Tim Santini. My new Holiday/Christmas novel A KISS UNDER THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS releases on  11.30.16 and I am sosososososos thrilled the time is near.

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Gia could, truthfully, be one of my best friends if she were, you know, real! I loved writing about her and how she deals with her crazy family. As you all know,  family is a big topic for me when I’m penning a story, and a loud, loving, full of life family is one I just love to write about.

Families are a complex network to deal with, navigate through, and survive! Truth, no? The San Valentino family lives hard, loves even harder, and they are a loyal bunch who put the welfare of one another ahead of everything – and everyone – else. Gia, the “oops” baby in the clan, the last of 6 – five planned and, well, you figure it out(!) is the last kid left at home. At the age of 24,she longs for a home of her own, filled with bambini she can spoil and love, and a man who will love her unconditionally.

Into her life walks a man who just might fill the bill. Tall, dark, ridiculously good looking. And best of all: Italian/American and Catholic! But…. he’s forbidden to her, in every conceivable way.

Or, is he? You’ll have to read the story to find out, but I’ll tell you this: love can find you anywhere – even under a set of  glowing and festive Christmas lights.

Preorders are available here: Amazon  //The Wild Rose Press  // B&N //Kobo

Here’s a little sumthin’ to whet your romance reading appetites:

          At twenty-four I still lived under my parents’ roof, had no full-time paying job other than helping my father with his business books and those of a few of his business associates, and my love life was nonexistent.

     It wasn’t that I didn’t get asked out or date. I did. Often. Plus, I was perpetually being set-up by the aunts and uncles. I’d had a steady boyfriend all through high school, but we went our separate ways when we each left for college. My choices had been limited in recent years to guys I met in college–who were all looking to score, not forge a life-time commitment—and then in accounting school who were, for lack of a better word, boring and absorbed either in numbers theory, finding jobs after graduation, or in just getting into my pants. The men my extended family routinely set me up with were mostly thick-necked, uneducated, wise-guy wannabes who wanted a conventional Italian bride they could keep barefoot, pregnant, and cooking.

     So. Not. Me.

     I needed to make some decisions about my life and make them soon. First, pass the exams and get licensed. Then, look for a real job so I could afford to live on my own. This one might be the hardest to accomplish since my parents were old-school thinkers who believed girls should stay home until they were married. They couldn’t understand why I didn’t want to go from their house to a husband’s house, and never experience what it would be like living on my own.

     Lastly, I wanted to find the one special guy I could commit to. A guy who’d be family oriented like me, want kids, the minivan, a house in the ‘burbs, the whole family-comes-first-and-always mentality I’d been breastfed on.

     I wasn’t too picky. Obviously, I didn’t want him to look like a troll, but nice looking wouldn’t hurt since I’d be spending eternity staring across the kitchen table at his face. A good-paying job would be nice in a career where I didn’t need to worry he’d make one wrong move and wind up as fish food in the Meadowlands marshes.

     Don’t laugh: have I mentioned my Uncle Sonny?

See? I love families and all the crazy that goes with them!

When I’m not basking in this glow of new release-dom, you can find me here:

Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me// Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+

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Filed under A kiss Under the Christmas LIghts, Author, Characters, Contemporary Romance, Family Saga, Life challenges, love, Romance, Romance Books, Strong Women, The Wild Rose Press

The power of PEOPLE who care…

I’m going to go off the NaNoWriMo blog bandwagon for a moment because  I want–need–to tell you about an event that happened in my little town yesterday that still has me weeping.

The problem of hunger,  homelessness, and economic disparity in this country is nothing new. Go back to the Great Depression and you can practically mimic some of the events that happened during those devestating years with what is happening in our country today. Hunger, especially, has always been a big concern of mine. I’ve mentioned before I didn’t exactly grow up in the Leave It to Beaver or  Brady Bunch version of a family or household. We were, by today’s standards – poor. The term bandied about nowadays is working poor. My mother and stepfather had jobs, but they didn’t quite make it paycheck to paycheck every month and there were times when the easiest thing to let go was the food bill. I ate a lot of mayonnaise sandwiches growing up, and in a weird way, its kind of like a comfort food for me today.

But I digress…

As I said, hunger and people going hungry have always been a concern for me. I happen to live in a community that has a food pantry, a Saint Vincent DePaul society, and a community kitchen. In October, our local newspaper published a piece about the community kitchen and their struggles to keep available food on the shelves for its recipients and clients. The kitchen had barely enough food to last through Thanksgiving and if their food coffers weren’t filled, they would need to close down right after Thanksgiving. The Community Kitchen serves a large number of families and individuals in this area who–for whatever reason–are not able to adequately feed themselves. The holiday season is an especially difficult time for some families to cope with paying bills, trying to bring some kind of Christmas cheer to their children, and in general, just getting a meal on the table. To have the kitchen close its doors – and at the holiday season – was a grave concern.

Well, enter MOMS On A MISSION.

Yesterday, in an empty storefront in the center of Keene’s busy downtown, these wonderful women organized what was originally billed as 1000 cans in 1000 minutes. Facebook publicity, word of mouth, and in every way they could, these women got the word out that they would be manning this store all day to accept any and all food and monetary donations for the Keene Community Kitchen to aid them in keeping their doors open to the people who so need them.

That 1000 can goal quickly switched to 2000…then 10,000… then 20,000. And when it looked like they might be done, they issued another challenge: why not 25,000 cans/boxes of food?

Final tally last night when they officially closed their donation doors? 25,860 cans/boxes of food raised by the grassroots efforts of 8 Moms who know that no child or family or person of any age should know hunger in this day and age.

I love living in a small town because of unifying events like this. When you really know your neighbors, know their struggles, their strengths, the foundation of their circumstances, you know yourself as a human being in ways you’d never consider in a more urban, non-individualistic, less neighborly area. And you can see the benefits of generosity firsthand.

These women epitomize the good neighbor principle.

I just want to add one more thing before I finish. Yesterday in Mass, my Pastor spoke a homily extolling the virtues of living the Corporeal Code of Jesus as Catholics and Christians.  One of the codes for Christian behavior Jesus asked of us is to feed the hungry. These women, by the virtue of their actions, the love in their hearts, and their  spirit of giving, have shown our community what it means to be generous, selfless,  and charitable. They have truly shown us what it means to walk the walk and talk the talk of neighbor-helping-neighbor.

The power of a Mother on a Mission is one of the greatest and most powerful forces in the universe. I am so proud of these women. Proud to know them, proud to honor them, and proud to tell you about them.

No child, or any person really, should ever know the ravages of a hungry belly. Not at Christmastime or any time of the year. I ask you to be that good neighbor; that community spirited and minded person; that honorable human being. Take care of your neighbors as you’d take care of your own family. Put yourself in the body of someone who doesn’t have enough to eat and see what it feels like to them to know hunger when all around them are full. And, if you’re like me – someone who knew the horrors and pains of hunger and who now lives a full, better life – pay it forward.

A generous spirit, and a knowledge of how to make someone else’s life better make us all better human beings. I live this and I believe this with all my heart and soul.

To support our local Community Kitchen and other Food based charities in our area, click here:

Keene Area Food Pantries

The NH Food Bank

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Filed under Author, community advocacy, Contemporary Romance, Cooking, Life challenges, love, New Hampshire, Strong Women

Thankful Authors

Since it’s the holiday season and it means so much more than just running around and trying to find the perfect gift, fellow author — and writing friend — Angela Hayes has invited me to post a blog to her ThankFul Authors website. Angela hosts a wide variety of authors each year who try to express just why they are thankful for all the blessings in their lives. Here’s the link to my post for today. It kind of explains why I write about the strong women I write about. And why I will continue to do so….hopeyou enjoy it.

here’s the link: THANKFUL AUTHORS 2016

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Filed under Author, Contemporary Romance, Family Saga, Kensington Publishers, Life challenges, love, Lyrical Author, MacQuire Women, Romance, Romance Books, Strong Women, WIld Rose Press AUthor

Introducing Clair Brett

Today I get to introduce you to one of my favorite people, Clair Brett. We are RWA chapter mates, fellow dog lovers, writing enthusiasts, and lovers of Regency romance. Clair’s debut novel DEALING WITH THE VISCOUNT drops in January 2017 and you’re getting a first look at the beautiful cover today and a little tidbit about the plot. Claire is about to embark on a publicity tour for the book, but  she graciously agreed to let me give you a little look at her soon-to-be-released-book baby.

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DEALING WITH THE VISCOUNT

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After making a wager of marriage to settle her father’s gambling debts, Ella Bowen-Thorn Renwick escaped the husband she foolishly began to fall for and disappeared into the Scottish countryside carrying a secret. Four years later, and the owner of her own bakery, she is still not free of the demands of men when a violent and anonymous blackmailer threatens her, her livelihood…and her daughter. And then, there is him…

Viscount Renwick still mourns the wife he began to love before her untimely death–that is until he discovers her alive and well living in Scotland. Now, Devon’s face to face with the wife he thought he’d buried and the daughter he never knew existed. He’d like nothing more than to welcome Ella back into his arms, but mysterious and troubling incidents and a history with an unloving father have Ella trusting no one.

But, if Renwick convinces his wife he’s the husband she always dreamed of and the father their daughter deserves, will the scandalous secret the blackmailer is holding threaten their future together once more?

Buy links Amazon // Barnes and Noble // Kobo

Bioclaire3
Dragon keeper and historical romance author, Clair Brett lives in NH with her hard working husband, and two teenaged daughters. Her office staff during the day consists of Cinta, a black cat and the matriarch of the fur babies, Mojo, a yellow kitten who spends his day holding Clair down in her seat to get her word count in, a boxer/beagle mix puppy named Willow, who sleeps next to her chair to make it hard to do an Oreo run without doing a pee run as well, a hermit crab who keeps to himself, and a bearded dragon, who is kind of upper management.
A former middle and high school English teacher, Clair has had a lifetime love affair with reading. Once she read Pride and Prejudice as an extra read in high school, she was hooked. Clair began pursuit of publication when she was a new mother in need of a hobby. Her oldest daughter will be graduating in 2017, so you do the math. Clair is a firm believer that a reader finds a piece of who they are or learns something about the world with every book they read. She wants her readers to be empowered and to have a refreshed belief in the goodness of people and the power of love after reading her work.

Visit Clair on the web here:

Website // Facebook // Amazon authors // Twitter

 

 

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Filed under Author, Characters, Family Saga, Historical Romance, Life challenges, love, New Hampshire, NHRWA, research, Romance, Romance Books, RWA, Strong Women

The benefits of writing sprints….

On my last NaNoWriMo post,  I told you a dirty little secret about how I bribe myself to continue writing when I’m getting tired/bored/unfocused. I give myself little incentives –aka BRIBES — to keep going and then reward myself when I’m done.

Another way I’ve found to keep myself motivated and typing  when I really want to do something else —  like watch a Real Housewives marathon or dive into the new J.D. Robb book on my Kindle — is to do timed writing sprints.

They don’t have to be very long, 15- 30 minutes at the least and 60 at the most ( mainly because there is no way on God’s green earth I can sit still longer than 60 minutes without imploding!) During these timed writing sprints I write as much as I can, knowing that I may have to stop in the middle of a sentence or a thought when my cell phone signals the time is up. I can justify this by knowing that the next time I get set to write I am prepared with what I want to say, how I want to say it, and how to carry the scene/dialogue/plot onward. Plus, this process keeps my body fresh and my mind sharp.

Knowing that my time is limited I can stay focused and set on getting my thoughts down on the page and not worry about spelling, tense, format, etc. I can always go back and fix that later on. The most important thing is getting everything I want to say, SAID, ( or written, in this case) before the time runs out.

If you’re one of those enviable people who can sit for long stretches of time, composing on end, without a break, know first that I hate you, and second, you are blessed! I have too much energy to sit still for long periods, which is why I hate to fly long distances or drive anywhere for more than an  hour before I need a break to stand up, stretch, and realign my body and soul. Writing in timed sprints allows me to do what I have to do – namely, get the words on the page – but also lets my body have a respite from sitting for too long.

Truly, my a** is big enough  – I don’t need to expand it further it by spending hours on end on it.

SO, writing sprints: they’re a good tool to use for NaNoWriMo.

When I’ not sprinting you can find me here:

Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me// Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+

And for a little writing motivation/inspiration, here you go…. from me to you.

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You’re more than welcome!

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Filed under Author, Contemporary Romance, Life challenges, love, NaNoWriMo, NHRWA, research, Romance, Romance Books, RWA

3 Christmas Stories worth reading and giving…

Today I’m giving you a real treat! Christmas is my favorite time of the year and it would take days to explain why. But one of the reasons I sososos enjoy the holiday time is because of the wonderful books that are published each year during the Holiday season, and about the Holiday Season, so today I’m giving you a gift: three new Holiday/Christmas books from The Wild Rose Press. My own Christmas novel, A KISS UNDER THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS releases on 11/30, but more about that later.

First….

May I present to you author TENA STETLER and her soon to be released book, A WITCHES HOLIDAY WEDDING.

Here’s a little sumthin’ sumthin’ about it:

Blurb:

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Elemental witch, Pepper McKay and former Navy SEAL, Lathen Quartz have built Lobster Cove Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center on enchanted McKay land. During a romantic interlude on Halloween night, Pepper happily agrees to become Lathen’s wife. What better day than Winter Solstice for their wedding in a town that loves celebrations and Christmas. However, planning a wedding and operating their wildlife center takes a toll on both Pepper and Lathen.

When the couple takes a much-needed break for Thanksgiving with family in Colorado, a Maine snowstorm fills the center with injured wildlife. Lathen finds himself drawn into a covert military mission, while trying to deal with issues concerning friends and family. Pepper wants to cancel the wedding. Is she having second thoughts? Will the nosy McKay ghosts, Lathen’s werewolf pack, Pepper’s parents, and her best friend help or hinder the wedding and holiday plans?

 Excerpt:

A strong arm whipped around her waist, the air whooshed out as she squealed. Pepper balled up her gloved fist as a large warm hand wrapped around her wrist. “I’ve seen you defend yourself. Not going to chance it.” A deep voice chuckled behind her.

“Lathen — I’m going to…”

He spun her around and covered her cold lips with his warm ones. Werewolves run several degrees warmer than most of the population, one of the many things she loved about him. She relaxed into him, their parkas making a wisping sound as the material rubbed against each other. “That’s better,” he murmured against her lips.

All at once the lights in the town square blinked on. Low positioned red and green laser light decorations sparkled over the snow-covered ground and onto the gazebo complementing the white lights. From the other direction, a blue laser sprinkled tiny snowflakes across the building. Evening fell quickly in December.

“This is absolutely beautiful,” She breathed against his chilled cheek and whirled out of his hold taking in all the lighted decorations not visible earlier. Then she pointed toward the bulletin board. “I’ve been reading the town’s holiday events, Lobster Cove really embraces Christmas.”

“Told you.” Lathen said smugly. “Even some of the boats docked in the harbor are decked out with colored lights.”

Peggy here: doesn’t that sound delicious??!!

Buy Links: Amazon// Amazon UK // Amazon AU// Amazon Canada// KOBO// ALL ROMANCE// The Wild Rose Pres

Some fun facts about Tena:

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Tena Stetler is a paranormal romance and cozy mystery author with an over-active imagination. She wrote her first vampire romance at the age of thirteen, to the chagrin of her mother and the delight of her friends. Colorado is home; shared with her husband, a brilliant Chow Chow, a spoiled parrot and a forty-year-old box turtle. Any winter evening, you can find her curled up in front of a crackling fire with a good book, a mug of hot chocolate and a big bowl of popcorn. Her books tell tales of magical kick-ass women and mystical alpha males that dare to love them.

Find and interact with Tena here:

website//blog//Facebook//Twitter//Pinterest//

 

 

Now meet author, K.K. Weil and read a little about her new book BETTER TO GIVE

Blurb

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For most people, the holidays are a time of warmth, happiness and celebration. But to Jenna Samuels, they mean only one thing. Mounting debt. A single mother, Jenna struggles to make ends meet and to her, it’s a season of excess and distress.

James Garrison is in over his head, too. His ex-wife said he wasn’t equipped to take care of his twins, and now that he’s got joint custody, he fears she was right. They’re wild, spoiled, and always fighting. When they knock Jenna’s daughter into the “Gifting Tree,”—a part of their town’s charity collection—the parents are immediately attracted to each other. But James has had his fill of cold women and Jenna won’t make the mistake of falling for another man who disappears when life gets too heavy.

As their paths cross, James and Jenna must decide whether first impressions are accurate, or if sometimes, people are not what you assume at all.

Excerpt:

I needed some air. I just attacked a man for no good reason. Sure, one of his kids almost send Nora tumbling into a tree, but I could tell he was overwhelmed and I pounced anyway.

While his kids fought, the guy covered his face with his hands – the international sign for losing parental control. As he removed his hands, though, an awful thing happened. I got a good look at him and heat ran through every crevice of my body. No one should be as handsome as that guy was. Plus, I always had a thing for guys who were in over their heads, and he was definitely drowning with those kids.

I hadn’t reacted that way to a guy in a long time and I didn’t want to. My life was on track. I didn’t need some annoyingly smoky-hot, anti-super-dad screwing up my plans.

It was a problem because he clearly enjoyed the view, too. I knew what guys were thinking when they looked at me, and spoke to me, that way. When I mixed the way he was engrossed in me with my reaction to him, plans got derailed and things like Nora happened. Those smouldery guys don’t stick around once the Noras of the world arrive. So even though they’re still scorching hot, they no longer act like you are.

They disappear.

At least that was my experience. One I didn’t intend to repeat.

Amazonhttp://Amzn.com/B01M16JTPS

Here’s a little more about K.K. Weil

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K.K. Weil grew up in Queens, but eventually moved to New York City, the inspiration for many of her stories. Weil, who attended SUNY Albany as an undergrad and NYU as a graduate student, is a former teacher. She now enjoys writing her own dramas and lives near the beach in New Jersey, where she is at work on her next novel.

You can find K.K. here:

website //Facebook // Twitter // Blog

 

 

 

 

My third introduction today is author Pam Binder and her new release Match Made in the Highlands.

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Blurb:  Logan Mackinnon, confirmed bachelor, has put his life on hold to help his father care for his mother and honor her dying wish to tour Stirling Castle. Sparks fly when Logan meets Irene Redmond on the tour, and they are both transported back in time to the thirteenth century. But their budding romance is tested when they learn the conditions needed for their return to the twenty-first century. The castle is enchanted and only a marriage between two people who truly love each other will break the spell.
 

Irene Redmond expected to unravel family secrets, instead she meets Logan Mackinnon, a man who awakens long-ago dreams of a happily-ever-after. But are their feelings strong enough to break the castle’s enchantment?

Excerpt:

Strong arms wrapped around her. “Don’t worry,” Logan said. “I’ve go you.”
    She clung to his neck as he gathered her closer. She could feel his heart beat against her chest, or was that hers? Random thoughts popped in and out. How had he reached her so fast? Did he think she was clumsy? Too heavy?
     Pathetic. He’d saved her, and all she could think about was her weight. Still…
     She squirmed in his arms. “Thank you, but you can put me down.”
     “And blow my one chance to rescue a beautiful damsel in distress? Not a chance. Besides, we’re almost there.”
     Although the bagpipes were louder and she could hear the haunting notes of a flute, the mist was as dense as ever. “How can you tell?” She said.
     She felt a rumble of laughter rise in his chest. “It’s a guess.  I haven’t a clue.”

Buy links: Amazon // Wild Rose Press

 
BIO:
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Pam Binder is an award-winning Amazon and New York Times bestselling author. Publishers Weekly has said: “Binder gracefully weaves elements of humor, magic and romantic tensions into her novels.” Drawn to Celtic legends and anything Irish or Scottish, Pam blends historical events, characters, and myths into everything she writes. Pam is also a conference speaker, writing instructor, and president of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association. http://pambinder.com
So there you have it. 3 reasons this holiday season is going to be so much better!!
And here’s a 4th reason: my book A KISS UNDER THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS releases on 11/30 everywhere!
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Filed under Author, Characters, love, Romance, Romance Books, RWA, Strong Women, Uncategorized, WIld Rose Press AUthor

Bribery…and why it works so well during NaNoWrimo

So this is a totally ridiculous, narcissistic blog post today. I’m going full honesty here and tell you how I stay motivated to write so much during the NANOWRIMO challenge. Be prepared…you may learn something that clouds your opinion of me forever.

Okay…Taking a huge, cleansing breath…Here goes.

I bribe myself to keep writing.

I know! How awful is that?? I should be writing because I want to, not because I’ll get a reward if I do. The 50,000+ word book SHOULD be the reward. The ONLY reward.

But no, it’s not.

I start off with a mountain of motivation each morning as I sit at my laptop, fingers flying across the keyboard, giving full vent to all the thoughts and scenes and dialogue that have been running through my brain for the previous 8 hours – the time I should be sleeping but, well,  you know. Chronic Insomnia. The brain that never shuts down. That’s me.

Anyhooooo….

I start off like a speeding train and about hour 2-3 I start to get a little fatigued, a little distracted, a little, well, bored. I know I have many more words to write – can feel them jumping out of my fingertips in their efforts to break free from my mind – but I start to wane. To keep myself glued to my chair ( figuratively, folks) I’ve developed little bribery rewards for my diligence. Here are just a few of the things I pamper myself with for my perseverance at the laptop:

  • If I get another 1000 words down, I’ll have a cup of tea and a Peppermint Patty
  • If I finish this chapter I’ll troll thru Amazon and look for new books to read
  • If I hit my 2500 minimum daily word count, I’ll schedule a facial this afternoon
  • If I can get this dialogue perfect in the next 20 minutes, I’ll go get lunch at Panera.
  • If I exceed my daily goal I’ll go shopping for makeup/skin care products/perfume, in other words, I’ll go to Sephora.

See how this works???

And isn’t it ridiculous? I didn’t raise my child to do what’s right in life by bribing her. I would  have never even thought of that. Her father and I taught her to do what is correct simply for the reward of getting it right. We didn’t say, “do you your homework and you’ll get a cookie. Get an A on a report and I’ll take you shopping.” We never even gave cash for good report cards. The end result – the good grades – was its own reward. None other was needed.

Why can’t I, then, as a fully formed and functioning adult, heed that wisdom?

See? I told you your opinion of me would get clouded.

Le sigh….

When I’m not ruminating on my hapless state or bribing myself to go on, you can find me here:

Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me// Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+

And if you are in need of it, here’s a little distracting motivation for you to peruse and ponder…nano23

you’re welcome………

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Filed under Author, Contemporary Romance, Dialogue, Kensington Publishers, Life challenges, love, Lyrical Author, NaNoWriMo, New Hampshire, Romance, Romance Books, RWA, Strong Women, WIld Rose Press AUthor

Commitment

The definition of commitment is:

  • the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause, activity, etc.: the company’s commitment to quality.
  • a pledge or undertaking: I cannot make such a commitment at the moment.

It is, in my opinion, a loaded word because you can attach so much to it and extract so much from its meaning.

NaNoWriMo, in my opinion, is the practical exemplification of the word commitment. In order to adequately perform the challenge, you must commit to writing every single day inorder to fulfill the 50,000 word goal at the end of the month. To break it down numerically, you need to have a minimum of 1,667 words written every day for 30 days to hit those 50,000 words . Or by the page, you must have written almost 7 pages per day of 250 words per page.

That’s commitment.

Most of the writers I know are far succeeding that minimum every day, myself included. Well, most days, anyway! Life does intervene.

So, as we move towards the end of the second week of NaNoWriMo, let’s keep committed to the goals of:

  1. writing daily
  2. writing a minimum of 1667 words
  3. writing 6-7 pages minimum of approx. 250 words each
  4. staying focused

And because I am such an avid fan of commitment, here’s a little motivation for you to be so, as well…

nano21

When I’m not committed to NaNoWriMo, you can find me committed here:

Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me// Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+

and I’ve also put together a Pinterest motivation/commitment board as well if you need more inspiration ( and by inspiration I mean looking at some pictures of hot guys telling you to write!)

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Filed under Author, Contemporary Romance, Friends, Life challenges, Literary characters, love, NaNoWriMo, NHRWA, Romance, Romance Books

NaNoWriMo – week 2.

One week down, 3 more to go!! Yowza.

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So, all you NaNoWriMo peeps… how’s it going?
Have you gotten into the habit of writing every day yet? Or are you still struggling with life and finding little bits of time to carve out for you to write?
I’ll admit I’m having a little trouble fitting in as much writing as I’d like right now. I’m away from home, spending time with my daughter, and trying to fit in a little laptop time here and there has been challenging. I’m doing it, but my insomnia – which is active when I sleep in my own bed and rampant when in another – hasn’t actually helped me this round, because I’m so bloody tired at the end of our days, both physically and mentally, and even though I’m not sleeping, I have no where-with-all to do my usual 2-5 am writing sprints. Which truly, sucks,

And I just read that paragraph out loud and realized what a ridiculous whiner I am!!!

Hee Hee.

Writing shouldn’t be a burden…or a chore…or something that needs to get done just to say it was, or get to a finish line. It should be, what it is to me actually: A blessing. First, last, and always.

So grab a cup of whatever your daily poison is, crack your knuckles and flex your fingers, and go forth to…create magic with your words. (HeeHee – you thought I was going to say something else. Admit it!)

Here’s a little funny for today to inspire you:

nano1

 

For more inspiration and writing tips, check out my NANOWRIMO Pinterest board.

 

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Filed under Author, Contemporary Romance, Life challenges, NaNoWriMo, NHRWA, Romance

The power of a blog hop…

Recently, I was privileged to be included in two Halloween Blog Hops, chock-filled with romance authors of every genre. Whenever an author is part of a blog hop, there is usually some kind of prize or giveaway attached to it – called a rafflecopter ( why? I don’t know!!) – where readers who visit the blog can get a chance to win prizes if they do certain things, such as  “Like” an author’s FB page, or “follow” them on Twitter. For one of the hops, my prizes were a free ecopy of my book FIRST IMPRESSIONS for two readers who responded to a question I put up in the blog post, plus I was involved in the bigger prizes of amazon gift cards.  One of the choices was to “follow” me on Twitter for a chance at a gift card. The day the blogs started I had roughly 600 follows on Twitter. Can I mention that I don’t even KNOW 600 people personally!! When the blog hop ended I had 1270 plus followers. This, my friends, is the power of social media…and bribery.

Now, when the hop officially ended and the prizes had been awarded, I was prepared to loose a few new followers. Let’s be honest, most probably FOLLOWED me because there was a prize involved and once it was paid, there was no need to continue with me.

But….

Several days after the hop ended I was still pleasantly surprised. I only “lost” 2 followers. Now, I may lose more as the days progress, but I am doing my darndest to hold on to them by blogging frequently, and by thanking them for the follows. I am not above pleading and whining, folks! If these new people decide they want to try me on as a new author, well, happy day!! The hop was worth it.

So, this, to me, is the power of social media, folks. Oh, and BTW my FB page followers tripled!!!

Gotta love an author holiday blog hop!!

When I’m not hopping around you can usually find me here:

Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me// Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+

And don’t forget, my newest release, A KISS UNDER THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS releases on 11/30!

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