Category Archives: Author

August 22, 2015 · 9:17 am

A sexy Saturday tease….

Ok – here’s a scene from my soon-to-be-released 3rd book in MacQuire Women, FIRST IMPRESSIONS.

Since it’s a #mysexysaturday feature, this one’s rated pg-13 ( and maybe even R!), so no kiddies in the room when you read it!

He bent and, while she slept, traced his tongue around one nipple until it hardened and beaded in his mouth. He felt her start to stir, watched as her legs pulled upwards and her back arched. Even in sleep she stirred his blood.

His hand dipped down, trailed over her abdomen, over her pelvis, to rest on the core of her heat. He slipped one finger between her beautiful, plump lips to find her hot and ready.

“Pat?”

He smiled at the surprise in her sexy sleepy voice. “Right here, sweetheart.” He bent and kissed her, slow and unhurried, as if he had all the time in the world to take with her. She shifted under him, wound her hands up along his shoulders to settle at the nape of his neck. “You smiled in your sleep,” he said against her mouth, his tongue outlining her bottom lip. “What were you dreaming about?” He pulled back to look down at her.

Her hands clenched in his hair. With a determined tug, she brought his mouth to within a breath of hers. Her nose slid along his, back, then forth, as her eyes, no longer slumberous, but wide awake and wanting, bore right through him. “You,” she whispered. “I was dreaming of you.” She moved so their mouths joined again. 

“I want you,” he told her, his lips tracing her jaw. “Right now. And then again.”

She pulled her head back so she could look at him. With a lazy smile he found both charming and wickedly seductive, she gave him back his words. “I’m right here. Right here with you. And I want you, too. Right now. And then again.”

Whew! Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m off to the shower after reading that one, and I wrote it!

Comments? Thoughts? Let’s discuss….

A visit with Linda O’Connor

Today I’m hosting fellow contemporary romance author Linda O’Connor. We recently found out we were inches away from one another at RWA in NYC last month, both of us working at the Literacy Signing for the Nora Roberts Foundation. After interviewing her, I realize we share a lot more than just that chance encounter! Here’s Linda:

Thanks so much for having me on your blog, Peggy! It’s my pleasure. Now…

What drives you to write? I have a story to tell, lessons to teach, places to be, people to meet. . . wait what was the question?

What genre(s) of Romance do your write, and why? I write contemporary romance stories with humor– I like when the heroines are strong characters. Maybe their life would be better with the hero, but they do okay on their own, too.

What genre(s) of Romance do you read, and why? I read contemporary romance with humor or anything that Nora Roberts/JD Robb writes. I usually read for relaxation so I’d rather not read something sad.

What’s your writing schedule? Do you write everyday? I set aside two days a week to write without interruption (and if I can get away with not making dinner those days, even better). I’m a physician and work part-time at an Urgent Care Clinic, but any other time I can sit down and write, I do.

Give us a glimpse of the surroundings where you write. Separate room? In the kitchen? At the dining room table? We live on the water so I like to sit so I can see (and hear) it. Outside or in our living room with my laptop both work.

Are you the kind of writer who needs total quiet to compose, or are you able to filter out the typical sounds of the day and use your tunnelvision? I prefer silence. It’s hard to filter out questions about the laundry, dishes, lost articles… usually the interruptions come right when I’ve thought of the perfect line.

Do you listen to music while you write, and if so, what kind? If not, why not? No, I prefer quiet.

How did you come up with the plotline/idea for your current WIP? I’m a genius.

Which comes first for you – character or plot? And why? I have an idea for the beginning, middle, and end of the story and then develop the characters.

What 3 words describes you, the writer? I’m still learning.

Now for the personal, nosy stuff!

Tell us one unusual thing about yourself – not related to writing. I don’t drink coffee.
Who was your first love and what age were you? I married my first love! We met at the hospital when I was a 4^th year medical student and he was a third year ophthalmology resident. I think he liked my eyes.
If you could relive one day, which one would it be? Think GROUNDHOG DAY, the movie for this one – you’ll have to live it over and over and…. Oh that’s a hard one… well actually last Thursday was pretty fun.
Do you like a guy in boxers, briefs, or commando? Gee, commando would mean less laundry.
If you had to give up one necessary-can’t-live-without-it beauty item, what would it be? Sunscreen.
What three words describe you, the person? I love leftovers.
If you could sing a song with Jimmy Fallon, what would it be? You lost me at “If you could sing”.
If you could hang out with any literary character from any book penned at any time line, who would it be, why, and what would you do together? I’d hang out with Eve and Roarke in 2060. Driving a flying car would be a blast, and I’d like to try out that healing wand they have.

Bonus round

I love the Actor’s Studio show on Bravo, so this is my version of it:

Favorite sound – my husband’s voice (especially when he says “I’ll make dinner.”)
Least favorite sound – wind chimes
Best song ever written – Be Real by The Jaded Gentlemen
Worst song ever written – I don’t think there is a worst song ever written. Even if I’m not fond of a song, there’s probably another audience who enjoys it.
Favorite actor and actress – Mark Kratky, Chilina Kennedy
Who would you want to be for 1 day and why? ( It can be anyone living or dead) I actually like being me.
What turns you on? Humor
What turns you off? Prejudice
Give me the worst 5 words ever heard on a first date ( here’s mine: “Is that your real hair?”) It’s been a while since I had a first date, but I only have memories of charming men and a lovely time. Now, if you’d asked about the second date . . .
What’s your version of a perfect day? Writing from 8am – 3pm, bicycle ride, swim, someone else making dinner.

And here’s the fun stuff:

Perfectly Reasonable

Love what you do and do what you love. Sounds perfectly reasonable, but chances are, you’ll find your passion in the last place you look . . .

Margo MacMillan finished medical school, but in the process, her self-confidence and self-esteem took a beating. So for the sake of self-preservation, she’s stepped away from medicine to re-group. In the meantime, painting soothes her soul and pays the bills.

Trace Bennett set his sights on a medical degree and has to prepare the perfect medical school application. His big plan is to paint his condo for a little feng shui divine luck. When Margo shows up to paint, he realizes he’s found exactly what he’s looking for. He just has to convince Margo to share more than the art of medicine.

She’s got it. He wants it. It’s Perfectly Reasonable.

Biography:

I’ve been writing romance novels for four years and sincerely thank Debby Gilbert at Soul Mate Publishing for the ultimate encouragement to my writing – with the leap to publishing. I have many titles including Doctor, Mom, and proud Canadian, but “Linda O’Connor – hereinafter called the Author” on the SMP contract was one of the sweetest.

Contemporary romantic comedies are my favourite novels to read and write. I balance writing with my work as a physician at an Urgent Care Clinic and being a mom to three sons (luckily grown and capable of throwing together a decent meal, in a pinch). I like to keep active and cycle, cross-country ski, skate, walk with my husband, or dance every day.

Laugh every day. Love every minute.

I love connecting with readers.

Book Trailer:

Website:

amazon author page:

Goodreads author page

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LindaOConnorAuthor

Twitter: @lindaoconnor98

Thanks for hosting me, Peggy! Listen Girl, this has been an absolute delight! I swear, we’re dopplegangers, only you’re the smart, pretty one!

6 Comments

Filed under Author, Contemporary Romance, female friends, Romance, RWA

Tagged as Canada, Contemporary romance, contemporary romance writer, Humorous romance, Linda O'Connor, Medical Doctor, Soul Mate Publishing, Urgent Care Doctor

August 19, 2015 · 10:06 am

Lots going on…

Whew! This is some week. Who calls these the dog days of August?? Not for me.

Monday I had a piece published on Contemporary Romance that you might have seen ( or not!) Here’s the link. It’s about literary rejection, but the lesson in it could be applied to almost anything in life worth wanting and striving for.

Friday I’m being featured on The Roses of Proses Fearless Friday blog talking about my Dancing with the Stars experience earlier this year. Again, the lessons I learned during that time will suit me for a lifetime. I’ll post the link when it’s live.

Saturday 8/22/15 is my biggie day though. Three monumental things going down for this little author:

It’s the beginning of the I Love Book Boyfriend’s Scavenger Hunt . You can find the instructions by clicking on the previous link. Lots of prizes to get and you may find your new favorite author by visiting some of the author pages listed.

2.I’m also featured on the Long and Short Reviews 8th Anniversary blog party: here’s the link but it won’t go live until the 22nd so don’t email me if you can’t get on!! You need to answer a question you’re given and you could win a prize.

3. Starting on 8/21/15 my debut novel SKATER’S WALTZ will be on sale for 2 weeks for 99cents for the ebook. If you haven’t gotten a copy yet, now is the best time todo it because the book will never be priced lower. Just go to amazon or Wild Rose Press starting on the 21st to upload your copy. I mean, really, 99cents?? What a fabulous deal.

One last bit of exciting news. On August 20 [ which is tomorrow ) I’ll be a guest author on the EXQUISITE QUILLS author takeover extravaganza. I’ll be LIVE from 6-7pm East coast time and there’ll be prize giveaways, fun trivia and questions for people participating. Click on the above link to get an idea of what’s to come and I hope I see you there!

Whew! That’s enough for this insomniac. More later…..

4 Comments

Filed under Author, Contemporary Romance, Life challenges, Romance, Romance Books, RWA, Skater's Waltz, Strong Women

Tagged as contemporary romance writer, Exquisite Quills, Fearless Friday, I love Book Boyfriends Scavenger Hunt, Long and Short Reviews 8th Anniversary party, Skater's Waltz

August 17, 2015 · 10:06 am

Rejection….not for the soft-hearted

I’m blogging over at Contemporary Romance today. Drop by:

http://contemporaryromance.org/blog/

Reflections on August…

I’ve been writing daily, non-stop, since January of this year. My word tracker tells me I’ve logged in over 2,000,000 words. I don’t know if that’s a lot, average for a writer, or below the norm. I do know that writing makes me happy, whether it’s my blog, my wip,or a short story I’m working on. I once heard Nora Roberts liken writing to exercising. She said, if you don’t do it for a few days, like a muscle, it begins to atrophy. The “it” is the writing or the work of writing. And I agree.

But…

I decided to take a little break this month after I came back from RWA in NYC in July. I have a life outside of writing – I know, who’d have thought? – and I have several art, craft, and culinary projects that are time consuming I wanted to get started and done. The first weekend in the month I ripped apart every closet in my house, culled, restructured, tossed, donated and generally made all my closets look like new again. It took me three days, 8 hours a day. By day three I had great closets and writing withdrawal. While I’d been culling,etc, several ideas had shot into my head and I needed to write them down, but I’d vowed to have a stay-cation from writing so…

Yeah. If you’re a writer you know where this is going.

Day 4 broke and I wanted to start on a new, large decoupage trunk project I was going to do for a friend’s birthday present. Since her b’day is in September and this was August, I needed to get a move on. 2 hours into the project my hands started shaking because my writing-dormant brain had just solved a plot point problem I’d been having with my WIP. What to do? My non-writing vow slapped me hard in the face and…I slapped back. Yup. I broke my vow. For the next six hours I was able to rewrite a scene that had been driving me nutso for weeks. And it came out pretty damn good if I do say so. And right after that I wrote down all those ideas I’d come up with during closet cleaning. In fact, I sat at my laptop for a total of 10 hours that day -with one or two needed bathroom breaks – and got everything down that had been begging to be let out from my brain. The writing withdrawal symptoms ground me down. Like a meth addict, I was unable to control my “need” but in my case it was a need to write, not do drugs. Just clarifying, folks.

So.

Today is August 16. My word tracker tells me I have written 57,000 words during the past 10 days. That’s 5 blogs, and the rest split up between several WIP’s currently in production. I’ll have to include the 500 or so from this blog as well. Like moths drawn to flames, mosquitos pulled to bug zappers, use whatever metaphor or alliteration you want, I HAD to write. No, I HAVE to write. It is, in its purest definition, who and what I am.

There’s a reason this website is called WRITING IS MY OXYGEN. You can’t life without breathing…and I can’t live without writing.

7 Comments

Filed under Author, Contemporary Romance, Life challenges, Romance, Strong Women

Tagged as contemporary romance writer, writer, Writing is my oxygen

August 13, 2015 · 11:41 am

Power = Social Media

I freely admit to all who ask that I am no techie-savant. I don’t have the gene instilled in my DNA like the kids these days do; I find most factors related to computer knowledge NOT to be intuitive to me; and the term “User Friendly” has no baring on my capabilities. So when I entered this wonderful world of published author-dom I had to learn how to be effective on social media in order to self-promote myself and my book.

It has been a loooooooooooog journey.

Initially when my website went live I – in my naivete – thought, “If you build it, they will come.” Yeah, no. You not only have to possess the site, you must introduce it to the masses and keep doing so in order for your site to have traffic and stay relevant. This is the cyber sphere’s version of Word of Mouth. Who knew? Not me, that’s for sure. So, to do this I started listing my recent blog entries on facebook .This helped…some. It was my daughter who suggested I start using Twitter, google+ and Pinterest to broaden my approach. This is one of the reasons I keep her around: her marketing brilliance.

Again, this only went so far because you can’t tweet/face/post/pin/google just ONCE during the day. You have to do so repeatedly to compete with the nine gazilliongillion other posting/tweets/etc uploading every millisecond. One of my New Hampshire RWA sistahs likens Twitter to a “drive by shooting.” Kids, I just don’t have time to stop what I’m doing every hour and post something new. Not only is it time sucking to do this, my memory isn’t what it used to be ( frickin’ menopause!) and I forgot more times than I remembered to post.

Again, brilliant baby told me about a program that could help called HootSuite which allows you to schedule all your postings on social media sights so you can basically click it and forget it. ( Ron Popeil reference, anyone?)

Again, who knew??

I use Hootsuite everyday. It’s one of the first things I do when my insomnia drags me from bed. I set up Twitter, Facebook author page, Instagram and Pinterest post/alerts for alternating hours of the day. I spend from 15-20 minutes doing this in the morning and then basically forget about it the rest of the day, enabling me to devote my time to what I want to do, namely, writing.

My life is so much better now since I don’t have to worry about getting on my social media sites every 30 minutes. Don’t get me wrong – I still check stuff during the day. I love to retweet posts from authors I know, and God help me, I need to see what’s going on on facebook, but as far as my marketing promos go, Hootsuite has been such a blessing.

Check it out and see if it’s for you. It’s free, easy ( must be if I can do it!), convenient and non-time sucking.

12 Comments

Filed under Author, Contemporary Romance, Life challenges, NHRWA, Romance, RWA, Strong Women

Tagged as contemporary romance writer, Facebook, Hootsuite, Instagram, NHRWA, Pinterest, RWA, Social Media

August 11, 2015 · 9:18 am

How does your Hero smell?

I know… that’s a horrible title. LOL. It conveys so many negative images, doesn’t it?

What I really want to know is, what –for lack of a better word – smell or scents do you use to describe your male characters?

I’ve read heroes defined as smelling like sandalwood, natural musk, earthy, woodsy, piney, and like leather. Okay. So he smells like he’s been tramping about in the woods or forest. These are okay descriptions for lumberjacks and Men in Kilts. I’ve also read descriptions stating the hero smelled like cigarettes, booze, hay, horse sweat, and even “like a farm.” None of those descriptions made me want to jump into fictional bed with the guy.

I read a very old romance novel once that said this: His clothes had the odor of the fish he’d caught that day on them. Right away I knew I wasn’t going to finish this book. There was no way a hero should smell like stale-or even fresh-fish.

Ugh.

Sensory descriptions are mandatory when you write romance novels. All five of the senses need to be explored. Sight, taste, and touch have their own separate categories and I could blog for days on just those three alone. Sound is also important to put in a narrative or a descriptor. But smell; smell can form an instant recognition and connection of your character with your reader.

Everyone knows what grass, lemons, and the beach smell like. They are sensory memories stored in your brain and olfactory system for life. So if I describe a hero’s aftershave as cool and lemony, you have an immediate reference and knowledge for what it smells like. If I say my hero brought the smell of fresh cut grass in with him, again, you have an allusion to what I am trying to convey. The line he smelled of sand and sea is fairly synonymous with the fresh smell of a beach. (Note, smelling like the sea is NOT the same as smelling like fish!) These are pleasant scents that, when we read them, elicit pleasant memories.

I’m not big on guys wearing cologne. I’ll put that out there and suffer the wrath of every woman who loves her guy doused in Polo. I tend to favor – and be stimulated by (okay: turned on by!) more natural scents. I love a guy who’s right from a shower and smells clean and fresh; I don’t even mind the normal odor of a sweaty guy – if he’s doing something sporty or physical and working up a nice, decent sweat. This is the smell I usually think of when I hear someone smells manly, or like a man. And there’s something about a guy who’s grilling and the aroma following him that makes my mouth water.

Okay, now that I think about the last one, it could just be the smell of cooked meat I’m getting aroused by.

Speaking of meat, a few years ago there was a study done by some big company about what smell men are most attracted to on a woman. It wasn’t roses, or any kind of flower. It wasn’t the clean, dewy, fresh-out-of-the-bath fragrance either. It was – are you ready for it?- bacon.

I know!

I seems cooking isn’t the only way to a man’s heart. All my single girlfriends out there – invite a guy you like to a meal and then make him something with bacon in it. It’s almost like a guaranteed proposal. I’ll leave it up to you to decide what that proposal should be.

So, when you’re doing due diligence and incorporating those 5 senses into your writing, remember to include something that will stimulate a positive olfactory memory.

And stay away from descriptors for fishy smells.

Best male smell descriptions you’ve ever read…let’s discuss…

14 Comments

Filed under Alpha Hero, Alpha Male, Author, Contemporary Romance, Romance, Romance Books

Tagged as alpha heroes, Alpha males, Contemporary romance, contemporary romance writer, descriptions, manly men, scents, Sense of smell

August 7, 2015 · 11:59 am

What is- or what would you like- your superhero power (to be)

I was asked this when I did an interview and I think it’s such a great question for discussion, along the lines of who is better – Batman or Superman? I’ll tell you who I think it is at the end of this.

Would I like to go invisible like (duh!) the Invisible Man? The thought makes me a little light headed. Have a rope of truth like Wonder Woman (well, what woman wouldn’t want that? Especially if she thinks her honey is fibbing to her??)

Does Thor’s hammer of strength appeal to me? Not really. What about Hawkeye’s deadly bow? Not so much. Captain America’s shield? Um, no.

Spiderman’s spidey sense – can’t even consider this one. I hate spiders. Even super heroes who act like them. Yuk. I might like to control the weather, but then I think about how everyone hates the weatherman and renege on the thought.

X-ray vision might be cool, but then I think about all those man-thong wearers out there and I cringe in disgust.

I would have to say my superpower would be (and in reality, is) my ability to make people laugh even when the situation I’m in is highly charged and emotional.

I’m the type of gal who gets hit with the giggles at inappropriate times. During a funeral once I found something the eulogizer said funny and laughed out loud. I was the only one. I’m that female who always says the wrong thing for the wrong reason due to nerves. At a wake once I was telling a story and said, “Oh, my God, I was so embarrassed I almost died. “ Yes. At a wake. Where there was a dead body a few feet away. And yup, I’m the one who is usually making other people blush with my bluntness because I always feel the quickest way to say something is the way that causes you to get the most bang for your buck.

But even with all that, I make people laugh.

I once had an extremely irate patient yell at me for what seemed like an hour straight but was probably about 5 minutes. I let him rant, never saying a word. When he finally ran out of speed, after telling me all the things that had been done to him and what he was now doing – which BTW weren’t making him any better – I cocked my head at him and said, “How’s that going for ya?” He was so flabbergasted, he laughed. Out loud. A full belly shake. And then I helped him with the problem he was having. When he left my office sweetness and light surrounded him.

I watched a waitress get reamed by a very hostile and drunk customer once. She kept her cool, never once defending herself or yelling back at him. When she came to the table where my friends and I were, she was visibly shaking and had a painful smile on her face, but she was lovely to us and trying to pretend nothing had happened. When she asked if she could help us, I asked back, “Want us to go and beat that guy up? We can do it so no one sees us. Really. My uncle is connected. I know what I’m doing.”

She stared at me for a second and then smiled. The smile turned into a grin, which turned into laugh. When my entire table of people was done laughing, she said, “Thanks, but it’s okay.” When we left I noticed she had comped our drink order so we all pitched in and left her a $100.00 tip.

The Reader’s Digest used to have a column titled, Laughter is the best medicine, and it’s so true. Anytime you can use laughter to diffuse a situation, relieve someone’s embarrassment, or for any reason to make them feel good, it’s worthwhile.

So. Superman or Batman? For me it’s always and forever going to be Superman. Hey, he can fly, has super hearing, sight and smell, is uber-strong and can stop bullets in his hand. Plus he’s a writer like me (Clark Kent anyone?) Batman, not so much. Cut him he bleeds, hit him he falls. Yeah, he may be a mega rich playboy, but he needs a whole cave of techie stuff to get the job done. Unlike Superman who is all-natural.