Category Archives: Uncategorized

March 25, 2019 · 1:00 am

The struggle is real…

I know we’ve all heard that saying, and most have us have probably quoted it a time or three. But the underlying meaning is true: I’ve been really struggling for some time and am finally able to give voice to it.

It started last year when I had a bit of mini-breakdown. Several personal things were happening to me all at once and in the span of one week I was responsible for so many things that I simply couldn’t function, so I stopped; functioning. I didn’t talk, I didn’t sleep, I didn’t write. ( I did eat, tho, so once again losing weight wasn’t something I was struggling with – because I wasn’t!! Losing weight, I mean!)

Any hoo.

The situations, slowly, resolved, and I thought I was back on top of my game again.

Yeah, not so much as it turns out.

For the past two months I’ve been struggling with wanting to continue on my writing journey. Despite several efforts and the best intentions on my part, I still haven’t been able to find an agent who would want to take me on as a client. You’d think 15 books published traditionally would count for something. Apparently, not.

One of my publishers dropped me, and the editor I thought I had a really good relationship with won’t return my emails. Any of them. I even emailed her assistant who assured me she’d let the editor know I wanted to “speak” to her. Nothing.

I write in such a glutted market – contemporary romance – and trying to garner any kind of attention means I spend hours daily on social media, talking up my books and trying to make connections with readers. It’s exhausting – mentally, physically, spiritually. And let’s not forget financially. All my marketing, despite being traditionally published, is arranged for and paid by me. And as my mother used to tell me, money doesn’t grow on trees. I know that saying is true because I live in the woods and my diminishing funds aren’t being replaced by leaf currency.

The kicker came when the RITA finalists were announced last week. I submitted three books from last year that I wrote, one of which I really thought I had a shot at finaling with because it’s gotten nothing but 5 star reviews – most from people who don’t know me personally, either. Alas, March 21 came and went and I received no phone call.  Now I know what everyone says when you don’t get the call: it doesn’t mean you’re a bad writer or the book wasn’t good. It simply means 5 judges thought other books were better.

Yeah, you know what? That doesn’t make me feel any better.

At all.

I’ve always surmised the RITAS were a bit of a popularity contest, and this year I KNOW they are. Combined with the utter lack of diversity in the finalists – an egregious act – and I’m seriously considering whether the award really means anything at all anymore. I read two absolutely wonderful books that featured h/h as people of color (POC). I graded them sososososo high, too. Know what? Neither of them finaled. I rated one truly horrible book ( so many misplaced modifiers, spelling and tense mistakes) low and know what? It finaled. After finding out about how un-diverse the awards are, I stopped feeling sorry for myself about not finaling. Some amazeballs POC writers have never been given the honor of finaling or winner either, so who am I to have a pity party??!!

But as far as entering in the future, I give up. Truly.

I’m trying to chalk up this feeling of inadequacy and apathy to a passing funk, seasonal affect disorder, and not having a  vacation away in years. I’m trying really hard, as it happens.

Maybe I’ll come out of this stronger and more determined than ever.

That’s the hope anyway.

I didn’t write this as a subtle means of begging for positive reinforcement, or a way of garnering sympathy in the hopes people will buy my books. I may craft for a hobby, but believe me, I’m not crafty that way.

I simply wanted to put my thoughts and feelings down on paper and try and make some sense of why I’m feeling down in the dumps, writing-wise when so many other wonderful things ARE happening for me in my new career. I’ve finaled and even won other contests this year; I’m about to sign with a new publishing company ( more on that later!) and I recently was offered contracts for two books I’ve submitted to my first publisher.

So, life really is good, career-wise for me. I have to chalk this feeling of worthlessness and crabbiness up to winter.

I blame everything else that happens to me on the weather, so why not this, too? heehee

Any hoo…thanks for listening.

~ Peg

 

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March 23, 2019 · 3:00 am

I bet you didn’t know…..

Great teaser title, right?! Hee Hee

So here’s what you didn’t know about me: Before I wrote romantic fiction, I wrote more…morbid…stuff. I had a slew of short stories published in the suspense genre. You can see them listed if you scroll down to the FICTION part of my Publications page.

Any hoo. Let’s move to the present.

I recently re-energized a short story I’d written almost 2o years ago and submitted it to Long and Short Reviews. They have a short story submissions page, so I entered the re-tooled story to their contest a few weeks. And guess what? I won!!!

THE HOUSE ON CRIMSON STREET is a creepy ( to me, anyway) story of an elderly lady who rents out rooms. And since I like cooking so much, there’s an underlying cooking theme threaded throughout the story. It’s fairly short, so if you want to take a few minutes and read it, here’s the link: THOCS

And, because this is L&SR and they never do anything NOT well, they also made a cover for the story:
Can I tell you how in love I am with this depiction of the house?? It’s beyond perfect.

So, if you want to get a glimpse into the less romantic, more unsavory part of my brain, this is a good place to start.

Just sayin’ ~Peg

And when I’m not writing scary stuff, you can find me writing romance here :

Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me//Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me// Triber// BookMe // Monkey me //Watch me

Here’s the link to my TELL ME ABOUT YOUR DAMN BOOK podcast interview, just in case you missed it: TMAYDB

and the link to my recent interview on NewHampshirePublicRadio

 

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March 19, 2019 · 1:16 am

I love to read, but…

Yesterday, my writing friend, author Holland Rae, wrote a blog post titled  Why I DNF. I highly recommend you click on that link and read it.

Now, for those of you who don’t now what DNF means, it stands for DID NOT FINISH. Anyone who has judged the RITA awards has seen these 3 letters mentioned over and over again the past year in the judging instructions and online. To the regular world, the letters are for readers who have failed to finish a book. Not because of time constraints, but for reasons that run the gamut from not being on board with the subject matter, to hating the mealy mouthed, weak heroine. I’ve picked up books after reading the back blurb, thinking I was getting one story, and when I started reading, was given an entirely different one. This kind of publishing bait and switch isn’t common, but does happen. I think I’m getting a romantic comedy about a run away heiress and the private eye sent after her to bring her back, and once I get into the story it’s really about a spoiled bitch who doesn’t deserve to live, or the hero is a misogynistic bore.

I stop reading. Really, I’ll never get that hour I wasted back now and don’t feel I want to invest any more of the little time I have left to finish the dopey story.

I picked up a book recently by an author that I’ve read before and enjoyed and that was touted as romantic suspense and there was – literally – nothing suspenseful or romantic about the plot. The story  crammed as much sex into the pages as the author could while the h/h were being followed by a stalker. Sex in a tiny car, in a public bathroom ( yuk! Just…yuk), under a desk, in a closet. If the book had been marketed properly and not labeled a romantic suspense, I might have passed on it at the get-go. I have a large list of one-click authors, though, and she was among them, so I never really delved into the blurb.

I’ve stopped reading books and tossed them into the recycling pile, not even the donate to the public library pile because I didn’t think anyone deserved to waste their time on  poorly written, boring stories.

Judgmental, thy name is Peggy, I know.

In Holland’s well written article, she states,

  • “I…will finish problematic or frustrating reads because it teaches me how to avoid making the same mistakes. As an author, I think it’s important to read books that aren’t perfect so we can perform more effectively in our own stories.”

That is such a valid point, and I agree with it 100%…in principle. When I was first starting out in my fiction writing career, I did commit to finishing all the books I read, even though some of them were awful. Learning what not to do is as important as learning what to do, and this was my validation. Nowadays, though, I simply don’t have the time to devote more to a book that just hasn’t captured me in the first 3 or four chapters.

The deal breakers for me about whether to DNF a book or carry on til the end to see if it gets any better ( and really, haven’t we all done that?) are as follows:

The characters curse a lot.

I know this is kind of dumb, but I hate watching a movie where every other word is the f-bomb. Use our beautiful language to paint a picture, writers, and not depend on expletives to do it for you!!

The sex is all Insert A into Slot B, lather, rinse, repeat. 

I was a Registered Nurse in my before-writing life. I know how sex works. I don’t need an anatomy or a causal lesson in how to do it. What I do need – what I crave – is reading about the emotions the people involved in the act are going through while they are…acting.

Cruelty as a plot point. We’ve all read the redeemed hero. I happen to love a redeemed hero. What I don’t love – and what no one should – is a hero who starts out sadistic, mean, verbally or physically abusive, caustic, or nasty and then magically  – through the love of the heroine, someone who comes along to show him how to love for the very first time – changes into a sloppy puppy without ever finding out why he is the way he is. Dumb, just…dumb and lazy writing. I’m tossing that one down in chapter one.

Vapid, walk on secondary characters. 

 

(Holland and I agree on this one.)My real-life friends are fully formed human beings with working minds, opinions, and thoughts. They have jobs, families, hobbies, things they love and  things they hate. They were not put on this earth to walk into my life, act as a sounding board for my choices, and then walk out again. Another toss in the recycle pile if I find this in a book.

Voice.

(this is another point I have in common with Holland). I like to read books written in all points of view. First, third, revolving, omniscient. If the story is solid and the characters are well formed, the voice (or  POV) the story is told in shouldn’t be a negative factor. I know someone who says he/she never reads anything that is written in first person. Suffice it to say she isn’t reading anything of mine, then. But back to my point. If a writer has decided on telling his/her story in first person, that characters’s voice better be the best one for the job. I don’t want to read an historical romance in first person where the heroine states, Lord Suchanass was a total tool last night at Lady Fatass’s shindig. Um…no. Just…no. That’s a DNF straight into the garbage, never mind recycling. Having said that, if an author is going to use revolving first or third person, she/he better make sure the person speaking is immediately identifiable and doesn’t sound like every other person in the book. I’ve truthfully had to start a chapter over because I thought I was in the heroine’s POV when I was actually in the hero’s. There was no distinction between the two voices. That’s just poor writing at its core, peeps.

I need to own up to this: my DNF pile has grown exponentially as I’ve had more of my own books published. As stated, I simply don’t have the time to waste on a book if it doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do on page one or in the first chapter: capture the reader’s ( ME!) attention. I hope I’ve learned to write that way. I’d hate to be on anyone’s DNF list/pile.

If I have been on yours…have pity on my fragile ego and don’t ever tell me! I’m better off not knowing.

~Peg

When I’m not reading you can find me here:

Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me//Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me// Triber// BookMe // Monkey me //Watch me

Here’s the link to my TELL ME ABOUT YOUR DAMN BOOK podcast interview, just in case you missed it: TMAYDB

and the link to my recent interview on NewHampshirePublicRadio

 

 

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March 17, 2019 · 12:30 am

The Wearing O’the Green. #HappyStPatricksDay #kissmeImIrish

It’s no secret I’m almost 100% Irish extraction. I didn’t need to spit in the Ancestry.com cup to know that. I did anyway and the results came back 98% Irish with 2% some obscure Middle European.

I’m disregarding that 2% because, really, why bother?

So, like I said, it’s no secret I’m of Irish extraction. When I was a kid people would tell my mother I had the map of Ireland stamped on my face. By that they meant my pale skin, dark hair, light eyes and plethora of facial freckles denoted I was a member of the Old Sod. I still have that pale skin and light eyes. The hair went gray at 16 so it’s been many shades since I was a kid, settling on some kind of ashy blonde mix right now. And for years I tried to bleach the hated freckles away with Porcelana fade cream. ( I have since stopped doing that, having embraced my freckles and heritage a while back).

I love my Irish roots. Truly. While I may not crave corned beef and cabbage ( ick) and I don’t drink beer ( hate the taste), I am a stalwart Daughter of Erin. I even marched in the NY City St. Patrick’s Day parade for years while I was in college. This is a of shot me at the parade holding my school banner when I was a senior.

The picture is grainy because I had to copy it from my yearbook, but I’m the second one in from the left with the glasses, short curly hair ( I was still dying it black back then), and total glee on my face despite the fact it was 34 degrees that day and raining non-stop.

There’s a saying that everyone is Irish on St. Paddy’s day. If you’re lucky enough to really have some Irish in your DNA, then yay! Welcome to the club. If not, then take advantage of this great day and become an honorary member. If you want to know the history behind the celebration of St. Patrick, do a Google search and find out why he was made a Saint and the reason Irishman are so keen on celebrating him.

For me, I’m gonna go make a couple of loaves of Irish soda bread and put on something with a bit’o green in it.

Happy St. Patricks Day ~ Peg

Looking for me? When I’m not celebrating the special days of Irish Saints, I’m usually here:

Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me//Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me// Triber// BookMe // Monkey me //Watch me

Here’s the link to my TELL ME ABOUT YOUR DAMN BOOK podcast interview, just in case you missed it: TMAYDB

and the link to my recent interview on NewHampshirePublicRadio

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March 11, 2019 · 12:14 am

Think you know me?

See that little two line promo in the bottom righthand corner of this magazine cover? RISING STAR SPOTLIGHT: PEGGY JAEGER. That’s me!!! (hee hee ) Who knew at 58 years old you could be a “rising star?” One look at me and you know I’m not an ingenue, that’s for sure. In a society where ageism is so rampant and people over the age of 35 are looked on as if their lives are over and they should just step aside for the younger folks to get their shots at success, the romance industry embraces writers of any age – and I am proof of that, since my first romance book was published when I turned 55.

This is by far one of the best interviews I’ve ever given. The interviewer’s questions were so in-depth and deep, I really needed to put my thinking and memory cap on to answer most of them. I love that – I love having to dig deep into my psyche to answer something thoughtful. There are a few revelations about me in this article, so like the title of this blog asks – Think you know me? – you may find out you don’t know me as well as you thought. Here’s the link to the entire article. It uploads into a PDF that you can download on any device. InD’tale article.

InD’Tale mag was also gracious enough to review 2 of my books in late 2018, and you can read those reviews here:  Dearly Beloved

 

and Christmas and Cannolis

If you’re a romance book lover, this entire issue is jam packed with great articles, including the one with Kendra Elliot – one of my favorite authors. But if you’re only looking for mine ( awww, thank you! Heehee) you can advance to page 32, where it starts. InD’Tale Magazine March 2019

I’ve got to tall ya, this was soooooooome ego boost for sure!

~ peg

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March 10, 2019 · 12:05 am

#sundaySnippet 3.10.19 Hope’s Dream (Deerbourne Inn)


Today’s little snippet from HOPE’S DREAM ( a Deerbourne Inn Novella) shows Hope’s playfulness. She’s attracted to Tyler in a physical way at first, but the more they’re together, the more she realizes he’s the kind of guy she could see herself with for more than a weekend of skiing…

“All warm and rested now?” she asked. “Ready to get back out there? You’ve still got an hour left on your time, and I think you’re ready for a harder trail.”

Before he could stop it, a groan swelled up from deep down inside him. Hope chuckled and zipped up her jacket.

“It won’t be too hard,” she told him. “Promise.”

He stood as well and slipped his cap on. With an exaggerated eye roll, he asked, “Why don’t I believe you?”

“City folk.” Her lips angled into the most alluring smirk as she shook her head and fisted her hands on her trim hips. “So untrusting.”

The laughter was back in her eyes, but it wasn’t as bright and free as it had been before the mention of her parents.

“Come on, New York. Let me make a Vermonter out of you.”

Why it sounded so darn good to him was a mystery.

Hope was, by no means, a divulger, so why had she told him about her folks? Even with people she’d known forever she didn’t talk about the accident. Everyone in town knew about it, of course. It had been the hot topic of the day when it happened and was gossip-fueled for years after by a rumor her dad had been drunk when the car careered over the embankment. He’d been stone- cold sober, but it hadn’t made a bit difference to some people. It did to her. Living in a small community where the residents knew everything about their neighbors— good and bad—was hard at times. Hope loved Willow Springs, but there were moments she wished she could disappear for a while where no one knew her, her parents, or what had happened to them.

She never spoke about the accident, especially to a total stranger.

Why, then, had she with this man?

There was something about him, something…familiar, which was ridiculous. She hadn’t known him before three hours ago. She would have remembered him, if not for his looks, which were yummy in and of themselves, but for his voice. Deep timbered and strong, it possessed a wake-up rasp that made an impression on a girl. A lasting impression. Whenever he’d spoken, all her senses had stood at attention.

Buy Links: Amazon // Nook // iTunes// Kobo

 

Hope Kildaire gave up her dream of becoming a nurse practitioner when a car accident killed her father and left her mother an invalid. Working two jobs and caring for her mother leaves the twenty-seven-year-old with no time for fun or relationships. When a law firm representing her paternal grandparents sends her several letters, Hope ignores them. She despises the family who disowned her father and wants nothing to do with them.

Lawyer Tyler Coleman’s job is simply to obtain Hope’s signature on a legal document. Getting it is harder than planned, though, when an unexpected attraction blossoms between them. If Ty is honest with Hope about why he’s in Willow Springs, he’ll fulfill his assignment but may risk hurting her.

The opportunity to have everything she’s ever desired is at Hope’s fingertips. Will her dream come true at the expense of Tyler’s love?

Looking for me? I’m usually here:

Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me//Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me// Triber// BookMe // Monkey me //Watch me

Here’s the link to my TELL ME ABOUT YOUR DAMN BOOK podcast interview, just in case you missed it: TMAYDB

and the link to my recent interview on NewHampshirePublicRadio

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March 9, 2019 · 5:27 am

Weekly Wrapup…

In case you didn’t know it, I not only write for my own blog, but others as well, so I thought I’d put my weekly wrapup links in a blog post today for convenience. So, here’s where I’ve been lately:

February 27 Romance Gems Is Pinterest the new Writer Vision board?

March 3 Peggy Jaeger Sunday Snippet – Can’t Stand the Heat (WIll Cook for Love, book 3)

March 4 Writing is My Oxygen It’s my book birthday!

March 6 Long and Short Reviews What do you do when you’re not writing?

March 8 Writing is my Oxygen #1stLineFriday – Hope’s Dream ( Deerbourne Inn)

And remember: until March 15, SKATER’S WALTZ, by debut romance novel, is on sale for just 99cents. If you haven’t read it, this is the perfect time!

Get your digital copy here: Amazon // Nook // Apple(iTunes) 

and don’t forget to Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me//Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me// Triber// BookMe // Monkey me //Watch me

Here’s the link to my TELL ME ABOUT YOUR DAMN BOOK podcast interview, just in case you missed it: TMAYDB

and the link to my recent interview on NewHampshirePublicRadio

 

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March 6, 2019 · 4:41 am

#L&SR #wednesdaybloggingchallenge I don’t JUST write, you know!

This week’s topic is Your Favorite Hobby and why.

Folks, this one wrote itself.

I was a kid in the 1960’s ( I know: I’m ollllllllllld!) and one of the fun-est things to do on craft day at school was decoupage.

Decoupage  (noun) the art or craft of decorating objects with paper cut-outs.

As a kid it was sososososo much fun acquiring and stocking up newspapers, magazines, comic books, even old catalogs, and cutting out pictures, items, images that I loved just so I could them glue them to things like shoe boxes, jewelry boxes, pictures frames, and give them as gifts. I was between the ages of 5 and 10, so in those days, these were the extent of my gift-giving persona.

Nowadays, I do better.

Nowadays, I decoupage old steamer trunks that I find at rummage sales, and in second hand stores.

I’ve decoupaged 5 trunks over the past 3 years and have 2  more waiting for me to find some free time. When they are complete, I give them away as gifts to people around me who ask. My daughter has 2, my BFF has one, and I’ve got the other 2. This one is sitting in my office behind the couch I use to take naps in when the words aren’t flowing as fast as I want them to.

You can see a cut out of my first book SKATER’S WALTZ on the top of this one! The book just celebrated it’s 4th book birthday on Monday and is on sale until 3.15 for just 99cents an ecopy. ( hee hee, shameless plug, sorry. Had to!)

This is the entire top of the picture above it and if you have really good eyes, you can see a cut out of my second book THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME. I’ll give you a hint – it’s to the right ( your right as you’re looking at this) of Judy Garland.

Anyway, self promo over.

A trunk usually takes me anywhere from 1-2 months to complete, depending on the amount of damage the trunk has when I acquire it. The longest I’ve ever taken is 4 months because I had a trunk with an internal removable shelf. Both the inside of the trunk and the shelf had to be repaired, then papered, then decoupaged. I did the internals first, then proceeded to the outside.

That trunk is my favorite to date and holds sososososo much stuff I can’t stand it!

So. That’s my hobby. What about you?
Let’s see what the other authors in this blog hop do when they’re not writing away: L&SRBlogChallenge

And as always, look for me here when I’m not decoupaging, writing, or doing the other 7689 things I need to do daily:

Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me//Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me// Triber// BookMe // Monkey me //Watch me

Here’s the link to my TELL ME ABOUT YOUR DAMN BOOK podcast interview, just in case you missed it: TMAYDB

and the link to my recent interview on NewHampshirePublicRadio

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February 26, 2019 · 12:00 am

A new #bookrelease by #Author #Katie O’Sullivan, et al

Today is release day for one of my favorite authors ( and a bunch of her writing pals!) Katie O’Sullivan.

This multi-published, uber-talented writer is a one-click author or me whenever she has a new book releasing because they are always goodies, but I am also honored to call her a friend.

Katie’s part of new anthology titled: AFTER HURRICANE NINA (The HOT HUNK STEAMY ROMANCE COLLECTION). Her contribution is QUINN’S RESOLUTION and it’s fabulous. You can read my review here: Quinn

 

Eight Strangers. Eight Unique Stories. All Stand-alone Novels.

On November 30, 2016, Hurricane Nina hit Bali, Indonesia. In the aftermath of death and destruction, eight strong sexy men will realize it’s time for a change in their lives. A resolution of sorts. A contractor, a personal trainer, a millionaire, a stuntman, a rock star, a thrill-seeker, an army veteran, and a trust fund prodigal will all find a way to conquer their loss and learn to love.

 

This is Quinn’s story.

Resolution: To find his way back to the music.

Quinn MacDonald had it made. With a record label deal and their first single skyrocketing up the charts, his indie punk band is finally getting a taste of rock and roll fame. Bikini-clad women and bottomless bottles of booze fill endless days… until their hotel collapses during a hurricane. He’s still under contract but as far as he’s concerned, the music died along with the rest of his band.

Life has never been easy for Phoebe Snow. Working three minimum wage jobs barely keeps a roof over her head while she and her band struggle to get noticed. But on stage, nothing matters but the music in her heart.

When her band plays a cover of one of his hits, Quinn is blown away. Can Phoebe be the inspiration he needs for more than just writing songs?

 Excerpt 

On the open-air stage in Times Square, Quinn MacDonald was making a very different resolution for the fast-approaching new year. As he stood there with a fake smile plastered on his face, listening to Wiz Khalifa spout on about some after-party, Quinn vowed he would never sing on stage in public again. No matter what the fucking studio executives said, they couldn’t make him do this. Rock stars don’t cry on national television, for fuck’s sake.

He felt raw. Exposed. Alone.

And the duet with Demi Lovato? Someone had to have planned that ahead of time without telling him a thing. There’s no such thing as spontaneous singing for television cameras. Certainly not on New Year’s Eve in Times Square. So let’s add feeling “used” into the mix.

He didn’t like it. It was… wrong.

Sure, he’d promote the album. It was part of the contract he signed. He owed that much to the memory of his friends, and to their families. But as far as Quinn was concerned, the music died in the hurricane along with the rest of his band.

Buy Link: Amazon

About Katie O’Sullivan

Katie O’Sullivan is an award winning writer with a dozen books to her credit, including My Kind of Crazy, Ghosts Don’t Lie, Breaking the Rules, and the Son of a Mermaid series for young teen readers: Descent, Defiance, Deception, and the yet to be released Destiny (Coming soon.) (Hopefully.)

A recovering English major, she earned her degree at Colgate University and now lives on Cape Cod with her family and big dogs, drinking way too much coffee and finding new uses for all the sea glass she obsessively collects from the beach. She writes YA and romantic suspense novels, as well as working full time for a high tech company. Which explains all the coffee.

Connect with Katie here:

Website ~ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Goodreads ~ Amazon Author Page

 

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February 25, 2019 · 12:15 am

So, this happened……

Over the weekend I spotted this on my twitter feed:


To say I was gobsmacked is an understatement!!! The entire list of winners is here but can I just tell you how amazing it feels to have won my devision in such a prestigious contest??!! There really aren’t words strong enough to let you know how I needed to hear and see something like this lately.

You see, I’ve been a bit down in the doldrums for a bit. I have no books scheduled to be released in 2019 ( after the 4 I had in 2018). And while I have two books up for consideration with my Wild Rose Press editor, and I’ve sent out a query to another publisher about a different work, by the time I hear if they are approved or not, and then all the publishing stuff that needs to be done to them gets started, I don’t foresee a book release this calendar year, and that has left me feeling just a bit more than depressed of late.

Hearing I won my division in this contest has gone a long way to pulling me out of that depression.

You all may have heard about what I’ve been calling #COPYGATE this week, or as romancelandia has titled it #COPYPASTECRIS about the insane plagiarism scandal befalling the romance publishing world right now. I won’t go into details because I don’t want to give this horrible human being one more ounce of attention, but if you follow Nora Roberts’s or Courtney Milan’s blogs, you’ve been hearing about it for the past week. At a time when I – and all the legitimate writers I know – are struggling to make a buck, having something this egregious happens wants to make you hang up your writing togs and say “F**k it!”

And I did, for about 24 hours.

Then, the reason I started writing romance to begin with came back to me. I never intended to get anything I’d written published, either traditionally or independently. I simply wrote because I loved doing so. I wrote for me – and still do. Not for sales, not for publishing houses, not for the book reading world. The fact that those entities have deemed me worthy and read my stuff is like  whipped cream and a bottle of maraschinos on top of your favorite cupcake. But the real reason I still do what I do is because I love it and can’t stop doing it. I’ve said before that if I’d never gotten published I would have been okay with that – and it’s still true.

So, I am now back to my normal ( Am I normal?) self and am writing away. Do I have the dates my editor is supposed to get back to me on my proposals listed on my calendar? You betcha. Am I obsessing about the outcome? Nah. I’m just writing away and making myself smile.

While I’m smiling and writing you can find me here:

Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me//Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me// Triber// BookMe // Monkey me //Watch me

Here’s the link to my TELL ME ABOUT YOUR DAMN BOOK podcast interview, just in case you missed it: TMAYDB

and the link to my recent interview on NewHampshirePublicRadio

And, BTW, if you want to read the book that won the OKRWA IDA Contemporary novel division for 2018, you can grab your copy here:

Amazon // i-tunes // Google Play // Kobo // B&N  //

Books-A-Million // Walmart 

Sugar and spice and everything sexy make the perfect recipe for romance in this brand-new series by Peggy Jaeger. Look for exclusive recipes in each book!

Kandy Laine built her wildly popular food empire the old-fashioned way—starting with the basic ingredients of her grandmother’s recipes and flavoring it all with her particular brand of sweet spice. From her cookbooks to her hit TV show, Kandy is a kitchen queen—and suddenly someone is determined to poison her cup. With odd accidents and threatening messages piling up, strong-willed Kandy can’t protest when her team hires someone to keep her safe—but she can’t deny that the man for the job looks delicious. . .

Josh Keane is a private investigator, not a bodyguard. But with one eyeful of Kandy’s ebony curls and dimpled smile, he’s signing on to uncover who’s cooking up trouble for the gorgeous chef. As the attraction between them starts to simmer, it’s not easy to keep his mind on the job, but when the strange distractions turn to true danger, he’ll stop at nothing to keep Kandy safe—and show her that a future together is on the menu. . .

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