Tag Archives: #amblogging

January 11, 2024 · 12:06 am

#throwbackthursday 1.11.2024

So I’ve been re-reading some of my earlier in my career posts and thought it would be fun to put a few up to see how different things are now.

This one is from September 2019 ( and why does that seem like sososososos long ago?? Lol)

I posed the question: What are the 5 things you couldn’t live without?

My answers remain the same to this very day…

We’ve all played the game if you were stranded on a deserted island, what would you have to have with you in order to survive?

The routine answers are fresh water, toilet paper, shelter.

I think if you ask millennials, they’d say their iPhones and electronic devices before anything else.

But, assuming you have the things you need ( water, shelter, etc). what would be the 5 things other than the necessities you could not live without?

For me, the answers are easy.

#1 Diet Mountain Dew.  I’d need to have my daily fix

#2 My skin care products. I’m not going anywhere without my RetinA, sunblock, body moisturizers, and eye cremes

#3 Unlimited paper and pens. I can’t be stranded without something to write the tale of my deserted island experience about on.

#4 Flashlights with long-lasting batteries. I don’t like the dark. Or things that crawl and creep in the dark, like on a deserted island.

#5 My Kindle, loaded with 5000 books. Hey, I’m pretty sure I’m gonna be bored, so books are the best friends that you can take anywhere!

What are the 5 things you couldn’t live without??

Until next time ~ Peg

Leave a comment

Filed under #throwbackthursday

Tagged as , , , , ,

January 6, 2024 · 12:56 am

#sharingSaturday 1.6.2024

So I wanted to share something today that’s been bringing me a great deal of peace and calm this past week.

About a week before Christmas, I saw an ad on Facebook for something called KIND NOTES. It was a website where you could purchase jars with different, enveloped sayings for many different things. For example, one was all about birthdays, one was about anniversaries, one was self-motivation and another was about inspiration.

I chose a jar called THERE’S ALWAYS A REASON TO SMILE because 2023 wasn’t a smiling year for me. In point of fact, I cried more than I smiled.

There are 31 inspiration envelopes with notes inside, one for every day of the month. So far this month, I’ve chosen these:

And a few others.

You chose one from the jar each day.

I’m smiling more so far this year…I think this may be part of the reason.

If you’re interested, here’s the website: KIND NOTES

Leave a comment

Filed under Writing

Tagged as , , , ,

January 5, 2024 · 12:53 am

#fridayfive 5 Must-haves in a Romance book… 1.5.2024

For my first Friday five of 2024, I give you…the 5 MUST-HAVES in a romance book. And I struggle sometimes to get them all in my books, lol!

  1. the meet-cute. Whether they bump into one another, literally (!), suffer from mistaken identity, get introduced as new co-workers after having a one-night anonymous stand, the meet-cute is vital in setting up the conflict for the romance to thrive and reach its conclusion with everyone happy ( reader and characters)

2. Strong characters. No one is going to root for boring, flat, or negative characters who defy growth and change. That, after all, is the premise of the romance novel. Take two people who would never have gotten together if left to their own devices, throw them together, and then allow them to grow and change into a couple we all, as readers, adore. I’ve read too many books ( and DNF’d most of them) where the main characters were just…wrong.

3. Believable tropes. Just like we need to root for the hero and heroine, romance readers need to know the basic premise, or the tropes used, to get them to their HEA. Forced proximity, best friend’s brother, secret baby, mistaken identity and scores more, all help define the road these two people will take in order to have them find love in the end. And all romance readers have their favorite tropes to read, and writers to write. My personal fav to read and write is friends-to-lovers because I am always on the edge of my seat to see who lets the other person know their feelings first.

4. Believable conflict. Again, you want to lose yourself in the story and not be reading and then think, this is just too dumb and no one would ever do/say this. I heard a great definition of a true conflict in a romance story at a conference once. Here’s the set-up: a fire marshall is called to investigate a scene of obvious arson with a death associated with it. The supposed arsonist? His girlfriend, a girl whose family died in a fire and the person responsible was the one found in the above fire.

Conflict to a T!

5. HEA. Or happily ever after for those not in the anacronym-know. In recent years, the HFN (Happily for now ) ending has also been used to define the end of the story. Whichever you choose to read or write, the end goal is for the hero and heroine to be together, have a defined love relationship, and be committed to one another.

Leave a comment

Filed under #fridayfive

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

December 27, 2023 · 3:17 am

2023 Reading Challenge

Every year I do the Goodreads reading challenge. Most years I surpass my goal. One horrible year I didn’t quite make it.

This year I set a goal of 75 books. Today I stand at:

Not bad!

I’m not sure I’m going to be able to read any more by the end of the year because…busy(!) but if I do, 93, isn’t bad either, lol.

Now I just have to figure out how many books I can get through for 2024…

1 Comment

Filed under Writing

Tagged as , , , ,

December 22, 2023 · 4:34 am

Gift a book…

When I was 8 years old my favorite present from Santa that year was a Webster’s Dictionary. Yeah. I know. I was that kind of kid, but let me run with this thought, okay?

So.

Dictionaries aside, BOOKS have always– and will always–be my favorite holiday present.

The year I got six brand new Trixie Beldon books I didn’t come out of my room for weeks on end.

The year Santa left the first four Nancy Drew Mysteries, I pretended to be sick when vacation was over so I didn’t have to go back to school. I wanted to stay home and just keep reading. My mother didn’t agree.

The year I graduated from college I gifted myself a set of Classics that included The Jane Austen novels, Gone With The Wind, and The Great Gatsby.

Needless to say, books are my go-to gift to get and give. When my daughter was small her “toy” pile was comprised of dolls and books. The older she got, the more books she received each year.

Giving a book as a gift – whether it’s fiction, non-fiction, a cookbook or a biography, means the person receiving the gift will have innumerable hours of reading pleasure. Flowers fade after a few days. Jewelry is nice, but aside from wedding rings, do you want to wear the same piece daily? Clothing is essential but how many of us really get pleasure out of an outfit after it is worn a few times?

Books can be read, re-read, re-appreciated, and re-evaluated. And they never get old. Paper may fade, but that’s the reason we have e-readers. Books impart wisdom and knowledge. Books can make you laugh, cry, get you angry, or make you happy. And books know no age limit to be gifted. You can give a baby a book that their parents will read to him/her, or you can give a senior citizen a book.

Books as gifts: it’s a good thing for the Holidays.

And (Shameless plug coming)  if you’re looking for some books to give as gifts and your gift-ee is a romance reader, give them one of mine ( or more!!!) You can find them all here: My Books

Leave a comment

Filed under Writing

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

November 20, 2023 · 12:33 am

#mondaymusings 11.20.2023

Who, besides me ( raise hands, kids) is eating a little less each day this week so when Thursday comes you can stuff yourself like that damn turkey?

Anyone?
just me?

Le sigh….

1 Comment

Filed under Writing

Tagged as , , ,

November 13, 2023 · 12:37 am

#mondaymusings

I could actually write this blog any day of the week but since I like the alliteration of Monday musings, today seems worthy.

I’m at the point in my writing career – if you could call it that – where I thought I would be seeing a return on all the hard word I’ve been doing for the past 8 years. I’m not.

Let me e’splain.

Yesterday I put together all my receipts for the year so far because my hubby will be wanting to start our taxes soon. I have an entire folder of everything I’ve paid for regarding my writing this year – advertising, conferences, buying books from Amazon ( author copies), all things related to the fact I can have WRITER written on my occupation line on the tax form.

Then I went through my income for the year. Sales, royalties from publishers, KDP royalties, VEllA income.

Income vs expenses for the year? Not even close.

In fact, so disparate, it’s laughable. Or in my case, cryable.

If I weren’t married I wouldn’t be able to support myself on what I write. The national poverty level for a single income in 2023 is $14,580. This number is so much closer to my expenses than my income that – again – cryable.

I don’t think I’m the only writer experiencing this disparity in finances. In fact, most of the people I know who write are in a fairly similar boat to me.

So, why do we do it? Why do we take a loss year after year? Why do we bang our heads against our laptops when advertising dollars go up but the reward of those spent dollars goes down?

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Okay, maybe writers are a little insane. But aren’t most creatives? LOL

For me, writing is a luxury I am afforded because I have a husband who can support the two of us, so I devote my entire workday to writing. That’s not the case with most writers. They have jobs outside the home in order to pay for an existence that will allow them to do what they truly want to: write.

If I were forced to support myself I would. No debate about it. And I would still write. Long into the night, early into the morning, on work breaks, whatever, simply because I must.

That’s the answer to the above questions. Why do we do what we do? Because we must.

Leave a comment

Filed under Writing

Tagged as , , , ,

November 10, 2023 · 11:57 am

A new podcast about A PRIDE OF BROTHERS; DYLAN

About six weeks ago I was a guest on a podcast discussing my new romantic suspense A PRIDE OF BROTHERS: DYLAN. Have a listen:

BookPartyPodcast

Cyber-security specialist Dylan Keane is working undercover to suss out a corporate thief. When he zeroes in on Harper Vale, he thinks he’s found his mole.

Harper has a reputation as a coding savant and an introvert. Dylan’s interest is flattering, but after she’s implicated in the theft of the company’s protected software, she doubts everything he’s told her.

When a series of potentially deadly accidents occur involving Harper, Dylan wonders if she is being set up to take the fall. One thing is certain: the more time they spend together, the more Dylan realizes he’s the one who’s falling—for Harper.

Leave a comment

Filed under A PRIDE OF BROTHERS: DYLAN

Tagged as , , , , , ,

October 14, 2023 · 4:08 am

Saturday…

Today, I get to do something I haven’t done in quite a while: Attend a New Hampshire Romance Writers of America meeting IN PERSON!! I’ve been zooming the once-monthly meeting since the pandemic forced us all to shelter in place but today I get to go livelivelive!

Added to the wonderful feeling of seeing – in person – all my writer friends again, I am presenting the workshop today to the members.

It’s been a minute ( and then some) since I gave a live talk to a group. Thankfully, this group is so accepting, welcoming, and just plain fun, that I know even if I stumble, I will not fall with them holding me up.

If you’re a writer, I hope you have the blessing of a supportive collection of other writers you can hang out with and learn from, too!

Leave a comment

Filed under RWA

Tagged as , , , , , , , ,

July 26, 2023 · 2:04 am

#RWA2023 rehash and a look back…

So, it took me almost 24hours to get home from #RWA2023 from California because of issues with planes. But…as I am finally back in my office I want to reflect a bit on the past week.


First, kudos galore to the entire @RomanceWritersofAmerica team who put on this conference. It was a scaled down version of years past and sosos much better and more intimate. I so enjoyed getting to converse with first timer’s and interacting with new-to-me-authors in a setting that was smaller and fostered this kind of interaction.


Second, this was my first time speaking at a national/international conference. to say I was nervous would be an understatement. But the #RWA staff made it effortless for me.

I was on a panel with three other authors for a discussion titled HOW MANY NOs BEFORE YOU GOT A YES? Every time I look at this picture I hear the theme to MOULAN ROUGE: Four badass chicks from the Moulan Rouge! Here are: Mia P. Manansala Moi! Thien-Kim Lam and Naima Simone


Third, there were so many first timers at the conference that I couldn’t help but remember my own first time, long ago in 2015 at San Antonio. I met Nora Roberts, cried like a baby when I did,

and spoke at length to one of my all time fav authors, Jill Shalvis. I was wide eyed and trying to drink in every bit of knowledge I could. I saw that same expression in the eyes of all the first timers at the 2023 conference.
As romance writers, or writers in general, we live solitary lives. Getting together at a big conference like this one helps us reconnect with one another, remember we are not alone in this publishing endeavor, and helps us come out of our writing caves and remember how to “people.”

Then, there was Susanna Hoffs. Yes, that Susanna Hoffs from my favorite 80s girl band THE BANGLES. She’s written her first romance book and graciously spent two hours with the conference attendees, talking about her process to publication, and singing.

So cool, I can’t describe it adequately!

All in all, a fabulous conference.
I am already looking forward to #RWA2024

1 Comment

Filed under Writing

Tagged as , , , , ,