Yes, it’s that time of year when authors of all ilks, walks of life, and publishing status attempt the annual NANOWRIMO ritual of penning 50,000 words ( or more ) in the 30 days of this month. For the seventh year running, I am a participant.
This can be a grueling endeavor for many writers, especially those who don’t have writing full time presently as their career choice. Writing between the office and home, at kids soccer practices, when at the dentist’s office waiting for an appointment are all the norm to most writers who still need to work at alternate jobs to keep food on the table. But even writers who work full time from home can find the prospect of writing a minimum of 1670 words a day – every day – daunting.
The first time I participated in NaNo I was still working full time. Writing that amount every day wasn’t something I’d ever done before. But I accepted the challenge and…did it! I wrote later at night, early in the morning, on lunch break, while dinner cooked. I wrote marathon sessions on the weekends. And it all paid off because at the end of the month I had the rough draft of a 75,000 word novel.
These days I’m afforded the luxury of writing all the time,but I still like the challenge of NaNo because it focuses me and makes me hone in on a specific and measurable word count goal every single day for a month.
Psychological theory tells us it takes about 21 days of consistent behavior to make a habit. Well in 30 that habit should be ingrained.
Writers write. That’s what we do. And making it a habitual part ofyour daily life is beneficial for so many reasons, not the least of which you can be more productive with product, namely, books.
Are NaNoWriMo-ing this year! Good luck if you are.
This is the very first time my new ROMANCE GEMS sistah, prolific author M.J. Schiller, has visited me and WOW! am I thrilled. She’s just had a brand new book release yesterday, book 3 in her LOVE AND CHAOS series ROCK IT TO THE MOON and man-oh-man does this book ( and the series ) look fabulous! The cover alone is enough to get me all hot and bothered!
Check it out:
She’s given her life up for others. Maybe Dex’s form of chaos is just what she needs.
Blurb ~
While love had come to some of the other members of Just Short Of Chaos, Dex Rogan had no interest in getting tangled up in that mess. That is, until he stumbled upon Tatum backstage.
Before Tatum, I would have told you love was for chumps. But I would have been wrong. The moment I saw her, it was like BAM! This driving urge to be with her was more jarring than someone smacking me in the face with my drumsticks would be. And every moment since has just solidified her place in my heart. By the time I found out she was off limits, it was too late. I was all in.
Tatum Salvetti doesn’t have time for love. If it can’t be color-coded or found on the periodic table, she doesn’t need it. But when an ugly incident drives her into Dex’s arms, she’s shaken enough to step out of character for once.
I wasn’t looking for love that night, I was looking to escape, and Dex was the perfect distraction from my train wreck of a life. …He was perfect, period.
But I’m in astrophysics. I’m not stupid. I knew it wasn’t going anywhere. Even if he wasn’t just interested in a one night stand, we wouldn’t be able to hide a relationship from Zane. My brother seemed to still think of me as the ten-year-old he met when our parents wed. Well, it wasn’t any ten-year-old girl in Dex Rogan’s bed that night, and if Zane found out about it, he would go apeshit. I was trying to get away from chaos, not create it.
Tatum has sacrificed her whole life for others. But maybe this time she could think of her own desires. Could Dex’s brand of chaos be just what she needs?
Excerpt~
She had one hand on the cinderblock wall and with the other she was messing with her shoe strap. The shoes themselves were sexy as hell, but as my gaze rose up her legs to the black dress she wore, farther along a shapely body all the way to her golden hair twisted neatly behind her, glowing in the fluorescent lights…she simply stole my breath away. Like I couldn’t breathe. She looked like she was dressed more for a municipal orchestra pit somewhere, not like someone attending one of our concerts, and that alone made her stand out. Then the way she rocked that prim little dress of hers…. It wasn’t low-cut or revealing in any way, but the soft sway of the fabric against her curves was magical. Then she laid those big baby blues on me, and I was a goner.
It dawned on me suddenly that she was standing outside of Zane’s dressing room, waiting for him. My heart dropped.
Damn it.
The lead singer always scored the hottest women. It didn’t even seem to matter that Zane was getting married soon. He’d never cheat on Grace, but this angel was waiting for him, not for me. Normally this would have me cursing under my breath, slinking off like a dog with its tail between its legs. But I was just so struck. I couldn’t walk away. I had to have her.
Admittedly, I was pretty floored by that fact. I’d never felt anything close to that for a woman before. It was like this instant, driving urge to make her mine. The kind of thing they wrote about in those romance novels Grace read.
Our gaze connected and she froze for an instant. “Oh, hi. I…umm…don’t have a pass but I’m—” She hopped around, still trying to adjust her shoe strap and losing her balance, a little purse that dangled from a gold chain falling off her shoulder.
Her obvious nervousness and bumbling made me feel like she was more attainable, more on my level, and my confidence surged. I took her arms to stabilize her. “I’m not here to bust you. Relax.” I flashed her a smile.
M.J. Schiller is a lunch lady/romance-romantic suspense writer. She enjoys writing novels whose characters include rock stars, desert princes, teachers, futuristic Knights, construction workers, cops, and a wide variety of others. In her mind everybody has a romance. She is the mother of a twenty-two-year-old and three twenty-year-olds. That’s right, triplets! So having recently taught four children to drive, she likes to escape from life on occasion by pretending to be a rock star at karaoke. However…you won’t be seeing her name on any record labels soon.
It’s my turn over on ROMANCING THE GENRES blog this month and I’m helping them celebrate their 10th year in the blog-o-sphere! I love a top 10 list, so hop on over and see the one I devised for their anniversary:
That’s some post title, isn’t it? Anyone else channeling Dorothy Gayle right about now? LOL
So, let me ‘esplain the title.
I love Pinterest. I truly think whoever came up with the idea had me in mind. I usually construct boards for every book I pen while I am plotting. I am such a visual person. I really should be working in film, but…maybe in my next life. Seeing how I want my characters to look, getting a feel for what the setting will look like, and any other little visual item that I can construct in my mind, helps me write better, faster, and with more accuracy.
For my upcoming June 7 release of SANTA BABY ( A Dickens Holiday Romance prequel – Dorrit’s Diner) I went old school in my characterizations. Here’s the page devoted to the book: Pinterest/Santa Baby board. As you can see, if you click onto the board, I chose two of my all time favorite actors to portray the main peeps, Amy Dorrit and Andy Charles. Katherine Hepburn is absolutely the embodiment of free spirit and independent Amy, while Cary Grant is the perfect Andy. Luckily, these two worked together many times during their careers, so I had no difficulty finding pictures of them together to pin.
You may notice a craggy Kris Kristopherson in there, too. He’s the perfect embodiment of cook, WIllie Jackson.
Small town New England is, IMHO, a perfect place to live, evidenced by the scenery pictures on the board. And every small town has a local diner, considered to the beating heart of gossip in the community. In SANTA BABY, that diner belongs to Amy and is called, obviously, DORRIT’S DINER ( I bet you guessed that from the title of the book, Hee Hee)
Pinterest is a gold mine for authors, it truly is. And I have to think it’s made me a better writer, too, because I can flesh out every aspect of the book and use descriptions to enable the reader to actually “see” the words on the page as I envision them.
Pretty cool.
So, SANTA BABY is up for preorder right now across all digital media, here: UNIVERSAL LINK.
If you’re on Booksprouts, you can also read and review a copy before publication here: BOOKSPROUT
If you read the novella ( it’s short, only 57 pages) I hope you enjoy it and you’ll want to come back and read the full length sequel, FIXING CHRISTMAS, on 11.9.2021. But don’t worry – SANTA BABY is a standalone book – no cliffhangers, no unanswered questions at the end, and a total HEA.
And remember I said maybe I should be working in film because I’m such a visual person? My good friend, Nancy Fraser, produced the book trailer ( kinda like a movie trailer) for SANTA BABY and I think it’s just perfect. Check it out:
It’s not often I can brag ( and I hate that word, but…) about more than 1 good thing at a time, but this week, I’ve got three!
A PRIDE OF BROTHERS: RICK is a RONE NOMINEE this week and voting is open right now. If you’d like to vote for it ( pretty please!!!) here’s the link: RONE AWARDS.
My second good thing is that WOKE is going into wide digital distribution next week. This will be the second book I’ve managed to get into all outlets online and I’m super excited. Here’s the PREORDER link if you don’t have a kindle and haven’t read it yet: UNIVERSAL LINK
Today’s Backlisted book was released in July 2019 when I was on a family vacation in England. Two exciting things at once! DIRTY DAMSELS was my first ( and last) book for LImitless Publishing. The company dropped my future books in the series because I didn’t sell a million copies out of the chute! No lie. Actually, I should thank them because of their cancellation, I started Indie publishing and have been very happy with the results.
Anyhoo…
DIRTY DAMSELS is a modern version of Cinderella. This Cindy owns her own cleaning company, the storyline is a riches-to-rags-to-riches one.
Limitless writes their blurbs in the male first person viewpoint, so it’s a little different from what I’m used to. Here ya go:
What if Cynderella had a one-night stand with a man named Prince?
When I first saw Cynderella all covered in soot in that sexy maid uniform, I knew I wanted to be her Prince.She’s a smart and savvy businesswoman who’s built her cleaning company from the ground up.
But now that Dirty Damsels was booming, I’ve been hired to arrange a hostile takeover. But the temptation of having her was too much to ignore… We ended up spending one night together–a night neither of us will forget. Now, I want more. I need more. I want to spend every night, skin-on-skin, with my beautiful Ella.
Problem is, when she finds out who I really am, she’ll never forgive me.
Excerpt:
“Don’t look,” Nell said, close to my ear, “but this insanely hot guy has been staring at you since we sat down.”
“How can you order me not to look when you say something like that?”
“By the bar,” she said. “Dark hair, designer suit, striking eyes. The best mouth I’ve seen on a guy in ages.”
A little bell rang somewhere in the back of my head at her depiction and in the next second my eyes locked onto him.
Shocked is too tame a description when I discovered who it was. He looked as yummy and as magnificent as when he’d stood in the penthouse. With his elbow resting casually on the bar, another be-suited guy with a drink in his hand next to him.
“Do you know who he is?” Nell asked. “Because you’re gonna in about five seconds. He’s heading this way.”
He said something to the guy at his side and maneuvered along the perimeter of the dance floor, squeezing past club patrons and waiters, his gaze locked on mine.
I was hypnotized by those eyes. It was as if he were psychically holding me in place while he made his way over. I had no will of my own to look away.
Or run away.
Fear propelled me up from the chair just as he stopped in front of the table.
“Cinderella? It is you,” he said, his sexy smile slowly growing across his mouth. “You look different with your hair down. Beautiful, still,” he added.
I couldn’t think of a thing to say. The fact he stood in front of me, no, next to me now, moving in so he could be heard over the blast of the music, turned me mute. All brain synapses vaulted from my mind. I said the first thing that popped into my head. “Did you have a good nap?”
Jesus, Ella, are you kidding?
His heart-stopping smile broadened. He leaned in, grabbed my hand, squeezed it, and said, “Good enough.”
When he got closer, my nerves went into hyperdrive as the amazing smell of him wafted across the minute space separating our bodies. He smelled utterly delicious. A tangy orange mixed with musk that almost had me slanting my head into his neck just so I could nuzzle and fill myself with the scent.
“Come with me, it’s too loud right here,” he said into my ear. “I can’t hear myself think.”
In the next second I was tugged along with him, oblivious to everything but the feel of his hand as it slipped into mine. His skin was warm, the grip like iron as he hauled me away from the dance area.
When he stopped in the hallway between the bar and kitchen, he turned and said, “Better.”
For want of something to say, I simply nodded.
I’m usually not such a silent Sadie. The bar was filled to capacity with everyone drinking and yelling to be heard over the music, so the noise level was jacked way up. But we could have been the only two people in the place. My entire system focused in on him and him alone. I glanced down and noticed he still held my hand. He noticed it too, smiled, and kept right on holding it.
“I can’t believe my good luck at finding you. I feel like I need to apologize for zoning out on you this afternoon,” he said.
“It’s okay. You said you were tired.” I was amazed I got that much out of my mouth in one shot.
Intrigued? I hope so. Here’s the Universal Link if you’d like to read it: DIRTY DAMSELS
Tomorrow I start my Goddess Fish Blog Tour for MISTLETOE, MOBSTERS, & MOZZARELLA, so I thought I’d whet your Holiday RomCom-reading appetite with a little sexy snippet from the book here, today. Enjoy. And consider preordering – the link is live in the above title!
After the third episode of a sitcom we’d both loved as kids, we decided to forgo a forth.
Tony shifted on the couch and stretched out next to me, slipping one arm behind my head the other palming my stomach.
“Wanna make out?” he asked, grinning, as his lips skimmed down my neck.
“How old are you, twelve?” I asked. But I have to admit I did nothing to discourage him from seducing me.
“When I was twelve I wanted to play with balls and bats. I wouldn’t have known what to do with a gorgeous woman in my arms.” He pulled my ear lobe between his lips and bit down.
“You learned pretty fast.” I might have gasped once or twice while saying it because the hand at my stomach inched up to cup a breast. He stopped under the edge of my bra the moment he touched the fabric.
He pulled up, leaving his hand in place, and asked, “What are you wearing under this? It doesn’t feel like regular bra material.”
“What’s regular bra material feel like?”
“You know. Cotton or something. What is this?” He tugged at the collar until my bra strap and cup were exposed. It was fascinating watching his face as he got a glimpse of my underwear.
“Holy shit.”
“Is that a good holy shit, or a bad one?” I was sure I knew the answer just by the way his eyes widened to the size of bocce balls and his mouth dropped open like his jaw came unhinged.
Instead of answering me right away he pulled up and dragged me with him. When we were sitting, facing one another, he gripped the hem of my sweater and looked me square in the eyes as he asked, “Can I take this off?”
The fact that he asked almost made me start crying. I mean, really, how sweet was that?
I debated whether or not to slip it off myself, but he had such a look of boyish expectation on his face, I knew half the fun for him was to do it himself, so I lifted my arms above my head.
I don’t think any item of clothing I’ve ever worn was discarded so quickly or as deftly as Margaret Rose’s gift.
“Holy shit,” Tony exclaimed again when I was sans sweater.
I repeated my previous question.
This time for an answer he skimmed the lace top edge, then slid down over the red cups, his thumbs teasing over my hardened nipples. The material covering my breasts was a red mesh and completely see through. My nipples peeped between the interwoven curlicues. A satin bra would have kept them secure and hidden behind the material.
Tony’s gaze zeroed in on those two little distended points and then he rubbed his thumbs over them again.
My back arched, jutting them forward, and I almost came on the spot when Tony licked his lips, shifted, and sucked one of them into his mouth.
“If this is what you’re wearing on top,” he said, moving to the other breast for equal time, “what have you got on under your jeans?”
I gasped and clutched his head between my hands as the tug of his lips shot straight down to my core. Between breaths I managed to say, “It’s a matching set.”
Tony shot back and stared hard at me again, hope now adding to the expectation in his eyes. I could detect a little lust mixed in as well.
“Can I see? Please?”
He truly did look like a little kid waiting to open his birthday presents, hoping and wishing he’d get exactly what he’d asked for.
“Well, since you ask so nicely.”
Intrigued? I hope so.
Hope to see you all on the tour when it starts tomorrow. Check back here then for the stops!
When I saw today’s topic listed: TOPICS I NEVER GET TIRED OF TALKING ABOUT, I have to admit, from everything that flew into my mind, I knew I’d have to pare it down considerably! Because if there’s anything I lovelovelove to do, it’s talk about stuff near and dear to me — which, believe or not, is a lot of topics!
Hee hee
So, in no real order, if we were having lunch, here’s what I’d love to talk about and never tire of doing so:
Writing.Duh, right?
Skin care. I am a lady of a certain age and I am always ALWAYS on the lookout for new skin improvement gossip. Creams, treatments, pharmaceuticals, you name it and I am conversant in it and want to talk about it. Does that make me vain? Yeah, it kinda does and I ain’t apologizing for it.
Gardening. I can wax prolific for hours on end with anyone who want to talk with me about flowers. veggies, the best fertilizers, and crop rotation.
Books. Another DUH, right?
Let’s see what some of the other authors in this challenge have to “talk” about: L&SR
Did you know I’ve got a new Holiday 2020 RomCom releasing on 10.14.2020? It’s called MISTLETOE, MOBSTERS, &MOZZARELLA and is up for preorder now, here: MMM
Finding a body in the freezer of the family deli isn’t the way Madonna San Valentino planned to start her day.
Adding insult to injury, the investigating detective is the one guy she’s never been able to forget. After seven minutes of heaven in the back seat of his car when they were teenagers, Tony Roma skipped town without so much as a thanks for the memory.
Just when Madonna thinks the present situation can’t get any worse, Tony is ordered to go undercover at the deli to ferret out a killer. Forced to work together, she vows to keep their relationship cool and professional. But with the sexy, longing looks he tosses her at every turn, Madonna’s resolve is weakening.
With Christmas drawing closer and Tony’s investigation taking an unexpected turn, Madonna is at her wit’s end. Can she really be falling for him again? And will he wind up leaving her broken hearted and alone like the last time?
Today’s theme is : TOPICS THAT MAKE ME STOP READING A BOOK
This one’s gonna be easy.
RAPE trope. I recently found out that this still a THING in some books that claim to be romances. Back in the day, I tried to read a Rosemary Rogers historical I’d heard everyone talking about, but I couldn’t get past the supposed hero taking the heroine’s virginity under a forced situation. She didn’t consent and was traumatized thereafter. Since then, I make sure I never buy a book with that trope or anything resembling rape.
DECEITFUL heroine. I won’t name the book I started recently that was claimed “unputdownable” by the NYT, but from the first 3 pages, the heroine’s intent was so abhorrent to me that I closed it and put the book in the donate pile. Everything about this heroine was a lie – her name, her background, the fact she didn’t love the man she married, her career, the way she was ruining someone close to her. It was just too deceitful for me.
WAR. I have to admit, I don’t read books where a war -any war – is the main subject/topic.
CHILD ABUSE. I don’t even think I need to explain why I won’t read a book with this as the topic, do I?
TELL-ALLs. Books with a tell-all topic are usually one sided, skewered to and by the author, and only one interpretation of events. I hate these kind of books, no matter if the author is a present day politician, a celebrity, or a public figure of some other renown.
Let’s see what some of the other authors in this challenge have to say about this topic: L&SR
Did you know I’ve got a new Holiday 2020 RomCom releasing on 10.14.2020? It’s called MISTLETOE, MOBSTERS, &MOZZARELLA and is up for preorder now, here: MMM
Finding a body in the freezer of the family deli isn’t the way Madonna San Valentino planned to start her day.
Adding insult to injury, the investigating detective is the one guy she’s never been able to forget. After seven minutes of heaven in the back seat of his car when they were teenagers, Tony Roma skipped town without so much as a thanks for the memory.
Just when Madonna thinks the present situation can’t get any worse, Tony is ordered to go undercover at the deli to ferret out a killer. Forced to work together, she vows to keep their relationship cool and professional. But with the sexy, longing looks he tosses her at every turn, Madonna’s resolve is weakening.
With Christmas drawing closer and Tony’s investigation taking an unexpected turn, Madonna is at her wit’s end. Can she really be falling for him again? And will he wind up leaving her broken hearted and alone like the last time?
“I can’t pay you in cash,” she said, oblivious to the effect she’d had on him, “but at least let me treat you to anything on the menu. There’s never a wrong time to have ice cream.”
He chuckled.
“How about a free cone every day you’re in town? I’m assuming you’re on vacation?”
His head bobbed once in answer.
“It’s the least I can do for your help, Mr…”
“Deacon. Deacon Withers.” Ingrained manners forced his hand out.
She gazed down at it for a beat, and he wondered at her reluctance. When she finally took his hand, she said, “Tandy Blakemore. Vanilla with a Twist is my shop, and you just helped me fix an ongoing problem and prevent a dispensing disaster. This machine is the only one that does flavor twists.”
“I’m glad I could help. And while a free cone sounds nice—” He cleared his throat, surprising himself with his next words. “—how about you have dinner with me instead?”
Wariness flew back into her eyes. As intriguing as her open smile had been, this hesitant reaction was even more so.
“I’m sorry. I can’t. The store is open until ten. Tourist season, you know?”
“You have to eat sometime.”
She shook her head again. “True, but…sorry. Now, about your ice cream? What flavor did you order?”
He hadn’t met many people who could so summarily dismiss him and still smile while doing so.
“Fudge ripple with chocolate jimmies.” The woman who’d originally waited on him had one all ready to go and handed it to Tandy.
“For services rendered,” Tandy said as she gave it to him. “And with my sincere thanks.”
Enjoy an ice cream on this hot day. Remember, like Tandy says: “There’s never a wrong time for ice cream.”
Peggy Jaeger, Author 