Tag Archives: memories

December 31, 2019 · 12:59 am

A look back…..

As I’ve gotten older, I find myself in a reflective mood this time of year. The current year is drawing to a close, the New Year is just over the horizon. Since I’m such a lesson-oriented person with a tad of goal-making obsession thrown in, I wanted to look back on this year at the highs – and lows – and see what I can learn to guide me into 2020 with a brighter, enthusiastic mindset. At the end of 2018 I made some goals for myself for  2019. Of the 7 things I listed, I only stuck to 2. More about that on tomorrow’s blog.

For now, since being positive is such a good thing, let’s start with the good things that happened this year.

  1. I had 3 books published through 2 publishing houses and I released my very first indie pubbed book into the world  ( the story of how this came about is detailed on tomorrow’s blog, so check back.)      
  2. I celebrated my 59th birthday and my 32nd wedding anniversary. No small feat, either of them.
  3. I never wrote them all out together until now, but I won ALL of the following awards this year:
  4. 2019 NERFA Winner – Contemporary romance 40k-56k CHRISTMAS & CANNOLIS
  5. 2019 Book Buyer Best Top pick of the year – Contemporary Romance – DEARLY BELOVED
  6. 2019 Book Buyers Best First place in Mainstream Romance: CHRISTMAS & CANNOLIS
  7. 2019 International Digital Awards – Winner CONTEMPORARY NOVEL – CHRISTMAS & CANNOLIS (this is the second year in a row I’ve won this division, so YAY!)
  8. 2019  Golden Quill Contest – Winner Contemporary CAN’T STAND THE HEAT
  9. 2019 Maine Romance Writers Strut your Stuff Grand Prize Winner DEARLY BELOVED
  10. I finaled in a bunch more contests, but the wins have a tad more cache ( hee hee)
  11. I sold more books than ever before this year, so I hope that means I gained some new, loyal readers. That’s the goal, anyway!
  12. I joined a fabulous Blogging Group called the ROMANCE GEMS where I get to blog to the masses once a month ( more if I want a special day!) The support and love in this group is astounding.

And of course, there were things that weren’t so great that happened and need to be listed.

  1. I was dropped by one of my publishing houses after book 1 of a 3 book series was published due to low sales. I never realized they wanted me to sell 1,000,000 books right out of the gate. And yes, if that sounds bitter….I am.
  2. I received some not very flattering reviews for a few of my books ( and yes, they were outnumbered in droves by the positive ones, but the negative ones are the ones you ALWAYS remember)
  3. I tore the rotator cuffs in both arms, the bicep tendon in my right and had to have surgery to fix the right arm so I could function like a human being again. ( Left arm is next year)
  4. I continue to see my parents deteriorate with age and that truly saddens my soul.
  5. Several of my friends lost their parents this year making # 4 a reality for me to come.
  6. The world around us is very dark and scary right now and I truly am sick and tired of seeing another high school or mass shooting, or another home-terrorist attack every time I look at the news. I am trying to be hopeful for the future, but it’s hard.

I am happy and hopeful, though to see that there were more good things listed above than bad things.

So, I look forward to starting 2020 renewed, recharged, and delighted with the potential happiness the year will bring.

Happy New Year, peeps  ~ Peg

 

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July 20, 2018 · 2:00 am

My favorite Holiday Memory…

I’m at the RWA conference in Denver this week, but I didn’t want to miss a week of this blog challenge since I’ve written a piece every week since we started! Yay, me.

Any hoo…

The topic this week is a my favorite holiday memory, and there really is only one that comes to mind. I wrote about this back in May of this year, so I’m reposting it here now, because it fits with today’s prompt.

My favorite holiday  memory

And since this is a blog hop, make sure you hop on over to the website to see what the other authors participating have to say about this challenge prompt.

MFRWauthorBlogChallenge.

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June 8, 2018 · 2:00 am

I still cry….

Another week, another easy post to write for the #MFRWauthor blog challenge!

I’ve talked about this experience often – on this blog and on others. I’ve had a few best expeiences in my life, but the best professional expeience ever was the day I met and spoke with my writing idol, Nora Roberts.

It was at the 2014 RWA conference in San Antonio. I stood on line for over an hour at the booksigning for literacy event just to see her. The closer I got up the line, the more nervous I became. Ten people in front of me…five…two…then it was my turn. She was smiling as I approached, my book in hand all set for her to autograph. She asked my name and I burst into tears.

I’m not kidding.

Not even a little bit.

The only way I can describe it was like it was an out of body experience for me. She was so kind. She asked me why I was crying and I replied through sobs, “because it’s you.”

She laughed, swiped her hand in the air and said, “Stop. Let’s take a picture.”

I fell even more in love with her at that moment than I even thought was possible. She talked to me for a few minutes about writing (and still had about 100 people left in back of me on the line) and I felt so stupid for crying.

That day and that moment was without a doubt a day I will remember until the moment I pass from this earth. I’m tearing up just thinking about it right now!!!

Let’s see what other memories the writers in this hop have. MFRWauthorBLogHopChallenge

And if  you’re looking for me, I’m here most days:

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

 

 

 

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December 11, 2017 · 10:58 am

Why my Christmas Tree ornaments mean so much….

Memories can be captured several ways. I tend to like the physical way of remembering things – getting a program at a concert (despite the fact they are a gazillion dollars now!); keeping the seat stubs from a Broadway play. One way I love more than any other is the acquiring of Christmas tree ornaments. (BTW – that tree above is not one of mine!!!)

I routinely have 4 Christmas trees on display in my home each year.

Yeah…I know. But when you grow up poor, stuff takes on a new meaning when you have spending money!

Anyway….about those trees. Or more directly, the ornaments.

Since I’ve been married I’ve been acquiring ornaments of memories. I have one tree that is loaded with ornaments purchased from all the places around the world we have visited. I have another tree with all cooking and baking related ornaments because for several years I hosted an annual cookie swap with dozens of friends. As a thank you for them coming to my swap, they not only got cookies, but an ornament cooking/baking related for their own trees. I kept one for me each year.

My husband is not the lover of ornaments that I am…not even close! But there is one ornament that he insists get put up on our tree every year and it is the one he looks for when I’m done decorating. This is it:

Yes, that it a Goodwill box, and yes there is a tree sticking out of it. I want to tell you story behind this favored ornament.

Hubby moved to Wisconsin to start a new job six months before we got married. I stayed behind to plan the wedding and to finish up my Master’s degree. With just one course left, I didn’t want to leave until it was completed. Hubby was due to come back to NYC for our wedding which would take place the day after Christmas ( Boxing Day for you UK-ers). He had a small apartment that I would move into with him until we found our perfect house. As I’ve mentioned, Hubby is not the Christmas decorator in our family so the apartment was bare of all holiday accoutrement.

One day, on his way to work, he spotted a Goodwill box in the parking lot of the building he worked in. Sticking out of it was a fully tinseled Christmas tree, complete with the star at the top. Obviously, someone was going away for the holidays but didn’t want to just toss their tree into the garbage, electing to put it in the Goodwill box in the hopes some needy family would see it and have their own tree.

Hubby is a fast-on-his-feet thinker. He pulled the tree from the box- it still smelled fresh and evergreen-y – and drove it back to the apartment . The stand was attached ( smart donators!) so he filled it with water and went back to work. And that’s the way it stood in the apartment. No other decorations, just the tinsel and the star. He came home to NYC for a few days, we got married, and immediately flew back to Wisconsin because he didn’t have enough earned time for a honeymoon. Needless to say, when I saw the tree I was thrilled. And touched.

And then he told me the story of how he’d acquired the tree.

And I laughed because this is my hubby in a nutshell!

Of course, he had to share what he’d done with his co-workers before he left to get married. When he went back to work on Monday there was a wrapped gift from one of the people in his office. It was the above ornament, handcrafted by the husband of an officemate who is a woodworker. Every year now for the past 30 years that ornament sits in a place of honor on our Christmas tree and Hubby looks for it to make sure it’s there.

I love the thought of ornaments as platforms for memories. If I keep making more memories, though, I’m going to need a bigger house for all the trees!

I’ve got a Christmas book out that I hope makes memories for the people who read it. If you’re interested, here’s the link: A Kiss

And if you need to find me in cyberland, I’m usually here: Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me//Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me// Triber// Book Me

 

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November 10, 2017 · 9:59 am

The day that changed my life

Another week, another interpretation of this blog title. Personal? Professional? Neither? Both?

Okay, throwing that virtual dart on the wall again I’m gonna go with professional.

The day I pick is the day I learned I was going to have my first romance novel published BY A REAL PUBLISHER!!!!

I was at the 2014 RWA conference in San Antonio – my very first RWA conference.

I’d already gotten the email from Rhonda Penders, publisher of The Wild Rose Press, that she wanted to see my entire manuscript after I’d come in first place in a contest she’d judged for unpublished writers. I’d sent it along about a month previously to an editor, who coincidentally, told me she would be attending the conference and thought it might be nice to put a face to my “email voice.” We decided on a date and time to meet.

At the appointed hour I made my way to the registration desk and met with the person whom I’d been corresponding for the past month. She was absolutely lovely. We discussed many things – the conference, the weather in San Antonio – but we skirted around the topic of the book she was reading for me. I thought that was a telling sign: she hated it!

Finally, I had to get to another course so I shook her hand and thanked her for being so kind and gracious in meeting me. Before she let me go she said when I got home I would be receiving an email that might make me happy. In a word, WRP had decided they wanted my book for their list. It took me a second to realize she meant they wanted to publish it. A loooooooooong-ass second. I was so silent, standing there, still holding her hand, I fear she thought I was having a stroke or some kind of medical emergency.

The moment dragged on and I swear I couldn’t form a sentence right then if I’d been jolted by lightning.

Suddenly, a group of women walked by, all laughing, and that noise jarred me out of my paralysis. I smiled – or I think I did – squeezed her hand, and thanked her. Again. Like, five times! She laughed, told me I was welcome and encouraged me to  get  along to my course.

I don’t think I did. If memory serves, I went back to my room and cried. For an hour. I cried so much I had to redo all my makeup before that evening’s event.

I honestly don’t remember much more about that day because all I did was replay what she’d said about publishing my book on a virtual and continual loop in my head.

That was 2014 and I was a naive addition to the publishing community. Three years later and I know a little more about what to expect after signing that contract.

But even today, every time an editor tells me they want my book for their list, I still feel like that naive little publishing-virgin and have my Sally Field moment.

 

It’ll be fun to see what the other writers in this blog hop have decided is their best day. Click on their links to read what they’d written for today.

 

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