Monday Mayhem – Bunnies!

Home. Exhausted. Had a wonderful time. Here are a few of the highlights:

Upon arrival, I found this fabulous pair of bunny ears in the Target dollar bins and I just had to have them:

Bunny

 

Then the madness spread:

 Bunny ears

The next thing you know, they were multiplying like rabbits!

M&G2013

It was a great weekend but it all passed way too fast. Now we start planning for next year.

Do you have an annual get-together or event you look forward to all year? How soon is too soon to start a countdown calendar?

 

New blog features

Just wanted to give you a heads up on a couple of new features I have planned for my blog. You ready for this?

Friday Flashers

Starting in March I’ll show you a bit of the delish on my mind that week in my new Friday Flashers feature. It may be a peek at a past or upcoming publication, a glimpse of a plot bunny hopping around in my head, or even the occasional bit of flash fiction whipped up for the occasion.

I also plan to participate in the Weekend Writing Warriors challenges staring in March!

Hope to see more of you!

Smooches!

Maggie

 

Monday Mayhem – Yay!

Days! I see my girls in just a few days!

M&G

Yes, I know I crowed about this the last time, but it’s been a year. Yes, an entire year has passed since I’ve seen some of these ladies. I don’t know how I survived it. I’m so excited I may bust right out of my yoga pants. Okay, that may be because of the chip kick I’ve been on lately, but you get the point. I am sad that not everyone will be able to make it this year, but I was born and raised a Cubs fan. I always believe next year will be our year.

I’ve made some progress on the book. It’s definitely not flowing as easily as some of the others, but I am trying to let go of the nit-pickiness and just write. A couple characters introduced themselves to me yesterday afternoon. I’m hoping they can light a little fire under me.

In other news, we’re in the final countdown to grandparentdom. Yay! Thanks to my fabulous friends, I have a swanky new Vera Bradley diaper bag, cementing my standing as the cool grandma.

 bag

Being the step-grandma, I got to choose my moniker. Therefore, I chose to retain the name that’s been pinned on me since I was a baby and declared myself the little man’s ‘Moogie’. Fodder will take the traditional route and be called ‘Granddad’.

Let’s see…what else?

I joined Weight Watchers again. (See bit above concerning chip binges) It’s amazing how fast I gain weight these days. I’m not going to get all het up about it, but I do want to keep it in check as much as I can. I’ve also gone back to the gym. I haven’t been running regularly since the flu took me out of the race last fall. It feels like I’m back to square one, even though I know I’m not. I’m scoping out 5k runs in the area, but I haven’t registered for one yet. The travel schedule for the day job isn’t set in stone, so I’ll have to wait to see where I may be in the coming months.

What are your plans for the week? Now that we’re past that first rush of resolutions, have you changed or added new goals for 2013? Yoga pants – scourge of fashion or God’s gift to middle-aged women? I could totally get away with carrying that diaper bag as a purse, couldn’t I?

These are the burning questions. Answer one or more of them and I may hook you or a friend up with digital copies of the first two books in Maggie Wells’ sizzling new Hot Nights in St. Blaise series.

Ready? Go!

JumpingMr.JanuaryFEB_MWells_MD

Winner!

The winner of my Love is In the Air blog hop giveaway is:

Sassy Chassy!

Thank you for stopping in to say hello!

More giveaways to come!

Monday Mayhem – Nervous Nellie Edition

I’m home! I’m home, I’m home, I’m home! Well, I’m home for another 10 days. 🙂 The good news is that my next trip will be pleasure and not business. The bad news? Well, I seem to have misplaced my motivation. I have a novel to write and I’m having a hard time getting into it.

If you’re my editor, please stop reading here.

I’ll make the deadline.

I swear.

You see, this story is going to be very different from anything I’ve written before. This story will deal with a very difficult subject matter – marital infidelity.

I will state here and now that I have no personal experience in this area. At least, not that I know of. If any of you know something I don’t know, please keep it to yourself. I’m a huge fan of oblivion. Unfortunately, my character, Shel, doesn’t have that luxury. The poor woman is going to have to deal with her husband’s indiscretion head-on.

As an author, this is a very exciting and intimidating prospect. You see, the main character is ‘speaking’ to me in 1st person. I’ve never written in 1st, only 3rd. It’s going to be a big jump to master a new style. Dealing with touchy subject matter is another worry, but one I’m queasy (not quasi)-excited to tackle. So yeah…while I’m looking forward to facing this life challenge with my character, I’m praying it’s the only time I ever have to deal with it.

I know that, like Shel, I’m just going to have to jump and start wading through it. Here’s hoping we both come out stronger on the other side.

What do you have going on in your world?

Love is in the air!

 

“Te amo”

“Je t’aime”

Ich liebe dich

“I brought you a Route 44 Diet Coke from the Sonic.”

There are hundreds of ways to say “I love you”, but if you’re not paying attention they might get lost in translation. Learning to speak each other’s language is one of the most intriguing aspects of falling in love, and the things we don’t say speak even louder than ardent declarations. It took a long time to become fluent in my husband’s language of love.

You see, like the characters in my latest novel, Spring Chickens, he’s a southern man and I’m a Yankee girl. Technically, we both speak English, but they are radically different dialects. When the air turns cool and damp, I may say, “It’s going to rain”, but my sweet talking southern man would tell you, “It’s fixin’ to come a storm.” When we go shopping, he pushes a ‘buggy’, but I use a ‘cart’ to carry my groceries.

Like any dedicated couple, we say the words every day, but they don’t always come out in the form of “I love you.” Most days they go something like this:

“I mailed your package.”

“Thank you. I thought I’d make that pasta thing you liked for dinner tonight. That sound good?”

“Great. I’m gonna pull the washer out. Your pink socks fell off the pile, and I think I saw your Steak ‘n Shake shirt back there.”

 “I’ve been looking for that shirt!”

“I figured there was a reason you were rooting through my drawers.”

“You love it when I root around in your drawers.”

“I do.”

“I do. too.”

What about you? How do you and your loved one say I love you?

Comment below to be entered to win digital copies of Jumping Mr. January and February’s Fling – Books 1 & 2 in the Hot Nights in St. Blaise series! I will draw a winner after 11:59 PM February 14th. Good luck!

Be sure to to click the linky to see all the fabulous sites taking part in the blog hop and stop by each one for more chances to win!

Love is in the Air Blog Hop 2013

1.  Under the Covers (Host)   59.  Close Encounters with the Night Kind    
2.  The Jeep Diva   60.  Taboo Reviews by Lolita    
3.  Kindles and Wine (INT)   61.  Kerry~I am a book addict…and proud of it (INT)    
4.  Amber Lin   62.  Desiree Holt    
5.  Addicted2Heroines   63.  Read Our Lips! Book Review Blog    
6.  Miss Vain’s Paranormal Fantasy (INT)   64.  Romancing the Dark Side (INT)    
7.  Queen of All She Reads (Int)   65.  Nya Rayne    
8.  Queen of the Night Reviews (Int)   66.  A Little Bit of Spice (INT)    
9.  Lea Barrymire (INT)   67.  CS Maxwell ~ Where’s My Muse (US)    
10.  Book Monster Reviews   68.  Darkest Addictions (Int.)    
11.  Cocktails and Books (int)   69.  Simply Ali    
12.  Reading Romances (INT)   70.  Goldilox and the Three Weres (INT)    
13.  Dakota Trace   71.  Sara Daniel    
14.  Isabelle Drake   72.  AJ’s Reading Nook (INT)    
15.  Nicole Morgan   73.  Blackraven’s Erotic Cafe (INT)    
16.  Diane Thorne – Erotic Romance Author   74.  Blackraven’s Reviews (INT)    
17.  Cabal of Hotness (INT)   75.  The Readers Roundtable (INT)    
18.  lisa beth darling   76.  Dark Divas Reviews (INT)    
19.  Ren’s Little Corner (INT)   77.  Another Look Book Reviews (INT)    
20.  DMG-Spike (INT)   78.  Paperbook Queen (INT)    
21.  The Secret Sanctuary of Books (INT)   79.  The Book Tart    
22.  Dianne Hartsock (INT)   80.  Delighted Reader (US)    
23.  Happily Ever After – Reads (INT)   81.  Kristine Cayne    
24.  Books of Love (US Only)   82.  Dana Delamar – Romantic Suspense (INT)    
25.  Kallypso Masters   83.  Ju Dimello (INT)    
26.  DC Juris   84.  Helena Harker    
27.  Billi Jean   85.  Evelyn Jules    
28.  Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews   86.  Maggie Wells    
29.  Bianca Sommerland   87.  Donna Cummings (INT)    
30.  Kindred Dreamheart (INT)   88.  HEA Romances With A Little Kick    
31.  Paige Tyler   89.  Amanda P @ Paranormal Romance    
32.  Hot Listens (INT)   90.  Amanda and Dawn @ Lets Get Romantical(DOM)    
33.  Serenity Woods (INT)   91.  3 Partners in Shopping USA    
34.  Maxine Mansfield   92.  Deal Sharing Aunt USA    
35.  Rhys Astason (INT)   93.  Sinfully Sexy Book Reviews    
36.  Natasha Blackthorne ~ Erotic Romance (INT)   94.  Bonnie Bliss    
37.  Day Dreaming Book Reviews   95.  Michelle Clay    
38.  LITERAL ADDICTION (US & Int)   96.  Natalie-Nicole Bates (INT)    
39.  Dani Harper, PNR author, (INTL)   97.  Author Julieanne Reeves    
40.  Nite Lite Book Reviews (INT)   98.  Christine@ RCJR eZine Blog    
41.  Book Lovin’ Mamas   99.  Ann Cory (US/CAN)    
42.  I Smell Sheep (US)   100.  Nancy DiMauro    
43.  Scarlett Sanderson (INT)   101.  Eleni Konstantine    
44.  Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy   102.  Nicky Penttila    
45.  Rhian Cahill (INT)   103.  The Book Referees    
46.  Tabby @Insightful Minds (INT)   104.  Blakely Chorpenning    
47.  LaVerne Clark – Novel Natterings (INT)   105.  Literal Hotties Naughty Book Reviews    
48.  Paranormal & Urban Fantasy Reviews {INT}   106.  Susan D. Taylor    
49.  Riverina Romantics (INT)   107.  Rhonda Laurel    
50.  Book Savvy Babe (INT)   108.  Lily Harlem    
51.  Cari Quinn (US & INT)   109.  Hannah Fielding Romance Novelist (INT)    
52.  Patricia Leever   110.  Aubrey Watt (INT)    
53.  Wendi Zwaduk   111.  Normandie Alleman (US & INT)    
54.  Megan Slayer   112.  Book Sniffers Anonymous (INT)    
55.  Talk Supe   113.  J. Kenner    
56.  Lee Brazil   114.  Mary @SweepingMe (Int)    
57.  June Kramin   115.  Avalon (worldwide)    
58.  Romance Book Club   116.  Novel Reflections (INT)  

Monday Mayhem – Where’s Margaret?

It’s Monday, so I must be in Texas…. At least, that’s the way it seems lately.

So far I have visited El Paso and Odessa. Today, I’m in San Angelo.

For the geographically challenged. And the Canadians.
For the geographically challenged.
And the Canadians.

Let me tell you, the cowboy/oil tycoon/rodeo star plot bunnies are running rampant, my friends!

So, yeah. Margaret’s not home right now, but if you’re really missing me a lot, you can check out the post I did about procrastination on the Diamond State Romance Authors blog last week. And, if you just can’t wait to hear from me again, it’s my turn to host the blog at Everybody Needs A Little Romance this Thursday.

I’ve been a bit out of my comfort zone (which means I’ve been anywhere but my chair), so I messed up a bit on my posts last week. You see, I shared a post from my good friend, Evelyn Jules, on Thursday, but it was supposed to be this week’s Monday Mayhem post. I guess I got excited that it was her birthday, and posted it on her special day. So yeah…I blew my post lineup and I’ve got nothing. But if you missed it, please click here to check it out!

In the meantime, I’ll give you a special travel-themed round of two truths and a lie and give away winner’s choice from any book on my digital backlist. Got ’em all? Play anyway and I’ll give you a copy for a friend!

You ready? Go!

1) I prefer a aisle seat over a window.

2) I love talking to people on planes.

3) I take antihistamines before flying to keep my ears from clogging.

Have a great week, my darlings! I’ll be home soon!

P.S. Thanks to all who commented on Karen Booth’s Monday Mayhem post. You guys rock!