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Monday, December 9, 2019

Please Welcome My Guest...

Please welcome my guest Peggy Jaeger.

Peggy is a contemporary romance writer who writes Romantic Comedies about strong women, the families who support them, and the men who can’t live without them. If she can make you cry on one page and bring you out of tears rolling with laughter the next, she’s done her job as a writer!

Family and food play huge roles in Peggy’s stories because she believes there is nothing that holds a family structure together like sharing a meal…or two…or ten. Dotted with humor and characters that are as real as they are loving, she brings all topics of daily life into her stories: life, death, sibling rivalry, illness and the desire for everyone to find their own happily ever after. Growing up the only child of divorced parents she longed for sisters, brothers and a family that vowed to stick together no matter what came their way. Through her books, she’s created the families she wanted as that lonely child.

When she’s not writing Peggy is usually painting, crafting, scrapbooking or decoupaging old steamer trunks she finds at rummage stores and garage sales.

A lifelong and avid romance reader and writer, Peggy is a member of RWA and her local New Hampshire RWA Chapter.

As a lifelong diarist, she caught the blogging bug early on, and you can visit her at peggyjaeger.com where she blogs daily about life, writing, and stuff that makes her go "What??!"

Tell us something about yourself both writing and non-writing related.

Writing related is easy. Even though I’ve been writing since I was 8 years old and had a wee bit of success as a non-fiction writer in my Nursing career, I only had my first fictional work published in 2015 when I was already 55 years old. I came to the life of a professional writer late, but I haven’t looked back once! In a non-writing capacity, I’m an only child of divorced parents, so I know a lot about trying to find self worth and self acceptance in a dysfunctional family dynamic.

Do you have a writing routine or ritual that you do before you start writing?

My ritual is that I write every single day. No matter what. Even when I’ve been sick with the flu, or traveling, I always manage to get a blog piece or something written in my WIP on any given day. I have a word counter attached to my writing program and last year I totaled over 1 million words written for the year. The year!  It’s no wonder my report cards in school always noted that I never could keep quiet!! Apparently, I’ve got a lot to say (and write!) Hee Hee.

One million words in a year is quite an accomplishment. Why do you write in the genre/sub-genre that you do? Any plans in the future to write in a different one?

I’m a here and now kind of girl. I like contemporary romances about modern day heroes and heroines, so since that’s what I like to read, I like to write it, too. But I also love RomComs and screwball comedies, like those 1930’s black and white Hollywood movies, so my romantic comedies are becoming more prevalent as my writing go-to’s. I have taken a detour recently and in January 2020 I will have my first romantic suspense published by Wild Rose. It’s the first in a three book series titled A PRIDE OF BROTHERS about a private investigations company run by brothers.

How do you stay motivated when writer’s block hits or your muse won’t cooperate?

Writers – don’t hate me. I never have writer’s block. Never have, not once. My brain doesn’t shut down, which is why I suffer from chronic insomnia. I’ll be in a deep sleep and my brain will wake me up with a new plot twist for my WIP or a storyline that I need to write down right away. Since I write every single day and I’m an intrepid plotter, I never suffer from having no idea of where to go in a story.

What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever done in the name of research?

When I was writing my WILL COOK FOR LOVE series, the second book, A SHOT AT LOVE, concerned sister Gemma Laine. Gemma was my first bad-ass heroine. She could do many things, and among them, she was a crack shot. I knew nothing about shooting since I’m a city girl born and bred. The only guns I ever saw were in action movies. So, my husband and I decided to take shooting lessons from a local gunsmith. It was a great deal of fun, absolutely terrifying, and served me well in getting the feel for how to write about someone from a holding gun perspective to what happens to your body when you fire a gun.

What’s the best writing advice you were ever given?

I heard Nora Roberts say this at an RWA Chat with Nora workshop once and it has stayed with me ever since: “A writer never finds the time to write. A writer makes it. If you don’t have the drive, the discipline, and the desire, then you can have all the talent in the world, and you aren’t going to finish a book.” Truer words…

Great advice. What do you like to do in your leisure time?

Read. Watch The Housewives of anywhere and everywhere on Bravo. Read. Take long walks. Read.

Tell us about your current or upcoming release in a couple of sentences.

TODAY, TOMORROW, ALWAYS ( A Match Made in Heaven book 2) is oldest O’Dowd sister, Cathleen’s, story. She’s a military wife, widowed after almost 20 years of marriage, childless, and the town lawyer in Heaven, NH. She’s at the point in her life where she’s re-evaluating her past choices and the events that shaped her. She wants to find a life partner, have the children she never did before it’s too late, and be able to enjoy living in a relationship. Mac Frayne is a writer who’s come to town to do a book on the town’s founder. He’s a loner who suffered a horrible family tragedy and isn’t looking for anything in his life except to get through every day. When these two are forced to work together on the book project, they begin to wonder if the other person is who and what they need to start living again.
 
Can you tell us a little about your next project?

I have a brand new series starting with a January 13, 2020 release titled A PRIDE OF BROTHERS. The first book is called RICK and the books are romantic suspense stories about brothers who run a private investigation company. This is an offshoot of my WILL COOK FOR LOVE SERIES and readers will recognize many of the secondary characters from those books.

Anything else you’d like readers to know?

Just that I firmly believe every single person on the planet deserves their own Happily Ever After, which is why I lovelovelove writing romances and will never stop!
  
Blurb:

Lawyer Cathleen O'Dowd wants to break free from her boring image. Widowed young, she's toed the good-girl line but now wants a little fun and laughter in her days…and nights. Living in a small town, though, she can't do anything that would tarnish her professional reputation.

Mac Frayne's tragic past has turned him into a sullen loner. In town to write a book on the city's founder, his plan is to get it done, then head home to his solitary existence.

When circumstances force them to work together, their opposing personalities clash, but the sexual attraction between them is palpable.

Can a simple affair with an end date be just the thing to brighten up their lives?

Excerpt:

His expression changed from wide-eyed with excitement to something entirely different. Something deep and dark and—gulp—wild.

He repeated my name, and before I could blink, a pair of strong arms wrapped around my waist and a torso I knew was as solid and defined as a redwood tree flattened against the front of me.
He dipped his head, those dreamy eyes dark now with desire, and zeroed in on my own like a laser pointer. Hypnotized by the naked need facing me, I took a breath—a physical and a mental one—and pushed up on my unshod toes until my lips pressed against his.
For a nanosecond, Frayne stilled. The notion that he didn’t want this blew across my mind. A beat later and the thought died as his arms tightened and he pulled me fully against his body.
And then kissed me back.                                                               
                                                            ******
Today, Tomorrow, Always is available in Ebook and POD (print on demand). 
Buy Links: 

Peggy's Social Media links:












Friday, December 6, 2019

This I know for sure...

Even though I knew Thanksgiving was later than usual this year, it didn't really occur to me that there is only about 3 weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It dawned on me Monday morning when I was changing the kitchen calendar to the December page.

So while I'm looking forward to the Christmas holiday, I'm teetering on the edge of panic mode right now. I have at least 15 holiday cards to make and get into the mail by the end of next week at the very latest, though I'd really like to get them all in the mail by next Wednesday. Each card takes me about 3 hours to make from start to finish so I'm really feeling like I'm under the gun with my self-imposed deadline.

I also have baking to do. Between my mom and myself we make about 10 to 12 different kinds of cookies. We usually make 10 dozen of each type of cookie because we give them away with gifts or as a gift itself. That's a lot of cookies to get mixed, baked, frosted (some of them anyway), packed in containers, and given out all within three weeks time.

I may need some time off after the holidays just to catch my breath. 😊

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

What's Up Wednesday

This week...

My Current WIP (Work in Progress): No writing or editing last week with the Thanksgiving holiday. I'm not sure how much I'll get accomplished this week.

Quote of the Week: "Faith is what makes life bearable, with all its tragedies, and ambiguities, and sudden, startling joys." ~ Madeleine L'Engle

What I'm Reading: I started reading "Cold Cold Heart" by Tami Hoag on Sunday. I'm finding it hard to put down.

Random Thoughts: We had a much smaller group for Thanksgiving this year. While I love having as many of my relatives who are able to attend, I really liked having the smaller group. I felt like I had time to visit with each guest instead of quick snippets of conversation as I'm trying to get everything cooked and on the table on time.

Random Photo of the Week:


                             Somebody was insistent that his sister needed a hug.

Monday, December 2, 2019

A Christmas Tradition Revisited

 This is an older post (from 2011), but still true today.

A Christmas Tradition

Everyone I know has at least one holiday tradition they look forward to every year from Black Friday shopping to family gatherings to attending that one special holiday party every year. 
I have two traditions I look forward to.  One is to watch Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.  I’m well past the age of believing in Santa Claus and flying reindeer, but it’s just not Christmas if I don’t watch Rudolph.  Every year, the night it’s on, I get in bed, prop up my pillows, and snuggle under my big fluffy comforter and watch the cartoon while my cats curl up at my feet.  Of course, there’s always a cup of hot chocolate involved too.
The most important tradition though is making Christmas cookies with my mom.  She started teaching me to cook when I was four years old.  Every December we would make cut out cookies in various holiday shapes.  She would mix the dough on a Friday evening and put it in the refrigerator over night.   My brothers and sisters and I would take turns peering into the refrigerator at the bowl of dough and asking when it would be ready for baking.
Finally, Saturday afternoon would come and she’d pronounce it ready.  She would roll it out and place the cutters on the dough.  Each one of my siblings and I would get a turn to push the cutters down into the dough.  My mom would peel away the excess, put the cut out pieces onto a baking sheet and into the oven.  We’d repeat the process over and over until every scrap of dough had been formed into a cookie.
Rows and rows of angels, reindeers, snowmen, Christmas trees, holly leaves, tree ornaments, and Santa Claus cookies would fill one end of the table to cool then be packed away until the next day, the most important day of all – the day we would frost them. 
My mom would make the frosting and allow each one of us to stir drops of food coloring into bowls of white icing.  We’d have a rainbow of colors and little bottles of colored sugar to decorate the cookies with.  We’d spend the afternoon decorating the cookies, making sure the Santa cookies were frosted red and white to represent his suit, the snowmen white with a strip of yellow around his neck and down his stomach to represent his scarf.  Christmas trees had brown frosting for the trunk and green frosting for the leaves and a dot of yellow at the top for the star just to describe a few.  When we were finished, my mom would lay them on wax paper to set.  We would ooh and ah over them like they were the most magnificent cookies ever made.
My brothers and sisters are all married with children now and building their own holiday traditions but for two days every December my siblings and I gather together and make Christmas cut out cookies with my mom.  It’s a tradition I hope we’re able to continue for many years to come.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! I know I'm a bit early, but I'm going to be up to my elbows in holiday meal prep and visiting family so I'm wishing you a happy holiday now. I'll be back with a new post on Monday, 12/2.


Friday, November 22, 2019

This I know for sure...

Like most people finding time to exercise on a consistent basis is a struggle. Even though I have a treadmill and a rowing machine, not to mention hand weights, in the furnished part of our basement, I still have a hard time getting down there to use them. You would think it would be easier since I don't have to commute to a gym to work out.

I tried getting up earlier, but as I already get up at 5:00am Monday thru Friday and at 6:30 on Saturday, I still wasn't getting the consistency I wanted especially now in the winter months. The alarm would go off at 4:15 and I'd shut it off and snuggle back down into my warm blankets until the second alarm at 5:00am. (My alarm clock has two alarm settings.)

I've also learned it's hard for me to exercise on an empty stomach. I've read and heard from various sources that it's better to exercise on an empty stomach, but it doesn't work for me. I don't seem to have enough energy to get through a good heart pumping workout. And there's no way I'd get up even earlier so I could eat breakfast beforehand. (Know your own limits, I always say.)

Not to mention that after getting up at 4:15, I'm ready to go to bed at 8:30pm. Not that I stay up all that late - usually I'm in bed with the light off by 10:15 or so, but still who wants to feel so tired that an 8:30 bedtime sounds like heaven? Not me.

So for right now, especially as the holiday season gets underway, I'm content with the usual three days of exercise I manage each week. Maybe in January, I'll make it one of my 2020 goals to get up to four or five days a week.