June 4, 2008

What’s New …

Well, I just finished revising the manuscript I sent to my editor in April (for WILD, my January book). The revisions turned out to be a major piece of work … There was one character my editor didn’t like. He was the heroine’s former suitor, who jilted her a couple of years before. He turns up again, and the heroine (Grace Hawthorne) is open to reviving their relationship. My editor thought that didn’t work well and actually made Grace appear lame, even though it’s the hero who really takes up all of Grace’s attention.

And you know … my editor was right. Sometimes you can’t really see a particular detail as you’re writing, but a fresh set of eyes does. And that’s why I love my editor. (Even though it meant a major re-write). In the new version, Grace gives the old suitor the heave-ho, which makes her look a lot more feisty and independent than she did before. This action sets the stage for all her following assertive acts.

I’ve mentioned WILD before. It’s the book about the earl’s son (Anthony Maddox) who was lost in Africa twenty years before, and returns to England against his will. For all those years, he believed his father abandoned him, so he has trust issues. As a result, he doesn’t really want anything to do with society or claiming his title. He just wants to go back to Africa where he has no responsibilities beyond taking care of himself.

Grace is his grandmother’s companion. And since Anthony is a “wild man” who has been away from society for so long, the grandmother doesn’t want him exposed to society until he’s ready. She ignores his obvious desire to leave England (he is injured and can’t leave right away), and gives Grace the task of “civilizing” him. Grace is not happy about it. She has had a number of disappointments in her life, and has learned to protect herself behind a cloak of complete propriety and impersonality. Anthony throws a wrench into this, especially when they are forced into intimate quarters with one another for the tutoring.

This was one of the most enjoyable books I’ve ever written. And I’ve seen the cover … it is probably the sexiest one I’ve ever seen, too! I’ll share it with you as soon as I get the OK from my editor. In the meantime, enjoy the beginning of summer - for those of you in the northern hemisphere. And for everyone Down Under, I’m jealous … I love the fall!

May 23, 2008

Writing and Other Musings

Some of you might know that I was a nurse before I became a writer. Although – as some in the medical profession would say – once a nurse, always a nurse. But I don’t practice professionally any more, even though I keep my license current by taking continuing education courses every year.

What you might not know is that I worked in Intensive Care Units for most of my career – in a couple of big-city trauma units. Needless to say, I saw a lot of crazy stuff, from accidents, to suicide attempts, to murder attempts. Some of my patients were criminal suspects under police guard. Some were pediatric patients whose troubles were more complex than the pediatric ICU could handle (we had a fabulous Intensivist in our unit). Many were patients with chronic illnesses that became acute – situations they shouldn’t die from, like complications from kidney failure. Or certain kinds of heart disease.

I worked during all my pregnancies and went back to it after my kids were born. It would have seemed odd to take a hiatus from my professional life (yeah, crazy, I know!). When my youngest started school, I was working the afternoon shift two nights a week, getting home somewhere between midnight and 1:00 am. I found it impossible to come in from a stress-filled night and go right to sleep, so I started writing to unwind. I’d always been a reader, so it seemed a natural progression to try writing.

I didn’t bother with essays or short stories, or even poetry. I went directly to writing a full-length novel. Two of them, in fact. The better of the two (in my opinion) was called The Rescue, a Medieval tale of a brawny knight in hauberks and chausses (oh yeah!) and a feisty heroine.

When my tome was finished, my kids were old enough that I thought I could return to work full time. In my absolute naïveté, I told my husband I was either going to increase my hours at the hospital, or become a full-time author. (Pure dumb confidence, I guess - to think that all it required was my decision to do it!)

It was February 10^th when I put The Rescue into the mail. I sent it to the editors at Harlequin Historicals, and went about my usual daily routine, working, taking care of kids, managing the household. On February 20^th, I received a phone call from New York. It was a Harlequin editor, offering to buy The Rescue. At the time, I didn’t know how rare it was to sell so quickly. I didn’t have contact with any other authors, didn’t know a thing about the business. I accepted the offer and started revising the book as requested (I had to cut 60 pages), and The Rescue was released a year later with its new name - The Bride of Windermere.

I’ve learned a lot about the book business since then, and I think I’ve improved my writing skills. In the past, my nursing abilities helped to supply a lot of happy endings in the ICU, and now I get to provide a different kind of happy ending for a lot of contented readers.

P.S. Turns out we did see Indiana Jones last night and … I’m not going to spoil it for anyone. But I will say that it’s everything an Indiana Jones movie ought to be!

May 18, 2008

Winners

In my blog the other day, I promised a book giveaway, and I’ve done the drawing. There are two winners: Amy Addison and Sarah.

Contact me - margo@margomaguire.com and I’ll collect your information. Congratulations, ladies!

May 16, 2008

So Cool!

I have to share this fascinating video with you. And since I’m in the mood to give away a book, I’m going to do a drawing from those of you who comment to let me know how you liked it! Check it out - it’s short.

May 8, 2008

Inspiration

Did I catch your attention? Well, my inspiration is not Fabio. And I have a hard time understanding how he ever made it onto the covers of all those books. Well, I guess those abs and shoulders might have done it … but I don’t think I read a single one of them.

But enough about past cover models.   When I write, I usually have a conglomeration of faces and body types in mind for my main characters … more often, it’s of the hero, although I always have at least a vague notion of who the heroine is. For my next book, Wild, the hero is a young man who was lost in Africa while on safari with his father at age eleven. Twenty years later, he returns to England, and must be taught the ways and manners of polite society. In order to receive his father’s title, he will have to prove that he is truly the heir.

But that’s another post altogether. Anyway, this is the way this hero has gelled in my mind.

He’s rough around the edges when he arrives in London, and it falls to the heroine to tutor him. There are lots of reasons why she’s the one who must do it, and she is none too happy about it.  She has learned to cloak herself in cool propriety in order to protect herself from the injuries the world has caused her,  but his casual attitudes threaten that proper distance she tries to keep between them. 

My wild man has his own issues, too. He can’t let himself trust anyone - after all, in his memory, he was abandoned in Africa, left alone as a mere boy to fend for himself. He developed a strong sense of self-reliance and doesn’t want to trust anyone else. And he doesn’t want to stay in England.

So the question is - will these two be able to overcome their inner fears and fall in love? I’m going to let you find out when Wild is released in January.

April 30, 2008

The Book

My sister is the technology director for a school district and she about fell off her chair laughing at this video. I hope you enjoy it, too!

April 24, 2008

The Problem with Spring Vacations …

… is that when they’re done, you have all of summer to look forward to. At home.

I’m back from my whirlwind trip to Paris (7 days) and London (3 days) and I think we saw everything. No matter which way you looked in Pars, there was always something to see. The opera house, the Eiffel Tower, the basilica of Sacre Coeur high on a hill, the Moulin Rouge the Arc de Triumph … this place is so steeped in history, it’s difficult to absorb it all.

We spent the first day exploring the Eiffel Tower and the vicinity around it.There are apartments and markets all around the area, which you wouldn’t really guess from seeing the photos. It was cold and windy when we were up there (not at the top - I’m not crazy about heights) but from the second actual floor of the tower. Seems like you can see forever from there. We spent a day wandering around Montmarche, where the huge church of Sacre Coeur is located, but it’s also one of the few “village” type areas of Paris, with little lanes and pretty alleyways. It’s where Picasso’s studio was, and there are still painters there in the square near the basilica.

We climbed the steps of the Arch of Triumph …

And I found it very interesting that the “shrine” to Napoleon is like twice the size of the arch that was built in England for Wellington’s victory at Waterloo.

Not calling anyone a megalomaniac, but …

We used the Metro (subway) to get around. It was amazingly easy to use - you just have to check the map and know which line you want to ride, and then check your end destination. Once you know that - you can get on the right train.

We even took the train to Versailles, which is about 30 minutes outside the city. Now this is a place that truly embodies excess. We walked through the main palace and everywhere you looked there was some magnificent piece of art or furniture. Even the ceilings were painted.

And then the grounds … We rented bicycles in order to get around to see everything. And I kept thinking this must be like Michael Jackson’s “Wonderland.” Something for everyone, including a man-made lake where Louis XVI’s pals could ride in gondolas driven by gondoleres from Venice (he housed them in a little village on the grounds).

We saw the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo at the Louvre, walked through the Tuilleries gardens and the saw the square where the guillotine stood. Went to the Conciergerie where Marie Antoinette and other revolution prisoners were kept. Saw Notre Dame and lit a candle for my aunt who is in poor health.

Whew … and I haven’t even mentioned London yet!
Maybe I’ll save that for later.
It’s great to be home.

April 10, 2008

A Writer’s Life

Following up Robyn’s post of yesterday, I started to think of all the things that interfere with getting a good day’s work/writing done. When you have a job like ours, it’s not task-oriented the way many other jobs are. For example, when I was a nurse, there were certain things that had to be completed daily, and they had to be done by a certain time. IVs have to be started now, not later. Assessments and evaluations must be made, treatments must be given. Vital signs taken. Etcetera. But a writer has to create something out of nothing but a mass of ideas floating around in her head, and any number of things can interfere with that process.
1. The internet
As much as I love it, it’s the bane of my existence. I can waste hours searching for just the right word, or exactly the kind of ship used in 1820, or what kind of underwear a gentleman would have worn in 1885 … You get my drift. What I really should do is vow never to look up these details until my day’s work is done. Then go to the internet and other resources to find the info I need. I can search for the XXXX I’ve stuck in the manuscript to mark the place, and fill it in when I’ve learned what I needed.
2. Email
I am a people-person. And writing is such a solitary job. I would love it if all the Jaunties could meet up every day in a “writing office” and work away separately, stopping to chat periodically. That’s kind of what email does, but studies show that it takes several minutes after each email session to get back on task, so it’s really counter-productive to check email more than a couple of times a day. [Sigh]
3. House Distractions
This encompasses everything in my house that I can use to distract myself from actually sitting my butt down and dealing with that ridiculously difficult scene that I have to write today, or I can’t go on. This is the kitchen (Is it lunch time yet? Should I start something elaborate for dinner?) the laundry room, the vacuum, the telephone. There is always something to organize, prepare, clean, or eat. This is why I go to Starbuck’s almost every day to write. There is nothing to do there but write and drink coffee (since I made a vow never to drink anything with calories or to eat there).
4. The other part of the job
Doing promotional activities. Everyone does different things - from interviews to mailings to contests on their websites. All this stuff takes time away from writing, but it must be done.
5. Home/Family issues
Most of us try to have a life, too. Writing can be an all-consuming effort, and for many of us, our family lives go down the tubes when we’re working our way up to a tight deadline. Or when the stresses of production get to us (like you’ve got a deadline, but you also received the copy edits for your next book and they must be completed in two weeks). It’s important to try to anticipate these things and stay a little bit ahead of the game.

So even if you’ve got a great schedule - on paper - there is always something that can jump into a writer’s world and spike her creative efforts. It’s one of a writer’s most difficult tasks to stay focused and on task.

April 2, 2008

A Milestone

I am SO happy to announce that I finished my manuscript (my 15th book!) entitled WILD, and sent it off to my editor yesterday. This is good and important for 3 reasons.
1. It’s due April 15th.
2. I like to meet my deadlines on time (early is even better).
3. I am leaving for Paris with my husband on April 11th.

Ahhh … April in Paris!

I’ve never been there. My husband has to go for work, so I’m going with him. At first, we were only planning to go for a few days beyond his work days - like maybe a 4-day weekend, but the trip has expanded to 11 days. And we’re going to chunnel up to London and stay there for 4 or 5 days. I haven’t had a chance to unwind from my grueling writing schedule, but I’m going to get going on my Paris research tomorrow and figure out everything we should see.

I’ve been practicing my French, too. Haven’t used it since college … so I’m quite rusty. But I’m determined to give it a good try while I’m there. D’accord? I’ve even been listening to the French station on my satellite radio. Next, I need to rent a couple of French videos and ignore the subtitles.

In the meantime, I’ll stick with youtube for my cultural enlightenment.

Whoa, baby!

March 25, 2008

Jaunty P. Interviews One of Our Own

Jaunty P. Quills here, showing off my new portrait. How do you like it? I had to spend many a dull hour posing for Margo’s nephew, the artist who did the drawing. It was tedious, but I think it’s a decent likeness.

Jaunty: Not to toot my own horn, but congratulations are in order for my new book, Temptation of the Warrior, which is out today-

Margo: Wait a second, I wrote Temptation of the Warrior. And I am pleased to announce that it is being released by Avon Books today!

Jaunty: Well, I helped, didn’t I? Who do you think posed for that cover? I’ve been so busy with sittings lately.

Margo: Um … It wasn’t you, Jaunty, and I am not divulging the abs … er, the name of the model.

Jaunty: I really like the way they positioned that sword handle.

Margo: Do you mind if we get back to the book?

Jaunty: Oh right. So, tell us about this warrior who gets tempted.

Margo: The main character is Merrick MacLochlainn, a warrior-sorcerer from a magical world. He and his brother, Brogan (from A Warrior’s Taking) have to travel to the world of non-magical people to find a couple of talismans that hold the power to defeat their mortal enemy.

Jaunty: What about the temptation part?

Margo: That’s where Jenny comes in.

Jaunty: Jenny? I have a new porcupine girlfriend named Jenny and she is hot! I can’t believe you named a character in your book after her! She will be so—

Margo: Sorry, Jaunty. I didn’t really name her after your girlfriend. I didn’t actually know you had a girlfriend.

Jaunty: Well, of course I do! Well, I didn’t for a long time, but I’ve been working on it and now I actually I have a few. Chicks are always after a suave dude like me.

Margo: Chicks?

Jauty:

Margo: I always knew you weren’t the most evolved—

Jaunty: What was that?

Margo: I said, the story revolves around the relationship that develops between Jenny and Merrick. Just when he arrives on England’s shores (having traveled through a thousand years’ time) he stumbles upon Jenny, who is being attacked by highwaymen. He comes to her rescue, but is injured – shot and conked on the head. When he comes to, he can’t remember who he is or why he’s there. He doesn’t even remember that he’s not supposed to use any magic while he’s in her world.

Jaunty: Why not?

Margo: Because his magical enemies will be able to track him down through his use of magic. It’s a skill that some of his people have.

Jaunty: Uh-oh.

Margo: Gypsies come along and chase away the highwaymen, but they’re pretty scary, too. So Jenny pretends that Merrick (who is unconscious at this point) is her husband, thinking they’ll leave her alone if she’s the wife of this tall, strong, handsome hunk of a guy.

Jaunty: Heh heh. A fake husband, eh?

Margo: I’m going to leave that whole scenario to your imagination, Jaunty. But I will say it poses some difficulties for Jenny … and not exactly what you think!

Jaunty: Ooh, my quills are quivering.

Margo:

Jaunty: This sounds pretty WILD!

Margo: No, that’s the title of my next book.

Jaunty: See how great I am – I named your next book!

Margo: I’m going to let this one go.

Jaunty: Now, let’s see … we’re calling it WILD because …

Margo: Because the hero of my next book was lost in Africa as a child, and returns home twenty years later. As you can imagine, he’s got quite a wild streak.

Jaunty: I’m trembling at the thought of surviving in Africa. Don’t they have big snakes there?

Margo: Big snakes are the least of this guy’s problems. He’s back in England against his will, and his grandmother wants him tamed so that he can claim his title.

Jaunty: How is she going to tame him?

Margo: With a tutor, the prim and proper Miss Grace Hawthorne. But that’s all I’m going to tell you right now about WILD. It will be out in January 2009, so we’ve got plenty of time to talk about it.

Jaunty: Oh right. I guess I’m getting ahead of myself. What about this Temptation book? Do you have an excerpt for us?

Margo: I sure do. Visit my website MargoMaguire and click on “coming soon” for an excerpt, and click on “news” to enter my contest.

Jaunty: I’m going there right now! What can I win?

Margo: A copy of Temptation of the Warrior. Good luck, Jaunty!