M.J. Fredrick's Blog, page 22
October 23, 2013
My Videos–Have You Seen Them?
I put out a boxed set with Trish Milburn and Norah Wilson back in May, and Trish’s husband made us this video.
Then I had him make me a video for Beneath the Surface.
Cool, huh?
October 22, 2013
Waitresses and Bartenders
I’m plotting a new series and it looks like my first heroine is going to be a waitress.
Again.
Ellie in Something to Talk About is a waitress, as is Harley in Swept Away for Christmas. (There may be more, but I’ve written a lot of books.)
Hey, at least she’s not a bartender, like Quinn in Leaving Bluestone, Rick in What Not to Expect and Liam in Swept Away for Christmas.
So I was trying to figure out why I like to write waitresses and bartenders. For one, I prefer writing them to white collar careers. For another, I see waitresses pretty much every week, so I’m aware of what they do. But I think most importantly for writing romance, they are someone you can interact with every day. In Something to Talk About, Noah went to the diner every morning, so he and Ellie had a lot of interaction time. Also, waitresses see a lot of people, so they more-or-less know what’s going on. Same with bartenders.
Plus, this heroine just came into my head as a waitress. What are you going to do?
October 21, 2013
Cover Reveal–Sweetwater Springs Christmas
This has been the year of Christmas books for me, lol. I’m part of this anthology with Debra Holland, Trish Milburn, Linda Carroll-Bradd, Tori Scott and others. It’s available for preorder at Amazon.
Christmas in Sweetwater Springs: A Montana Sky Short Story Collection
ELIZABETH AYERS - A CHRISTMAS FAR FROM HOME
Frank Coleman comes to Sweetwater Springs to ask Adie Reiner to be his wife, but things don’t happen as planned. Frank has been devastated by the plight of the Crow Indians, and when he discovers the indifference and bigotry within the Reiner household towards the Indians, he leaves. But he doesn’t leave alone. Adie and her sister come with him. Adie is determined to help those less fortunate. www.ayersbooks.com
LINDA CARROLL-BRADD – WISHES ON A STAR
Will a wish on a star foretell the future of a young suffragette and a visiting rancher?
MJ FREDRICK - ABIGAIL’S CHRISTMAS ANGEL
A lonely widow and a lonelier marshal make peace with their past.
DEBRA HOLLAND – THE GIFT OF MUSIC
Can two reserved people overcome their limitations and find love?
DEBRA HOLLAND – A FAMILY FOR IKE
A newly-orphaned boy finds and unexpected family.
DEBRA HOLLAND - THE JOY OF CHRISTMAS
The town banker learns that perhaps some things are more important than money.
PATY JAGER – A CHRISTMAS TO REMEMBER
Dr. Carson Raines has one wish for this Christmas; to find his missing wife. He enlists the help of a married couple who are Pinkerton Agents. They find his wife, Ida, living in Sweetwater Springs as a spinster. Ida is pleasantly surprised to run into one of the new boarders at Mrs. Murphy’s boarding house. He’s a handsome doctor who might be able to help her discover her missing past. www.patyjager.net
JILL MARIE LANDIS – UPON A MIDNIGHT CLEAR
A spinster discovers it’s never too late to give up on love and the surprises life has in store.
TRISH MILBURN – A NEW HOME FOR CHRISTMAS
A woman scared in face and heart finds love with a cowboy.
LINDA MCLAUGHLIN - THE BEST PRESENT
A grieving ten-year-old girl anticipating a sad Christmas receives some surprises in Linda McLaughlin’s The Best Present
BEV PETTERSEN – THE CHRISTMAS CROSSING
With a little Christmas magic, two searching hearts discover they can bridge much more than a raging river.
TORI SCOTT – A PROMISE FOR CHRISTMAS
Faced with her first Montana winter without her husband, Rachel Tanner and her young son need a miracle.
CINDY WOOLF - SUGARPLUM DREAMS
Cynthia Woolf’s “Sugarplum Dreams” sees a woman fulfill a dream and find her heart.
October 20, 2013
Goals the Week of Changes
This weekend Fred and I drove 380 miles, all around south Texas, seeing places we’ve never seen, drinking beer in Shiner, eating barbecue in Lockhart, visiting a lot of antique and junk shops, seeing the boy.
We ate out a LOT this week, though, since Fred was on vacation, and that needs to change. I need to eat healthier at lunch and at dinner, and I need to get back to exercising. I’d lost 11 pounds when I was counting calories and I’ve not been keeping up the past few weeks. I can feel the difference.
The other thing that needs to change is my writing style. I’m not getting a lot done. I’m having trouble getting into the story, so I’m always behind on my goals. I’m spending TOO much time on Facebook and watching TV, so I need to keep both things off until I have my 1000 words a day.
So, this week:
1) Cook so we’re eating healthy
2) Faculty meeting
3) Work on Vet Day program and Christmas program
4) Write. Write write write write.
5) Two guest blogs
6) finish up penny drive at school
October 19, 2013
October 13, 2013
Goals for the Week of Husband’s Vacation
This week Fred’s off, so I don’t have to cook! We may even get to go to the Gristmill at some point, since we have a coupon.
1) Write. Write write write write write.
2) Sign up for Rita
3) Another performance by my students at the HEB by school. I don’t anticipate as many kids because the new Walmart is opening that night.
4) Write 2 guest blogs for next week.
5) Work on choreography for the Christmas program.
6) Write play for Christmas program
7) Practice for Veteran’s Day program
October 6, 2013
Goals the Week of Open House
Our first cold front is here, and I’d totally be down with a weekend of rain, but it’s supposed to get nice, so I’m dragging Fred out back and getting him to help me clean up the patio.
Yes, we are having Open House in October. I guess it was the only week we weren’t ALREADY STAYING LATE! Honestly. Every. Week.
I did most of my list last week, but writing fell FAR behind. So far behind, I set the story aside and started a new one, and took Friday off to work on it. I got ten pages and it felt GOOD. STILL not back to exercising (trip to Austin Tuesday, staying late at school Wednesday, dentist Thursday). Need to work on that.
1) WRITE. Write write write. It keeps me sane.
2) Write Christmas program. I have it sketched out, but need to finish it. And need to start choreographing. 10 songs is a lot to choreograph, BTW.
3) Dentist.
4) Open House.
5) Practice with kids for another performance at HEB Plus.
6) Practice with kids for Veteran’s Day.
7) Duty two days.
8) Add books for review requests to two sites.
9) Blog at Samhain.
October 5, 2013
My Skippy
When the doorbell rings around 8 on a Saturday morning, it is usually my mom dropping off something. So I got to the door and saw a lady I didn’t know standing on my porch.
“Is the ginger and white cat yours?”
There are three ginger and white cats in the neighborhood, and I already knew what she was asking. Her husband stood in the street wearing gloves and holding a box, and I saw the tail and knew it was my boy.
Just last night when we were watching TV, he was curled up next to Fred, in his usual spot. At one point, he was on his back and Fred’s hand rested on his fluffy white belly. He was always the most relaxed, most trusting cat.
Seven years ago, I picked him up at the park across from my school one morning. I think it was my 2nd year at the school. Maybe my 3rd. I got out of my car and heard a cat crying, so I walked over to the park, and there was Skippy, stuck in a tree. My friends Robert and Cindi teased me about my super-cat hearing.
My principal wouldn’t let me keep him in my classroom, so I grabbed one of my parents and asked him to babysit. When the parent brought him back that afternoon, he said Skippy had followed him all over the house, just as happy as can be.
That was Skippy, a happy, laid-back guy. I remember when we brought Mama Kitty home five years ago, and she HATED him. He just didn’t get it. He loved everyone, so why would someone not like him?
When he knew I was going to bed, he would run into the room and hide under the bed, knowing I wouldn’t go get him. Then, when I was in bed, he’d jump up and curl next to me. When I come home, he’d come out from the bushes and greet me, flopping onto his back so I could pet his tummy. When Fred would get a bowl of anything, Skippy’s ears would go up, knowing he’d get the remnants.
I feel bad now, because I’d nudge him away from the canned food because I wanted YaYa to eat first. And I’d get Fred to kick him out of the bedroom because I knew he’d wake me up.
I was scrolling through pictures just now laughing, because I have hardly any pictures of him awake.
October 1, 2013
Quest for Phones
My husband was determined we were going to upgrade to new phones. He and I had 4s, my son had 4. He wanted them the weekend they came out, last weekend, but I wanted to wait for my Amazon check.
Which meant the hunt was on, since the phones are selling like hot cakes.
Friday night, after dinner, we went to Best Buy by our house, and missed getting the last 2 phones by about 15 minutes. Fine. We went to ANOTHER Best Buy, but they were sold out entirely.
Saturday morning, Fred went to both Apple stores, one twice, since they got a shipment in after his first visit, a Best Buy, 2 Best Buy mobiles, before calling and finding the phones we wanted in New Braunfels, about a half hour away.
An hour and a half AFTER arriving at Best Buy (WHY is it almost as hard to get a new phone as a new car??), we walked out with the phones, after telling the guy, “DON’T disable our son’s phone.” We’d planned to take it to him Saturday night after he got off work.
So we went to lunch and when we got out to the car, we had no service. All our phones had been turned off. We were still in New Braunfels, but heading back to SA, since we’d planned to go to Austin later. I boot up one of the new phones (the guy had assigned them our numbers but didn’t indicate which was mine and which was Fred’s, which caused a whole other mess later). I check email, and there’s a desperate email from Josh. He’s on assignment and his phone isn’t working. So we turn around, drive to Austin, having NO idea where to find Josh and how to get him his phone. I call the newspaper in town (he works for them, but at the Austin branch), and speak to his friend, actually, who puts me in contact with his Austin editor, who puts me in contact with a reporter at the same event. MEANWHILE, Josh is emailing me, and tells us where to meet him. We find him, he’s REALLY upset. We don’t even get out of the car, just hand over the phone and he dashes off to finish his job. He couldn’t give us his old phone because he hadn’t backed it up.
So, because we planned to sell back all three phones, we have to go BACK to Austin tonight to pick up his phone. I love my son, but I’m getting pretty tired of the I-35 corridor!
September 30, 2013
Goals the First Week of October
You can see by the late appearance of this post how crazy my weekend has been. I barely sat at the computer yesterday!
October used to be my very favorite month. I love Halloween, I love fall, I love the cooler temps. But a lot of school stress comes in the fall–the carnival, United Way, getting ready for Veteran’s Day and Christmas. Kinda leeches the joy out of the month for me.
This week:
1) Dentist
2) Faculty meeting
3) Format Christmas book for Createspace
4) WRITE. I’m about 10K behind where I want to be in this book!
5) EXERCISE. Again, last week, with 2 late days, I didn’t get any exercise. And the other days I came home and slept! At least I’m mostly cooking.
6) Go to Austin to take Josh his new phone.
7) Upload books to Manic Readers for reviews.
8) Update Wattpad.
9) Write a blurb for my historical Christmas story.
10) Add books to the series thingy on Smashwords.
11) Go get Josh’s old phone from Austin.
I need an assistant!!!! Not in the cards just yet though.
