Peggy Jaeger's Blog - Posts Tagged "blog-challenge"

I’m sure this is an easy feat for most writers, but not for me. I agonize over book titles. Are they too long? Too short? Do they convey the correct theme of the book? Do they even convey the theme of the book? Will it be a memorable title, or one that is easily forgotten in the myriad of published books these days?

Titles can, in all truth, make or break a book. Would you have read any of these books if these were the titles?:

The High-Bouncing Lover
The Last man in Europe
The Dead Un-Dead
Mistress Mary
Nothing New in the West
Wacking Off
The Don’t Build Statues to Businessmen
The Kingdon By The Sea
At this point In time
Private Fleming, His Various Battles
I was a bit surprised at a few of them, and I can in all truthfulness say I wouldn’t have read any one of them except for the Dead Un-Dead, because I think it was a cool, really out-there title. To see the titles these books were actually published as, scroll down when you’re done reading.

You can’t, apparently, trademark a title. I found this out when I wrote my third book, FIRST IMPRESSIONS ( which, BTW was the original working title of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice) and did a search to see how many books with the same title there were (423). My second book I called THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME. 366 other authors also called their works of fiction that. SO, how the heck can I can up with a title that (1) hasn’t been used before, and (2) will make the random reader interested in it enough to pick up the book and check it out? Again, no easy feat.

I used to make lists, pages of lists, with book titles. Even then, choosing just one was torture.

I’m so lame at coming up with my book titles I left the naming of my second book in the Will Cook For Love Series from Lyrical/Shine to the editors. They came up with A SHOT AT LOVE. When you read the book you’ll know it’s the perfect title, but I didn’t have anything even close to that I was working with! Thank God for the people in the know who really really really know what they are doing.

Naming your book is an awful lot like naming your child. You want to give it something with character, essence, personification, and beauty. And your book, to the writer, is your baby, your child, your creation, so you don’t want to let it down by giving it a crummy moniker; one that will inspire ridicule and laughter. Honestly, I pity the poor children of celebrities who have been named after fruits, compass directions, and astrological projections. Sad.

See? You probably thought the title was the easiest thing to come up with. I bet you didn’t know how hard it really was to name a book? Well…at least it is for me!

Here’s what the above titles were actually published as, and thank goodness they were!!!

The Great Gatsby
1984
Dracula
The Secret Garden
All Quiet On the Western Front
Portnoy’s Complaint
Valley of the Dolls
Lolita
All the President’s Men
The Red Badge of Courage
When I’m not agonizing over naming books, you can usually find me here:Tweet Me//Read Me// Visit Me//Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me//

Since this is a 52 week blog hop challenge, here are some other authors who are also taking about how they name their books today. Stop by and check out their blogs.
1.
Tonight you’re mine
2.
Book Titles: How I Choose
3.
By Any Other Name
4.
A Book By Any Other Name Still Needs A Title
5.
Must Have a Title
6.
Welcome to the World Baby Book–Your Title Is. . .
7.
titles titles whos got titles
8.
My Process The Perfect Book Title-MJ McCoy-Dressel
9.
“Too Hot to Handle” and other titles…
10.
What’s In A Title?
11.
Working Title
12.
How I Hatch My Books From a Sentence & a Title
13.
Name the blossom – Rose or Tulip Henderson
14.
How to Select an MPNTLP Title Without HCs
15.
Choosing a Book Title
16.
A Rose by Any Other Name (Shari Elder)
17.
Robin Michaela – How To Choose a Book Title
18.
Mission Impossible: book titles
19.
What’s in a title? A lot more than you think. . . . .
20.
A Rose By Any Other Name
21.
Branding that Book Baby
22.
Titles and Other Paintful Decisions
23.
It’s All In The Name
24.
No, I have to Choose a Book Title?
25.
Name That Book In ~One Line Cathy Writes Romance
26.
Struggle to Choose a Book Title – Linda McLaughlin
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to see images click on the link:

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This post gave me just a little trouble. Not because I couldn’t come up with 7 guilty pleasures – but that I had sososososo many, I had to whittle them down to just 7!

Well, here goes nuthin’.

In no particular order, here are the 7 things that (I think) are guilty pleasures for Moi:

a total jammie day – no bra, no makeup, hair in a messy bun, glasses
Girl Scout Thin Mints – if you’ve had them, no further explanation is necessary

Binge reading a new favorite author without any interruptions


finding a new mascara that: doesn’t smudge and make me look like a raccoon, lengthens my non-existent eyelashes, and ISN’T waterproof ( I hate waterproof mascara!!!)

Tweeting – I can’t explain this one, but I just know it’s a guilty pleasure for me

having dessert without counting points. (Some will get this, most will not).


It’s very telling that the only writing/reading pleasure I mentioned was binge reading a new favorite author. And that there are 2 references to food!! Very telling, indeed.

Because this is week 10 in the MFRW 52 week blog challenge, here are some other authors who are blogging about their 7 guilty pleasures today. Drop by and leave them some love.


1.
Guilty Pleasure – Who Says?
2.
My Not-so-Guilty Pleasures
3.
Sara Watler Ellwood: My Gulty Pleasures
4.
Can Pleasures Be Guiltless? Absolutely
5.
My own 7 Heaven
6.
It’s Good To Indulge
7.
What are Your Guilty Pleasures?
8.
A Few Guilty Pleasures
9.
A writer’s to-don’t list
10.
Seven Guilty Pleasures
11.
Sexy Erotic Romances by Peyton Brittany Clarke
12.
Seven Guilty Pleasures – A Writer’s To-Do List
13.
7 Guilty Pleasures
14.
Inquiring MInds Want To Know. . . .
15.
Guilty Pleasures-Food, Drink, and Luxury
16.
Seven Not So Guilty Pleasures
17.
7 Guilty Pleasures or are they deadly sins?
18.
Want To Make Something Of It?
19.
Guilty or Not Guilty (Pleasures)
20.
Shhh. . . Don’t Tell a Soul
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to see the images click this link:

https://peggyjaeger.com/2017/04/07/st...

Everywhere I look I find inspiration for stories. It doesn’t take a great deal of action or thought on my part, actually. I’m a naturally nosey person and I tend to eavesdrop on conversations that don’t involve me; watch strangers interact with people when I’m shopping; I even pay attention to how people react with one another when I’m on line in the grocery store. Little snippets of conversation, a careless wave of a hand while someone is speaking, and I’ve got a story jarring to be told shooting forth from the back of mind.

Like I said, I’m nosey. Not in your face ask you a million questions nosey and annoying, but I’m the kind of person people – strangers – talk to. I’ve got “that kind of face” I guess. Really, I could talk to a rock if I needed to. And it would probably answer back. This makes me sound like a harpy or a gossip, but I’m not. I don’t go forward and seek information from people – it is divulged to me willingly and without my asking. And just BTW, I’m that gal who people trust with secrets. So…just saying.

So, my writing process starts with people. I see people ( Now I sound like an M. Night Shamylan movie!), I watch them, and I build stories around them. Character always always always comes first. My husband has commented – frequently, I’ll add- that I tend to stare at people when we’re out in public, like at a restaurant or when we’re traveling. Some of my most influential character descriptions have evolved from watching how people behave when they’re on an airport check-in line. Think about the last time you traveled and were waiting….waiting…..waiting on that check-in — and then the security — line. You will see all kinds of human behavior just chockful of character insights.

So. First I see a person, imagine them as a character, then give them an imaginative ( my imagination) background. From there, a plot will form.

Here’s a quick example – and this really did happen. I was mall shopping one day and decided to have lunch so I hightailed it to the mall Pizzeria Uno. Love their grilled chicken salad. But I digress… As I was waiting for my lunch to arrive my eyes took a tour of the other lunch patrons. I saw this: 3oish man and woman across from me. Their body language said they were involved in some kind of an argument – he kept drumming his fingers on the table, she was looking down at her drink, a scowl on her face. They were dressed in business casual, so I assumed they were on a working lunch break. Here’s the snippet of conversation that drifted my way once my salad came:

Him: you need to deal with this. Today. Don’t waste any more time.

Her: Stop pressuring me. I’ll get it done. Just back off, will ya?

Him: Stop being such a bitch about it and just take care of.

So. What did I learn from this conversation? Nothing, really. But my mind went into hyperspace and overdrive at all the options available. Was she a whistle blower? Was he a corrupt banker? Was she pregnant and he was her baby daddy and her boss? Her married boss? Were they doing something illegal? Immoral? Unethical? Dangerous?
See? This is how my mind works.

Now, in all reality, they could have been a young married couple who were still waiting to get their cable television system installed and he was getting mad she hadn’t called the cable company to light a fire under their installing asses. Who knows?
My point is, this is how my writing process works: see a person, imagine them as a character, devise a back story and then a plot for them.

Easy peasy, right?
Yeah…not so much. But it is fun people watching!

Since this is a BLOG HOP, click on the titles/names of the authors below to find out what their writing process if like. You put 1,000 writers in the same room and you’ll get 1,000 different responses!

1.
Story inspiration; #MFRWauthors #BlogChallenge Wee
2.
Sara Walter Ellwood: Story Ideas
3.
Shari Elder Myth Madness
4.
My Muse Invites New Stories Like a Surprise Party
5.
Little Glimpses, Big Inspiration
6.
Inspiration Floats On The Wind Henderson
7.
One Too Many Ideas = A Complication of Romance
8.
It Started with a Ring

to see images, click on this link:

https://peggyjaeger.com/2017/04/21/dr...

OMG! I could so totally take pages and pages and reams of paper to write this one!!! After debating with myself for the entire week about my choices, I narrowed it down to the following:

Meet Matthew MacFadyen ( don’t laugh! Lovelovelove him!!!)
Be a size 4 for the rest of my life no matter what I eat. ( Okay, you can laugh at this one because I don’t have the body frame to be a size 4!!)
Star in a Broadway play ( again, laughter is okay because this is a PIPE dream!!! I can’t act, sing, or emote!)
Make the NYT bestseller list, or the USA Bestseller list, or ANY FRIGGIN’ BOOK LIST!!!!
Get a publishing contract for MMP and/or Hardcover.

After numerous hours of time wasting – er, I mean, debate (!) with myself, I figure 1-3 ain’t gonna happen in my lifetime. 4 is a slim-to-none possibility, especially since the NYTimes has recently changed and only lists HARDBACK books in their list, no more mass market one. ( DOPES! The NYT, that is)

So, number 5 is the winner-winner-chicken dinner!

I can actually SEE myself someday ( hopefully before I die!) getting a mass market paperback book deal, or even a hardcover deal. And I always think that if you can actually SEE your goal in your mind, give it weight, and do something about it, the dream will come true. In fact, because I give such weight to physical things, I actually make book boxes for my book giveaways. Here’s the latest one for Cooking With Kandy:
As you can see, it’s Hardback sized, has my picture on the back “cover” and it looks like a book!

There’s an old saying that “seeing is believing.” I’d rather say, “Seeing it makes it happen.”

So that’s my biggest dream!!!

And because this is a blog hop, here are some other authors who are dreaming big. Stop by their blogs today and find out all about they’re big dreams.

1.
Robin Michaela: Vision Board: Always Dreaming
2.
The Big Dreamer Mj McCoy-Dressel
3.
If Authors Were Revered Like Professional Athletes
4.
Dream a Little Dream
5.
Kenzie’s Place: Livin’ The Life. . . .
6.
I Wish I May, I Wish I Might
7.
Dreaming Big
8.
To Catch A Dream
9.
A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes
10.
Living the Dream, Linda McLaughlin

to see images, click this link:

https://peggyjaeger.com/2017/04/28/oh...

Be it ever so humble…..

I’ll admit this freely – I don’t travel well. My husband calls me the “ugly American” and it’s too true. I am a spoiled homebody. I like nothing more than staying in my house, in my jammies, reading a book or cooking for friends and family. Yeah, I know. I live and lead a very boring, limited life, so this blog topic was one that required a huge amount of thought on my part. The last time I traveled anywhere was when my daughter was in college, doing a semester in Barcelona and then in Dublin. My Husband and I went to visit her in both places.

And just FYI, she graduated in 2011. What year is it now, hmmm? Yeah. That’s the last time I went anywhere.

So, the Top 5 places I’d like to visit.

Well, let’s see…

I actually had to go out and buy the book 1000 Places to see before you die because I couldn’t even come up with one.



I don’t like planes – they are a necessary inconvenience, though. I dislike trains even more, and forget about being in the car longer than an hour without stopping to stretch my legs. Total torture.

So…those 5 places.

Hawaii might be nice because it’s like…Hawaii!! Lava and beaches and leis. But it’s such an asshugging long trip from the East Coast to get there. I might have to make a few stops along the way, like Washington DC. The architecture, the history, the scandals. I could spend a few days there without problems. But I’ve been there already. Numerous times. This is supposed to be a post on places I haven’t visited yet.

Okay, so #1. Hawaii.

2….hmmm. Tuscany. I think I’d like to see Tuscany because I loved that book Under The Tuscan Sun. It would be great for my cooking skills to learn how to make authentic Tuscan dishes using fresh Tuscan ingredients…like wine!



3…..(scratching head) The Swiss Alps because I liked Heidi. My in-laws actually went to the Swiss Alps on a trip once and my mother-in-law told me it was absolutely her favorite part of that vacation. Seeing the Matterhorn, riding the Glacier Express. She loved it and since she’s such a good judge of things, I figure I would too!



4….(biting nails, now) Australia, and mainly Queensland because I lovedlovedloved The Thorn Birds. I was so heartbroken when Colleen McCullough died, I actually went to Church that day and said a prayer for her soul. She brought the Australian outback to full, vivid, life with her writings and she is sorely missed.



5….(really digging deep now!) Got it! San Fransico because I loved the JoyLuck Club. Amy Tan is a fabu writer and I remember reading this book in a day because I was so invested in the characters and their lives as they navigated through their heritage, culture, and tried to assimilate into the American lifestyle and the Bay Area without trading in their old world ways. Her writing is lyrical, fluid, and flows from the page.



So. I could stop In San Fran on the way to Hawaii, and after a week swimming the Pacific shores, move on to Australia. Next stop from there, Tuscany and finishing in the Swiss Alps.

That wouldn’t be so bad.

Le sigh.

This was a hard blog to write, peeps. Really hard considering I don’t leave my house much!

Let’s see if the other authors in the blog challenge have as hard a time as I did coming up with 5 places… I’m going to bet they didn’t.

.
Robin Michaela – Travel? Here’s my Bucket List
2.
Over There!
3.
Where in the World? (Ed H)
4.
Shari Elder On the Road Again
5.
When Wanderlust Strikes
6.
Cathy Brockman – If I Could Go Any Where. . . Cathy Writes Romance
7.
Maureen Bonatch – I’d Visit Once I Stop Striving to be a Hermit
8.
Sherry Lewis – Oh the Places I’ll Go
9.
Dream Vacation Spots–Sara Walter Ellwood
10.
Helen Henderson – Out and Away – Dream Journeys
11.
Peggy Jaeger – Oh, the Places I’d go
12.
Linda McLaughlin – Linda’s Top 5 Places to Visit
13.
Alina K Field – My Top Five Places — Alina K. Field

I retired from my long time job in 2015 when I got my first book contract. So many people asked me at that time, “What are you gonna do with yourself now that you don’t have to go to work every day?”
Hello!!! After informing them that I was trading my hated job for a life long dream job and explained that I would now be writing full time, they still said things like, “But surely you can’t write all day?” and “But what else are you going to do to fill your days?”

I remember thinking at the time that people, for lack of a better word, can be really stupid. But that’s another blog… This one concerns word counts and I told you the story above as a precursor.

I approach word counts like I approach a job: all in. What that means for me is that I have a minimum goal I have to reach every single day that I write ( and I write every single day) before I can do anything else. You wouldn’t just leave a job in the middle of the day to go grocery shopping, or to have lunch with friends. You’re working. You have a job to do and you get paid for it. That’s my approach to word counts.

Every day I write 2000 words minimum in whatever book I am currently working on, my WIP ( Work in progress). After that 2000 is done, I then decide if I want to keep going, or do the stuff I need to do to, you know… adult. Like, grocery shop, laundry, ironing, clean the house, do banking, pay bills. Even take a shower!

The fact that I’m blessed with chronic insomnia (and I never thought I’d hear myself say that was a blessing!) helps. I can get so much written between the hours of 3 and 6 am every day, that’s it ridiculous. My entire first book SKATER’S WALTZ was written during these times.

Word counts are, to many writers, a bane. A necessary evil. If they set a goal and then don’t make it, they feel many things: unworthy, like a failure, inept.

To them and all writers, I say STOP! Word counts are simply ways of tracking what you have written. Only during the month of November if you participate in NANOWRIMO should you worry about how much is “good enough” to write every day. Creativity can not be forced. And it shouldn’t be. If you write 6 words or 6ooo in a day, so be it. Those 6 words are probably the best you’ll wring from yourself, so good. Yay. 6 is better than none, right?

Now, you’re probably thinking, “but she said she writes 2000 every day before she does anything else, and yet she’s telling us not to worry about how much we write?” Correct. I am. But that’s what I need to do. Every writer, like every book and every story, is different. I know a contemporary romance writer who sets as her goal 100,000 words per month. If you take a month at 30 days, that means she has to write 3,333 words every single day no matter what. She has an assistant, so she doesn’t need to do the mundane things like social media updates, laundry, and grocery shopping. Lucky her. Most of us don’t have assistants, though. So again, whether you write 6, or 6ooo words a day; 10000 or 100000 per month, word counts are individualistic.

And necessary. Oh, so necessary. Don’t try to compare yourself with others when it comes to word counts. Like I said, everyone is different. As long as you write – and what you write is good – then, so be it.

Because this is a writer blog hop, click on some of the other authors here to see how they approach their writing word counts…or even if they have them!!



1.
Ed Hoornaert – Keep that Nose to the Keyboard
2.
Robin Michaela – Do Word Counts Matter?
3.
Word by Word #amwriting
4.
Shari Elder – Word Counts Don’t Matter
5.
Meka James – Keeping Count
6.
Kenzie Michaels – Reality vs Ideal
7.
Whoa, That’s A Long Book!
8.
Why Do Writers Have to Do Math?
9.
Too Many Words? Too Few?
10.
How Many Words?
11.
Gemma Snow – We’ll Be Countin’ Words
12.
One word down. . . Ahahaha Cathy Writes Romance
13.
Helen Henderson – I’m Not Counting
14.
I’m a word banker. . .
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